Early numbers from Beijing; Sashi Brown joins the Ravens; NASCAR's Clash delivers in L.A.
Abe Madkour:
Well it's Super Bowl week, I'm heading out to Los Angeles tomorrow and have a week's worth of meetings. But if you're out there and can say hi, please let me know. Would be great to see old and meet new friends in Los Angeles. And this is your morning BuzzCast for Monday, February 7th. I'm Abe Madkour, good morning.
The Olympics are now heading into week one. It's really been four days. And can you tell? I have to say, unfortunately, very little buzz in my world around the Olympic Games this weekend, which is a shame. Even a restaurant I was at on Friday wasn't showing the opening ceremony, but instead the NHL All-Star game skills competition. But last night, Sunday night's broadcast of the mogul skiing and giant slalom was fantastic to watch even with Mikaela Shiffrin's disappointing performance, but last night was great television. And even though the US team overall is off to a slow start, only a few silver medals so far. There is hope that they can build some momentum during the week. But overall, NBC's early ratings are soft to say the least, and NBC will have a hole to dig out of as they are playing from behind.
The opening ceremonies on Friday night drew 16 million viewers. A good number, yes. But you've heard me on the BuzzCast talk about the recent NFL numbers. These numbers of 16 million for a Friday night broadcast are good, but they are only okay when it comes to high end Olympic sports. It turns out that Friday's opening ceremony is an all time low for Olympic opening ceremonies on television. It's down 43% compared to Pyeongchang's Winter Olympic opening ceremony in February of 2018. And yes, I know times are different. It's tough to make comparisons, but still, a 43% drop is what it is. But the 16 million for the Beijing Olympic ceremony comes after NBC drew 17 million for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Summer Games in July. And that was the smallest TV audience for that event in 33 years.
So some soft numbers for the Olympic opening ceremony. NBC hopes it can string to get other a few good nights here in the first week to stabilize its numbers. I hope they can because certainly it's great to watch these athletes perform.
Meanwhile, staying with NBC's coverage, look for NBC's primetime Olympic host, Mike Tirico to have a shorter stay in Beijing than originally planned. The AP is reporting that there Tirico's final show from Beijing will be tonight, Monday night. He will fly from China to NBC Sports Headquarters in Stanford, Connecticut to host Wednesday and Thursday's show before heading to Los Angeles on Friday where he will anchor both Olympic and Super bowl coverage through Sunday. So Maria Taylor will co-host Tuesday night's show with NBC News' Craig Melvin, while there Tirico is flying back. Tirico was originally scheduled to stay in Beijing through Thursday before going directly to LA. But NBC officials did say his schedule was subject to change. So Mike Tirico heading back to Stanford, Connecticut from Beijing after Monday night's show.
Meanwhile, our Chris Smith has been on the ground in Park City, Utah, and his dispatch is about how the USOPC and sponsors and family are watching and experiencing the Olympic Games from Park City is worth a read. So hope you can check that out.
Moving on from the Olympics, we have talked about the growing role of Las Vegas as a sports city. And this weekend, you saw it in full effect. You had the Pro Bowl there on Sunday, after a few days leading into the Pro Bowl of events and boy, a lot of stories this morning questioning the future of the NFL's Pro Bowl. But you also had the NHL All-Star weekend in Las Vegas as well.
NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman met the media before Friday's skills competition and said a few things of interest. First Bettman said that Chicago Blackhawk's owner will not be disciplined or sanctioned for his response to reporters last week about questions about the Kyle Beach situation. Bettman called Rocky Wirtz's emotional response "a moment" but said he will not be disciplined. He also said the NHL will return to playing its Global series. So they will play games in Switzerland and Germany followed by regular season games in Finland and the Czech Republic next year. Of course they haven't played globally in some time because of COVID. He said the next Winter Classic will return to Fenway Park, while the Carolina Hurricanes will get their first outdoor home game in Raleigh next season. And finally Bettman remained very confident that the Arizona Coyotes will stay in that marketplace and will not have to leave the Phoenix area despite the questions about a future home. So Bettman has always been very adamant about keeping the Coyotes in Arizona. He continues to feel their future is safe in the Phoenix area.
