A week to remember; NHL hits Vegas, NBC sells out Super Bowl and the tensions rise in pro golf.
Abe Madkour:
I can't recall a week like this in sports business in some time. We had the Brian Flores lawsuit and charges of NFL owners asking coaches to tank. We had the Commanders name and more allegations against team owner Dan Snyder yesterday on Capitol Hill. We had Blackhawks owner, Rocky Wirtz, making a woeful public appearance at a team town hall. We had the sale of the Broncos becoming official. We had the retirement of Tom Brady. We had a new collective bargaining agreement at the NWSL. We had major executive moves and reorganizations at Tepper Sports, and at the Brooklyn Nets. And we had the WNBA receiving $75 million in new investment, and following that funding, the valuation of the W and its teams is reportedly $1 billion. Oh, and we're going into a Super Bowl and the Olympics start today. Wow, what a week, and it's still Friday.
And today is Friday, February 4th. I'm Abe Madkour. Hope you're all doing well. Later today, I'm speaking to Ashley Turner's class at the University of Central Florida, Sports Management, Sports Business Program, and boy, do we have a lot to talk about. Well, let's get right into it. If you're listening to this, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games is either happening or it's concluded. I was listening to Mike Tirico, or watching Mike Tirico from Beijing and Savannah Guthrie from New York on the Today Show, or NBC, as they welcomed viewers this morning at 6:30 AM, as NBC began its broadcast of the Olympic Games and the opening ceremony.
They both noted the controversy and complications around the Games. They mentioned the political controversy. They talked about the Ukraine. They talked about Vladimir Putin. They talked about the issues that are facing the athletes. So they touched on a number of the major issues this morning. The competition began Wednesday. The first medals will be awarded this weekend, but the Beijing Winter Olympic Games have officially begun.
The NHL descends on Las Vegas for its All-Star Weekend, and there are some unique elements that really will lead me to watch. I'm pretty interested. They have two events on the Vegas Strip, and it marks the first time the NHL will incorporate outdoor events into their skills portion of the All-Star Weekend. These are fun, pretty innovative introductions. They'll be a face-off held at the fountains of the Bellagio. They'll be players shooting pucks down Las Vegas Boulevard. So the NHL has some interesting twists to its weekend. Meanwhile, Disney has sold out of advertising inventory for the Skills Competition and the All-star Game. They'll have a total of 21 advertisers featured in tonight's Skills Competition, that'll take place at T-Mobile arena on ESPN. Meanwhile, 32 brands will appear on Saturday's All-Star Game on NBC.
Let's talk about the big picture when it comes to the NHL. Overall, when it comes to viewership so far this season on the NHL's new partners, the League is seeing a slight uptick so far. During the first season of its new media rights package, that's across ESPN, ABC and TNT, the League is averaging just over 500,000 viewers after 28 broadcasts. That's according to our Austin Karp, that is up 3% from the first 28 telecasts last season when they were on NBC and NBC Sports Network.
Now, like I noted, our Austin Karp crunched the numbers, and he found some interesting nuggets. Here's an interesting nugget that I want to tout. TNT's 20 telecasts primarily on Wednesday nights are up 16% compared to last season's Wednesday night average, and that was on NBC Sports Network. Now, of course there are caveats and there are not always apples to apples, but here's an interesting figure: Viewership among women of the NHL on TNT is up 86% so far compared to last season's full season average on NBC Sports Network. Now, there's a lot of reasons for that, but still 86% is a solid number, and it does show that the NHL is finding potentially new audiences in its new media deal. So we'll continue to monitor that number as the season progresses, but the NHL in Las Vegas is for its All-Star Weekend.
As we prepare to head to Los Angeles on Tuesday for the Super Bowl, remember if you're there, please let me know. I'd love to say hello. NBC announced it has sold out of Super Bowl ads with some companies paying a record $7 million for a 30 second spot. Yes, that $7 million for a 30 second spot. Now, that is up from the 6.5 million that NBC had said was the top price tag. They said that just a couple of weeks ago. So as Adweek notes, they already were able to get north of that. They were able to get 7 million for a 30 second spot with some remaining in-game inventory.
Now, if you're still interested and have some money lying around, there are a handful of pre-game spots remaining. Adweek does note that the Super Bowl will feature more than 30 new advertisers. That's very interesting. That's 40% of all the advertisers are new, and 12 different categories are represented. The strongest buyers are in the auto market, technology, and travel. That's pretty interesting too. Show some trends in the marketplace. One new advertiser to look for, Caesars Sportsbook will make its Super Bowl ad debut, and that is fitting; the biggest gambling day of the year. Caesars will air a 30 second spot during the second quarter.
