A key deal for streaming data; a major kit renewal for MLS' Galaxy; and the CFP sets its future site lineup.
A big deal in regards to streaming data, a major kit renewal in Major League Soccer, but first let's start with the PGA Tour. This is your Morning Buzzcast for Tuesday, August 16th. Good morning. I'm Abe Madkour. Thank you for listening. Hope you're all doing well.
First, there is a heavily hyped meeting today, Tuesday, among PGA Tour golfers at the BMW Championships. Multiple reports have that Tiger Woods is scheduled to meet with the players in an effort to build support around the tour in its ongoing rivalry with LIV Golf. The meeting is set to take place, like I said, at the BMW Championship. It's in Wilmington, Delaware. This is the second FedEx Cup playoff event. The meeting will include reportedly many of the top 20 players in the world and a handful of other key PGA Tour players who haven't left for LIV Golf.
Meanwhile, PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan, is scheduled to meet with players in another meeting on Wednesday. Noted golf reporter, Alan Shipnuck, who's very well-sourced, tweeted that the players' meeting on Tuesday will, quote, "... put everything on the table," end quote, from championship boycotts to Monahan's performance to a larger compromise possible with LIV Golf. So a lot of news could be coming out of this event in Wilmington, Delaware, over the next couple of days.
This comes after SBJ's John Ourand reported that Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former President Donald Trump, called on one of his US media connections to try to help LIV Golf secure a media rights deal. So earlier this month, Kushner called one of the top executives at Paramount, which of course owns CBS, to try to jumpstart any negotiations, according to sources of Ourand. Now, a source close to LIV Golf said that Jared Kushner was not working for LIV Golf in any official capacity and is not expected to play any future role in LIV's efforts to land a media deal in the United States. But a lot of interesting storylines continue to circle around professional golf.
Let's move on. Last night at a dinner in Charlotte among sports business leaders, we talked about how today's streaming services aren't Nielsen-rated, making the value proposition and metric reporting very challenging. Well, Amazon's exclusive Thursday Night Football games will be Nielsen-rated for the next three seasons. That's news that will be announced today. It's a very big deal because it marks the first time that Nielsen's national TV measurement system will incorporate a streaming service. Like I said, a big step in the streaming world as advertisers and media buyers and agencies have been very frustrated by the lack of information about digital streaming services.
Most streaming services, Apple and ESPN+, do not share any specific viewing information to advertisers. But Amazon and Nielsen did sign a three-year deal to allow Nielsen to provide viewership information for the pre-game, the end-game, and the post-game programming for Thursday Night Football. That'll be on Prime Video and Twitch plus the local broadcast channels that carry the game. This measurement starts this season and will be very welcome news by everyone associated with the streaming business.
Meanwhile, Ad Age reported that Amazon is expecting, understandably, a smaller audience for its Thursday Night broadcast than what would've been aired on the regular linear networks previously. Amazon is estimating the NFL Thursday Night games to draw about 12.5 million viewers. Last year, a big number on Fox would've been 20 million viewers. The low for a Thursday Night game in 2021 was 10 million viewers. So Amazon is setting expectations right in that range for Thursday Night at about 12.5 million viewers. Again, a lot of news upcoming as the NFL gets ready to start its season.
Let's shift to Major League Soccer. We have talked about the increasing supply of jersey sponsorships across sports. Well, one MLS team has kept its initial partner in the fold, and it's a big deal, as the Galaxy have renewed MLS's longest running kit sponsorship agreement with Herbalife. Now, a source with knowledge of the deal said it is worth upwards of $7 million annually for five years. That will easily make it one of the more lucrative jersey deals in Major League Soccer. Previously, the deal was roughly about $4.4 million a year. That was a 10-year deal that was signed in 2012. AEG Global Partnerships, whose parent company, of course, AEG owns the Galaxy, handled the deal, brokered the agreement.
Now, Herbalife has a deep relationship with the Galaxy. It's been a sponsor of the team since 2005. It's branding has been on the team jerseys since 2007. The deal I mentioned started in 2012. The Galaxy and Herbalife had an exclusive negotiating window for a renewal. The club never took its jersey sponsorship rights to the marketplace, always engaging with Herbalife. This is Herbalife's easily biggest sports marketing investment, and this is a very big deal for the LA Galaxy in this renewal.
Let's stay with MLS. At the Sports Business Awards in May, Austin FC was nominated for Sports Team of the Year. Now, it didn't win, but the team continues to build on its success. A very impressive 97% of Austin FC'S 16,000 season ticket holders renewed their accounts for this upcoming '23 season. That's up a bit from the 96% of the club season ticket holders that renewed for the '22 season. So these are very healthy, healthy numbers. Now, Austin FC also holds the longest active sellout streak in MLS at 29 matches. That includes every match at Q2 Stadium since Austin FC made its home debut in June of 2021. Again, bottom line, very strong business performance continues for Austin FC, making that team one of the best team stories in Major League Soccer.
Let's end on a couple of quick hitters. I know there are a number of Northwestern alums in the sports business. I've seen a football game at Ryan Field and can acknowledge it's ready for an upgrade. So Northwestern University has retained Legends to consult on premium seating sales and marketing as part of a major rebuild of that facility. Now, the current stadium seats about 47,000, but the rebuild will likely take capacity down to about 35,000 to 40,000. So this is a work in progress, but it's much needed and, I would say, very much eagerly anticipated at Northwestern. This will be paid for by a $480 million donation from the Ryan family which, of course, also did their beautiful basketball complex at Northwestern. So some major changes coming at Northwestern at Ryan Field.
Finally, make your plans now. The College Football Playoff National Championship game has laid out its schedule for the next few years. They landed on Atlanta for 2025 and Miami for Hard Rock Stadium in 2026. Now, both of these markets have previously hosted CFP title games. Let's look at the schedule. 2023, the CFP title game, SoFi Stadium in LA. 2024, they'll be in Houston, 2025 in Atlanta, and 2026 in Miami. So that's the schedule.
I'm actually speaking to the Atlanta Sports Council tomorrow morning, so this will be a good story. Atlanta is a hot city for hosting some of the biggest events. They'll have the CFP. They are hosting some World Cup matches. They are bidding for the Super Bowl and the Final Four. So Atlanta, very, very active in the sports business space and in trying to bring some of the biggest events to that city.
That is your Morning Buzzcast. It is Tuesday, August 16th. I'm Abe Madkour. Thank you for listening. Hope you have a great day. Stay healthy. Be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.