Sport & Story Daily November 14, 2023

Stay Ahead of the Game

November 14, 2023

Good morning! The NBA’s big play this year, the In-Season Tournament, is on the rise as the league sees gains in week two…

NBA In-Season Tournament grows in week two
The NBA is touting upticks for its new In-Season Tournament, which saw Friday’s 122-119 victory for the Los Angeles Lakers over the Phoenix Suns average 1.929 million viewers on ESPN and rank as the most-watched game so far for the event. Overall, the league reports the tournament is up 55% over the comparable windows a year ago, averaging 1.7 million viewers. Read more here.

CAA partners up to launch sports and media-driven investment bank
Hollywood talent agency Creative Artists Agency and Michael Klein are launching a new investment bank focused on sports, media and entertainment deals. CAA’s merchant bank, known as Evolution Media Capital, is partnering with advisory firm M. Klein & Co. to form CAA Evolution, the companies told The Wall Street Journal. The combined firm aims to work on large media companies’ deals, sell sports teams and advise on capital raises including initial public offerings. Read more here.

2024 MLB Opening Night will see ESPN offer Texas Rangers hosting Chicago Cubs on March 28
ESPN will exclusively televise 2024 MLB Opening Night as the reigning World Series Champion Texas Rangers host the Chicago Cubs at 7:30 p.m. ET from Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The ESPN Sunday Night Baseball broadcast team – Karl Ravech, analysts David Cone and Eduardo Pérez and reporter Buster Olney – will start their third season together by calling the Cubs vs. Rangers game. Read more here.

UFC will host first sports event at The Sphere
Amid the lights and spectacle of The Sphere in Las Vegas, UFC president Dana White stated that the promotion has booked venue to host a fight in September 2024, marking the first live sporting event to be scheduled at the space. Read more here.

Amazon Games lays off 180 workers, continuing industry trend
A year of gaming industry layoffs continued as Amazon Games confirmed that 180 workers were being laid off amidst cuts. The affected departments are centered on the Amazon-Twitch channel Crown Channel and the Game Growth team, according to Aftermath. Read more here.

Traveling fan phenomenon could impact future expansion, relocation markets

The New York Jets played in Las Vegas on Sunday night. The large number of Gang Green fans in attendance made the road team feel as if it were playing at home.

For context, SeatGeek data shows ~72% of fans purchasing tickets to a game in a ‘typical’ NFL city –they pulled Cleveland– will come from inside the state. Just ~4% of those who purchased tickets on the secondary market site for the league’s most recent SNF game reside in Nevada.

Visiting team fans have made their presence felt at several other Raiders, Rams, and Chargers games this year too. The NFL considers the recent moves to Las Vegas and Los Angeles as being successful, despite the relative lack of fanaticism that exists for the home teams.

Now, the Oakland Athletics are in the process of leaving behind a once proud fan base in one of America’s larger markets to build from scratch in one of the smallest.

Shifts in pro sports’ business model over the last three decades have altered how leagues and teams view the designated market area (DMA).

Read the rest of this at JohnWallStreet.

Nearly three quarters of Americans believe brands should sponsor men’s & women’s sports equally
Aggregate Sports, an industry leader in sports marketing and sponsorship sales, in collaboration with Suzy, a market research software platform, recently surveyed a diverse representative sample of Americans who consider themselves avid or casual sports fans. Among the findings: 77% believe brands should sponsor women’s sports; 74% believe brands should sponsor men’s and women’s sports equally; 71% believe women’s sports will increase in popularity in the coming years; 62% feel better about a brand that sponsors women’s sports.
suzy.com

Top Rank and Venum join forces on boxing collaboration
Top Rank inked a multi-year, first-of-its-kind partnership with combat sports apparel and equipment industry giant Venum. This co-branded collection includes a full suite of apparel — debuting in Spring 2024 — and will feature men's tracksuits, boxing shorts, performance shirts, and boxing footwear.
prnewswire.com

UNLV Gaming Institute partners with ESPN to study sports betting, media
The UNLV International Gaming Institute is partnering with ESPN to create a new program to study sports betting and media impact.The university announced that ESPN is donating $200,000 to launch the collaboration for the program, with the goal of studying the rapidly evolving sports wagering landscape and its intersection with the media.
news3lv.com

100 million fans have watched MNF halfway through 2023 NFL season
ESPN’s Monday Night Football has reached more than 100 million fans and is achieving a record high weekly viewership. Multiple NFL on ESPN studio shows have scored their own individual viewership success, including Sunday NFL Countdown and NFL Live delivering their best audiences since 2016. In addition to the overall viewership success, the portfolio is also experiencing growth in key demos, including Persons 18-49 and Women.
espnpressroom.com

