Big MLB Purses Tough to Match

Smaller MLB Franchises Look to Compete After “Remarkable Era of Parity”

November 8, 2024

Good morning! St. Louis Cardinals GM seeks “some level of competitive balance”

Following Success of MLB’s Big-Spenders, Smaller Market Teams Try to Counter Amid RSN Uncertainty
AP News’ David Brandt writes, “A remarkable era of parity in Major League Baseball hit a bit of a snag this October when the big-spending New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets finished as three of the top four teams in this year’s postseason. Sometimes, all that money really is an advantage.

“Now it’s time for the sport’s middle-sized and small-market franchises to look for ways to counter during this offseason. Given several factors—particularly cash flow uncertainty due to the collapse of the regional sports network model—that could prove difficult.”
^{AP News}

TKO Group ‘Won’t Explore’ More Endeavor Assets as Q3 Revenue Hits $681 Million
SBJ’s Chris Smith writes, “On the heels of TKO Group Holdings announcing that it will acquire Professional Bull Riders, On Location and IMG from Endeavor Group Holdings for $3.25 billion, TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro was emphatic that TKO will not consider the acquisition of any further Endeavor assets.

“TKO, the parent company of UFC and WWE, reported revenue of $681 million and net income of $58 million for the three months through September. TKO’s revenue was split almost evenly between UFC ($355 million) and WWE ($326 million).”
^{Sports Business Journal}

NFL Bettors Sting DraftKings, Cost Company $250 Million
Sportico’s Eben Novy-Williams reports: “DraftKings shares fell as much as 7% in late trading after the gaming company revised its fiscal 2024 estimates downwards due largely to NFL game outcomes that favored the public. Those results created a $250 million revenue headwind, according to the company’s CEO.

“For the quarter that ended Sept. 30, DraftKings reported revenue of $1.1 billion, matching consensus estimates of $1.1 billion, per Yahoo Finance data. Losses per share of $0.60 were below average estimates of $0.42. Shares in after-hour trading quickly fell 7%.”
^Sportico

Chiefs Get Revenue Boost From Missouri Ballot Initiative
SBJ’s Ben Fischer writes, “Missouri voters’ narrow vote to legalize sports betting triggered a contractual revenue boost for the Chiefs, team President Mark Donovan told me today. The Chiefs’ deals with BetMGM and DraftKings, signed when neighboring Kansas legalized sports betting in 2022, included escalators that would go into effect if their businesses became legal in Missouri. The size of the escalator is unknown, but somewhere between 50%-60% of the metro area population is on the Missouri side.”
^{The Athletic}

Cardinals Ink Deal to Remain With Diamond Sports
According to SBJ, the Cardinals will remain with Diamond Sports Group after the parties agreed today to a multiyear rights deal. The deal includes the franchise’s linear rights and direct-to-consumer rights to deliver St. Louis games via the newly branded FanDuel Sports Network.

As reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis was owed approximately $78M for 2025 by Diamond’s FanDuel Sports Network but the operator approached the team about a renegotiated deal at a reduced rate for the upcoming year.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Jets Employees All Asking Same Woody Johnson Question After Trump’s Election Win
New York Post’s Brian Costello asks, “Could Jets owner Woody Johnson be on his way back to London? That is what everyone around the team is wondering after Donald Trump won Tuesday’s presidential election. 

“Johnson, who was in Mar-a-Lago to celebrate with Trump on Tuesday night, served as the ambassador to the United Kingdom during Trump’s first term as president, leaving the Jets for 3 ¹/₂ years while he was in London. No one knows if Trump will give Johnson a second appointment, but many people inside the Jets have believed for months that there was a strong possibility Johnson would depart again if Trump returned to the White House.”
^{New York Post}

PGA of America Taps Don Rea Jr. As New President
The PGA of America has elected Don Rea Jr. as its next president, with Rea set to serve a two-year term. Rea, who owns and operates the Augusta Ranch Golf Club in Arizona, is taking over for John Lindert, the PGA's president for the last two years. Rea leaves the VP role for the PGA to assume the position.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Shapiro: McMachon Out of TKO, WWE ‘Entirely’
TKO President & COO Mark Shapiro said that WWE founder Vince McMahon is "out of the business entirely." Shapiro: "He doesn't make decisions. He's not on the board. He doesn't opine. We don't consult him." McMahon exited the company in January amid misconduct allegations against him by a former WWE staffer. Shapiro noted McMahon is "still a shareholder," though "not the shareholder he once was."
^{CNBC via Sports Business Journal}

Phog Allen Fieldhouse Set to Show Off Offseason Upgrades on Friday
Kansas hosts North Carolina tonight in an early season clash of men’s college basketball blue bloods that will also show off improvements to KU’s Phog Allen Fieldhouse in its 70th season. The venue underwent a $50M off-season renovation designed by Lawrence, Kans.-based Multistudio that included a new center-hung scoreboard from Daktronics and a new food and beverage program from KU’s new provider, Oak View Group.
^{Sports Business Journal}

USF Set to Break Ground On On-Campus Stadium After Delay
According to SBJ, USF is breaking ground on its on-campus football stadium tomorrow in a ceremony originally scheduled for October but delayed by Hurricane Milton’s destructive arrival in the Tampa region. The $340M stadium designed by Populous and built by Manhattan Construction will take just shy of three years to build at the site of USF’s intramural sports fields on the east side of the university’s campus, with a planned opening ahead of the 2027 season.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Spurs Continue Push to Develop Deeper Connection to Austin With Moody Center Games
For the third-straight year, the Spurs will play games in Austin at the Moody Center, part of a “concerted effort by Spurs Sports & Entertainment” to “expand its business footprint” outside of San Antonio, according to Justin Sayers of the AUSTIN BUSINESS JOURNAL via SBJ.
^{Austin Business Journal via Sports Business Journal}

NCAA Votes to Open Up College Eligibility to Canadian Hockey League Players
The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler and Corey Pronman report: “The NCAA has voted to make Canadian Hockey League players eligible to play college hockey, according to a statement.

“The move marks the start of a potentially seismic shift in hockey’s development landscape, opening up new paths for players in the OHL, QMJHL and WHL, long the NHL’s three biggest development leagues. CHL players have until now been excluded from playing NCAA hockey.”
^{The Athletic}

NWSL Signs First College Player Since Abolishing Draft
FOS’ Margaret Fleming writes, “University of Texas forward Trinity Byars signed with the San Diego Wave, the club announced Thursday. What would normally be a routine line on the transaction wire marked a historic moment: Byars is the first player to choose her pro team directly out of the college system without a draft in the way. The NWSL and its players’ union agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement in August that abolished its draft, making all amateur players true free agents.”
^{Front Office Sports}

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