Latest news with #sportsbusiness
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Bloomberg Business of Sports: NFLPA Controversies
Join hosts Michael Barr, Damian Sassower and Vanessa Perdomo for a look at some of the latest headlines and stories in the business of sports. New York and New Jersey officials are projecting a $3.3 billion economic boost to the region from hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2026. The region will hold eight matches at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, including the final on July 19, 2026, expecting to bring in over 1.2 million fans and tourists, according to an economic impact summary released Monday by the NYNJ Host Committee, the local body responsible for organizing the games. Bloomberg News reporter Sri Taylor joins to discuss her reporting on what the highly anticipated games could mean for local economies. Then, Australian yachtsman and CEO of Red Bull Italy's SailGP team discusses the rise of competitive sailing and an upcoming documentary. Plus, the NFL's players association recently found itself embroiled in controversy that led to the resignation of NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell as well as at least one other executive. Martin Edel, Goulston & Storrs Sports Law Practice co-chair and adjunct professor at Columbia University joins to discuss the latest headlines and potential fallout.
New York Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
How MLB at Bristol Motor Speedway explains the state of sports leagues in 2025
Welcome back to MoneyCall, The Athletic's weekly sports business cheat sheet. (Was this column forwarded to you? Subscribe here.) Name-dropped today: Bristol Motor Speedway, U.S. News & World Report, Bryce Harper, Rob Manfred, Depend, Kurt Warner, Brian Rolapp, Scottie Scheffler, Happy Gilmore, Luka Dončić, Ryne Sandberg (RIP) and more. Let's go: MLB visits the Speedway and hits the accelerator If there were a (non-)word of the year in sports business, it would be 'eventized' — the transmogrification of an otherwise normal regular-season game into a spectacle worth more: more attention (from fans and/or sponsors) or more rights fees (from deep-pocketed streaming platforms and/or the traditional networks competing with them). For all of MLB's issues with its long-term media strategy, it has recently excelled at creating capital-E 'Events,' particularly the 'Field of Dreams' games in Dyersville, Iowa, in 2021-2022 and the Negro Leagues tribute in Birmingham last season. These games attract sellout crowds and massive TV ratings. Advertisement Just this spring, MLB opened the season with the mega-hit Tokyo Series, and on Saturday, it will hold the Speedway Classic at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, an event set to smash the regular-season attendance record, with more than 85,000 tickets sold for the wildly unique venue and millions of curious fans ready to tune in to an otherwise meh matchup (Braves-Reds, Fox, 7:15 p.m. ET). To be sure, focusing on 'events' in sports isn't new — individual local teams stud their schedule with promotions to make a typical regular-season game more special (read to the end of this email for my colleague Asli Pelit's reporting on how NWSL is handling that). But as the most eager investments in sports flow away from season-long rights and into 'eventized' increments, you should expect to see leagues get even more innovative to capitalize on creating new inventory to sell, whether that is through a single date on the calendar (Black Friday! Christmas!), an unusual location (Aircraft carriers! The NBA in Europe!) or special visuals (Nickelodeon! Pop-Tarts!). Vroom, vroom. MLB gambling, labor issues in spotlight Big talkers from the sports business industry: Deepest condolences to the victims and their families and colleagues impacted by Monday's shooting in the building where the NFL headquarters is located. Here's everything we know about the incident. MLB gambling probe (scandal?) continues: Players getting caught up (as with Emmanuel Clase earlier this week) has always been a part of sports. Count me among those who think the current algorithm-powered monitoring systems are an improvement on the old speakeasy vastly more concerning storyline was in that U.S. News report last week — the impact of sports gambling on fans, not the players: not being able to pay bills due to gambling (25 percent of bettors), worries they can't control their gambling (25 percent), lashing out at athletes (21 percent). Advertisement MLB labor negotiation preview: 'Get the f— out of our clubhouse.' That's superstar Bryce Harper, unhappy about reports of owners' interest in a salary cap, to commissioner Rob Manfred's face. That succinctly sums up the state of play. So many more layers, and obviously lots still to come. More labor tensions: WNBA edition. Following up last week's speculative MoneyCall discussion, an expert-level WNBA CBA explainer from my colleague Ben Pickman. Deion Sanders' cancer battle: During Sanders' emotional session with the media Monday to detail his battle with bladder cancer, his one-liner 'I depend on Depends' might have elicited a chuckle to break the tension of the incredibly serious topic, but the brand is actually working with him, per Sportico. If any figure can destigmatize the utility of adult incontinence undergarments for people who need them, it is Coach Prime. MLS suspends Messi one game: For skipping an All-Star Game? To put it in the parlance of the sport, this is about as baffling of an 'own goal' as you'll find.