Takeaways from the NCAA; Ohio State football ticket sales strong and three stadium developments to keep an eye on
It's certainly a big week. Major League Baseball starts its season on Thursday. You have the Masters, where Tiger Woods is a game time decision. I'll be in Boston tomorrow on assignment, and then Augusta, later in the week, if you'll be at the Masters on either Thursday or Friday, let me know. Love to see you there. This is your Morning Buzzcast for Monday, April 4th. I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody's ready to start the week.
First off, congratulations to the number one seed, University of South Carolina and coach, Dawn Staley, as they won their second Woman's College Basketball title and six years beating Connecticut 64 49 in last night's NCAA Women's Championship game. That game capped a very successful NCAA Women's Tournament. The other big hit around the women's tournament was ESPN's ultimate game broadcast featuring Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi that generated very positive buzz as two talked hoops at a Target Center lounge for the games on Friday and Sunday. Look for that to be recreated in future women's broadcasts.
Meanwhile, North Carolina's win over Duke in the men's Final Four on Saturday night will likely mark the second best college basketball game ever on cable TV. That's according to our Austin Carp. He also says the game will be the best semifinal on cable or broadcast since 2017. The game, of course, was on TBS. Will simulcast on TNT and TruTV. The game drew a preliminary audience of 16.3 million viewers. That number will grow as they aggregate more viewers over the next day or two, but it will still trail Wisconsin's upset of then undefeated Kentucky in 2015, which averaged 22.6 million viewers. But a 16.3 million viewer total for Saturday night's North Carolina Duke game, still a very strong number.
Speaking of strong numbers, going to two nights for WrestleMania, certainly worked for the WWE as WrestleMania 38 became WWE's highest grossing and most attended event in company history. The event drew more than 150,000 fans from all 50 states and 53 different countries. They attended AT&T's Stadium in Dallas over the course of two nights. So a successful weekend for the WWE. In case you're booking your calendar, WrestleMania 39 takes place in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium next April 1st and 2nd, Saturday and Sunday nights in Los Angeles at SoFi.
Let's shift to some news around the Oakland A's because they said that their preferred Las Vegas site for a potential $1 billion dome ballpark could be announced in four to six weeks. That would be a big step. The A's are working on parallel pass in Las Vegas, but also Oakland. A's officials will make about three trips to Las Vegas over the next six weeks. Meanwhile, we talked about the parallel path in Oakland. That hit a little bit on Friday as the A's and the city of Oakland were hit with a lawsuit tied to the plan, $12 billion Howard Terminal ballpark project and development project in Oakland. The lawsuit alleges that the project centered on a $1 billion waterfront ballpark would pose an environmental to risk to the bay area. The A's expected lawsuits, California law will see these lawsuits settle a little bit more expeditiously, but still, the A's working in parallel pass to Las Vegas and in Oakland. They hope to announce their preferred site in Las Vegas in the next month to six weeks.
An interesting story out of Columbus, Ohio, which I think is an interesting indication of the sports snapback. Season ticket sales for Ohio State football games have returned to pre-pandemic levels. That is a great sign. Ohio State has sold more than 53,000 season tickets for this upcoming 22 season. It is the first time Ohio State has sold more than 50,000 non-student season tickets since COVID began impacting attendance two years ago. It's the most season tickets the team has sold since 2017. Like I said, it's a positive sign. We should know that Ohio State has a very strong home schedule. They open up against Notre Dame. They end with their rivalry game against Michigan on Thanksgiving weekend. The renewal rate for season tickets is about at 86%, and they also sold more than 16,000 new season tickets. So overall, a very good story in Columbus around Ohio State football season ticket sales.
One story I found to be fascinating is what the New York Mets are doing around a facial recognition ticketing system with computer vision company, Wicket. The Mets are the first baseball team to offer Wicket's facial ticketing, and they'll do that at Citi Field. Last year, Wicket had a pilot program Citi Field at a select VIP gates. Now the Mets and Wicket have partnered to add facial ticketing kiosk at all ballpark gates this season. All a fan must do is upload a photo of themselves on mlb.com. They can register their face. The Mets, see this as clearly a way to get fans in the venue faster. Other teams that use Wicket's facial ticketing include the Browns and the Crew. The Mets hope to take this partnership to explore facial recognition in other areas of Citi Field. They could see facial payments at concession stand. So really, a fascinating story to keep your eye on in terms of facial ticketing recognition at Citi Field.
And let's end with some news around stadiums. First, in Sacramento, USL Club Sacramento Republic FC are in the advanced planning stages of building a new soccer stadium in the downtown that would be part of a major entertainment and mixed use district. The republics of the stadium would seat 12,000 to 15,000 for soccer, cost anywhere from 100 to 150 million. Remember, this was the site that had been earmarked for an MLS expansion team, but those plans fell through. Team and city officials still want an MLS team in Sacramento, and they are planning to have a stadium that could be flexible and expanded. So Sacramento, looking to do a major entertainment district in its downtown.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are surveying their season ticket holders about whether they would support a renovated stadium, and what they would like to see in upgrades at the stadium. The Jaguars set out surveys last week, starting on Thursday. They hired CAA ICON, which is a management consulting firm based in Denver, to administer and tabulate the survey results. The Jaguars' lease at the city-owned TIAA Bank Field expires in 2030.
And finally, I'm watching Nashville, Tennessee and the Titans pursuit of a new stadium. Tennessee governor, Bill Lee, has proposed $500 million in bonds to put towards a new dome stadium for the Titans. And the speaker of the house said Friday that owners of the Titans have offered to put up 700 million toward the venue. So the early plan is that the stadium would have a retractable roof and draw major events. But what you have to watch is there's still a delta in financing right now as the 500 million from the state and the 700 million from the team adds up to $1.2 billion. And that would leave about an $800 million gap if the cost estimate of the stadium, about $2 billion, is accurate. But this is moving along quickly. And it's very interesting considering that Nissan Stadium is only 23 years old, but Nashville, the state of Tennessee, and the Titans moving quick to try to get plans for a new dome stadium done and paid for.
So that is your Morning Buzzcast for Monday, April 4th. I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody enjoys the men's final tonight. Like I said, I'll be hit or miss the rest of the week. Managing editor, David Albright, will bring you your Buzzcast. Until we speak to you again, stay healthy, be good to each other, and have a great week.