What the Commanders' deal with Verizon could mean, another marquee day on the NBA calendar, and big moves by two pioneers in sports business.
It is never too early to plan around the US Open. If you're going to be in New York City for the Open during the first week, let me know. I'll be out at Flushing Meadows on Wednesday and Thursday, and I'd love to say hi. Also, I have to say Australia, New Zealand, tremendous hosts for the Women's World Cup and, boy, have the fans come out and delivered. More than 75,000 watched England defeat Australia yesterday, on Wednesday, in one semi-final. England will take on Spain on Sunday, 6:00 AM, also in Sydney. We'll have more on the Women's World Cup tomorrow on the Buzzcast. And this is your Morning Buzzcast for Thursday, August 17th. Good morning, I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody is doing well.
One good source told me recently that the NFL, the League office, will do all it can to make sure that Josh Harris's ownership of the Commanders is a success. After the stench of Dan Snyder, the NFL really sees Harris and his ownership group as the right people and the right time to bring this franchise back to what it once was, a pillar in the NFL and across sports.
I thought of that yesterday in hearing about the first new corporate partner the Commanders have brought on in the Josh Harris era, and it's Verizon. So why is this important? Well, one, it's a great partner that should help improve the fan experience at FedEx Field starting next year. And that's an element that the commanders are really trying to focus on in terms of the fan experience. Because with Verizon's technology, it should certainly help fans experience content and other forms of information.
But notice also it's a League sponsor. Verizon is an official partner of the NFL, and so pure speculation on my part, but I could certainly see the NFL going to its official partners and telling the Commander's story as one that the League would love to see its official partners get behind. There's nothing nefarious about that and it could be happening, but yesterday's deal also shows that sponsors are giving the commanders a fresh look now that Dan Snyder is out and local story, Josh Harris, with his big hopes and his big ambitions, is in.
The NBA schedule gets released today, Thursday, and here's one element to watch. Could the Friday after Thanksgiving become the new sports holiday in America? Rivaling Thanksgiving, rivaling Super Bowl, rivaling even New Year's Day? Think about it. We know the NFL is going to put a marquee game on Black Friday. They had the Dolphins and Jets for the first time this year on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It'll be an Amazon game in the late afternoon. Well, now the NBA is getting into the mix as well, because as the NBA unveils its schedule for its new NBA Cup in-season tournament, one detail not to overlook is that 10 games were put on the schedule for Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. That is the most ambitious by the League, and it's a clear attempt to get some market share on that date and make it a key date of the NBA Cup in-season schedule. We'll have more on the NBA schedule later today and certainly tomorrow on the Buzzcast.
We've said a few times on the Buzzcast that the San Antonio Spurs, I find them to be one of the most interesting business stories in sports. Think of that blank canvas they have with Victor Wembanyama's arrival and how that could drive the team's business. It's certainly impacting ticket sales, and that's the first business line we are seeing real growth around. And the Spurs have opened up an additional 1,500 season ticket opportunities in its arena due to the high demand for season tickets this year. So that's a big number, 1,500 new season ticket opportunities. And these are across 42 home games, or half seasons with 20 games, or even a limited 10 game home plan. These were not previously available on a season ticket basis, now they are. I anticipate an incredibly strong ticket sales season for the Spurs this year.
Our circulation staff at Sports Business Journal has worked really hard this summer, and they're the ones working with all of you on your subscriptions to SBJ. And yes, you all are subscribers. I hope so. Well, the sales team did an offsite this week at Topgolf in Charlotte, and they had a great time, and it got me thinking. I've always found Topgolf to be one of the most unique and disruptive entities that has entered sports in the last, I don't know, 10 to 15 years. I think they've changed the way that people approach the game of golf.
And Fast Company recently did a profile on Topgolf and noted the Topgolf has really been ahead of the curve in merging sports and entertainment into one experience. And Topgolf really has been the model that others have tried to emulate in entering this space. It's about participation, it's about social engagement, and it's about entertainment. Look at this, in 2022, Topgolf had more than 31 million players across its more than 95 venues and its online games, and it's still growing. As in the first half of this year business at Topgolf is up 20% from last year, and over the next five years, Topgolf expects to expand from its current 95 locations around the world to more than 150.
