Sport & Story Daily May 10, 2024

Stay Ahead of the Game

May 10, 2024

Good morning! Golf Controversy Continues

Golf’s Moment of Truth is Here, and the Sport is Badly Flailing
As Yahoo! Sports’ Jay Busbee writes, “Golf’s moment of truth is here, and the sport is badly flailing. Half the sport’s best or most notable players play on one tour, half on the other. They all only come together at the four majors — the next one, the PGA Championship, tees off next week — and then spiral off into their own tournaments, cashing massive checks in front of rapidly dwindling audiences.

Fans, fed up with the desperate posturing and the unending chaos, are finding other things to do with their Sunday afternoons. When even the Masters ratings are down, it’s time to pay attention, because something is very wrong in the world of golf.
^{Yahoo! Sports}

While Nelly Korda Chases History, LPGA Tries to Close a Coverage Gap
FOS’ David Rumsey writes, “Nelly Korda (above), winner of five straight, is back in action looking to become the first women’s golfer to claim six consecutive victories.

“As the action unfolds, ESPN+ is pulling double duty on its golf coverage—but not all things are equal. The streaming service will broadcast from the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, and the Cognizant Founders Cup in Clifton, N.J., which carries a $3 million purse. While ESPN’s separate media-rights deals with those tours aren’t directly correlated with the difference in prize money this week (or any other), it does highlight the disparity between the men’s and women’s games off the course.”
^{Front Office Sports}

Formula One Gets Another Win Off the Track
As FOS’ David Rumsey reports, “During the first quarter of 2024, F1 generated $553 million in revenue. That’s a 45% increase over the same time period last year. There is one catch, though: Formula One raced three times in Q1 of this year (January through March), as opposed to two races during the first three months of ’23. This season, the F1 schedule will feature a record 24 races. Last year, F1 scheduled 24 races but ran only 23 after the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was canceled due to excessive flooding. Still, Formula One generated $3.23 billion in total revenue in ’23, the most ever for the sport.” 
^{Front Office Sports}

Ehrenberg Seeks Reward Going Big in Early-Stage Sports VC
As Sportico’s Brendan Coffey writes, “Most people would consider Roger Ehrenberg a risk-taker, as one of the most prolific sports venture capital investors of the past few years. After all, it’s all his money backing the $130 million sports-focused Eberg Capital, and he invests it where many VC consider too risky: in the seed stage of company development, where he likes to be the lead investor and write checks between $250,000 and $2 million to get in on the ground floor of the sports business’ next big thing.
^Sportico

Shannon Sharpe, ESPN Close to Signing Multi-Year Deal: Source
Shannon Sharpe is on the precipice of signing a new contract with ESPN that will have him staying at the company for multiple years, The Athletic has learned. The deal will have Sharpe continuing to appear on “First Take” regularly. It could also include some appearances on NFL programming.
^{The Athletic}

League One Volleyball Signs Media Deal with ESPN Ahead of Debut
League One Volleyball and ESPN signed a media rights agreement for pro matches ahead of LOVB’s professional league debut next year, the groups announced today. ESPN platforms will air 10 LOVB Pro matches across its linear networks in January 2025 for the league’s inaugural season. ESPN+ will also stream 18 of LOVB’s matches.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Sources: NBCUniversal in Driver's Seat With NBA Media Rights Negotiations, in Line for Third Package
Sources continue to insist Comcast’s NBCUniversal will capture the third NBA package — and likely unveil a “Basketball Night in America’’ telecast — with its annual bid of $2.5B. Although details are still being massaged with nothing finalized, those sources believe there is little WBD CEO David Zaslav can do to overtake NBC unless he perhaps coughs up as much as $2.8B or more to overpay for the package. Or, according to the sources, unless he takes the league to court.
^{Sports Business Journal}

In PORTAL SZN It's Never Been More Important to Introduce Your Fans to Your New Players
PORTAL SZN is here. Love it or hate it, it’s the new reality of college athletics. In men’s basketball especially, it can be hard to keep track of just who’s playing for your favorite team. Meaning, it's never been more important to introduce your fans to the new players on the team.

Sport & Story’s partners at Arkansas and Baylor have been quick to recognize this new reality. Through coordination with the communications department, @BaylorPlus and @HogsPlus have been producing and rolling out exclusive interviews and film room breakdowns as soon as new transfers are official. The content gives fans an immediate ability to get to know the new players — both as people and also the Xs and Os of what they’ll bring to the team.
^{Sport & Story}

Md. Gov. Signs off on Pimlico Redevelopment Plan
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore today signed a new law that "enables the state to take ownership" of Pimlico Race Course, "spend hundreds of millions of dollars renovating it and eventually running races there."
^{Sports Business Journal}

Suns Fire Frank Vogel; Mike Budenholzer Eyed as Top Target, Per Source
The Suns have fired coach Frank Vogel after one season. Phoenix’s season, which was marred by struggles with health and consistency, ended on April 28 with a first-round playoff sweep to the Minnesota Timberwolves after the Suns went 49-33 in the regular season.

The Suns are expected to name Vogel’s replacement quickly, and former Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer is the leading candidate to replace Vogel, per a league source via The Athletic.
^{The Athletic}

Charlotte Hornets Hire Boston Celtics Assistant Charles Lee as New Head Coach
The Charlotte Hornets have found their new head coach. The team announced Thursday morning that it hired Boston Celtics assistant Charles Lee, who will join the team once Boston's playoff run is complete. Lee has spent 10 years as an assistant in the NBA. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Lee is joining the Hornets on a four-year contract.
^{Yahoo! Sports}

The College Sports-Wide Vibe Shift That Led Leaders to the Brink of a Historic Settlement
As Seth Emerson of The Athletic writes, “After so much time complaining about and fighting the changes wrought by name, image and likeness freedoms and the transfer portal, it appears … emphasis on appears … that college leaders have reached a new stage: accepting their new normal and seeking actual, realistic solutions.

The evidence for this comes from the movement toward a settlement in the House case, in which plaintiffs are seeking damages for past athletes for lost earnings from the years before NIL reform, along with changes to the system to benefit current and future athletes.”
^{The Athletic}

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!

Feel free to read our Privacy Policy