Endeavor lands interesting NCAA assignment; a Denver Broncos makeover and why racquet sports have some buzz
January is done, put it in the books. And this is your Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, February 1st. I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the buzzcast.
We have said it for some time, it's a new era for the Denver Broncos, and you are seeing that unfold. The team has finalized the trade with New Orleans to make former Saints head coach, Sean Payton, their next head coach. And yes, he comes with the value of a first round draft pick. Yes, the Broncos are sending the Saints its first round pick this spring, and a 2024 second round pick for Payton, and they also received the Saints 2024 third round pick. Payton, of course, is still under contract with the Saints, so the Broncos had to agree to trade terms with the Saints before even getting into contract talks with Sean Payton. So we don't even know the details of Sean Payton's contract yet.
Payton reportedly interviewed with Bronco CEO, Greg Penner, general manager, George Paton, and limited team shareholder, Condoleezza Rice. And this is just more evidence of a new era in Denver, a great franchise, a great history, and a great fan base, but it's a franchise that wants to win and it's a franchise that will have a makeover on the business side, and on the player personnel side, and on the coaching front, as the new owners, Rob Walton and Greg Penner, one of the wealthiest ownership groups in the NFL, will be active. Meanwhile, new president Damani Leech, will revamp the franchise's business operations. The Broncos had unbelievable stability under the Bowlen family, but with new ownership comes change. Longtime chief commercial officer, Mac Freeman - he left the team in July. Corporate Partnership Executive, Brady Kellogg, recently left the franchise, so Damani Leach is leading an internal search for a new chief commercial officer. So what are you seeing? You're seeing big changes on both the personnel, the coaching, and the business side of the Denver Broncos.
Let's stick with football. We will have our Super Bowl ratings projection next week, but we can say something for sure, the AFC Championship and the NFC Championship, well, they continue to show the huge draw of the NFL. The Chiefs' win over the Bengals on Sunday drew the best audience for any NFC or AFC Championship game in four years, that's according to our Austin Karp. CBS averaged just over 53 million viewers. That's the best conference title game since the Patriots - Chiefs overtime game in 2019. Surprisingly, Fox was only down 3% for its NFC Championship game blowout. We know the Eagles blew out the 49ers, but viewers hung in. That blowout even topped the 45 million for the 49ers Cowboys divisional round game, and that was the second best divisional game on record. I thought the NFC Championship game would be way down. But down only 3%, that held true, and that's a good number for Fox. And so we'll see. How will Chiefs - Eagles rate on Super Bowl Sunday? If you have a prediction, let me know. I'd love to hear it.
Let's move on. In some big news around college sports, the NCAA has selected Endeavor to be consultants for its next round of media rights talks, which could, for the first time, include a separate deal for its women's basketball championship. This was a highly contested pitch to land the rights to consult with the NCAA on media rights. And my colleague, Michael Smith, reported that Endeavor was selected from as many as eight candidates, who made a bid. So Endeavor will work with the NCAA on its strategy and it'll be led by Endeavor's Karen Brodkin and Hillary Mandel. They will prepare the NCAA to negotiate a bundled set of media rights that include all of its championships, except the men's basketball tournament, and the men's and women's golf championship.
So again, ESPN has owned those rights as part of a 12 year deal. But here's what's interesting. The NCAA could determine, or will determine, with Endeavor's help, how it will take those rights to market. Meaning that these championships have traditionally been part of a big bundle. ESPN got everything, but the NCAA has talked about unbundling some, or most of these rights, meaning that the women's basketball tournament could be sold separately. The Frozen Four, the College World Series, the Women's College World Series, all of those could be candidates to go to the market separately, unbundled. But there are risk to unbundling these championships, as some question the value of the standalone rights.
I've had a lot of sources tell me that the Frozen Four or the College World Series aren't as valuable separately, as they are as part of a larger package. So this will be a very big decision. It'll be a very interesting decision in the industry. Everyone in the industry I know is watching this closely. I know I'll be watching it very closely because it will be a test in terms of the appeal and the valuation of some of these rights. Now, Karen Brodkin and Hillary Mandel have been active in the college space for years. Most recently they consulted with the Big 12 and the Big 10 on their media rights deal. I mentioned them recently on the buzzcast. They are currently consulting with the NWSL on its media rights deal. So this college package with the NCAA - another big litmus test for the valuation of sports.