(Meanwhile: 120K viewers for the average MLS game on Apple TV+, per commish Don Garber, feels … underwhelming? But *Don Draper voice* that's what the money is for.) YouTube signs Kurt Warner for Week 1 broadcast: Business-wise, the most intriguing NFL game on TV all season is this Sept. 5 Chiefs-Chargers game, streaming globally on YouTube. On-air talent is in short supply (the usual NFL TV networks' voices are booked), but Warner is in. Ryne Sandberg (1959-2025): When you're a kid, there is often a player who launches your lifelong obsession with sports. For me, that was Sandberg. RIP, Ryno. Other current obsessions: The Madden '99 club' … Michigan punting on a home football date to play in Germany … The National vs. Fanatics Fest … U.S. Open mixed-doubles mania … an NFL game on TV tomorrow (even if exhibition) … What's on the PGA Tour to-do list? New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp officially started his new role this week. Had to ping my colleague Brody Miller to ask: What should Rolapp's top priorities be? Here's what he said: 'Deal or no deal: Figuring out if an agreement can come together with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. And if so, what does it look like? Does team golf have any place?' 'Media rights: Not only working toward a new TV deal in 2030, but modernizing media opportunities as golf continues its YouTube-ification.' Not Investment Advice: 101.9% returns If you bet $100 on Scottie Scheffler to win every tournament he has entered since the beginning of the 2022 season, you would have roughly doubled your money — you would be up $8,964 on your $8,800 invested. If you put the same $100 into the S&P 500 every tournament Scheffler has finished since 2022, you would be up a respectable 20 percent ($3,092 on your $8,800 invested) — but nowhere near The Athletic's 'SCOTTIE Index.' Advertisement (Note: Neither betting nor investment advice!) Ratings Point: 1.35M That was the record-breaking tune-in on Fox for the Euro 2025 final between England and Spain on Sunday, making it the most-watched women's soccer game ever broadcast in English in the U.S. 'Everyone watches women's sports' remains undefeated as a slogan. (The UK tune-in for the Euro 2025 final: Sheesh!) Name to Know: Kyle McDonough The real-life Happy Gilmore — what a fun read this was. ('Happy Gilmore 2' reviews have been mixed, but coming out of the weekend, it felt like everyone was talking about its release on Netflix — I suspect that wouldn't have been the case, had it instead been in theaters. Netflix said the golf sequel debuted with 46.7 million views, NFLX's largest U.S. opening weekend ever.) Investor of the Week: Bobby Wagner Notable: By joining the Seattle Storm ownership group, Wagner is the first active NFL player to invest in a WNBA team. Branding of the Week: Svelte Luka Dončić My colleague Dan Woike has the inside story on how this isn't some overnight glow-up, but part of a larger plan for Dončić. Beat Dan in Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle: #310 00:31 (But more luck than skill!) Try the game here! Great business-adjacent reads for your downtime or commute: How do NWSL teams navigate the mid-summer loss of momentum as their players star on the international stage? My colleague Asli Pelit dove into the different strategies. Two more: (1) Inside Liverpool's commercial juggernaut. (2) Five of the greatest words every summer: 'Rankings, cheat sheets, projections, sleepers.' The Athletic's fantasy football 2025 draft kit has launched, with tons more coming throughout August. As defending champ of my 20-year league, I'm spending time with this over the next few weeks. Back next Wednesday! Some day, we will have a MoneyCall event! In the meantime, please forward MoneyCall to a couple friends or colleagues! And, as always, give a (free!) try to all The Athletic's other newsletters.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Highlights of the Nike Deal, Broadcast Partnerships, Kit Sponsorships, and Stadium Naming Rights
Explore the "Business of the NWSL 2025," a detailed report on the women's soccer league's media and sponsorship landscapes. Discover insights on $39.5M in league sponsorship, $60M in media rights, and $66.46M in team sponsorship. Learn about market viewership, team profiles, and social media metrics. Dublin, July 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "The Business of the National Women's Soccer League 2025" report has been added to offering. The main aims of this report is to highlight commercial landscape across NWSL. The report aims to break down the key commercial revenue streams for the league and its affiliated teams. It goes into detail on the key partnerships including its centralized rights with Nike, its four main US broadcasters, front-of-shirt rights, sleeve partnerships and stadium naming "Business of the NWSL 2025" report is part of the the analyst's 'Business of' series of sport competition profiles. The report takes a deep dive into the premier competition for women's domestic soccer in the United States. The report explores the biggest rights across the league, specifically looking at the main media and sponsorship rights attached to the NWSL, as well the main sponsorship rights and annual values of the 14 competing teams. The report also looks at market viewership, profiles individual teams and offers social media following comparisons against teams, other American sports leagues and other soccer NWSL stands to generate $39.5 million from league sponsorship this season. Home market media rights worth $60 million across four main broadcaster deals. Team sponsorship in the league worth $66.46 million in Highlights Overview of the media rights landscape. Global media and sponsor partners explored. Breakdown of the sponsorship deals including annual values. Individual team profiles. Team market comparison by sponsorship. Connected social media followers. Reasons to Buy Soccer is a growing sport in the United States as the country build towards jointly hosting (with Canada and Mexico) the 2026 men's FIFA World Cup . The NWSL, alongside the WNBA (basketball) is the most popular women's sports leagues in the United States and has produced many of the best players in the world over the past decade. Key Topics Covered: 1. Overview2. Media landscape3. League sponsorship landscape4. Kit supplier landscape5. Front-of-shirt landscape6. Sleeve landscape7. Back-of-shirt landscape8. Stadium naming rights landscape9. Team sponsorship overview10. Additional revenue & social media11. AppendixKey Data Tables Home market broadcasters Regional broadcasters International broadcasters NWSL ticket revenue For more information about this report visit About is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. CONTACT: CONTACT: Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@ For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why this professor says WNBA revenue model is 'almost criminal'
