Playfly's Reach Hits HS Level

Mater Dei High School Partners With Playfly Sports in Historic 10-Year Multimedia Rights Agreement

March 20, 2025

Mater Dei High School Partners With Playfly Sports in Historic 10-Year Multimedia Rights Agreement
Mater Dei High School, a prestigious institution with a national reputation for excellence in athletics, and Playfly Sports, the sports industry’s leading revenue maximizer, today announced the first-ever multimedia rights (MMR) agreement between an individual high school and a third-party partner. This 10-year partnership that spans through the 2034-35 school year will leverage Playfly’s industry expertise to enhance sponsorship opportunities, media exposure, and fan engagement.
^{AP News}

MLB’s Highest-Paid Players 2025: Soto, Ohtani Each Top $100M
Sportico’s Kurt Badenhausen writes, “A Major League Baseball player has never made $100 million in a single year, with $72 million the prior high-water mark from salaries and endorsements. Yet in 2025, a pair of generational talents will both hit nine figures in very different ways.

“Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani are the top earners in the sport by a wide margin. Soto’s $129 million haul is derived 95% from his playing contract, including an MLB-record $75 million signing bonus as part of the 15-year, $765 million free-agent deal he signed with the New York Mets in December.”
^Sportico

Endeavor to Pay Sportradar to Acquire IMG Arena
Sportradar will add rights to distribute official data from Wimbledon, the U.S. Open tennis tournament, the PGA Tour and MLS -- and do so at a reduced cost for some leagues’ rights -- through the acquisition of IMG Arena from Endeavor that the company announced this morning. The transaction, expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, has Endeavor paying Sportradar $125M and rights holders “up to” $100M to cover committed rights fees that Sportradar said were above current market value.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Commissioner Gary Bettman Says the NHL and NHLPA Will Begin CBA Talks in Early April
Bettman and other league officials updated general managers on the situation at their annual spring meeting this week and got their thoughts on potential CBA changes that could be considered. Unlike some more contentious situations in previous decades that led to work stoppages, there is optimism about getting a resolution done in the coming months — well before the current agreement expires in September 2026.
^{AP News}

Aaron Rodgers Drawing Very Little Interest From Media Companies
FOS’ Michael McCarthy writes, “Aaron Rodgers still has a few NFL teams vying for his services. But if he wants to retire and move into sports media, the former Packers and Jets QB might find a chilly reception, Front Office Sports has learned. With the 41-year-old Rodgers at a career crossroads, I spoke with sources at multiple NFL media partners, as well as agents, to gauge his prospects. I found surprisingly little interest in one of the league’s all-time great QBs.”
^{Front Office Sports}

Audience Analysis: Strong Performances For Men’s Hoops Title Games; NBA Up on ABC
CBS drew 4.53 million viewers for Michigan’s win over Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon, marking the best Big Ten title game since Michigan State-Michigan in 2014 (4.54 million on CBS). That also gives CBS the two best college hoops games this season to date.

As SBJ’s Austin Karp writes, “The SEC’s strength on the court this season was evident in the conference title game number, as ESPN on Sunday drew 3.1 million viewers -- the best SEC Championship in nine years. Meanwhile, Duke and North Carolina met for a third time this season in the ACC Tournament semifinals on Friday, and despite a nailbiter, the audience of 2.26 million was well below any recent regular season matchup (Blue Devils phenom Cooper Flagg did not play).”
^{Sports Business Journal}

ESPN Chairman ‘Caught By Surprise’ by Rob Manfred’s Comments About Network’s ‘Shrinking’ Platform
ESPN, which has felt the effects of cable cord-cutting, is in 65.3 million homes, according to Nielsen’s numbers last November. This fall, ESPN will offer its television services without a cable subscription.

“We love the sport,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro told The Athletic on Tuesday. “We love the league. If they are interested in re-engaging with us when the time is right, we’ll be ready to have that conversation. We do have this entire season. So there is time.
^{The Athletic}

NC State Expected to Hire McNeese’s Will Wade as Next Head Basketball Coach: Source
McNeese’s Will Wade is expected to be the next coach at NC State, a person briefed on the situation confirmed to The Athletic on Wednesday. OG Media’s Joe Giglio first reported that an agreement had been reached.

Wade has McNeese in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season as Southland Conference champions. The Cowboys are a No. 12 seed in the Midwest Region and face fifth-seed Clemson, Wade’s alma mater, on Thursday in Providence.
^{The Athletic}

Cleveland Mayor Responds to Haslams as Public Spat Over Browns’ New Stadium Intensifies
The Athletic’s Zac Jackson writes, “The public spat between the Cleveland Browns and the City of Cleveland continued Wednesday with Cleveland mayor Justin Bibb accusing Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam of making “misleading statements” and calling the Browns’ proposal to use $1.2 billion in taxpayer money to help build an indoor stadium in suburban Brook Park ‘the Haslam scheme.’”
^{The Athletic}

St. Paul, Minnesota Wild Want State to Cover Half of $769M Xcel Energy Center Renovation
Under the proposal, the Wild, owned by Craig Leipold, would contribute nearly $216 million. The city — the owner of all three buildings — and Ramsey County intend to cover about $159 million, according to Mayor Melvin Carter.
^{Minnesota Star Tribune}

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President Donald Trump to Reportedly Pause $175M to University of Pennsylvania Over Transgender Athletes
Yahoo Sports’ Chris Cwik writes, “Although the pause has yet to be officially announced by the administration, a person familiar with the decision confirmed the news to the New York Times, saying the decision was made in part due to Penn's handling of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, a transgender woman who competed on Penn's women's swimming team during the 2021-22 season.

“In a statement to the New York Times, Penn said that it was aware of the reports that it would have its funding paused but that the university has not ‘received any official notification or any details.’ The statement added that the school is in full compliance with current NCAA policies.”
^{Yahoo! Sports}

Baker Weighs in On House Settlement’s NIL Effects
Charlie Baker recently said on CBS Evening News, “What’s going on now is probably the biggest change in 40 years for college sports. … Having a school be the primary relationship for a student-athlete around their name, image and likeness is a better way to do it than have these third parties which are kind of shadowy and invisible, which is what we have now. I do believe the settlement will create a much saner way of doing this than the way it works now. I hope that what we get out of it is an NIL program that’s more transparent, more accountable.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

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