Olympic sports bodies want talks with IOC after cricket and others were added to 2028 LA program
Olympic sports bodies want urgent talks with the IOC about the risk of cuts in their revenue shares and medal events at the 2028 Los Angeles Games because cricket and other newcomers were added to the program. The International Olympic Committee last month approved cricket, baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse and squash for 2028 and kept boxing, modern pentathlon and weightlifting — three sports whose status had been in doubt.
apnews.com

French report flags Azeri-linked disinformation campaign targeting 2024 Olympics
France’s cyber defense unit has unveiled a disinformation campaign emanating from Azerbaijan that aimed to undermine Paris’ capacity to hold next year's Olympic Games, a report showed on Monday. According to the report seen by Reuters and other media, the campaign ran from July 26-27 on an account of an Azerbaijani individual on social media X, formerly Twitter, with links to the Azeri presidential party.
reuters.com

Supreme Court seeks US Views on billionaire Ross’s FIFA suit
The US Supreme Court asked the Biden administration for input on a lawsuit accusing two soccer governing bodies of illegally thwarting billionaire Stephen Ross’s efforts to stage regular-season matches in the US between foreign teams. The move signals high court interest in United States Soccer Federation Inc.’s bid for review of a federal appeals court decision that allowed antitrust claims by Ross’s Relevent Sports LLC.
bloomberg.com

HBO and NFL Films' 'Hard Knocks In Season with the Miami Dolphins' debuts Nov. 21
Television's most acclaimed sports documentary franchise returns with “Hard Knocks: In Season with the Miami Dolphins," debuting Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. New episodes will debut Tuesdays through Jan. 9, and then subsequent Tuesdays for the duration of a potential Dolphins postseason run.
nflcommunications.com

CONCACAF Nations League semifinals and final in March to be at AT&T Stadium outside Dallas
AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will be the site of the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals on March 21 and the final three days later. The stadium is among the sites of the 2026 World Cup and is under consideration for the final on July 19 of that year. The Nations League site was announced Monday by the governing body of soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean.
apnews.com

Biden honors Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights in the return of an NHL tradition
President Joe Biden joked about ignoring his sagging poll numbers in Nevada and thanked the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights for their role in helping the city recover from the 2017 mass shooting when he honored them Monday at a White House ceremony for winning the Stanley Cup.
apnews.com

Trail Blazers become first NBA Team to broadcast augmented reality graphics from a handheld camera
disguise has partnered with the Portland Trail Blazers to broadcast augmented reality (AR) graphics created, for the very first time, by tracking a handheld camera during a basketball game. The AR graphics are setting a brand new standard in sports coverage, bringing fans a more in-depth view of the action with live in-game stats. sportsvideo.org

Monumental Sports & Entertainment announces Victory Van as the official moving and storage partner
Monumental Sports & Entertainment announced a partnership with Victory Van Corporation, which will become the “Official Moving and Storage Partner of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards, Washington Mystics, Capital City Go-Go, Wizards District Gaming, Capital One Arena, and MedStar Capitals lceplex.” monumentalsports.com

SIDEPIECE teams up with Golden State Warriors
In a union of basketball and beats, house duo SIDEPIECE teamed up with Golden State Entertainment, the content side of the Golden State Warriors, for a track set to be the anthem of courtside celebrations – “Feel The Need.” The collaboration will see its pinnacle on November 18, coinciding with the Warriors’ clash against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
edmidentity.com

Report: Top leader of ESPN’s ‘Andscape’ poised to leave
ESPN’s Raina Kelley is set to leave her post as the top editor of Andscape, Front Office Sports has learned. On Friday, ESPN executive vice president Rosalyn Durant sent an internal memo announcing Kelley’s pending departure as editor-in-chief and vice president of the website devoted to the intersection of Black culture and sports.
frontofficesports.com

Brandon Beam inks extension with 97.1 The Fan
97.1 The Fan morning host Brandon Beam has signed a multi-year extension to remain with the Columbus sports station. Beam currently hosts Morning Juice alongside former Ohio State and NFL linebacker Bobby Carpenter. Additionally, Beam hosts the postgame show for the Ohio State Buckeyes football network in conjunction with 97.1 The Fan and Learfield/Ohio State Sports Properties.
barrettsportsmedia.com

Tuesday Trivia
Who is the NFL’s all-time leading rusher?
Answer to last week’s question: Muhammad Ali

Thanks for reading!

Sport & Story Daily and Sports & Story College are the sport 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.

Chris Pursell is the founder of staple industry events such as the Cynopsis Sports Business Awards, the Esports Business Summit, the CMO Exchange, the Tempest Awards, and the Esports Newfronts. He was previously a reporter and editor for publications such as Variety and The Los Angeles Times and launched leading business publications for Cynopsis and PromaxBDA.

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