This week on Yahoo Finance Sports Report, host Joe Pompliano takes a look at some of this week's biggest headlines in the sports business world that you and your portfolio need to know. From WNBA players' push for equal pay, to Trump's threats over the Commanders $3.8 billion stadium deal, to Snoop Dogg's investment in Swansea City A.F.C., the world of sports is being transformed by big financial plays. Yahoo Sports Senior Writer Jordan Shusterman joins the show to talk about the latest coming out of the MLB, including the $1.7 billion Tampa Bay Rays sale. Plus, Washington University in St. Louis Sports Business Program executive director Patrick Rishe stops by to talk about everything from the WNBA, to the House vs NCAA settlement rollout, to even which professional sports he thinks have the most growth potential in the coming years. Yahoo Finance Sports Report with Joe Pompliano, a vodcast brought to you by Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Sports, looks beyond the latest sports business headlines and analyzes all the need-to-know news—the teams, trades, and billion-dollar deals—so you and your portfolio will win BIG. Welcome to Yahoo Finance Sports Report, a unique look at the business of sports brought to you by Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Sports. I'm your host, Joe Pompeiano, and I'm here to coach you through the financial game. Today we've got Yahoo Sports senior writer Jordan Shusterman coming on the show to discuss the latest coming out of MLB, as well as Washington University and Saint Louis's sports Business program executive director and sports impact founder and CEO Patrick Ribb to break down some of the latest headlines. Let's huddle up and get right into kicking off this week with Pop's Playbook, where I take a look at some of the biggest headlines in sports that you and your portfolio need to know. First up, WNBA players made a bold statement at last week's All-Star Game amid ongoing collective bargaining negotiations between the league and the WNBA Players warmups of last Saturday's WNBA All-Star game, players entered the court wearing shirts that said, pay us what you owe us as a negotiation tactic for CBA tolls. The shirts, of course, went viral across social media and sparked a discussion around fair pay for the W's players, as well as the league continues to explode in popularity and expand its number of there is still plenty of time for the WNBA and the Players Association to strike a deal before the current CBA expires on October 31st. However, it's evident that both sides of the negotiation table are far apart, and the players have said that they're willing to enter a work stoppage as a last result. But one thing is clear, negotiations have officially entered the court of public opinion, and these next few months will define the WNBA for the next up, President Donald Trump wants the Washington commanders to change their nickname back to the former Redskins moniker, and he's threatening to pull the franchise's new stadium deal in Washington DC if the change isn't made. Trump posted to his true social account on Sunday saying, quote, The Washington Whats should immediately change their name back to the Washington Redskins football team, end quote. Then a few hours later, Trump doubled down on his statement and posted aAnd to True Social, saying that he won't make a deal for the team to build their new $3.8 billion stadium in DC unless the change is done. However, it is unclear if there's any way for Trump to derail the commander's plan to build a new dome stadium at the former RFK site, as Congress gave full control of the RFK land of the city of Washington DC last December before the control was officially signed into law by former President Joe Biden in the meantime, the commanders are seeking approval from the DC City council for the multi-billion dollar stadium project, which includes over $1 billion in public up, Fox Sports has signed a massive agreement with Barstool Sports to feature Barstool shows and personalities on its sports programming. According to multiple reports, Barstool sports founder Dave Fortnoy will become a regular commentator on Fox's Big Noon kickoff football show starting this fall. As part of the deal, the Barstow College Football Show will also air before Big Noon kickoff on Fox Sports' digital platforms and 2B, and Portnoy and other Barshall personalities like Dan Big Cat Cats will be part of a new two-hour studio show produced by Barshall that will air on the the network's popular midday show, The Herd with Colin Coward. Now this move comes after Fox canceled its 2 FS1 morning shows, Breakfast Fall and the Facility, as well as one of its afternoon show, Speak, early last week due to low ratings. However, Fox is now betting that Barstool can help as FS One's morning programming and big noon kickoff show better compete against ESPN fixtures like GetUp, First Take and College Game week's money shakeups continue, but this time on the baseball field, the Tampa Bay Rays are changing ownership