Big Ten set to cash in? Daytona 500 expects huge turnout; A-B steps up for women drivers; And Amazon Sports group brings on new exec
Abe Madkour:
One of the top stories in the United States around the Beijing Winter Games is the performance of the US women's hockey team. They beat Finland in the hockey semi-finals, and Team USA will seek its second straight Olympic gold medal against, yes, arch-rival Canada. That game will be 11:00 PM Eastern time, Wednesday night. Meanwhile, the latest medal standings has the United States third in overall medals, which was where many people had projected the team to be, just behind Norway and Germany. So after a slow star, the US now gaining in the medal count. Finally, the late John Madden was honored Monday night in a two hour public memorial at the Oakland Coliseum. Yes, he certainly was on those sidelines for many a time. And the stories from his longtime friends and colleagues at the memorial is worth a read. So please check those out.
And this is your Morning Buzzcast for Tuesday, February 15th. Good morning. I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody is doing well today. First, there were no Super Bowl viewership numbers on Monday, as NBC looks to release the Super Bowl viewing figures sometime this morning on Tuesday. So check out sportsbusinessjournal.com. We'll have those as soon as they are released. While on the ground in Los Angeles last week, I can tell you, there was plenty of talk about Stephen Ross's future ownership of the Miami Dolphins, and nfl.com is reporting that the league has begun its investigation of the team after Brian Flores in his lawsuit alleged that Ross offered him money to lose games. Sources also confirmed that if the league find Stephen Ross offered Flores incentives to lose, the discipline could be severe, up to and including Ross losing the team by a vote of fellow owners. So, Stephen Ross's future ownership of the Miami Dolphins certainly in the spotlight.
Let's move on. It's a run of big events. We came off the NHL All-Star Game, the Pro Bowl, we had the Super Bowl, and the next big events are this weekend. You have the NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland. If you'll be in Cleveland for the tech summit on Friday, let me know. It'd be great to see you. The other big event is of course the Daytona 500, and the Daytona International Speedway is completely sold out for this weekend's race, which could see as many as 150,000 people on site. That's huge. Ticket sales for the race have been trending strong for weeks now. The Grandstand was sold out very early, so very strong ticket demand in Daytona, and that promises to be one of the biggest events in recent memory with, again, as many as 150,000 people at the track on Sunday.
Let's stay with NASCAR, because big news to drive diversity within the ranks of NASCAR, our Adam Stern reported that Anheuser-Busch and its Busch Light brand will dedicate $10 million over the next three years to sponsor every woman driver in NASCAR. A major effort to accelerate more diversity in the driver ranks. The program is being called Accelerate Her, and there will be seven recipients this year. Now, this effort is certainly welcome since NASCAR's Cup Series hasn't had a woman driver since Danica Patrick retired. Look for an ad touting the program to run during Sunday's Daytona 500 on Fox. And this marks a further commitment by Anheuser-Busch toward women in sports. Remember, Anheuser-Busch's Michelob Ultra last year made a $100 million commitment over the next five years that they will invest in women's sports and sponsorship of women athletes.
Let's stay with racing. We talked about the growing interest in Formula 1, especially here in the United States. Last week, we saw that massive deal between Oracle and Red Bull Racing. That new title sponsorship was worth around $500 million, with Oracle paying that over five years. That's one of the most lucrative deal in sports. Well, two more big deals around F1 are in the news today. First, McLaren Racing has signed Philadelphia based rapid delivery company Gopuff a sponsor. This is Gopuff's first major sponsorship in racing. They'll be on McLaren's cars and they'll be able of course to use the team's intellectual property. In case you didn't know, Gopuff is a delivery service. It allows users to select different products that can be delivered to their location in around 20 minutes.
Now, Gopuff, like F1's international reach, as it's starting to expand into the UK and France. Gopuff has done some sports. They did a deal the Philadelphia 76ers, but this is a major commitment with McLaren Racing. Staying with Formula 1, Duracell has signed a new multi-year deal with the Williams Racing team. Duracell will be prominent on both the team's cars and the driver fire suits. So also look for activation around the crypto.com Miami Grand Prix in May. That's a race we've been talking about quite often on the Buzzcast. So again, more and more brands looking to get into Formula 1.
A couple of big news items from our John Ourand and his SBJ Media newsletter last night. First, look for the Big Ten to take its media rights to the marketplace soon. Now, ESPN has an exclusive negotiating window with the Big Ten to renew its right deals, but sources told Ourand expect the Big Ten to allow that exclusive window to end so that it can take those rights to the open market. Now, sources expect the Big Ten to secure new media deals by the fall. Now, why is there such optimism? Well, the Big Ten is very, very bullish that it will see a major increase from the $440 million that ESPN and Fox pay the Big Ten every year. Now, why are they so bullish? Well, ESPN still wants to renew. Fox still loves the Big Ten. CBS and NBC also want in on the Big Ten. So expect a great deal of buzz and interest around the Big Ten, which looks to cash in on its upcoming media rights deal.
John Ourand also reported about a change at the top of Amazon's sports efforts, as longtime Amazon insider Jay Marine is now the top executive overseeing the company's sports business. He'll work alongside Amazon's Marie Donoghue, who has been Amazon's point person handling rights since 2018. Her role will remain really unchanged. She'll run sports rights negotiations and sports content and production, but the bigger change now is that Marine is her new boss. Marine was in Los Angeles last week meeting with NFL executives. Remember, this is a big, big time for Amazon as it will carry the NFL's Thursday Night Football package exclusively starting this coming season. So, a change at the top of Amazon sports efforts, as Jay Marine is now the top executive overseeing the company's sports business, and every sports rights holder is looking at Amazon as a potential partner.
So be sure to check out the new episode of SBJ I Factor, presented by Allied Sports. Today's episode focuses on the career of Carol Stiff. She spent 31 years at ESPN before leaving last year to start her own sports media business. Carol Stiff is a great person, a great executive. She has been a pioneer in media and also in women's sports media. So look for the SBJ I Factor presented by Allied Sports wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. So that is your Morning Buzzcast for Tuesday, February 15th. I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody has a great day. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.