Takeaways from Penn's embrace of ESPN and separation from Barstool; Austin market continues to show strength around MLS; Oak View Group's concession play and Monahan meets with PGA Tour players
I was hoping today, Wednesday, to head to Greenville, North Carolina, where in the middle of its season, Athletes Unlimited will relocate its entire 60 member roster and staff from Chicago, to the home of the Little League Softball World Series in Greenville. They have a double header at East Carolina University's stadium today, Wednesday. It starts at 4:30, both games are live on ESPN2. Unfortunately my schedule prevented me from going, but I was looking forward to seeing the softball event at ECU. One of our editors, Ted Keith, is on the ground checking it out and I'll, ask him for a full report. And this is your Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, August 9th. Good morning, I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody is doing well. Here's what to be watching for today, on Wednesday. Disney Chair, Bob Iger, will hold a quarterly earnings call and analyst and investors will be pouring over every word he says about the various challenges facing the company.
It will be one of Iger's first public comments since his very candid and controversial interview with CNBC from Sun Valley. There will be plenty of questions about the strikes in Hollywood, Disney's strategy for its linear TV assets, and of course the future of ESPN, including Igers plans to consider a strategic partner for ESPN. So there will be a lot to unpack from that after he meets with analysts today. And speaking of ESPN, it has jumped more aggressively into the sports betting space, reaching a $2 billion deal with PENN Entertainment, that is the casino owner, to launch ESPN BET. ESPN BET will launch this fall in the 16 states where PENN Entertainment has sports betting licenses. And the brand will really replace the Barstool Sportsbook. PENN will pay ESPN $1.5 billion in cash over the 10-year term with another $500 million in stock warrants that will vest over time. So the $150 million a year in cash and the $500 million in stock that will vest over time. So what ESPN gets out of this? Certainly, money.
It will take a cash investment and you will also see ESPN BET more ubiquitous within the ESPN experience. ESPN already has deals with sports betting companies, but now that PENN has agreed to call its Sportsbook, ESPN BET, I'm under the impression it will be very, very visible within the ESPN ecosystem. Now while ESPN is in, what's very interesting is, PENN will sell Barstool Sports. Remember, PENN bought Barstool in 2020. Remember, the deal in 2020, that was big news. PENN paid $550 million to buy Barstool, but now Dave Portnoy, who founded Barstool, is buying it back. He's bringing the brand back to him. He seemed to admit on Tuesday, that the deal never really performed the way expectations had hoped. He admitted it was harder than he thought for Barstool to operate in a regulated world. So Dave Portnoy doesn't appear to be paying any upfront cash for his company. He did agree to some non-compete clauses and he agreed to pay PENN 50% of gross proceeds in the event of a future sale or big monetization event.
But Portnoy said he would never sell Barstool and that Barstool will return to its roots, saying, "Now we don't have to watch what we say, how we talk, what we do. It's back to the pirate ship", he said. So bottom line, ESPN with PENN Entertainment, on ESPN BET and gets some major cash investment. Dave Portnoy buys back Barstool Sports and that brand now is firmly under his control. Last week we saw the Oakview Group announced two pretty good-sized naming rights deals, two in one week and yesterday, on Tuesday, we saw Oakview Group make a big move in the food and beverage and concession space. And that's why a lot of people continue to talk about what Tim Leiweke is building at Oakview Group. Here's the interesting news from yesterday, the Phoenix Suns and Mercury selected Oakview Group Hospitality to replace Levy Restaurants as food and beverage provider at the downtown Phoenix arena, the Footprint Center.
And that gives Oakview Group its first NBA WNBA venue account. So it's a big deal, because we know how competitive this food and beverage space is. Now, Oakview Group is a new, not a new, but a more aggressive entrant into this space and Suns and Mercury, CEO, Josh Bartelstein said he liked the vision of what Oakview Group presented. He said the food experience at Footprint Center will feature a high-end five-star restaurant appeal and experience. Now, it's not all that surprising when a new owner comes in and takes over a team, that they make changes and Matt Ishbia and Josh Bartelstein, the CEO, certainly want to make some changes. This change on the food and beverage side is just one of probably many they will make. But it is interesting that they are replacing Levy Restaurants who has, I think up to 17 NBA venue deals.