in a deal that could reshape the franchise's financial future. Here to help break it all down is Yahoo Sports senior writer Jordan Shuchman. Jordan, thank you so much for joining the show today. I want to start with exactly is the Tampa Bay Rays sale, $1.7 billion to a Jacksonville developer. The team is reportedly going to be staying in Tampa Bay, but we had a stadium deal over the last number of years. Obviously, they're playing in the minor league stadium now. What do you think about just the sale in general and what it means for the future of Tampa Bay's Rays team? Yeah, I mean, this is a, a really important story that goes really beyond St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay, just because, you know, Rob Manfred, as he kind of heads towards the commissioner, as he heads towards kind of the end of his tenure, uh, at the top Major League Baseball, you know, expansion is a major priority for him and a big part of that has been settling the stadium and kind of ownership situations in both, with both the A's, as we know, they are, uh, very slowly moving towards Las Vegas and thenAlso the Rays, who have, of course, had a lot of upheaval, some of which under their control, some of which, you know, out of their control because of what happened with the hurricane and, uh, the damage done to Tropicana Field, their home where they're unable to play this year. So this is an important, uh, of course, bit of news for the franchise itself, but it is also in the big picture, a, a very big goal for the league office. Yep. Speaking of Rob Manford, uh, he was at the All-Star game, of course, and he did a media session where he touched on a bunch of different things between different interviews, everything from, uh, ending blackouts to media rights negotiations to, uh, essentially saying that the MLB MLB hasn't done a good enough job working with content creators over the years, like some other sports leagues have what did you just take of his kind of appearance in general, and, and I preface all of this with, uh, after all of that, I think it was Alex Rodriguez said that he belongs in Cooperstown. So there obviously claims to be, you know, differing opinions on, uh, whether people think he's doing a good job or a poor job. But what is your just kind of 30,000 ft view on how good of a job he's doing, if it is a good job, and then some of the comments that he said specifically during the weekend. Yeah, I, I think, you know, some of the stuff that A-Rod was referring to, I mean, a lot has changed in Major League Baseball over the last half decade. And, and also, again, some out of necessity, and some out of just very big, bold decisions, you know, changing what the, how the game is played with stuff like the pitch clock with, uh, soon to be, you know, a, the ABS challenge system with, with balls and strikes. So this commissioner has changed so much about the sport, and a lot of these haverousing successes, and I think attendance and ratings do say that, but the media landscape is a totally other different discussion. And that's something that is very, I mean, I'm less well versed in, in the exact numbers and financials of those as, as maybe someone like you are, but I do know that these are also big decisions that are going to shape what the sport looks like and what the financials are for, for owners who, for a long time were relying, you know, on uh, local sports revenue, uh, TV revenue that is not necessarily the same because of how these rights are being split up. And so that is going to determine, I think, kind of the spending power for some of these markets. Some of these markets are completely impervious to this because they have these massive TV deals and other smaller ones, this is going to make a big difference on the kinds of money that they're going to be bringing in, uh, via TV revenue over the next few years. So these are big decisions that the league clearly has to make. Yeah, during the CBA negotiations, there's been a lot of talk about uh salary caps, salary floors, you know, implementing some system that looks more like the NFL, NBA, etc. Um, do you think we'll ever get there? There's, there's an argument, right, that uh the players obviously don't want it because they can get as big of salaries as they can command right now, but they also sometimes, uh, depending on the math and the year, sometimes sharing a smaller percentage of total revenue than some of the other sports leagues do. So what is, what is your feeling around kind of what ends up happening there? Yeah, I mean, that, that is the ultimate question as we head towards these new CBA negotiations is, you know, the, the players, I think, uh, especially baseball in this union that has managed to avoid, uh, a salary cap for so long, I think that that really is the number one non-starter. I think a lot of fans want to see a salary floor to get some of those smaller market teams to be a little bit more competitive. Now, we are always going to have imbalance in baseball, and that is always going to be a reality of this, no matter what exact financial structure is put of just how disparate the spending, not just the spending power, but the spending willingness. I mean, this is the other thing. We do see teams spend when they want to. A lot of these teams are more capable than they're actually showing off. And so maybe they aren't all capable of spending like the Mets and the Dodgers, but we know that they have a lot more money that they're spending, uh, than, than, than what we have seen. And so I think that is the crux of the issue that teams can spend to be more competitive, and the owners, who, of course, Rob Manfred is explicitly working for, they're trying to find ways to keep spending down and to, in theory, level the playing field when ultimately they're just finding ways to spend less, uh, to remain