Will LIV Golfers be in the mix on Sunday? Tying on bow on the Men's Tournament viewership; the Heat move quickly to replace FTX and two former Mass pols standing out
So I had an after work drink on Tuesday night with a few sports business friends, and of course our conversation focused on our favorite sporting event that we've ever been to, as well as a focus on the Masters. That turned into a discussion on whether any LIV golfer would be in contention for a green jacket. We left the restaurant with a bet that one laid down as he left. No more than one LIV golfer would be in the top 10 after the end of Saturday. That was his bet. That's what he put down. And the bet was accepted by a couple others and a future dinner was put as something to look forward to. So what do you think? Will a LIV golfer be in the top 10 at the end of Saturday? Let me know.
And this is your Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, April 5th. Good morning. I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the Buzzcast. By the way, Buzzcast had one of its best months ever in March, so thank you for listening and thanks for continuing to spread the word. Let's get right to the news.
The numbers are in for the NCAA men's basketball tournament and SBJ's Austin Carp Notes that UConn's win over San Diego State on CBS was the least watched Men's Basketball Championship on record. The game drew 14.6 million viewers, below the previous low, which was Villanova-Michigan in 2018. Now that one aired on TBS and TNT and that one drew just under 16 million viewers. So this is about 2 million viewers soft of that one. Now, the previous low for a CBS finale was in 2004 with 17.1 million viewers. So this game coming in at 14.6 million viewers shows that there just wasn't the regular traditional appeal here. So while the women's tournament showed great strength behind new stars like Caitlin Clark and the finals getting an all-time high of 9.9 million viewers, the men's side without the marquee schools or marquee names seem to suffer in comparison. In fact, the entire men's tournament was down 7% across networks compared to last year. So putting a bow on the NCAA men's tournament viewership numbers.
Let's shift to some news on naming rights. Remember the Miami Heat's arena was known as the FTX Arena. We know what happened to that deal. Well, the heat didn't waste much time and it will be now known as the Kaseya Center. After the county approved a $117 million naming rights deal with the Miami based software company. It is a 17 year agreement. It is very close to the team's previous deal with the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Of course, that deal didn't really end well. The name change will be immediate as it will be called the Kaseya Center for this weekend's UFC event and the Heat's regular season finale on Sunday. Now, the Heat also signed a deal making Kaseya the official IT solutions partner of the team. So kudos to the Heat, they moved very quickly as the deal with FTX ended just a few months ago and the team already has a replacement signed and on the building, so the Heat and Miami have a new name to its downtown arena.
Let's move to the NFL because a story to watch will be out of Arizona as ESPN's. Adam Schefter reported late on Tuesday that NFL Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill, has been accused of misconduct, including cheating, discrimination, and harassment. All that was in an arbitration claim filed by a former Cardinals vice president of personnel Terry McDonough. The basis of the claim is that Terry McDonough, who is the son of longtime Boston Globe reporter Will McDonough, states that he and former Cardinal's coach Steve Wilkes were forced by Michael Bidwill to use burner phones to communicate with former GM Steve Keim, while Keim was serving a suspension after pleading guilty to DUI in Arizona. Now, the allegations also include overall aggressive bullying and demeaning behavior by Michael Bidwill toward McDonough and other employees.
Now, Terry McDonough has been with the team since 2013, but as of late yesterday, his name was removed from the list of staff members on the team's website. Now the Cardinals have denied the allegations, calling them outlandish. The team has 20 days to respond to McDonough's claims, and then NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will decide how the claim should be heard and resolved. This is going to be a story that bears watching.
There's no question that the baseball video boards are getting bigger while they're getting bigger across sports. But we talked on the Buzzcast a few weeks ago about how the new boards at Citi Field in center field were going to be more than 17,000 square feet that measured three times larger than the one it replaced. And that's a Samsung board and it's one of the biggest video boards in baseball. Now, it's hard to keep up with the spending of Steve Cohen at the Mets, but the Phillies will unveil their newest video board at Citizens Bank Park during their home opener on Thursday. And this one's designed by Daktronics and it's 77% larger than the one it replaced, and it will now be the third largest board in baseball. Now, the Phillies is considered moving the board to another location, but they kept it in left field. If you've seen the highlights from Citizens Bank Park, you see where this board sits, towering over left field. It's very impressive. The team did not want to change the look and feel of the ballpark by moving the board, so it's going to stay in left field.
Now, bottom line though, it's going to remain in arms race for these video boards. You see what the Mets did, you're seeing what the Phillies are doing. I saw images of what the Patriots are doing at Gillette Stadium for this fall. So these boards will be huge and they will be a full out assault on the senses. Most people love them, some people find that they watch the video boards all game instead of the action on the field. But these boards will continue to get bigger and more dynamic and more impressive.
There are two former Massachusetts politicians who are new to sports and, frankly, I have found them both to be fresh voices that are good for the sports industry. They are new NCAA President Charlie Baker and the new NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh. If you watched Charlie Baker's appearance on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, you saw a humble, self-aware leader who knows that he has a lot to learn and knows that there's a lot to get done and that he doesn't have all the answers. Now, what I like about Marty Walsh is that he too comes across as someone interested in learning as much as he can. He said one of his first jobs will be frankly just getting to know the players on all 32 NHL teams, saying that he wants to get to know them on a personal level while also trying to understand all the intricacies and details of the CBA before talks begin with the NHL near the end of 2025. So Marty Walsh has the benefit of time to get comfortable in his role.
But Walsh has said he's always been about forming good relationships, whether he was the mayor of Boston or as the Secretary of Labor. And that reportedly went a long way in helping Marty Walsh get the top job at the NHLPA. So he is on the West Coast this week. He's meeting with players in a number of NHL cities. He'll be sharing his office and his cell phone number with players. He really wants to get on a personal level with these players and understand what they want from their new leader. And he's also adamant that the NHLPA and the NHL can grow revenue and improve the economics around the game. But first, Marty Walsh says it's all about getting to know his members. But frankly, Charlie Baker, Marty Walsh. Two pretty interesting new voices in the sports business.
And finally, we do not talk about MotoGP often, but the Global Motorcycle Racing Series has poached a top executive from the NBA. Yes, MotoGP has hired NBA Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships and Media. Dan Rossomondo as its new chief commercial officer. Rossomondo has spent more than 13 years at the NBA in a variety of roles, but had a top leadership role there and he is now expected to move to Madrid, Spain for the role with MotoGP. He had been based of course in the New York City area. Now he'll be responsible for the sale of media rights, global sponsorships and digital media. He'll look to grow the profile of the MotoGP series around the world, especially in the United States. MotoGP races only once every year in the United States at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. And that is MotoGP's next stop on its schedule, that will be April 15th. But MotoGP gets an experienced hand as its new Chief Commercial Officer.
So that is your Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, April 5th. I'm Abe Madkour. I will not be with you tomorrow as I'll be leaving Augusta after a quick trip down to the Masters. David Albright will bring you the Buzzcast on Thursday. I'll return on Friday. Hope everybody has a great day. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you later in the week.