The ACC gathers in Charlotte, last weekend was a mixed bag on the TV ratings front and MSG talks openly about selling minority shares in the Knicks/Rangers.
The king added another jewel to his crown last night. The Lakers' LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA's all-time leading scorer, and after he hit the fadeaway jumper that gave him the record, the game came to a halt to celebrate the moment. It was stopped for about 10 minutes. While James participated in a brief ceremony with NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Abdul-Jabbar, who watched the game from the baseline. Taking in the game, were many celebrities in basketball greats also in attendance, Maverick Carter and Rich Paul, along with Lakers owner, Jeanie Buss and Nike founder Phil Knight. Congratulations to King James on his latest NBA accomplishment.
Good morning. It's Wednesday, February 8th. This is your SBJ Morning Buzzcast. I'm David Albright, filling in for Abe Madkour. MSG Sports President, Dave Hopkinson said on the company's earnings call Tuesday that it is open to selling minority shares in the Knicks or Rangers. Hopkinson said they have no plans to sell either team, but they would certainly not rule out the possibility of selling a minority stake in either. For MSS, this continues a newfound willingness to publicly discuss selling off a portion of the teams. Owner James Dolan, in October, said he wouldn't rule out a sale of a minority stake in either team regarding potential new investors available to buy into the teams. Hopkinson said, "There's changes in the ecosystem. The NBA has recently allowed for private equity to come into the marketplace as well as sovereign wealth funds. So we've got new pools of capital available."
The revamped Pro Bowl on Sunday averaged 6.28 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and Disney XD, which for the first time was a seven on seven flag football game versus a full contact affair. That figure is down 6% from last year and is the lowest for a live Pro Bowl since ESPN averaged 5.96 million back in 2006. The Pro Bowl remains the second best single All-Star event among the major leagues behind MLB's Mid-Summer Classic, which drew 7.5 million viewers last summer on Fox. The 6.28 million for the Pro Bowl is essentially flat with last season's NBA All-Star game on TNT and TBS. The revamped NFL weekend got started on Thursday night, as the ESPN aired the Pro Bowl Skills Challenge in primetime averaging just over 1 million viewers. That's up 23% from the Skills Challenge last year and is the best for the event since 2018.
"North Carolina Duke delivered the second best hoops game on any network this season on Saturday night, even as both teams in the Tobacco Road rivalry were unranked," notes our Austin Karp. ESPN drew 2.86 million viewers for the matchup on Saturday. A figure that is behind only Fox's DePaul, Creighton game on Christmas Day with 2.99 million viewers. Remember that game had an NFL lead in to boost the number. It was Fox's Best College hoops game on record and may give the network the top game of this regular season. UNC Duke is up 30% from 2.19 million viewers for the first game in the annual regular season doubleheader from last season.
Kentucky continues to lead all teams with four games among the top 10 match-ups this season. Michigan State is next with three in the top 10. Also, this past weekend Fox drew just over 1 million viewers on Sunday afternoon for the South Carolina Uconn Women's game marking the network's best women's basketball game on record and the best regular season women's basketball game on any network since the same matchup back on February 13th, 2017. Speaking of the ACC, annual winter meetings begin today and run through Friday in Charlotte, the new home for the conferences headquarters. The ACC's move to Charlotte, doesn't become official until later this year, but the winter meetings seem to be an appropriate time to capitalize on the energy behind the move to the Queen City. Conferences board, AD's and faculty athletic reps will be among the ACC officials meeting over the next three days. They'll hear from the league's, media Partners, ESPN and ACC Network, FishBait Solutions, it's revenue consulting firm and the NCAA Transformation, DEI, governmental and Federal Legislation committees.
Continuing on the ratings front, NBC drew 1.5 million viewers for Tottenham Manchester City on Sunday morning, marking the second best live Premier League match on record in the US. It's behind only the 1.9 million for Arsenal, Manchester United on January 22nd. It was also in the 11:30 AM Eastern slot on a Sunday, which has been NBC's new window this season. Tottenham Man City also drew another 288,000 viewers on Telemundo. NBC sports this season is averaging 524,000 viewers for Premier League matches. That's up 4% compared to the same point during last season, which finished as the second best season in the US.
US Secretary of Labor, Marty Walsh, served as the designated survivor during President Biden's State of the Union address Tuesday night. Walsh plans to leave the Biden administration after he was chosen to become the executive director of the NHL Players Association.
We close on a programming note in this week's Marchand and Ourand Sports Media podcast. Eric Shanks joins the boys on the eve of producing a Super Bowl to discuss some of the biggest sports media topics. Shanks talks about his plans for the Super Bowl, from where he will sit to what the viewership will look like. Shanks answers questions about the free agent frenzy among broadcasters from Troy Aikman and Joe Buck's decision to leave Fox for ESPN, to his decision to elevate Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen to the network's top NFL booth. Shanks also discloses his role in hiring Tom Brady and what to expect when Brady joins the booth for the 2024 season.
You can download the Marchand and Ourand Sports Media podcast on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. That's your SBJ Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday. I hope everyone has a great day and we'll see you back here tomorrow morning.