more competitive. And so that is a very difficult issue. This is of course going to be the headlining of the CBA negotiations upcoming after next season. Yeah, it's gonna be interesting. I mean, if you put it in a salary cap, you got to have a floor just makes more sense, but uh the owners obviously want to keep costs down as much as they can. But Jordan, thank you so much for joining us got to take a quick break, but when we come back, we've got Washington University and Saint Louis's sports business program executive director, Patrick Risch joining the back to Yahoo Finance Sports Report. I'm your host, Joe Pagliano. We've made it to one on one, a conversation where I get to break down news and sports with the key player in the industry. This week we're speaking with Patrick Risch, executive director of the Sports Business program at Washington University in St. Louis and founder and CEO of Sports Impact. Patrick, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for joining me today. Now, I want to talk about a few different topics and a few different sports.I think the most logical place to start with is the WNBA. I think everyone saw last weekend, the players protesting during the middle of their CBA negotiations, wearing shirts that basically said, go pay us what we're worth. Now, you've probably, I assume, looked at this economic model for a long period of time as the league has grown with Caitlin Clark entering the league. What can you tell us about some of the challenges or what we might eventually see during the CBA negotiation? Well, it is challenging and it's also interesting, and, and the fact that if you look at the history of collective negotiations and all these other leagues, I think there are lessons to be learned from that as well. The players currently in the WNBA are earning roughly 9 or 10%.Of the revenue generated from the league. So you look at that in comparison to all the other more established leagues, and you said, well, that's, that's almost criminal because most of these leagues have now reached, I guess you could call a steady state where the players and the owners are of league revenues. So I think that's a place where we eventually are likely to see this end up. Now, whether that gets there in this particular round of negotiations or in the next CBA is, you know, remains to be seen. I think my biggest concern, as it relates to the growth of the WNBA is, is making sure that we're growing at a rate that is bringing in these expansion franchises, I believe, the last round of expansion with Cleveland, with Detroit, with Philadelphia, each franchise, they're paying $250 million. Part of the benefit of that for the other league owners is that money is now shared, those expansion fees are now shared across the league, buttressing some of the annual losses that the league has sustained operating loss over the growth, I think that's the key. Now, the other thing that you've got Joe, is huge in media revenue where the league starting next year is gonna be making, I believe it's $200 million per year, which is 4 times larger than where they've been. That obviously is going to help from an operating profits perspective for all the teams. So, fascinating. I don't know if they're gonna get to a 50/50 split on this particular round of negotiations, but I do anticipate that the players will, at the, at minimum, probably get up to 40% share of league revenues after this round of negotiations. Very interesting. I want to change gears here for a second and roll over to the House for NCAA settlement. I mean, this was a groundbreaking moment in sports history and certainly collegiate sports history, where through the House versus NCAA settlement, there's now going to be essentially this revenue sharing program with the schools and their athletes. Schools are going to be able to spend up to $20.5 million starting this year on their student athletes. They're gonna be able to sign of that stuff. There's also going to be a clearing house that's gonna kind of monitor all the existing and future NIL deals to make sure that they're actually NIL. So theoretically we should see, uh, you know, some of these collectives take a step back and more traditional NIL with revenue share mixed in. Now, that is to be determined what that looks like, but I'd love to get your opinion on just sort of the rollout, what that might look like, and sort of where we go from here. The lawyers are licking their chops. Uh, you know, look, I think there should be a clearing house, and I do like the fact that there is more, you know, kind of monitoring the types of engagements that are taking place and partnerships that are being done we opened this era of name, image and likeness, the part of the perspective was players have to do deals where they're actually receiving, uh, and providing services in return for, uh, the resources that they're being given. Uh, I think we got away from that and we got back to kind of this old school under the table collectives were creative way of getting around more traditional sponsorships and endorsement deals just to find ways to kids money. Uh, I, I, I really hope that we can, can kind of rein that in a bit. However, uh, I think that the house settlement obviously is changing and professionalizing collegiate sports in a way that we've never seen in the I do think that, uh, some of these schools where football is their main sport, they're gonna have to make some very interesting resource allocation decisions, right? Because most of that money, reports that I'm reading, you know, of 20.5 million, 1617 million of that may be spent on football. So now the non-football schools, uh, may have the opportunity to be a little bit more competitive in, let's say men's and women's basketball, because they can allocate those resources more so to those particular, uh,Revenue drivers