You know, we talk all the time that for women's sports to continue to grow in popularity and continue to reach new audiences, they need more corporate support, they need more sponsors promoting and activating around women's sports. Well, let's just say the NWSL landed a very nice deal this week, in adding Adobe to its roster of sponsors under a multi-year deal, making Adobe its official creativity partner. I haven't seen that category before. And this is a great brand to be around the NWSL. Adobe will offer brand building workshops for NWSL players, providing them training on how to grow their personal brand and give them marketing expertise and advice. Yes, of course, you'll see Adobe field boards and Adobe signage at NWSL matches. And interestingly, the NWSL is expected to introduce an expansion franchise near Adobe, San Jose headquarters, in 2024.
But the bottom line here, is that the more premium sponsors for women's sports, the better, and the better chances we will see continued growth of women's sports. We've said all along, corporate America has to step up and support women's sports. Here's Adobe doing just that with the NWSL. Another positive for women's sports is when large talent agencies step up to represent female athletes. And CAA Sports is broadening out its hockey practice to represent women hockey players. CAA Sports has signed eight women hockey players to its roster and they promise to provide, of course, the same level of services it does for its NHL clients. And this is only a good thing, as CAA Sports' hockey practice is led by the very strong Pat Brisson and J.P. Perry, two very well regarded agents, and they are reportedly involved in the efforts to grow this part of their business.
So again, good news again on the women's sports front as CAA Sports - looking to broaden out its representation of female athletes. And we're going to end the buzzcast today about racket sports. I am through episode three of Break Point on Netflix, the docu-series on tennis. And I'll say I felt episode one was okay. I felt episode two was a bit better, but I really did enjoy episode three, that showcased the storylines around last year's Indian Wells tournament, and the story around American, Taylor Fritz, and Maria Sakkari - she's from Greece. And the episode looked at their respective runs at that Indian Wells Open last year. I thought episode three, like I said, was the best so far. Have you been watching? Let me know what you think of Break Point? Tennis organizers, of course, are hoping that Break Point has a real impact on the sport of tennis.
And I'll just say we are hearing more and more buzz around tennis and pickleball, of course. First, here's the example around tennis: The recently completed Australian Open set a Grand Slam attendance record, as a record 840,000 fans attended the event. And this was a coming-out party for the Australian Open, remember it was the first tournament in two years that didn't have any COVID restrictions. Over 60,000 fans also watched the qualifying events. So they're saying total attendance is north of 900,000 and they hope to top a million fans in attendance next year at the Australian Open. And so, for those of you surprised, thinking the US Open would be up there - US Open would rank second in total attendance. For example, last year's attendance numbers at the other Grand Slam main draws, there was about 515,000 at Wimbledon, 613,000 at the French Open, 776,000 at the US Open. This is just the main draw only. And, of course, I said, there were 840,000 at the Australian Open. So strong attendance numbers for the Australian Open.
And that leads me to another racket sport. Here's a shocker for you. The Sports and Fitness Industry Association, named pickleball the nation's fastest growing sport for the last two years, actually in each of the last two years. And the expectations are that when the association releases its next annual participation report this spring, pickleball will be in the top-spot for the third consecutive year. Meanwhile my colleague, Terry Lefton, reported from the sports licensing and tailgate show in Las Vegas, that Franklin Sports has seen pickleball equipment sales grow into what will be its second biggest equipment category, by the end of 2023. And when you think about everything that Franklin Sports is in; baseball, softball, soccer, football. To say that pickleball will be its second biggest equipment category, is certainly a strong statement. So again, seeing some energy and traction around racket sports.
So that is your Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, February 1st, First day of February. I'm Abe Madkour. I will be in New York on meetings late tonight and all day tomorrow. I am done with the buzzcast for the week. David Albright will bring you the buzzcast Thursday and Friday. I'll speak to you on Monday. Until then, stay healthy, be good to each other, and have a great rest of your week.