Sport & Story Daily November 17, 2023

Stay Ahead of the Game

November 17, 2023

Good morning! The A’s are officially on the move as MLB owners gave the greenlight for a one-way trip southeast to Las Vegas…

Oakland A's move to Las Vegas approved by MLB owners in unanimous vote
The Athletics' proposed move from Oakland to Las Vegas got unanimous approval from Major League Baseball owners on Thursday. Commissioner Rob Manfred made the announcement during a press conference following the end of the Owners Meetings. “I know this is a terrible day for fans in Oakland. I understand that, and that’s why we've always had a policy of doing everything humanly possible to avoid a relocation,” Manfred said. “I truly believe we did that in this case. I think it's beyond debate that the status quo in Oakland was untenable.” Read more here.

LPGA, ESPN ink new two-year deal through 2025
The LPGA and ESPN have signed a new two-year agreement to stream Featured Group coverage at eight LPGA Tour events live and exclusively on ESPN+ through the 2025 season. ESPN+ will cover each day of selected LPGA Tour tournaments with one feed showcasing the rounds of four Featured Groups, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Read more here.

Amazon reveals first-ever NFL Black Friday Football plans
While Prime Video serves up an AFC East showdown between the Jets and the Dolphins on Black Friday next week, the company rolled out plans to also offer an extended Black Friday Football pregame show, as well as a celebration of football, family, food, music, and shopping around the game. Throughout the livestream, Black Friday Football viewers will be presented with special opportunities to shop special deals and limited quantity product drops from brands like TCL, Dyson, LEGO, and Nintendo and access all Amazon's Black Friday deals from the comfort of their living room. Read more here.

Atlanta to host 2025 MLB All-Star Game
Major League Baseball is locked in on Atlanta for its 2025 All-Star Game. That comes four years after moving the event from Truist Park to Denver’s Coors Field over objections to changes in Georgia’s voting rights laws. Read more here.

NBA and Foot Locker announce multiyear partnership
The NBA cemented a multiyear deal with Foot Locker that makes the global footwear and apparel retailer an official league marketing partner in the U.S. According to the announcement, the comprehensive collaboration will “engage fans throughout the NBA season, including at marquee league events such as NBA All-Star.” Foot Locker also will receive media exposure across league platforms, including on-court virtual signage during national broadcasts and on league social media channels. Read more here.

Exclusive Q&A with G.O.A.T. Fuel CEO Jaqui Rice Gold
As the energy drink market continues to surge, Mintel Research recently unveiled a report stating that the U.S. market for energy drinks has swelled by 71% since 2017, hitting a total of $23 billion in 2022 in the US alone, while growing a CAGR of 7.63% over the next five years. While some established brands in the space entrench themselves, others are chipping away at market share through creative tactics.

One company is embracing the power of sports to drive brand awareness, G.O.A.T. Fuel, founded by NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice in 2020, along with his daughter Jaqui Rice Gold and son-in-law Trevion Gold. The company landed a seed series funding round of $5 million over the summer, and scored a deal as the official energy drink of the Los Angeles Lakers. Sport & Story asked company CEO Jaqui Rice Gold about the endeavor and how they are leveraging sports to build a brand.

Jaqui on getting into the energy drink space: My passion for the energy drink space was fueled by the desire to create a product that not only energizes people with health-forward, innovative (mushrooms), energy but the desire to be great. I entered the space as consumer, working on a beauty startup and needing a cleaner source of energy that was motivational and inspirational. My husband and I were fascinated by the growing presence of mushroom add-ins being offered at our local coffee shop in Los Angeles and we realized there was an opportunity to apply that logic to RTD energy. We called my Dad, the GOAT, who was a previous beverage investor and we embarked on a mission to fuel people on their own individual path to greatness.

On obstacles: We are the first sports energy drink and when you're capitalizing on white space and pioneering a differentiated space you have to overcome the educational aspects and breaking down rigid barriers with giants. I think of them as "happy challenges" because when they present themselves it further validates that we are paving a new way.

On points of pride: I take immense pride in the collaborative efforts of our team to create and launch new flavors that resonate with our consumers. We take creative liberty in our R&D process. When we entered the space we were the only brand taking a multi-flavor approach to one single can (Blueberry Lemonade vs. Blueberry, etc.). It's a rewarding process to see our ideas come to life and bring joy to our customers who desire healthy but delightful.

On leveraging sports: Sports have played a pivotal role in our brand's journey and we authentically play between two rapidly growing categories, energy drinks and sports drinks. Beyond the association with my Dad, sports provide a universal language that bring people together and the total addressable market is global. We've leveraged sports to connect with our target audience, tapping into the passion and enthusiasm of sports fans. Our goal has been to not only build brand recognition with strategic partnerships like the Los Angeles Lakers (becoming their first ever official energy drink) but also inspire and energize individuals and fans to perform at their best and tap into their inner athlete, just like their sports heroes.

Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll sells F1 team stake at £1 billion valuation
With Formula 1 preparing for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll has sold a minority stake in the Aston Martin team to US private equity firm Arctos Partners. The investment by Arctos, which has a stake in the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool Football Club owner Fenway Sports Group, values the F1 team at about a £1 billion ($1.2 billion) valuation, according to a person familiar with the deal.
yahoo.com

Formula One clothing craze sweeps retailers ahead of Vegas debut
Formula One motor sports, which routinely draws top-tier luxury sponsors like Rolex, is expanding its roster of partners to retailers whose core business is selling clothing at American shopping malls. Teen clothing chains Abercrombie & Fitch and PacSun are among the U.S. retail chains seeking to turn Americans' budding love affair with Formula One into sales of F1-inspired clothing lines, building partly on excitement for this weekend's inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, the retailers said.
reuters.com

Heineken to sit out Super Bowl
Heineken will not be advertising in Super Bowl LVIII, Jonnie Cahill, chief marketing officer of Heineken USA, told Ad Age. Heineken in February ran a Super Bowl ad for Heineken 0.0 as part of a partnership with Marvel Studios that also promoted the movie, “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.”
adage.com

Google to open Code Next Lab at Hollywood Park
Google and Hollywood Park announced an extension of their partnership to bring a new Code Next Lab to Inglewood, CA. Google will be designing, building and opening the new facility, which is a free, immersive computer science education program to develop the next generation of Black, Latino/Hispanic, and Indigenous tech leaders.
bizjournals.com

NFL Thanksgiving games spotlight A-list performances for halftime shows
The National Football League will spotlight A-list musical performances at this year's Thanksgiving games, with some of the world's biggest artists performing live during the three halftime shows. On Nov. 23, rap superstar Jack Harlow will perform at the Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day Halftime Show as the Lions take on the Packers at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX; global icon Dolly Parton will perform at the Cowboys versus the Commanders at 4:30 p.m. ET on CBS; and artist and dance music icon Steve Aoki will perform at the Seahawks game against the 49ers at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.
nflcommunications.com

Sunday Night Football crew to broadcast Peacock exclusive game
NBC Sports has announced that its Sunday Night Football broadcast team, which includes play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico, color commentator Cris Collinsworth, and sideline reporter Melissa Stark, will call the Buffalo Bills’ matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday, December 23 at 8 PM ET. This regular-season showdown will be exclusively broadcast on Peacock, the network’s OTT streaming service.
barrettsportsmedia.com

ESPN boosts coverage of Eagles/Chiefs on MNF
ESPN’s Week 11 showcase of the Super Bowl LVII rematch between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs will be multifaceted, with an enhanced Monday Night Football game presentation. ESPN will add additional cameras to the telecast, including 4K and super slow-motion cameras, bringing their arsenal to eight total 4K/UHD cameras and 16 super slow-motion cameras positioned throughout the stadium, while a drone will be added to the mix in addition to the plane.
espnpressroom.com

Mundo NFL to partner with soccer star Antoine Griezmann on all-new show
The National Football League has officially partnered with World Cup winning soccer star and Atletico de Madrid player, Antoine Griezmann, to host an exciting new Spanish-speaking show on Mundo NFL's YouTube channel. Merging worlds of sport, Griezmann will host “NFL's Grizi Huddle" — a dedicated Spanish YouTube show featuring highlights, interviews with NFL players, analysis and predictions for upcoming NFL games — alongside Mundo NFL commentator and analyst, Ruben Ibeas.
nflcommunications.com

Royals revisit downtown stadium site hyped by Power & Light District developer
The Royals previously have said they winnowed potential downtown stadium sites to two finalists: the East Village and North Kansas City. But now the team also appears to be talking to The Cordish Cos. about a site at the Star's former printing press and offices — just across Interstate 670 from the Kansas City Power & Light District.
bizjournals.com

FC Porto and Legends announce 15-year strategic partnership
FC Porto and global premium experiences company Legends announced today a 15-year strategic partnership focused on transforming the fan experience. Legends will support global partnerships, the food and beverage experience at Estádio do Dragão, and collaborate with FC Porto to explore opportunities to improve the overall fan experience at the stadium and enhance commercial opportunities for the club.
legends.net

NLL returns to Montreal area for regular season game
The National Lacrosse League announced on Thursday the first-ever NLL UnBOXed Series marquee event game scheduled for Friday, February 16, 2024, at 7 p.m. ET in Laval, Québec, outside of Montréal. The League’s newest tentpole showcase features the NLL’s two largest markets as the Toronto Rock and New York Riptide will clash in a pivotal midseason showdown.
tsn.ca

Ken Squier, legendary broadcaster who led NASCAR to national TV, dies at 88
Legendary NASCAR broadcaster Ken Squier died Wednesday night at the age of 88, NASCAR confirmed Thursday. One of NASCAR’s original broadcast voices, Squier called races beginning in 1970 on MRN and later on CBS — including for the 1979 Daytona 500, NASCAR’s first 500-mile race to be shown in its entirety on network television — and TBS until 1997.
theathletic.com

Veteran Big Ten, NFL exec to lead Prosek Partners’ sports practice
Marketing communications firm Prosek Partners announced the hiring of former Big Ten and NFL executive Jon Schwartz Thursday as the company launches a sports-focused practice. Schwartz previously served as SVP for communications, marketing, digital and social media at the Big Ten Conference and before that was the NFL’s SVP for communications and public affairs. He is also a professor at NYU.
yahoo.com

On This Day in Sports History:

1926: NHL's Chicago Blackhawks play their first game
1940: Green Bay Packers become first NFL team to travel by plane
1956: Syracuse fullback Jim Brown scores NCAA record of 43 pts
1991: Detroit Lion Mike Utley is paralyzed in a game against LA Rams
2002: Tony Stewart wins the 54th NASCAR Sprint Cup

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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