for their school. Joe, it's gonna be absolutely fascinating as I, as I let off. There are going to be some legal challenges because lawyers typically with respect to student athlete rights, they want to give their athletes freedom to be able to choose and earn as they wish. So I, I, I, I think it's going to be still a degree of wild wild west, and we'll see if the government is gonna step in and create some kind of national legislation. I think that's gonna be more trouble than it's worth. Yeah, to your point, it's gonna be interesting to see when that first school sort of goes over that bumper and tries to navigate the rules, uh, in a different manner and what that punishment is, because I think that's gonna be sort of a watershed moment for the, for the industry as a whole to really see what the punishment is. But time will tell, probably in the next couple of years here, if I had to imagine. But Patrick, you recently released a study, uh, an economic study on the 2025 NFL draft in Green Bay. And I want to dig into this a little bit if we these events are really interesting from a finance perspective, because everyone looks at events and they say, oh, it brings this huge economic impact. And sometimes maybe that's true, a lot of times it's probably not. But Green Bay is sort of a unique area where they weren't going to be able to get a Super Bowl. They built out this Title Town district, basically an entertainment district around the stadium. So then they were given the NFL draft. Now, this is still a big event in a small market. Tell me a little bit about what you were able to determine through this study. Sure, you know, the NFL draft is interesting and, and yes, you're bringing in a lot of fans. Now granted, you're bringing in a lot of, let's say regional fans or fans from bordering states, unlike, let's say the College World Series in Omaha, where you truly are getting people from all over the country and it's a higher percentage. For the NFL draft, and I've done the study now the last couple of years, last year in Detroit, this year in Green Bay, you are still getting a lot of non-locals, people that are not from the immediate, let's say, surround uh the host city, but it tends to be more regional in the sense that maybe you'll get people from other parts of the state, Milwaukee, Madison, and then bordering states like Minnesota, Michigan, uh, Illinois and the like, but they're coming in, regardless of how far away they're coming. They are coming in, they're spending money at hotels, and they're also getting a chance to kind of, in in some cases, experiencing Green Bay for the first time, and that could lead to future tourism. Uh, you, always fascinating when you're doing the survey research as we do on site, and then you just have these anecdotal conversations with people. Man, I've never been up here before. I look forward to coming back at some point, whether it's for a Packers game or, oh wow, this title town was amazing. Uh, I'd love to come back here when there's not a football game. So it's that kind of anecdotal feedback that shows you, yeah, yeah, there's, there's a lot of value, um, that these communities receive from hosting these events, and it also builds up a profile, uh, so it serves as a great marketing pitch for the community. Yeah, I think that's, uh, spot on, and we saw it in Detroit, and we certainly saw it in Green Bay as well. Switching gears to, uh, FIFA. FIFA did the Club World Cup this past, uh, summer, this summer, and we're going to be hosting the World Cup across North America next year. What was your general feedback on sort of how the Club World Cup was run and what do you think that says for the future with the World Cup coming next year? Well, I think we need to understand, uh, they got a lot of bad press because a lot of the matches were not well attended. And uh people have to understand, I think part of the whole reason why this was put on was it was a dry run for next year's World Cup in terms of logistics. And yes, maybe you can't gauge the logistics of how you're gonna operationally run a World Cup match when you have only half the audience that you're going to have next summer, but it' a dry run to ensure that, OK, when we host the World Cup in 2026, what are the things operationally, logistically on site we need to think of day of security, entry, flow, all these logistical operational issues, uh, that you just have to think about when you are running an event at a particular property. So I, I think that's the main takeaway from, from the Club World Cup is, you know, it's hard to it's apples to oranges in terms of the magnitude and the, and the crowd sizes and so forth. But I think at least hosting this, you at least have an initial sense and a feel for what groups, when I say groups, uh, a venue and property owners are gonna have to do to run those events at SOI in Miami, in Kansas City, at, at the GHA Field, uh, all these places that are hosting World Cup matches next summer. Yeah, and the last thing I'd like to talk about is just kind of overall the sports industry and where things head over the next few years. As someone who looks a lot at, uh, virtually every sports league, I imagine, and certainly the ones here in North America, are there any specific sports leagues, uh, that stand out to you, maybe one or two of them that you think are poised for growth over the next couple of years? You know, there's been so much focus on the WNBA and NWSL and of course, of the women's professional sports leagues, those are the leagues that, you know, arguably carry the most gravitas and most attention, uh, for a variety of reasons. But I think that when it comes toTo the the love volleyball league as well as women's softball, you know, women's sports generally, as we all know, has really picked up momentum in the last several years for a