Sport & Story Daily May 1, 2024

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May 1, 2024

Good morning! Pac-12 Goes Out With a Bang

Pac-12 Posts an Impressive Haul in the NFL Draft Before the Conference Breaks Up
As the AP’s Josh Dubow writes, “The final season of the Pac-12 turned out to be as big a hit in the NFL draft as it was on the field. The conference that is breaking up with 10 schools joining new leagues next season produced a record haul over the draft weekend led by No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams of Southern California.

The Pac-12 produced six of the top 15 players and eight overall first-rounders, trailing only the 11 from the SEC. It was the best total for the Pac-12 since it had nine first-rounders in 2015. The conference had 43 total players drafted after failing to get more than 28 in the previous three drafts, setting a record for the conference in the seven-round era that started in 1994
^{Associated Press}

NASCAR Team Owners Expressing Frustration as Charter Talks Remain Unsettled
NASCAR team owners “have been increasingly disillusioned” with the pace of negotiations to extend the sport's system of “charters” -- which are "licenses akin to major sports league franchises that guarantee entry into, and money from, all 38 of NASCAR’s premier Cup Series events," according to Gluck & Bianchi of THE ATHLETIC. There are fewer than 250 days to strike a new deal, and sources said that “significant hurdles remain, despite the teams’ attempt to jumpstart the process in March 2022.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

NBC Planning $2.5B-Per-Year Bid for NBA Package
NBCUniversal is "prepared to pay" an average of about $2.5B a year to air a package of NBA games as rival Warner Bros. Discovery "makes last-ditch efforts to keep those rights," according to SBJ sources. WBD's TNT has paid an average fee of $1.2B under its current deal. Meanwhile, Disney is "expected to pay" an average per-year fee of about $2.6B to renew its deal, sources said, up from about $1.5B a year now. Amazon’s Prime Video has "already reached the outlines" of a streaming rights deal with the NBA. Disney’s ABC is also "on track to retain the rights to the NBA Finals," according to WSJ.
^{Sports Business Journal}

The Caitlinsanity Revolution Will Be Televised
Puck’s John Ourand writes, “About a year ago, I visited with several senior bankers and private equity executives, all of whom suggested that the women’s sports space was part of their investment thesis. Sure, Caitlin Clark was in the middle of her first run to the national championship game…but their comments foreshadowed even more capital, a rush of fresh deal flow, and financial potential. To wit: ESPN’s recently signed $800 million NCAA rights deal (which includes the women’s basketball tournament) already seems like a steal. NWSL franchise values have eclipsed $100 million in some markets. The WNBA Draft set viewership records. And Fox has carried women’s volleyball on its broadcast network.”
^Puck

WBD Contemplating Next Move After NBC’s Pricey NBA Bid
Per SBJ, Turner’s 35-year run with the NBA appears to be teetering after Comcast's NBCUniversal has reportedly bid $2.5B annually to form a possible broadcast triumvirate with ESPN and Amazon into the mid-2030s. A clause in Warner Bros. Discovery’s prior deal with the league gives them the right to match NBC’s offer, but -- because sources said the word “match” may be up to Commissioner Adam Silver’s interpretation and because WBD is only said to be worth $18B -- the company of Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson could be priced out of the NBA.
^{Sports Business Journal}

U.S. and Mexico Drop Bid to Host 2027 World Cup, Brazil and Joint German-Dutch-Belgian Bids Remain
The U.S. Soccer Federation and its Mexican counterpart dropped their joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup on Monday and said they will focus on trying to host the 2031 tournament.

The decision left a proposal from Brazil and a joint Germany-Netherlands-Belgium plan competing to be picked for 2027 by the FIFA congress that meets May 17 in Bangkok.
^{Associated Press}

Inside the Coyotes' Stunning Move from Arizona to Utah
"I mean, if you would've told me at the beginning of the year that this is where we'd be, I'd say you were crazy. ... It's unprecedented," Ryan Smith, a tech billionaire with a growing portfolio of sports franchises that includes the NBA's Utah Jazz, said. "This is a different process. I don't think anyone's ever done it or seen it. But we're in. We're all-in. And I have a lot of faith in the people in Utah and how they show up for things."
^ESPN

Lynda Tealer Named NCAA Senior VP of Championships; Anthony Holman Promoted to VP of Championships
The NCAA announced Lynda Tealer as its new senior vice president of championships. Tealer is currently a deputy athletics director at Florida and has spent the past 29 years in college athletics administration. As NCAA senior vice president of championships, Tealer will oversee 84 NCAA championships, including functions in event operations, media coordination and statistics, playing rules, ticket operations and marketing, merchandise and licensing, and social and digital media. 
^NCAA

House v. NCAA Settlement Doesn’t Address Biggest Question for Athletes
As FOS’ Amanda Christovich writes, “A settlement could allow players to receive a cut of the billions of dollars generated by television revenue for the first time in NCAA history. But it wouldn’t address college sports’ biggest existential question: athlete employee status. The House case doesn’t deal with employee classification at all; even its revenue-sharing mandates would apply to athletes only in power conference schools.”
^{Front Office Sports}

UAB Commitment to Athletes.org Draws Attention—And Scrutiny
Daniel Libit of Sportico writes, “For now, AO’s offerings are relatively modest: By signing up for free, members gain access to an app-based network of pro bono experts, from lawyers to marketing professionals. Cavale’s grand hope is that AO will represent athletes in future revenue-sharing discussions.

With the Blazers in tow, Athletes.org now counts 2,925 members, more than halfway to Cavale’s working goal of enlisting 5,000 NCAA athletes by the end of the year.
^Sportico

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