Sport & Story Daily January 30, 2024

Stay Ahead of the Game

January 30, 2024

Good morning! The only thing to say about Super Bowl LVIII ticket prices is ChaChing

Powerful Factors Fueling Unrivaled Demand for Super Bowl Tickets
As Front Office Sports’ Eric Fisher writes, “The equation for Super Bowl LVIII tickets is quite simple: Taylor Swift-enhanced Kansas City Chiefs fandom + the West Coast-draw of the San Francisco 49ers + the allure of Las Vegas = record-level pricing.

Average secondary ticket market list pricing for the NFL’s title game, set for Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium, has reached $10,752, according to ticket aggregator TicketIQ, the highest non-COVID figure ever tracked at this point before the Super Bowl. The only comparable higher figure was for Super Bowl LV three years ago, which featured seating capacity limited to 25,000 due to the pandemic. TickPick, meanwhile, said average purchase prices for Super Bowl LVIII thus far have reached $9,815 per ticket, also a record figure and 70% higher than a year ago.”
^{frontofficesports.com}

👉🏼 And for those worried whether Taylor Swift will be able to make the Super Bowl, considering her performance in Tokyo the night before, the Athletics’ Alex Andrejev has some routes planned.

FanDuel Parent Flutter Lists on NYSE to Challenge DraftKings in U.S.
FanDuel parent Flutter lists on the N.Y. Stock Exchange today, offering U.S. investors an “alternative to the biggest pure play in sports betting, DraftKings,” according to Contessa Brewer of CNBC.com, as reported by SBJ. This is a secondary listing for the international sportsbook.
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

McMahon TKO Resignation Invites WWE Scrutiny
As Sportico’s Michael McCann writes, “Grant’s complaint also bluntly critiques how WWE—a publicly traded company—acted in the latter half of 2022, by which point Grant was no longer employed. Her critiques invite questions about whether WWE met fiduciary duties in how it handled disturbing allegations about a legendary leader emboldened by stockholder voting power.

For now, it doesn’t appear controversies surrounding McMahon have substantially impacted TKO’s stock price. TKO closed at $86.54 on Friday, a drop of 1.11% from the previous close. Its stock price has largely hovered between $72 and $88 over the last few months.”
^sportico.com

Will Jim Harbaugh Boost the Chargers Right Away? | Zero Blitz
“The only thing I would say about this marriage is probably temper expectations for year one, because, like you said before, they're about $44 million over projected cap space for next year. And they have some free agents that they got to take care of. So you're either going to have to, like, restructure or, I would imagine with the new regime coming in, to start cutting guys that were a part of the old thing.” - Charles McDonald, Zero Blitz Podcast
^{sports.yahoo.com}

Tennis' 'Premium Tour' Talks Progress Following Player Briefings at Aussie Open
Plans for a new “ Premium Tour ” -- which would see “somewhere between 11 and 14 combined events join the grand slams in a new circuit” -- has “made progress over the past fortnight,” as Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley and U.S. Open Tournament Dir Stacey Allaster reveal.
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

While Risky, the Tigers’ Bet on Colt Keith Makes Sense for Both Sides
As SI.com’s Tom Verducci reports, “The Detroit Tigers believe Colt Keith can be a bat-first second baseman comparable to Gleyber Torres of the New York Yankees. Keith, 22, never has played a day in the majors. By signing Keith to a six-year, $28.6 million extension, the Tigers will save about $12 million plus gain three years of control if they are right.”
^si.com

Laura Rutledge is Thriving on Her Journey at ESPN
As Barrett Sports Media’s Derek Futterman writes, “Rutledge continues to balance her hosting commitments on both SEC Nation and NFL Live and travels for both programs throughout the year…Although she is in front of the camera, Rutledge looks to remain somewhat in the background to cultivate memorable moments.”