variety of reasons, more love from media, more love from corporate partners, and those two kind of flow I, I, I actually think that women's softball is going to be a growth sport because if you look at the women's College World Series, all the ratings continue to grow, uh, the attendance is usually sold out there in Oklahoma City, but I think that's an area where, you know, the games are faster, the action is fast, and that and volleyball, I are two areas that are going to see more growth, more expansion, as more people want to get into the ownership of pro sports but are priced out, you know, there, it used to be that people would get into, uh, the NWSL and the WNBA because they were priced out of being in the NBA or in the NFL. Guess what? Those franchise increased so rapidly in women's basketball and women's soccer that now the next tier of ownership could be those sports volleyball and softball and, and quite frankly, again, we've seen the ratings, the college level have grown, so I do think this is a growth opportunity for many, uh, for many markets and also many people that want to invest in women's sports. Very interesting. I love those two picks with uh softball and volleyball, but thanks so much for joining us, Patrick. I had a great time talking to clock is winding down here, but we have just enough time for some final buzzs. So let's talk about Snoop Dogg. Snoop Dogg famously keeps his mind on his money and his money on his mile, and now he's putting some of that money toward a new ownership stake in soccer club Swansea City. Last week, Swansea City confirmed that the American rapper is joining its ownership group as a co-owner and investor, but financial terms were not disclosed. The 53 year old will join an all-American ownership group led by Andy Coleman, Brett Kravitt, and Jason Cohen, who collectively own the Football LLC. Snoop Dogg said in a statement released by the team, quote, The story of the club in the area really struck a chord with me. This is a proud working class city and club, an underdog that bites back, just like me, end quote. Snoop also helped Swansea City launch its 2025 26 jersey kit a few days before the official announcement by wearing its home shirt in a social media post from the club. Now Swansea City competes in the EFL championship, which is the second tier of the English Football League behind the top flight Premier club last played in the Premier League in the 2017-2018 season before being relegated to the championship, where the team has played for the last seven seasons. But this coming season, Snoop Dogg will have fellow American celebrity owners to compete against. Wrexham AFC, the now famous Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElaney, were promoted to the EFL championship after finishing 2nd in the 3rd tier EFL League One last and Swansea City will also battle against seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady, who is a minority investor in Birmingham City, which secured promotion to the championship with Wrexham after winning League One in 2025. Now it's time to see if Snoop Dogg, Macklin, Reynolds, and Brady can have their soccer investments pay off bid by securing promotion to the Premier all out of time, so it's officially game over for this week. Thank you so much to Jord Patrick and all of you for joining us. Please make sure to scan the QR code below to follow Yahoo Finance podcast for more videos and expert insight and catch us every Friday wherever you get your podcast. I'm your host, Joe Polianaa. See you next time. This content was not intended to be financial advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional financial services. Related Videos VW CFO on US Auto Tariffs, Electric Vehicles, Earnings Tether CEO on US Stablecoin Policy, US Dollar Hegemony, Staying Private Alphabet posts Q2 earnings beat, but boosts spending outlook German Exporters Can Live With 15% Tariff, Ifo Says Yahoo Finance Sports Report is developed and produced by Lauren Pokedoff. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
New York Times
23-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
The simple solution to solve the WNBA's looming ‘Pay Us' labor crisis: MoneyCall
Welcome back to MoneyCall, The Athletic's weekly sports business cheat sheet. (Was this forwarded to you? Subscribe here.) Name-dropped today: Stud Budz, Lloyd Howell Jr., Sydney Colson, Derrick Rose, Dave Portnoy and Pat McAfee, Sephora, Kim Kardashian, Peacock, Soar the Eagle, Snoop Dogg and more. Let's go: 'Pay us what you owe us' Few pro athletes are as comfortable and willing to speak up as the players of the WNBA, as you saw on and off the court this past weekend in Indianapolis — from message T-shirts to the Stud Budz. (If you don't know the Stud Budz, you must read this explainer.) No one wants to see a lockout. Most everyone — even WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert — agrees the players should be paid more. (At her annual midseason press conference, she even said, 'We want to significantly increase their salary.') Players are meaningfully underpaid relative to the value they drive for the league. And so as the league and players carom towards a brutal labor battle this fall — just as the league is hitting escape velocity — what to do? Advertisement Let's solve this with sensibility: Just match the NBA. In the NBA, 50 percent of league 'basketball-related income' (TV deals, tickets, sponsorships, merch sales) goes to player salaries, split equally among the teams. Currently, the WNBA's current BRI rev split with the players is reported to be anywhere from 75/25 to 90/10 (depending on your accounting), either of which feels archaic. To be sure: Team owners will hate going from 90/10 to 50/50, but their ever-increasing franchise valuations and overall revenue growth will more than make up for it. Let's take