But overall, I would say a positive weekend for the NHL. I thought the skills competition outside on the Las Vegas strip and outside the Bellagio looked great and played well on TV. I anticipate the NHL was pretty happy with its All-Star weekend in Vegas.
Let's stick with big events because it was a big event for NASCAR, and by all indications, a successful event for NASCAR as the early returns for NASCAR's Clash race, which was held Sunday at the LA Coliseum are very positive. The news reports and coverage all rave about the event. It showed really well on TV, the track was certainly different, there were close to 60,000 fans in the stands, and most of all, NASCAR was able to captivate a major market in Los Angeles. So in an exhibition race, it exposed NASCAR to a different fan base and a new market as NASCAR estimated at 70% of the ticket buyers had never seen a NASCAR race before. That's why you go to new markets. That's why you try different things.
The race was all about LA in the entertainment, in the performers, in the celebrities. I will say, I got more text messages from sources in NASCAR who are just thrilled to be in the nation's number two market, but also the entertainment capital. They kept talking about the buzz in LA was strong and it was important for them to show the entertainment industry that NASCAR has some real wind at its back. They love the celebrities, they love the buzz and they love the promotion of the sports. So the question for me, did it pencil out? Will they go back to Los Angeles? NASCAR told the associated press that they initially budgeted a million dollars for the event, but spent significantly more to stage it. So now they have to decide, was it worth it? Will they do it again? And will they take it back to Los Angeles? But overall a good weekend for NASCAR.
Let's shift to the NFL. A big change at the Baltimore Ravens. It was announced late Friday night, The Ravens announced that Dick Cass, the only team president under owner Steve Bisciotti is stepping down after 18 year. Dick Cass will be replaced by Sashi Brown, who is a former Cleveland Browns general manager. He was currently at Monumental Sports and Entertainment as President of Basketball. Now, Dick Cass has seen everything. He joined the Ravens in 2004. He was the first hire by incoming owner. Steve Bisciotti. He oversaw, Dick Cass did, oversaw all business areas of the organization, including budgets, finances, corporate sales, operations, business ventures. So Sashi Brown takes that role from Dick Cass. He will start on April 1st. He'll join the Washington Commander's Jason Wright, as the NFL's only black team presidents. His move comes less than three months after receiving a multi-year extension from Monumental where Sashi Brown had worked since 2019. So Sashi Brown, a sports business veteran from the Cleveland Browns and Monumental now joins the Baltimore Ravens as team president.
I found this story. We always talk about the efforts owners make to make a, I would say a statement. Well the Houston Rockets made a statement this weekend by rolling out their new charter jet for the first time, a 767 with all the fixings. We're talking big screen TVs, we're talking video and meeting areas for coaches on the plane. We're talking card tables and seats perfect for sleeping apparently. So Rockets owner, Tilman Fertitta obviously wanted to make a statement. He purchased the jet in 2019. He's spent much of the nearly past two years getting it retrofitted for his players. And like we said, it has everything. Now it should be stated that not each NBA team has such luxury. So Rockets owner, Tilman Fertitta, certainly hopes to make a statement here for free agents and other players, and try right to show the appeal of playing for the Houston Rockets.
And finally, we will see more and more docuseries about athletes as we have talked about the long tail of The Last Dance. Well, on Friday Apple TV unveiled plans for They Call Me Magic, which will be a four part docuseries about the life and career of Magic Johnson. This docuseries has a lot of buzz about it. People have been talking to me about it for months. It will debut on Friday, April 22nd. It is a four part docuseries on Magic Johnson. It'll be one of just a number of programs about the Lakers. We've talked about a show on HBO. We talked about a Jeanie Buss production for Hulu, but They Call Me Magic will debut on Apple+ in April.
So that is your morning BuzzCast for Monday, February 7th. I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody has a great week. Remember, if you're in Los Angeles, let me know. I'd love to see you. My colleague, David Albright will be handling the BuzzCast for the rest of this week. I'll talk to you next week. Until then, take care of yourself, be good to each other and have a great, great Super Bowl week.