Sport & Story Daily January 4, 2024

Stay Ahead of the Game

January 4, 2024

Good morning! A “classic Rose Bowl” equates to college football’s largest audience in six years

Rose Bowl is Most-Watched Since ’15, Late Night Sugar Less Sweet
As SportsMediaWatch.com’s Jon Lewis writes, “A classic Rose Bowl delivered college football’s largest audience in six years.

“The Michigan-Alabama Rose Bowl led the way with 27.2 million viewers, marking the largest college football audience since the 2018 Alabama-Georgia national championship (28.44M) and second-largest since the inaugural year of the playoff in 2015. Outside of the NFL, no sporting event has averaged a larger audience since the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics (27.84M).”
^{sportsmediawatch.com}

SBJ’s Ben Portnoy also shared some key takeaways from the massive CFP viewership, too 👉🏼 https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/SB-Blogs/Newsletter-College/2024/01/02.aspx

Stream On: ‘Thursday Night Football’ Viewership Up 24%
There’s one week left in the NFL’s regular season, but Amazon has already concluded its second year of exclusively streaming Thursday Night Football, which delivered big viewership gains on Prime Video. The 15 games in 2023 drew an average of 11.86 million viewers, up 24% from Amazon’s debut TNF season in 2022 (9.58 million average audience).
^{frontofficesports.com}

Super Bowl 2024 Ads and the Brands Buying Them
As Ad Age staff reports, “CBS in early November reported that ad inventory was virtually sold out. Commercials are going for about $7 million for a 30-second unit, similar to the 2023 game. Ad Age’s definition of a Super Bowl commercial includes all national spots between the coin toss and end of play.”
^adage.com

New Mavs Owners Make Big Bet on Texas Gambling Future
As Front Office Sports Eric Fisher writes, “Neither sports betting nor commercial casino gambling will be legal in Texas until at least mid-2025, if not later. But the Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban continue to act as if they expect that legalization is coming.” 
_{frontofficesports.com}

Broncos Benching Russell Wilson Could Lead to Legal Action
As Sportico’s Michael McCann writes, “[Russell] Wilson’s contract with the Broncos—a five-year deal worth $242.6 million signed in 2022—includes a $37 million payment for 2025 that would become guaranteed if Wilson is unable to pass a physical after the 2024 league year begins in March. The Broncos reportedly approached Wilson about renegotiating that provision more than two months ago. It’s unclear what the Broncos offered in return, but Wilson declined.”
^sportico.com

Marketers’ Biggest Concerns Heading Into 2024
As Adrianne Pasquarelli of Ad Age writes, “With the economy still uncertain and two wars underway, this year will likely bring many challenges for brands to navigate. At the same time, one of 2023’s biggest trends, AI, is expected to continue its skyrocketing growth, further complicating how chief marketing officers do their jobs and attract consumers.”
^adage.com

Nobody in Sports Gets to Write the Ending They Want, Not Even Al Michaels
“I feel good,” Al Michaels said during a recent interview. “I feel healthy and fine. I’ve told Amazon that I’d do three years and next year will be three, and I’m definitely doing it. We’ll see after that.”

As Barrett Sports Media’s Mark Kreidler points out, it’s unfortunately not his call, going on to say, “The network [NBC] has three NFL playoff games this month, two wild cards and a divisional game, and Tirico and Cris Collinsworth will handle two of them, as they should. With the third, the network wants to try its No. 1 college broadcast team, including fast-rising Noah Eagle and Todd Blackledge, with Kathryn Tappen on the sideline.”
^{barrettsportsmedia.com}

Amazon’s Wide World of Sports
As Puck’s Julia Alexander writes, “The Journal broke the news that the company [Amazon] was exploring an investment in Diamond, a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group that oversees RSNs for 42 teams across the MLB, NBA, and NHL. And while that sort of economic arrangement would be pocket change for Amazon, it is also a harbinger of profoundly more significant plans”—to attract and retain Prime Video users and keep them shopping.
^puck.news

Premium Seating and More Coming to Puskar Stadium
WVU Athletic Director Wren Baker opens up on the RFP and what could change around the athletic situation in Morgantown. [VIDEO]
^{cbssports.com}

Two Vacancies on the 2024 Division I Baseball Committee
Per Kendall Rogers’ report on Twitter: “COMMITTEE NEWS: It has been an interesting last few months for the 2024 Division I Baseball Committee. Bill McGillis went off the committee in the fall, and Indiana State's Sherard Clinkscales, who also was on the committee, stepped down as the AD. Two vacancies.”
^twitter.com 

One Year Out From 12-Team CFP, Josh Heupel and Kirk Ferentz Anticipate Calendar Crunch
Unless there are significant changes to the recruiting calendar, coaches with CFP squads will need to prioritize how they attack December at the expense of critical components. Like Heupel and Ferentz, every coach is on the road solidifying commitments and trying to sway prospects to sign letters of intent. With the portal, many coaches try to land top transfers while attempting to retain their own players. Some staff are coming off a grueling conference championship preparation, while others are being hired and fired.
^{theathletic.com}

The Big East Conference Announces 13-Stop ‘Big East Road Trip’ Culminating at the 2024 Conference Basketball Tournaments
As the college basketball season heats up, the BIG EAST Conference announced today its plans for a 13-stop mobile tour to expand the gameday celebrations for its member school fanbases. Developed and executed in partnership with Playfly Sports, the “BIG EAST Road Trip” will be an interactive pop-up that will roll into each city for upcoming men’s and women’s basketball games, culminating with stops at both the men’s and women’s conference tournaments in March.
^bigeast.com

Thanks for reading!

Sport & Story Daily is the sports industry’s daily resource for business news. In addition to serving up exclusive trends, Q&As, and columns, the newsletter connects reads to top platforms and stories from across the sports landscape.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here!

And feel free to read our Privacy Policy