So the bottom line is, Topgolf has made the game of golf I think probably more fun, certainly more accessible, and it's changed the demographic of the sport. I'll never forget speaking to a long-time golf steward, a grizzled veteran. He first curled his nose up at Topgolf, but a few years ago he admitted to me that it introduced the game to an entirely new generation of young players and fans across different demographics, heavily targeted on millennials and Gen Z. And that's why the golf industry loves it right now, and that's why it's so attractive for brands to do business with it. And that's why we've also seen so many, I would say, imitators across different businesses who have entered the sports scene with themes like Topgolf. So it's really been an amazing case study on how to change the accessibility to a sport.
We all know that Matthew Berry has made himself synonymous with an entire industry. He's been so out in front when it comes to fantasy sports and has been a real leader in establishing fantasy sports as a daily segment of the sports business. We know about his Fantasy Life, which is a fantasy sports and sports betting media company. Axios reported this week that Matthew Berry closed a $2 million friends and family round to help grow the site, grow the business, add operational expertise, and add staff.
But the people behind this $2 million raise are people you will know, and it shows the strength of his network and it shows the strength of his reputation when it comes to fantasy sports. Investors include Joe Burrow from the Bengals, Josh Allen from the Bills, but also the family office of LeBron James and Maverick Carter. Also investing was Tony Khan, Casey Wasserman, and George Pyne. Matthew Berry launched Fantasy Life as a daily email newsletter in 2020. Now he has over 350,000 subscribers and more than two million unique visitors per month to fantasylife.com.
Matthew Berry says the company is currently profitable, but he's been funding it really on its own. So this $2 million investment round will help to add to staff and also help to add operational efficiencies and growth. So an interesting company to keep an eye on, and no word on what Fantasy Life is valued at at its current state.
Speaking of industry pioneers, INFLCR founder and CEO Jim Cavale will step down of the company he founded six years ago. This is a company that was also out front in an industry. He was out front in name, image, and likeness. His company was eventually acquired by Teamworks out of Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, but INFLCR was launched in 2017. Cavale became an SBJ 40 Under 40 honoree in 2022. He developed a software platform that really focused on the individual athlete and the brand. He has more than 100 schools who are subscribers to this platform, more than 100,000 athletes.
He is an entrepreneur, he has started a number of businesses. And I'm sure he has another business or two in him going forward, and I'll be interested to see if it's in the sports space or the college space. But he was out front in seeing the power of the individual athlete and the athlete brand, and how the student athlete and the schools could monetize that. So again, Jim Cavale, a real industry pioneer, will step down as CEO of INFLCR. INFLCR's Associate GM Sean Kelly will step in to succeed Cavale.
We touched on it earlier this week so I want to close the loop, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced that former NFL Coach Buddy Parker was named as this year's candidate for enshrinement into that Coach and Contributor category. He beat out some big names. He beat out Robert Kraft. He beat out Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Dan Reeves, and even Mike Shanahan. So those are some big-time coaches who are still on the outside looking into Canton.
Now, the committee's decision, it didn't really shock me. They generally skew towards historical figures, and they certainly skew toward coaches rather than owners or business executives. I sat on a consulting committee years ago, years ago, and we met with the selection committee or members of the selection committee about possible outside contributors. And I was a bit surprised when the accomplishments of two very high-profile executives from the business side, who I was speaking up on behalf of, and they're now both in the Hall of Fame. But at that time, those two executives were almost dismissed as not that important and that their accomplishments were not that difficult to accomplish. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but that was indeed eyeopening to me on how that committee thinks about outside contributors to the Hall of Fame. But a very interesting exercise, and Buddy Parker is this year's entry into the Hall of Fame in that category.
So that is your Morning Buzzcast. It is Thursday, August 17th. I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the Buzzcast. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.