an easy example, and focus specifically on TV money: The WNBA's new TV deal, which goes into effect next season, is around $200 million a year. Half would go to player salaries. Split that $100M among the 15 teams in 2026. That's $6.5 million per year per team for salaries, a $5 million increase from the current salary cap. That's a jump in average player salary from $117K to $540K — of course, star players would (and should) get more than role players, just as they do in the NBA. The bottom line is that there is already a standard for how major pro basketball leagues split the basketball-related revenue with players. It can be applied here. It's less a question of what is owed than: 'Pay us … like our pro basketball counterparts in this country.' Much more coming on all this from The Athletic's WNBA reporters. Rocky times for NFLPA, plus instructive WNBA ratings Big talkers from the sports-business industry… NFL, ESPN near NFL Media deal: My colleague Andrew Marchand gets you caught up on the fascinating potential 2025 bookend to the 1987 media deal that you could argue officially put ESPN on the map. Can NFL Media help accelerate ESPN's new direct-to-consumer platform, officially launching in a few weeks? Advertisement Without Clark, WNBA ASG ratings solid: 2.2M didn't come close to matching last year's (Caitlin Clark's WNBA All-Star Game debut), but they were up huge over 2023 B.C. (Before Clark), and it was still the second most-watched WNBA ASG ever. Big 12 turns down Memphis millions: In this avaricious era of college sports realignment, you'd never think a conference would turn down a couple hundred million dollars to add a school — but the Big 12 actually said 'no thanks' to Memphis. NFLPA leadership crisis: Lloyd Howell Jr. out (from two jobs!). JC Tretter out. What does it say about the strength of the most powerful sports league in the world that the players' union is so rudderless? My colleague (and host of our new 'No Free Lunch' podcast) Ndamukong Suh is taking questions from readers (including MoneyCall readers!), and I will be sending him that one. But you should submit your own questions for him: nofreelunch@ Other current obsessions: Sydney Colson doing a stand-up set during WNBA All-Star weekend … Derrick Rose's enthusiasm for chess … Mac Miller bobblehead night in Pittsburgh … the return of 'Happy Gilmore' to the zeitgeist … Peak's new seven-day walking challenge … No, seriously: Stud Budz … ESPN's Pat McAfee vs. Fox's Dave Portnoy? Barstool Sports is partnering with Fox Sports around college football Saturdays and weekday programming. I had to check in with my colleague Andrew Marchand for his take on the latest Fox vs. ESPN battleground: How do you envision the rivalry playing out? 💬 The intrigue is in the big names and traditional media vs. new media. On weekdays, Stephen A. Smith and Mike Greenberg, traditional media, are ESPN stars on mornings and will face Barstool directly. ESPN has a huge advantage in reach, so it will have better TV ratings, but with Pat McAfee, ESPN has leaned into a new way of tallying audience, using YouTube and social — Fox may lean into that. Advertisement On Saturdays, McAfee has been something of a flight risk on 'GameDay,' threatening not to return at times, but now against Dave Portnoy and Barstool on 'Big Noon Kickoff,' I imagine McAfee may be more inclined to stay for the fight. The one misconception is that Portnoy will be used like the every-down panelist McAfee is. Fox will likely mix and match Portnoy to best utilize him, but not on every segment. Get more from Marchand on this on his podcast this week. Data Point: $2.38 billion That was The Athletic's proprietary valuation for the University of Texas' football program — roughly the valuation of the Carolina Panthers when they sold in 2018. Our college football team did valuations for all 68 power-conference teams, and the entire list is definitely worth checking out. Price Increase: NBC's Peacock As of today, Peacock's pricing goes up $3 per month (the cheapest tier, ad-supported, goes from $7.99 to $10.99). It's reductive, but call it the 'live sports tax' — NBC adding the NBA creates valuable new programming for Peacock subscribers, but it wasn't cheap for NBCU to acquire (~$2.5B per year). Brand Launch: Denver Summit FC Love the name. Love the logo and crest. Kudos to the team for letting the fans pick the name. Runner-up: The American. The American Athletic Conference ('AAC') is now just the American Conference ('American'), complete with a very, um, atypical *conference* mascot, Soar the Eagle. Sponsorshipping > Sephora x AUSL: The beauty giant is the presenting sponsor for the softball league's championship series this weekend, doubling down after deals with the Golden State Valkyries and Unrivaled. >Skims x League One Volleyball: Kim Kardashian's company is replicating its WNBA and NBA deal (official underwear) with the start-up volleyball pro league (official loungewear/intimates/sleepwear). Advertisement Investor of the Week: Snoop Dogg Let's get Swansea City that behind-the-scenes TV show deal for the days when new part-owner Snoop comes around the training grounds. Elevator Pitch: WNBA in an NFL stadium Loved this idea from my colleague Richard Deitsch about why the WNBA should schedule the Fever to play in the Colts' stadium and smash the attendance record for a WNBA game. Power Ranking: Top NHL local broadcasts See the full 32-team ranking here. Beat Dan in Connections: Sports edition Wed 7/23: Puzzle #303 Dan's time: 00:27 Try the game here! Great business-adjacent reads for your downtime or commute: How Premier League teams convince players to sign with them. Two more: Back next Wednesday! Here's a sensible 50/50 split: Forward MoneyCall to three colleagues, then to three friends. And, as always, give a (free!) try to all The Athletic's other newsletters.
