The week ahead around the NFL Draft, soccer in America and Jack Swarbrick offers stark vision of college sports
Had a wonderful visit to Phoenix and Tempe, where I spent the day with the legendary Glenn Wong and fabulous students at the Sports Law & Business program at Arizona State University. It was also great to see former MLB Commissioner, Bud Selig looking so good and healthy as he also spoke as part of the Selig Speaker Symposium at Arizona State University. So a great day on Thursday with the students and Glenn Wong, and Bud Selig.
This is your Morning Buzzcast for Monday, April 25th. I am Abe Madkour, hope everybody is ready for a big week, because we do have a big week coming up. Let's start with the NFL draft that will run Thursday to Saturday in Las Vegas, and yes, Las Vegas will be a true spectacle for the draft. Remember, Nashville drew 600,000 fans over three days for the 2019 draft. One estimate had Las Vegas potentially hosting close to a million people over the three days. Here are some things you will see.
First, the NFL will announce the first Thursday night game for Amazon Prime's Thursday night schedule. The opener is on week two on September 15th so the NFL will announce that opening game for Amazon during the first round on Thursday night. You will also see up to 10 teams announce selections from foreign countries on the third day of the draft as the teams with new international commercial rights look to leverage the draft to build their fan bases abroad for the first time. So you'll see the Jets will make a pick from London. The Dolphins will make a selection from Brazil and the Steelers will make a pick from Mexico City, among examples, all on the third day of the draft. So a lot to look forward to from Las Vegas.
Let's stay with the NFL because the league is looking to steal some market share from the NBA on Christmas day. The NFL will play three games this December 25th for the first time as Christmas day falls on a Sunday, and if you're wondering if that means they're going up against the NBA, well, yes, they certainly will be. The three NFL games will go up against five NBA games that day because the NBA has long been the focus on Christmas day. The NBA has played five games on December 25th for the past 14 years, but now here comes the NFL. There will be two games on Christmas day in the afternoon and a primetime game on NBC on Christmas night. This will be the third straight year the league has played on Christmas day. There'll be 11 games on December 24th, Christmas Eve and after the Christmas triple header, the week will close with a Monday night game on December 26th. But the bottom line is the NFL is planting a flag this year on Christmas day with three games going up against the NBA.
We have a big week for professional soccer, so let's offer a quick preview. First, history will be made in women's soccer and we'll touch on a lot later in the week, but Friday night Angel City will make its long awaited debut. Angel City opens its inaugural regular season against the North Carolina Courage at Banc of California Stadium. We have talked so much about the team and its ownership that includes entrepreneur Julie Uhrman. You have venture capitalist, Kara Norman, you have actress Natalie Portman. You have a celebrity driven investor group that has grown to nearly 100 people. Remember, they were awarded an NWSL expansion team in the summer of 2020 and now here we are 2022 and this Friday Angel City officially kicks off. I anticipate this being quite the story for the NWSL and nationally.
On the MLS side, Nashville SC will open its brand new 30,000 seat Geodis Park and they will play in front of a sold out audience next Sunday, May 1st. That'll be its first home game at its new stadium. The club has sold just over 21,000 season tickets at the new facility. As I mentioned, this facility is one of the biggest in MLS. It will seat 30,000 fans and the team has sold just over 21,000 season tickets at the new park and that is a very strong number. The stadium's premium inventory is all sold out. Construction is largely finished on the stadium, although there will be some surrounding infrastructure upgrades that will continue through the summer, but Nashville SC moving into its new home on Sunday.
While I was out in Tempe on Thursday, there was chatter about the Coyotes starting play next season at Arizona State University's new 5,000 seat arena. And yes, there are certainly questions about the financial breakdown of this type of deal and what that means for the players' association and league revenue overall. But put that aside for a second, there is a lot of excitement about the game presentation and the fan experience at such a intimate venue. But one thing to keep an eye on is ticket pricing because over the weekend, the team released season ticket details for the upcoming season and the prices, expectedly, are not cheap. In fact, one report I saw had the prices close to doubling this year's ticket prices because of the reduced inventory.
So the Coyotes' top season ticket price for the ASU arena next year will be about $14,350 for a full season for seats near the glass. The most affordable full season ticket price is just over 3,600 that's. For the corners around the goal. The median price for tickets under the full season plan is around $157 per game. So current Coyote season ticket holders will have priority in selecting their seats but again, this is a story to continue to watch as the Coyotes look to relocate to ASU's new 5,000 seat arena next year.
Let's end the Buzzcast around college sports. If you read one story from the weekend, I suggest you read SI's Pat Forde's interesting interview with University of Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick. The two touch on a lot. Here are some takeaways. First, Jack Swarbrick believes the breakup of college sports at the division one level is inevitable and he says it could happen within a decade. He said, "There are so many schools trying to leave their current conferences right now, but they can't because their existing contracts prevent them from doing so." He also predicted two different approaches to a new division one model. There'll be schools that still operate athletics within a traditional educational structure. But then he sees schools who tie athletics to the university in name only, meaning they would license the school name and run an independent business that's engaged in sports.
Jack Swarbrick says that he doesn't want to retire from college sports without at least trying to find some solutions going forward. He says he's been working on a bunch of concepts. He is hoping to facilitate some ideas that people will at least consider nationally and see if they can make any progress. But Jack Swarbrick with a very interesting interview and he certainly has a lot of ideas about the changing dynamic nature of college sports.
Don't pencil in Washington State president Kirk Schulz to run the Big 12 just yet. Remember we mentioned that on the Buzzcast last week, but a spokesperson said that the Washington State president is not a candidate for the Big 12 commissioner position. Kirk Schulz has reportedly said that he is very clear he wants to stay in his current position and he has no interest in the position of Big 12 commissioner. So that was a position and an opening after the retirement of Bob Bowlsby that we'll continue to keep an eye on.
Finally, a very big day for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Owner Jeff Vinik, CEO Steve Griggs and the whole team as President Biden will host the Lightning on the South Lawn today to sell celebrate their two recent Stanley Cup championships. Remember, the Lightning are up for team of the year. The Sports Business Awards are right around the corner Wednesday, May 18th in New York. Get your ticket to the Sports Business Awards today by going to Sportsbusinessjournal.com to reserve a table or your individual seat. I would love to see you there. It's going to be a great night. So that is your Morning Buzzcast for Monday, April 25th. A big week in sports business. I'm Abe Madkour. Stay healthy. Be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.