“They don’t need to remember what I said because I’m there to make them shine, and that will be what I hope people would say about me,” Rutledge said. “I hope that’s what my coworkers would say about me because that’s my ultimate goal.”
^{barrettsportsmedia.com}

Greg Olsen's Brilliant NFC Title Game Proves He's the Color Commentator We Need, But Won't Get at Super Bowl 58
As USA Today’s Robert Zeglinski puts it, “During Sunday’s epic NFC title game between the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions, Olsen put on a clinic as the color commentator…All in all, Olsen’s game might have been the color commentating performance from anyone this entire NFL season.

That’s what makes it so unfortunate he could leave Fox’s top announcing booth when Tom Brady finally steps in. Fox could, of course, elect to have a three-person booth, but plans for that have not yet been announced…”
^usatoday.com

Philadelphia, Las Vegas Sports Projects Face New Questions
As Front Office Sports’ Eric Fisher reports, “Two of the most controversial facility developments in pro sports are facing new rounds of opposition and uncertainty, once again placing their ultimate success in some doubt.

As Philadelphia’s city council held its first legislative session of the year on Thursday, protesters of the 76ers’ plan to build a new $1.55 billion arena in Center City gathered outside, extending what has been months of objection against the plan, particularly from neighboring Chinatown.”
^{frontofficesports.com}

Browns Hiring Ken Dorsey as Offensive Coordinator: Source
The Cleveland Browns’ extended search for a new offensive coordinator has landed on Ken Dorsey, a team source said Sunday. Dorsey, who interviewed with the Browns earlier this month, once played for Cleveland and was the offensive coordinator in Buffalo last season.
^{theathletic.com}

Bills Promote Joe Brady to Full-Time Offensive Coordinator: Why He Got the Job
Piggybacking on the article above, The Buffalo Bills promoted Joe Brady to full-time offensive coordinator, a move that comes after the Bills made Brady their interim offensive coordinator after firing Ken Dorsey in November. Dorsey’s firing came when the team was 5-5 and struggled to finish drives consistently.
^{theathletic.com}

👉🏼 There are so many comings and goings in coaching staff right now, this Coaches Wire from D1 can be very handy to keep track of it all.

College Basketball Rankings: Purdue and UConn Keep Rolling, But the Boilermakers' Résumé is Slightly Better
As CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish writes, “North Carolina is on a 10-game winning streak and rolling. Tennessee has legitimate Final Four potential. Kentucky's ceiling remains sky high. But with the 12th week of this season officially in the books, it's becoming increasingly clear that three teams have kind of separated from the rest of the sport in terms of creating bodies of work that will eventually shape the way the 2024 NCAA Tournament is seeded.

Those teams are Purdue, UConn and Houston.”
^{cbssports.com}

Director of Athletics Jon Gilbert Shares Sports Updates
“I was asked recently what my philosophy is when it comes to putting together the non-conference football schedule,” East Carolina University Director of Athletics Jon Gilbert wrote. “Ideally, we would play four non-conference games that include an opponent from a power five conference, a home and away game against a group of five programs, and one FCS home game.”

“Another new addition for baseball season will be one TV-visible LED on the backstop,” Gilbert said. “Our multi-media rights partner, PlayFly, purchased the board for the TV broadcast to generate new revenues for ECU Athletics.”
piratemedia1.com

The Nebraska Cornhuskers Brand is Becoming a Bigger Focus in the AD's Office
"I think if you've noticed, our uniforms across the board, we're wearing red. We're Nebraska. And if you don't want to wear red, you might have to go to a different school," AD Trev Alberts said.

"We actually have significantly contracted our brand book, and we've gained some consistency there. And what's happened is the royalty payments that we get have actually increased.”
^{huskercorner.com}

Wisconsin, Duke, Iowa State Make Leaps in Men's AP Top 25
While we reported on the college hoops rankings above, the jumps some teams have made are also noteworthy. Per the AP via ESPN, “The third-ranked Tar Heels extended their winning streak to 10 with wins over Wake Forest and Florida State, while the Cougars stymied No. 21 BYU and Kansas State to remain at No. 4. Tennessee beat Vanderbilt to remain fifth.

That's where the wild movement in the poll begins.

Iowa State made the biggest jump, vaulting 11 spots to No. 12 after beating Kansas State and seventh-ranked Kansas…”
^espn.com

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