Sport & Story Daily October 7, 2024: NFL Conundrum—Injuries V Money

The NFL Conundrum

October 7, 2024

Good morning! NFL Conundrum—Injuries V Money

NFL Eyes 18-Game Season, But Many Players Don’t Want It
As FOS’ David Rumsey writes, "The NFL may be years away from expanding its schedule yet again, but growing the regular season from 17 games to 18 appears to be only a matter of time.

“As the 2024 season enters its second quarter, the physical tolls of playing football start piling up for stars, veteran journeymen, and rookies across the league. Injuries—from concussions and torn ACLs to ruptured Achilles’ heels—serve as a sobering reminder about the cost of competing in the NFL.

“Viewership is soaring, though, and the NFL continues to find its way onto more non-traditional spots of the calendar—potentially all the more reason for the league to make its season even bigger.”
^{Yahoo Sports}

Bruins Sign Goalie Jeremy Swayman to 8-year, $66M Contract
Per ESPN, the Boston Bruins signed Jeremy Swayman to an eight-year contract on Sunday that will pay him $66 million. This move gets their No. 1 goalie back on the ice and ends an extremely long contract standoff.

A restricted free agent, Swayman missed all of training camp. The sides faced a Dec. 1 deadline for him to sign or sit out the entire season, a potential disaster for a team that last year had two top goalies—Swayman and 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark.
^ESPN

Sports Media Podcast: Playfly CEO Craig Sloan's View on RSNs, MLB and Colleges 
Sports Media Podcast host Austin Karp took advantage of Playfly Sports' visit to the SBJ home office to grab a few minutes with CEO Craig Sloan for this week's show.

On the situation surrounding RSNs: "What's interesting is the take is about the demise of an RSN, and what is actually occurring is there's a heck of a lot of interest for media companies to stay in business with these local outlets because of the value of the IP.”

Biggest issue in sports media: "It again goes back to a value perspective and a perception versus reality. There's plenty of windows for people to watch their [college] team play on a regular basis.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

ESPN Platforms Draw Most-Watched MLB Wild Card Series Ever; Mets-Brewers Game 3 Averages Over 4 Million Viewers
The 2024 Major League Baseball Wild Card Series carried by ESPN Platforms was the most-watched ever. Nine games were played and aired on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. The games averaged over 2.8 million viewers, up 25% from last season and slightly up from 2022.

The Mets-Brewers Game 3 thriller averaged over 4 million viewers and peaked at 5.8 million at 9:45 p.m. ET. That makes it ESPN’s most-watched MLB game since the 2021 AL Wild Card Game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.
^{Barrett Sports Media}

Piggybacking on the report above 👆🏼, Front Office Sports says those numbers are only poised to grow with Ohtani and Judge in the spotlight.

Fever Hire Wings’ Amber Cox as COO and GM
The Indiana Fever have hired Dallas Wings COO Amber Cox as their COO & GM, and she will officially join the organization on Oct. 28. Lin Dunn, the Fever’s current GM, "will become senior advisor to Fever basketball, a new position for the organization."
^{Sports Business Journal}

Mariners Name Martinez President of Business Ops
The Mariners named SVP/Marketing & Communications Kevin Martinez the team's new President of Business Operations. Martinez replaces Catie Griggs, who left the Mariners for a similar job with the Orioles in early July. Martinez has worked for the Mariners for 34 years, “climbing the organizational ranks while establishing himself as one of the brightest marketing and promotional minds" in MLB.
^{Sports Business Journal}

SEC Fines Arkansas, Vanderbilt For Fans Storming Field After Monumental Upset Wins Over Tennessee, Alabama
Per CBS Sports, Arkansas and Vanderbilt have each been fined for violating the SEC's field-storming policy after their fans rushed to celebrate their respective momentous football victories on Saturday. The Commodores' $100,000 fine comes after their historic upset of No. 1 Alabama. The Razorbacks were hit with a $250,000 fine (their second) for celebrating their come-from-behind win over No. 4 Tennessee.

Report: NFL Toured Abu Dhabi as Potential Int'l Site
The NFL "conducted a site visit to Abu Dhabi within the past year" with the purpose of "scouting out the United Arab Emirates capital city to potentially host an NFL regular-season game in the coming years," according to SBJ sources.
^{Sports Business Journal}

‘Sour Grapes’: Lawyers Battle Over Landmark Settlement to Pay College Athletes
FOS’ Amanda Christovich reports: “On Thursday, a group of seven current and former athletes represented by attorney Michael Hausfeld filed an objection arguing that the terms in the proposed House settlement range from unfair to flat-out illegal. 

“Among the athletes are Iowa men’s basketball player Jordan Bohannon, known for advocating for NIL rights during his time as a player, and former Vanderbilt and Georgetown sprinter Kaira Brown, another outspoken athletes’ rights advocate.”

Yormark: Talk of CFP Format Change 'Premature'
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said that "any talk of a change to the College Football Playoff format is ‘very premature.’” Yormark said they have "got to let this thing play out, see where it goes, and then have some thoughtful conversation to follow.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

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