Now a deal with Oakview Group will get noticed, because Oakview Group's current clients are not that level. They have a deal with the Coyotes at Mullett Arena and they have four MLS teams that they do food and beverage for. So the bottom line is, I anticipate Oakview Group Hospitality will continue to bid for more sports opportunities and there'll be another aggressive player in this food, beverage and concession space. The deal with the Sun starts this season, the '23-'24 season, and the deal with the Mercury starts in 2024. So some interesting news there in the food and beverage and concession segment. We've talked about the strength of so many of these MLS clubs at the local level, and so many of them are new teams. It could be Nashville, it could be Cincinnati, it could be Charlotte. And one market that continues to perform well on the business side, is Austin.
As Austin FC has achieved a season ticket renewal rate of at least 95% for the third time in its three-year history. So they have 16,000 season ticket members or account holders and they renewed them at 95% for the third straight year. And this comes even with a price increase on season tickets. So despite that increase, renewals remain strong. The club actually has a paid wait list for the right to purchase season tickets, and that's at 26,000 names. And to get on the wait list, you have to pay $50 upfront and an additional $20 per year. So they're getting revenue from the wait list that now hits 26,000 names. Austin FC, you may be surprised to hear this, also has the longest active sellout streak in Major League Soccer. It has sold out all 48 home games in the franchise's history. So a very strong support system and a very strong fan base in Austin.
It's interesting, because some people thought Austin would be an automatic home run. Others question if the market was big enough to support a team in a sustainable environment. But no question, after the first three years, Austin FC is a hit on the business side. Let's shift to golf. PGA Tour Commissioner, Jay Monaghan, had his first meeting with players yesterday, Tuesday afternoon, since he returned to work and he reportedly offered very few new details about the agreement with the Saudi Investment Fund. Now the meeting was held in Memphis, before the PGA Tour event there this week, and the Associated press noted that while the meeting was lacking in details, it was also surprisingly sparsely attended, as only 25 players or so attended the meeting. So we'll have to see a little bit more fallout or details from the discussion. But so far, sounds like very little new was said in Jay Monahan's meeting with the players.
A surprising move that was announced to players though yesterday, on Tuesday, was that the PGA Tour's, Chief Tournaments and Competitions Officer, Andy Pazder, has resigned. Now this is an interesting move. He will be replaced by PGA Tour Executive Vice President, Tyler Dennis, who will assume Pazders responsibilities overseeing tournaments and competition. Now, why is this surprising? Well, Pazder was recently named by Jay Monaghan, to a committee that would explore ways that live golf players could potentially come back to the PGA Tour. They were also, this committee, was also looking at ways to reward players who stayed loyal to the PGA Tour. It was a pretty important committee and Pazner was named one of the few members to be part of that committee. So for him to resign suddenly is certainly a surprise. Pazner joined the PGA Tour in 1989, so he is a veteran of the Tour.
He's worked under commissioners Deane Beman, Tim Finchem, and Jay Monaghan. So bottom line, this is a pretty sudden resignation, players were informed of this move by or through a memo on Tuesday. So Andy Pazner leaving the PGA Tour after serving at the Tour since 1989. And finally, a personal hat tip to someone who was incredibly important to my career. Sports Business Daily founder, Jeffrey Pollack, a longtime executive who was the president and CEO of the XFL. He was Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer for the Chargers. Pollack was appointed to a two-year term as a professor at the McCormick Department of Sports Management, at UMass. So why is this important to me? A bit of a side note. In my early 20s, I was working for US Senator Patrick Leahy in Washington. I was working part-time and games for the Washington Bullets and the Baltimore Orioles.
Yes, I had probably three jobs at the time. A friend told me about a startup publication on the sports business that was launching in Virginia. I interviewed with Jeffrey in an old Victorian townhouse in Arlington, Virginia, where he shared with me his vision to launch a daily news briefing that would be launching in a month, that would cover the sports business. I was immediately interested and hooked and I was extremely lucky when a couple of days later, he offered me a job to join his team and I was one of the first hires at Sports Business Daily, and away we went.
What a great ride. I wouldn't be doing what I do, without Jeffrey Pollack agreeing to take a chance on me in 1994. And I have told him, I am forever grateful and thankful for what he did for me. Now Jeffrey can share his stories and wisdom with the lucky students at Amherst, as he begins a two-year term as a professor at the McCormick Department of Sports Management, at UMass. And that should be a very valuable and interesting class. And so, that is your Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, August 9th. I'm Abe Madkour. Thank you for listening to the Buzzcast. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.