The end for Emmert; USFL week two numbers drop; Oak View Group wins Mets patch assignment and Daytona Speedway lands NWSL match.
Sports Business Journal is hosting another edition of Strictly Business today, Wednesday at 2:00 PM Eastern Time. It'll be a special NFL Draft edition. Be sure to follow SBJ on Twitter @sbjsbd. Our Strictly Business today at two o'clock. And today is Wednesday, April 27th. This is your Morning Buzzcast. Good morning. I'm Abe Madkour. The news hit last night around 6:30 PM Eastern Time that Mark Emmert and the NCAA mutually agreed to part ways and end Emmert's 12 challenging years leading the association.
The 69 year old Mark Emmert will continue to serve in his role until a new president is in place or until June 30th of next year 2023. It was just a year ago when Mark Emmert was given a contract extension. To me, this move last night did come as a bit of a surprise, but the move is welcome and it's needed. Mark Emmert was likely ready to move on and college sports is going through its most daunting and difficult period and needs a new leader who can earn the trust of the members.
I've always found Mark Emmert to be kind. He was always easy to deal with, but the changes in college sports weren't always anticipated or handled properly out of Indianapolis, as the National Office had little respect from members and institutions and especially athletic directors. Emmert played well and worked well with presidents and chancellors. Remember, he was one of them, but he wasn't well regarded by those on the ground every day, the athletic directors.
They felt he missed all the major challenges and changes coming to college sports. Now, financially, the NCAA has done very well under Mark Emmert. NCAA revenue has reached more than a billion dollars per year under his watch. That is largely through the television deals for the men's college basketball tournament. But with NIL, with the Transfer Portal, with the Transformation Committee, with continued realignment, it's time to see if the NCAA can regain some of the trust it has lost under Mark Emmert's leadership.
We will have plenty of reaction to Mark Emmert's exit on sportsbusinessjournal.com all day today and read our SBJ College Newsletter as Michael Smith gives his smart analysis on Mark Emmert's tenure at the NCAA. Let's move on. We have said from the start, when you look to assess the new USFL, don't look at attendance in Birmingham. Look for the television viewership numbers. Well, week two of the USFL action saw a steep decline from the opening week.
Viewership fell almost 60% from week one to week two, which isn't an entirely positive sign. USFL games during week two averaged just over 660,000 viewers. That's down from around 1.5 million in week one. Those numbers are a steeper drop than the XFL experience two years ago. They are a bit more in line with the Alliance of American Football's numbers in 2018. That saw a similar drop in viewership.
I can't speak for Fox, but I can assure you, they really want viewership to average at least a million viewers on the very low end. We need to see if the USFL can get back to that figure and grow. Because if the viewership stays around mid six figures, 600,000, 650,000 viewers on average, that will not bode well for the future of the USFL. We have talked about the Oak View Group's success in selling naming rights to stadiums and arenas.
Now the Oak View Group is taking on inventory that has an asking price equal to or even more than naming rights. That's Major League Baseball's new sleeve ad patches. Oak View Group has been retained to sell one of were marquee deals. Yes, they have been retained by the New York Mets to sell the ad patch sleeve patch for that team. Insiders expect this deal to be anywhere between $15 million to $20 million per year. That's why I say it is equal to or even greater than a naming rights deal.
Remember, right now the Mets are off to a very good start. They are in that hot city of New York. Remember, Oak View Group has had success selling in New York. They sold naming rights to UBS Arena, the new facility of the New York Islanders, which opened in November. Oak View Group President of Global Partnerships Dan Griffis said that the agency was looking to represent just one baseball team at a time for a patch deal, but it had to be the right one.
They certainly think being retained to sell the ad patch for the New York Mets is the right team at the right time. Oak View Group out in the market selling the ad patch for the New York Mets. We have talked about the decision on Chelsea coming up soon. Well, the bidders to try to land Chelsea had been invited to Stamford Bridge to make a final pitch to be selected as the club's new owner. Representatives from each bid group were set to have a final presentation this week.
No timetable has been given on when a buyer will be named, but it could come by the end of May. Any new owner of Chelsea will have to commit to the club for at least 10 years. Insiders expect the winning bid for Chelsea to be north of $3 billion with another $1 billion required to invest into Stamford Bridge and a renovation there. All in, that would be a very hefty price tag and the highest in sports history. Again, it's getting closer for Chelsea to have a new owner.
A new owner could be announced by the end of May. We always look for new and novel uses at sports venues, and so here's one, soccer is coming to Daytona International Speedway, as the Speedway will host a match between the NWSL's Orlando Pride and Racing Louisville FC as part of its first ever Daytona Soccer Fest. This will see the Pride and Racing Louisville game on Sunday, July 3rd. They will play on a newly built soccer field at the track. It'll be the first NWSL match ever to take place at a racetrack.
The game will air nationally on CBS Sports Network starting at 8 PM on that July 3rd, but soccer coming to Daytona International Speedway. And finally, like we do, we like to end around people. Good friend and well-known sports business leader Ken Shropshire is leaving his role as founder and CEO of the Arizona State Global Sport Institute and as Adidas Distinguished Professor at ASU. He is leaving July 4th after five years at the helm.
The Global Sport Institute will continue under his existing college and they continue to do very important work. Shropshire founded that five years ago. Ken Shropshire, he's an author. He's an attorney. He's been a consultant. He's been an educator in sports business. He will move back East and continue to be connected with the Wharton School as professor emeritus. He was with Wharton for more than 30 years. Ken Shropshire leaving Arizona State to head back East this July.
And don't forget, we're hosting another edition of Strictly Business today at 2:00. A special NFL Draft edition. Be sure to follow SBJ on Twitter @sbjsbd. And finally, tickets for the Sports Business Awards on May 18th are nearly sold out. Do not lose your opportunity to be in the ballroom on the biggest night in sports business. Every heavy hitter will be there. It's a great night. Again, May 18th. Go to our website. Buy your ticket today. That is your Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, April 27th.
I'm Abe Madkour. Hope you have a great day. Stay healthy. Be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.