Postcard from Daytona; Why MLB's new economic committee matters; The Mets' search for team president continues
Well, Happy Fat Tuesday. This is your Morning Buzzcast for Tuesday, February 21st. Good morning. I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the Buzzcast. You know, I'll just start by saying, "If you've never been to a Daytona 500, it's a weekend well spent." And you leave there with a far greater appreciation of NASCAR, the scale of the sport and the fan base. It was my first Daytona 500 weekend. I got to Daytona on Friday. I tried to take in as much as I could. I did the truck race Friday night where I met Rajah Caruth, the impressive 17-year old driver who was one of six drivers selected to participate in the 2020 NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program and he is one name to certainly keep your eye on.
On Saturday, I did the midway where I saw really the full return of experiential marketing as activation after activation was lined up outside the front of Daytona International Speedway. Saturday afternoon was the Xfinity race and a walk around the infield. And of course, Sunday was the pageantry around the 500. A few things about Sunday. The time commitment by the fans is extraordinary. They were parking cars and walking to the track as early as 6:30 AM for a 3:00 PM race, and the gates open early and the fans certainly arrive early. If you think about it, the race ends around 7:00 PM-ish, so it's about a 10-hour race day for so many fans, and there were a lot of them. North of 150,000 people filled that speedway and infield. It was quite a sight.
Also, drivers are all over the place on race day from autograph signings to speaking appearances to interviews, all before the race. So, there is very little quiet time for the drivers. And finally, the mass of people and VIPs along Pit Road before the race and their access to the cars, the teams, and the drivers was just eye-opening for me. It really struck me how up close fans can get right to the point of a driver signing an autograph before getting in the car and starting their engine to race the Daytona 500. It just really struck me.
There are so many other elements. The deep, loud, guttural sounds of the car stays with you throughout the entire race. The scale of the production, the presentation, the programming and the infrastructure stood out. It was also refreshing to hear their narrative around the sport be so positive. Even the most salty veterans of NASCAR who have been around for a long time and a lot of races really like the place where the sport is today and where it's headed. They like that the drivers are young, talented, diverse. They like that the sport is trying new things. They like that fans seem to be responding and there is real confidence in the leadership at Daytona.
And Sunday was a good story and that a small team with a diverse owner won the 500. So yes, there's a lot ahead of NASCAR they need to work with their teams on a revenue sharing program. There has to be more alignment around all sectors to promote the sport together. And most importantly, NASCAR has a new media rights deal coming up. That's a big one. But there is a sense of optimism at Daytona that they will reach successful conclusions to each of these issues. But those are among the storylines that will dominate the season and a season that got off to a successful start this past weekend at Daytona, and they head to Fontana this weekend.
Let's shift to baseball where the athletic reports that Commissioner Rob Manfred and ownership have formed a new committee, an economic reform committee that was established because some of the economic challenges facing the game, including the widening disparity between team payrolls like the Mets and everyone else, as well as the concerning issues surrounding the regional sports networks.
So, the establishment of this committee clearly shows that owners are concerned enough about these economic topics that they want to talk about them amongst themselves. So, Dodgers Chair, Mark Walter, interesting one of the sports largest market teams is chairing the economic reform committee, but you also have the Tigers' Chris Ilitch, the Red Sox's John Henry, the Rockies' Dick Monfort, all are members of the committee as well. So, you have a mix of spenders, but it also gives you a glimpse of those who are close to Rob Manfred as Mark Walter and Dick Monfort are said to be two owners clearly in the inner circle of Manfred. Monfort this spring has been critical of the payroll spending of some teams including specifically calling out the Padres. So, it's hard to know for sure what will come out of this committee, but just the fact that it's being established is noteworthy.
Let's stay with baseball and the New York Mets because the team search for a new president to replace Sandy Alderson has been one of the most talked about searches in sports. It's gone on for some time and right now the Mets are still looking. And so, team owner Steve Cohen, has taken on an expanded role becoming more active in the organization's day-to-day business. Now, Sandy Alderson remains as an advisor to Cohen while Cohen searches for a new president. And Cohen said he really wants to be excited about who he brings in. Well, let's just say his search has not been haphazard. Sources have told me that Steve Cohen has considered more than 125 candidates for the President's job, and the team has actually had interviews with north of 75 different candidates. That's unheard of. But word is that Steve Cohen still hasn't found the right fit. So, the Met search for a team president continues.
And finally in baseball, the reclusive, John Henry did answer some questions via email to the Boston media over the weekend. And here's what we learned. Henry, who I noted earlier is on baseball's economic reform committee, said he thinks baseball still has plenty of economic challenges and that there could be some difficult days ahead. He also clarified that there won't be any imminent sale of Liverpool, but they are talking to investors and merely formalizing an ongoing process, as what he called it. So, he acknowledged that the Fenway Sports Group won't own Liverpool forever, but said the club isn't for sale right now. So, John Henry shares his opinion so rarely that when he does, even via email, you really want to read it closely as there are a number of meanings to what he says.
Let's shift to some news on campus. And we are always interested in the financial performance of some of the biggest schools in the country. Well, the University of Texas Athletic Department reported a surplus of $14 million on $240 million in revenue during the 2021-2022 athletic year that, of course, makes the University of Texas, of course, one of the big revenue drivers and one of the schools with a pretty significant surplus. So, the university's athletic department brought in $240 million in revenue. They spent $225 million. They generated nearly $90 million more in 2022 over the previous year, and they'll use some of the surplus to pay off debts in various building projects. Now, Texas's football and men's basketball programs were the only sports to post a surplus while all the other sports operated at a loss. Yes, football and men's basketball made a surplus. All the other sports operated at a loss. The football team accounted for nearly 70% of the athletic department's revenue and nearly 23% of the athletic departments expenses. So, that gives you some interesting insight into the financial performance of one of the biggest schools in the country.
And finally, I'll end with a couple of noteworthy numbers from over the weekend. We talked about the season opening of Major League Rugby while the San Diego Legion set a major league rugby attendance record on Saturday night playing the Utah Warriors at Snapdragon Stadium. They sold or distributed more than 11,400 tickets that broke a league record. The previous record was 7,300 tickets distributed for the 2021 championship game.
So, to get attendance of more than 11,000 for a regular season game was quite a significant increase and a good sign for Major League Rugby. And how hot is Nashville as a sports city? While the US Women's National Team beat Japan in front of more than 25,000 at the SheBelieves Cup at Geodis Park over the weekend and afterwards, players raved about the city. They gave it a huge endorsement and they said that Nashville is ready for an NWSL expansion club in the future. Again, we see more and more energy around the sports experience in Nashville.
So, that is your Morning Buzzcast for Tuesday, February 21st. I'm Abe Madkour, good to be back with you on the Buzzcast. Thanks for listening to the Buzzcast. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.