Sport & Story Daily November 16, 2023

Stay Ahead of the Game

November 16, 2023

Good morning! The heat is on for Las Vegas, and we’re not talking about the weather. As the city gets the global spotlight for its F1 race, billionaires will be discussing the city elsewhere for a different purpose…

MLB team owners set to vote today on relocation of Athletics to Las Vegas
Amid the parties, celebrities and festivities surrounding Las Vegas as Formula 1 kicks off competition, the city will also be the center of attention elsewhere as Major League Baseball team owners prepare to vote today on the proposed relocation of the Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas. Any recommendation for a move would require at least a three-quarters vote — at least 23 owners — for approval. The last team to relocate was the Montreal Expos, who became the Washington Nationals in 2005. Read more here.

LPGA 2024, ’25 winners get record prize boost after CME renews Tour Championship sponsorship
The LPGA announced that CME Group was extending its title sponsorship of the Tour Championship through 2025. With the extension, the total purse for winners will grow from $7 million this year to $11 million for both ’24 and ’25. That matches the largest purse in women’s golf (U.S. Women’s Open). The winner’s check will double from $2 million this year to $4 million, the single largest payday in women’s sports. Read more here.

Sinclair: Diamond Sports Group business ‘is going to go away’
Yesterday saw a Houston bankruptcy court hold a hearing to tackle the status of Diamond Sports Group, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. On the night before the hearing, Diamond Sports Group’s parent company, Sinclair, Inc., filed a limited objection to the debtors’ emergency motion to continue its operations through September 2024 and then liquidate the business. Read more here.

Manchester United CEO Arnold to leave club ahead of possible sale
Manchester United CEO Richard Arnold will step down, the Premier League club announced yesterday. The move comes ahead of the club's reported stake sale to British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe. In the meantime, general counsel and board director Patrick Stewart, who has been with United for over 17 years, will be become interim CEO, allowing the club's future owners to take time to identify a new long-term CEO. Read more here.

FanDuel deepens ties with Genius Sports, will offer BetVision through the expanded agreement
BetVision will be included in FanDuel’s premium NFL offering through this new partnership. Genius Sports is the exclusive distributor of NFL Official League Data, so FanDuel will get access to the premium content, such as NFL’s proprietary Next Gen Stats, along with the official betting data feed related to the league. Read more here.

Your Vision Insights: NWSL Year End Fan Base Sizes and Fan Capture Rates

As we find ourselves at season’s end, we take a look at NWSL home markets and the number of fans each club possesses. While the larger markets naturally contain a higher number of club fans, more noteworthy is the percent of each club’s fan base that rank the club as their favorite club in the league. As well, we’ve also updated the capture rate per club, which is the percent of total NWSL fans in market that the club has been able to obtain.

Inside women’s sports marketing: How Gen Z is fueling brand interest
When Ellie the elephant, the viral mascot of the WNBA’s New York Liberty, dressed up as Barbie for the blockbuster release of the Warner Bros. movie, she not only stole the show at one of the team’s games but drummed up thousands of likes on social media on a video of her dancing in the pink costume.
adage.com

Silver hints at potential NBA International expansion as more games planned
While much of the current conversation around NBA expansion has been focused on Las Vegas and Seattle, league commissioner Adam Silver is already thinking several steps beyond that — even outside the U.S. Appearing this week on NBC Sports Boston’s coverage of a Celtics-Knicks game, Silver said he’s actively thinking about a potential NBA franchise in Mexico, as well as further expansion in Canada.
frontofficesports.com

Red Bull unveil special fan-designed Las Vegas livery ahead of weekend's inaugural Grand Prix
For the final time this season, Red Bull have revealed the special fan-designed livery from their Make Your Mark competition, which will see the 2023 championship-winning machines of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez newly painted in Las Vegas this weekend.
formula1.com

PGA of America and Sky Sports announce three-year broadcast rights extension
The PGA of America and Sky Sports today announced a three- year extension of their broadcast partnership, solidifying continued live coverage of the PGA Championship and KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sky Sports viewers will continue to have access to comprehensive and in-depth coverage of the PGA Championship and KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.
skygroup.sky

ESPN to broadcast 10 National Lacrosse League Games on linear channels
The National Lacrosse League announced Wednesday the schedule of 10 games ESPN will carry on linear channels during the 2023-24 season, starting with a Dec. 2 game between the Philadelphia Wings and New York Riptide on ESPN2. Every NLL game throughout the regular season and playoffs will be streamed on ESPN+ in the U.S. and TSN+ in Canada.
usalaxmagazine.com

NHL launches digital collectible platform for hockey highlights
The NHL has officially announced its digital collectible platform, NHL Breakaway. Built with blockchain tech provider Sweet, the site allows fans to buy packs of NFTs containing clips of hockey action. Breakaway, unveiled on Wednesday, also includes the ability to trade highlights with other collectors and complete on-platform challenges for real-life rewards and additional digital goods.
sportico.com

Blindsided: Michael Oher documentary from CNN FlashDocs comes to Max today
Blindsided examines the claims the Tuohy family have made about adopting Oher for over a decade, casting scrutiny on the conservatorship they put in place which has now been terminated by a judge. Oher’s litigation with the Tuohys continues, with the latter filing a sworn document on November 8 that they paid Oher more than $138,000 in profits from the film. Oher is expected to file any counterclaims by the end of November.
wbd.com

Wisconsin Legislature approves final version of Brewers stadium deal
Wisconsin lawmakers approved a controversial deal to spend about $500 million in public money on renovations and maintenance of American Family Field on Tuesday, despite objections from some lawmakers that the package has a lopsided impact on taxpayers.
wisconsinexaminer.com

Billionaire Warren Buffett is now an Atlanta Braves investor
Berkshire Hathaway — Buffet’s mega-fund with a market cap of more than $700 billion — has invested in Atlanta Braves Holdings, the new parent company of the MLB team that was spun off from Liberty Media earlier this year. Berkshire Hathaway recently bought nearly $8 million worth of Braves shares, according to an SEC filing.
frontofficesports.com

Portland Timbers unveil DaBella as new jersey sponsor
The Portland Timbers have entered a new multi-year jersey rights partnership with DaBella, a leader in home improvement services, the club announced Wednesday. DaBella will be featured prominently on Portland’s home, away and specialty game kits and club apparel. The jersey partnership marks the Timbers’ first new kit sponsor since joining MLS in 2011.
mlssoccer.com

Pro Volleyball Federation announces team draft order
Pro Volleyball Federation, the upcoming women’s professional volleyball league in North America, has announced its selection order for the inaugural collegiate player draft. Slated for Monday, December 11 at 10 am ET in Atlanta, the draft will consist of five rounds. It will be in a snake draft format, with the team holding the seventh selection in the first round then picking first in round two and so on. The Columbus Fury will make the first selection in a draft that has a snake format.
provolleyball.com

Karen Leetzow named Chicago Red Stars president
The Chicago Red Stars have appointed accomplished sports executive and attorney Karen Leetzow as the club’s new president. Leetzow joins the Red Stars after serving as the chief legal officer of the U.S. Soccer Federation, where she oversaw the independent investigation into abuse and sexual misconduct in women’s soccer and also helped lead the successful negotiations for an agreement to ensure equal pay for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. chicagoredstars.com

Terry Taylor, trailblazing Associated Press sports editor, dies at age 71
Terry R. Taylor, who in two trailblazing decades as the first female sports editor of The Associated Press transformed the news agency’s emphasis into multilayered coverage of rigorous reporting, entertaining enterprise and edgy analysis, has died. She was 71.
apnews.com

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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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