Monahan meets with players; Phil Mickelson steps back while spring football steps up
Major League Baseball management and the union will meet again today, Wednesday, after meeting for a few hours on Tuesday. It's hard to discern again what progress is being made, but at least they're talking. Many believe a deadline to play opening day is about a week away. And this is your morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, February 23rd. Good morning. I'm Abe Madkour, we're going to start with golf. There has been a lot of news about golf all this week and it continues. PGA Tour players and officials discussed a number of topics regarding the future of the PGA Tour in a mandatory player's meeting yesterday, Tuesday, before the Honda Classic. Player sources who attended the meeting said that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan spent roughly 10 minutes or so discussing the Saudi backed golf league. He restated the position that any player who signed with the Saudi league would not play on the PGA Tour.
He also said any chances of the Saudi league getting momentum was unlikely and players instead needed to focus on the tour. A common theme throughout the meeting was players expressing their desire for more transparency as far as the tour's financials and dealings. Right now, it's a very interesting and dynamic time between the tour and its players. Speaking of the tour players, the hits keep coming for one of them, Phil Mickelson, who on Tuesday apologized for his recent controversial comments about the Saudi golf league saying he was deeply sorry for his choice of words. He also said he needed some time away from golf and that he wanted to prioritize on "being the man I want to be." Well that statement being the man I want to be is never a good statement. It does make me wonder if it's related to the new book by Alan Shipnuck which is called Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized) Biography of Golf's Most Colorful Superstar.
There's a lot of buzz about this book and of course the excerpt from this book had Nicholson saying he was one of the architects behind the proposed Saudi golf league. I just wonder if there's more in this book and whether this book may be more explosive about Mickelson than many people think. We will soon see. Meanwhile, soon after Mickelson's statement, KPMG became the first of Phil Mickelson's corporate sponsors to announce an end to their partnership. A decision the company said was mutual, but KPMG had been with Mickelson since 2008. I believe Mickelson's reputation's legacy is uncertain right now. Phil Mickelson has long been seen as the perfect fit for the golf broadcast booth. Network executives talked glowingly about his potential as a TV star for years but I can't see any PGA Tour network partner putting him on its broadcast after these critical comments about the PGA Tour. Executives I spoke to recently couldn't understand Mickelson's approach and have quickly distanced themselves from him. So Phil Mickelson seemingly taking some time away from the spotlight and from golf.
Let's move on because we have talked about the massive interest in legalized sports betting in New York since the state opened online betting in early January. Well here are some more jaw dropping numbers. According to the New York Times, more than two billion dollars in wages, nearly 80 million dollars in tax revenue for the state and since the state opened online betting in early January, New York has topped both Nevada and New Jersey in mobile sports betting. It's been a crazy five weeks. New York gamblers have bet more than 2.4 billion dollars through February 13th.
Now with all the concerns about betting, there are always concerns about leading to addiction and problem gamblers, but of note, and here's an interesting stat I have not seen. The state's Office of Addiction Services and Support said it has already seen a 46% increase in calls to its gambling helpline this January compared to the previous January and all this comes of course, amid new public awareness campaigns about responsible gambling, but another interesting bottom line, like I said, more than 80 million dollars in tax revenue for the state, remember operators had to pay a very hefty 51% state tax on gross gambling revenue so that results in nearly 80 million dollars for the state of New York which is all going to an education fund. So we have to talked about how states could financially benefit from legalized sports betting, here's New York bringing in close to 80 million dollars in just five weeks of legalized sports betting so some very interesting data coming out of the state of New York.
I know you're not thinking about football, but yes, spring football is right around the corner. The startup USFL started its League's two-day draft on Tuesday in Birmingham by picking eight quarterbacks in a row but that's the way the draft is set up. As in the first round, each USFL team had to pick a quarterback. That's the concept. In other rounds, teams must select a defensive line or a offensive tackle and in other rounds it's a quarterback. There are some buzz about the USFL, it starts in April, it's owned by Fox Sports and it features the eight franchises or eight brands from the original USFL of the 1980s. So that starts in April, remember the XFL is scheduled to start in 2023. We all know the failures of previous of spring football leagues, most believe any successful league will somehow need to be aligned with the NFL. So that's why it was interesting for me to see the close connection between the XFL with the NFL.
As the XFL announced earlier this week, it will work with the NFL on a number of player development issues, physical and mental fitness programs, game trends, game data, officiating, international growth, scouting and rules so they're going to work together on some of these concepts. It should also be noted that many current XFL executives are former NFL executives so there could be that connection there that could help the XFL when its season starts in February of 2023. First up the USFL this April. Next February, the XFL.
Shifting to college sports, remember on July 1st, name, image and likeness rights were opened up on campus and starting today, an NCAA Division 1 Council will meet to begin to assess the impact of name, image, and likeness. The Division 1 Council has been given roughly two months to study and file a report on the impact of NIL on school and athletes. We've talked on the Buzzcast, many athletic directors and college leaders are frustrated by the wild west nature of name, image, and likeness. They want more clarity. They want more rules. They want more guardrails. So this council will focus on some themes including what role name, image, and likeness is playing in recruiting? How active should schools be in arranging these deals for athletes? They'll look at enforcement, basically name, image, and likeness is moving much faster than many thought. They need to assess this very quickly. The Division 1 Council's first report is due in April and they are recommending steps from the Council by June. So this Council has to move very quickly in assessing name, image, and likeness.
And finally, the Brian Flores case against Stephen Ross and the NFL got more interesting as in an interview on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Flores and his lawyers said Brian Flores left millions of dollars on the table by refusing to sign a two-year non-disclosure agreement with the team as part of his separation agreement with the Dolphins after he was fired. Flores said signing any separation agreement would've silenced him. Both Flores and his lawyers said they have evidence of the NDA, they will share it with the league. Meanwhile, Dolphins' owner, Stephen Ross has vigorously denied the allegation. Flores said only he's waiting to see how it all plays out and we all are for sure. We're all waiting to see how this case plays out because this case is getting more and more interesting.
So that is your morning Buzzcast. It's Wednesday, it's February 23rd. I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody has a great day. Stay healthy. Be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.