Sport & Story Daily January 31, 2024

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January 31, 2024

Good morning! For Super Bowl commercials, ChatGPT is a good place to start but not to end

Why ChatGPT Still Can’t Write a Super Bowl Commercial
“ChatGPT is a good place to start, but not a good place to end,” said Andy Bird, partner and chief creative officer for Publicis Groupe creative studio Le Truc, who thinks the stakes of the Super Bowl are simply too high for generative AI platforms. Marketers need the freedom and space to fail and learn from their mistakes when playing with these tools, he added—a sentiment often echoed by members of the ad industry that are using AI internally rather than for consumer-facing work.
^adage.com

Super Bowl Bettors are Throwing Money on a Chiefs-49ers Exact Final Score Because of an Eerie Oz the Mentalist Video
As USA Today’s Prince Grimes writes, “Oz Pearlman, also known as Oz The Mentalist, started this NFL season with a mind-blowing performance on HBO’s Hard Knocks with the New York Jets. He might end the season with a grand finale.

On Hard Knocks, which took place during training camp, Oz had wide receiver Mecole Hardman make a Super Bowl prediction in front of his teammates. Hardman predicted his team would play the San Francisco 49ers and win by a score of 31-21. As Pearlman tends to do, he already had that prediction written down on a big white board.”
^{ftw.usatoday.com}

NFL’S Championship Sunday Nets 112.2 Million Viewers, $485 Million
As Sportico’s Anthony Crupi writes, “The NFL continues to be the gift that keeps on giving for the league’s media partners and its advertisers, as total playoff deliveries are now up 8% year-over-year, with an average audience of 37.6 million viewers per window. All told, the 12 playoff broadcasts generated approximately $1.22 billion in ad revenue, as the usual suspects (State Farm, Verizon, Geico) chased after the NFL’s unparalleled audience. Per media buyers, the average 30-second spot in the CBS and Fox games cost about $3 million a throw, with late scatter units fetching as much as $4.3 million.”
^sportico.com

Tom Brady’s Next Big Move: Merging TB12, Brady Brand with NOBULL
Tom Brady has struck a deal with apparel company NOBULL to merge his wellness company, TB12, and his apparel line, Brady Brand, with the sportswear outfit NOBULL. The combined company will retain the NOBULL name. 

Brady becomes NOBULL’s second-largest shareholder after BodyArmor founder Mike Repole, who bought a majority stake in the company in July of 2023 through his investment firm, Impact Capital. Repole said at the time that he would explore taking the apparel brand public.
^{frontofficesports.com}

Reports: Orioles to Be Sold to 2 Private Equity Billionaires
John P. Angelos has agreed to sell the Baltimore Orioles to private equity billionaires David Rubenstein and Mike Arougheti, according to multiple reports Tuesday.

The transaction reportedly values the Orioles at $1.725 billion.

Major League Baseball still must approve the sale. Owners are scheduled to meet next week in Orlando, Florida.
^espn.com

MLS Season Pass Returns to Apple TV This Year
The 2024 Major League Soccer season is underway and all the soccer matches will be streaming on MLS Season Pass, a service available on the Apple TV app. The MLS Season Pass offers all matches, but traditional cable channels — such as Fox, FS1 and Fox Deportes — will also broadcast select matches throughout the season.
^variety.com

CW Network Teams With Range Sports to Develop New Programs and Events
Variety’s William Earl reports, “The CW Network has teamed with Range Sports to develop new content and event franchises as the broadcast network expands its menu of live sports and related content. The move into college-level and progressional sports is as part of a larger strategy shift for CW under owner Nexstar Media Group.”
^variety.com

Facilities: Finance, Design and Construction
Upgrading aging venues and the rise of mixed-use developments, which has piqued the interest of third-party financiers, are heating up the sports facility finance market.
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

Lions OC Ben Johnson Will Return in 2024, per Report
As SI.com’s Patrick Andres reports, “One of the NFL's most sought-after coaching candidates is reportedly staying put.

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has informed the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Commanders that he will return to the Lions in 2024, according to a Tuesday morning report from Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

Johnson, 37, had been one of the hottest names in an active coaching carousel this offseason.”
^si.com

Warriors' WNBA Team Names Jess Smith President
Smith is a member of SBJ’s 2023 class of Forty Under 40. WNBA Golden State The Warriors' WNBA expansion franchise has hired Jess Smith as its team president and first overall employee. Smith helped launch the NWSL’s Angel City FC in 2020 as the team’s head of revenue…
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

Why Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes Keep Playing On Peacock
As Sportico’s Jacob Feldman reports, “The Indiana Fever of the WNBA have to wait 76 more days before they get the chance to draft Iowa sensation Caitlin Clark first overall, assuming she declares for the pros. Peacock is already seeing the benefits of selecting her. 

Peacock has had the privilege of airing Iowa games as part of the deal it signed with the Big Ten in 2022, one slice of a $7 billion rights agreement that has altered the college sports landscape.”
^sportico.com

Big Ten Conference Announces Future Basketball Scheduling Formats
As part of ongoing preparations for the addition of four new member institutions during the 2024-25 academic year, the Big Ten Conference on Tuesday announced details regarding future regular- and postseason competition structures for men’s and women’s basketball. 
 
Beginning next season, both the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament fields will expand to 15 teams (from 14), a format that maintains the five-day schedule of the event, provides access to all teams in contention for postseason invitations, and will maintain a double bye for each of the top four seeds while seeds 5-9 will receive a single bye.
 
Both the men’s and women’s conference schedules will remain at 20 and 18 contests, respectively, for each school.
^bigten.org

SEC Football Transfer Portal Additions: One Newcomer for Each Team Ready to Make Impact in 2024 Season
As CBS Sports’ Will Backus writes, “Ten of the soon-to-be 16 SEC programs for the 2024 season took at least 10 transfers. Texas A&M -- under new coach Mike Elko -- leads the way with a whopping 23 additions thus far. But the Aggies are still behind in the race for most impressive transfer class; that honor goes to Ole Miss, which not only holds the top spot in the SEC in 247Sports' Team Transfer rankings but sits in poll position nationally.”
^{cbssports.com}

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