This is according to Ad Age, and it features there regular creative that we've seen that I think has been pretty funny, with J.B. Smoove, Halle Berry, and the Manning family. You have Eli, Peyton, Archie and Cooper Manning all playing themselves of course. Remember those characters, those people have been in Caesar Sportsbook's ads already. Now, they will be featured in a new spot around the Super Bowl.So the bottom line, NBC seeing a big, big money day in advertising around the Super Bowl next Sunday.
I will say this, today is February 4th, pitchers and catchers were scheduled to report to spring training over the next couple of weeks, but I'll say don't expect any resolution to MLB's lockout anytime soon. The sides to me, they seem to be getting more entrenched in their position. There's more tension and they're seemingly at a stalemate. Yesterday, Major League Baseball asked for a federal mediator to help resolve differences towards reaching a deal. Now, the Players Association didn't say if it would accept a mediator, but why is baseball doing this? Well, it likely has a few goals with asking for mediation.
One, it's pretty good PR. It's pretty good public optics. Hey, we can't reach a deal, so we need some help. And they may believe a mediator could help reach some sort of compromise. But remember, a federal mediator cannot enforce a settlement. They're just there to facilitate talks, try to reach a compromise. I've seen mediation before in collective bargaining, rarely does it work. This comes as The Athletic is reporting that Major League Baseball, the management side, also informed the players it would not make any counter offer to the players after telling the players a counter proposal would be coming in their last in-person negotiation. So again, these aren't good signs. The more I speak to subjects on both sides, the more concerned I'm getting that a deal isn't close to being completed, unfortunately. So again, as baseball heads into the third month of its lockout, I don't see any resolution on the immediate horizon.
Abe Madkour:
Well, if you don't think there is a cold war in the golf world, this should indicate that tension that currently exists. I've talked on the Buzzcast about the Greg Norman new LIV Golf Investments Group that is looking to launch a rival tour to the PGA Tour. We've talked about how the PGA Tour is really doing everything in its power to quash this type of competition. Well, look at this. Golf Digest reported that Bryson DeChambeau has been offered $135 million. That's right, $135 million to join the Saudi-backed Super Golf League. Now, that is the golf league backed by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. This comes as players, such as Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson, they are reportedly weighing offers for as much as $30 million to join this new tour. But the Bryson DeChambeau number, that is eye-popping, and it shows just how competitive this startup golf league will be to land players.
Abe Madkour:
Now, this is one of the biggest stories to watch in sports business. There is a lot of money here at stake. There is some real rivalry between the PGA Tour, who is of course trying to protect its turf, trying to do as much as it can to hold onto its market share, and they see a rival tour starting with major, major resources and funding. Again, this story is going to be one to watch.
And let's end around people. We all know the brand value and the brand appeal and the popularity of the Dallas Cowboys. Now, can you imagine being Head of Communications and PR for the Dallas Cowboys? Let's just say it's quite a job. Since I've been in the sports business, there's really been only two people who have had that job. First, there was Greg Aiello, who was with the Dallas Cowboys for years before going to the League office in New York. He was then succeeded by Rich Dalrymple, who is now as Senior Vice President in PR and Communications for the Dallas Cowboys. You may not know Rich Dalrymple, but you have certainly seen him. If you see Jerry Jones, generally Rich is right by his side. When you saw Tony Romo, you saw Dak Prescott, Rich Dalrymple, very, very close. Whenever saw Cowboys coach, Rich Dalrymple, pretty, pretty close.
So again, there haven't been too many PR leaders for the Cowboys. Rich Dalrymple is now retiring. He has been a true pro. He turned 62 years old later this year, he's been doing sports media and communications for 40 years. He said he's just ready to move on. He came to the Dallas Cowboys after working with Coach Jimmy Johnson in Miami. When Jimmy Johnson got to Dallas, he brought Rich Dalrymple with him. He's been there ever since. Like I said, a true pro to work with, a true pro in the sports business, and I know many across sports and the sports business wish Rich Dalrymple all the best.
So that is your Morning Buzzcast for Friday, February 4th. Like I said, what a week. Thanks a lot for being on the Morning Buzzcast ride during such a week. I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody has a great weekend. Stay safe with all the weather. Be good to each other. I'll speak to you on Monday.