The Packers post record revenue but profits dip, GMR Marketing launches a soccer division and NBA Summer League enjoys strong ratings.
Co-host New Zealand kicked off the Women's World Cup Tournament with a 1-0 upset victory over Norway on Thursday, securing the country's first win in tournament history. Two other matches are being played today, including co-host Australia taking on Ireland, and Nigeria versus Canada. The United States opens play against Vietnam at 9:00 PM Eastern US time on Friday night.
Good morning. It's Thursday, July 20th. This is your SBJ Morning Buzz cast. I'm David Albright, filling in for Abe Madkour. Security was heightened ahead of that Women's World Cup opening match after a gunman killed two people at a downtown construction site in Auckland, New Zealand. Officials from Eden Park, the host venue of the opening match, encouraged ticket holders to arrive to the stadium early. Tourism New Zealand canceled a welcome party, which was scheduled to be held at a location within the cordoned off area that included many hotels in which participating teams are being housed.
NFL national revenue grew 7.8% to about 12 billion last season, with the 32 teams each receiving 374 million, according to annual financial statements published Wednesday by the Packers. The growth rate of that top-line national media and sponsorship revenue slowed compared to a year earlier when it grew by 12%, but the figure is still 68% higher than it was back in 2016. Overall in the 12 months that included the 2022 NFL season, the Packers posted 68.8 million in operational profit on a record total revenue of 610.3 million. The profit declined by 11.7% compared to one year earlier, squeezed on the revenue side by moving one home game to London, and on the expense side by the NFL's 790 million settlement with St. Louis to avoid a trial over the Rams' relocation.
Team-generated local revenue grew just 1.8% to 236 million, a figure held down by the Packers' first international game in London. Expenses grew 8% to 542 million, driven by the Packers' share of the St. Louis settlement, personnel costs, and a return to a normal operations for a full 12-month period. While the new rights fees from Amazon Prime for Thursday Night Football boosted the national figures this year, a much larger increase is expected from this upcoming season when the full force of the League's $110 billion media rights packages signed back in 2021 come into effect.
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips is being added as a defendant on a second lawsuit that will be filed by another Northwestern player against the school. Phillips served as Northwestern AD from 2008 to 2021. Both lawsuits also list the school itself, president Michael Schill, former president Morton Schapiro, the board of trustees current AD Derrick Gragg, and former football coach Pat Fitzgerald as defendants. Lawyers said that they discovered more allegations of misconduct in the school's, softball and volleyball programs, on top of known allegations in the football, baseball, and cheerleading programs. Phillips was the AD during a majority of the time when the alleged hazing took place in the football program.
GMR Marketing has partnered with advisory agency 18K Sports to launch GMRFC, a division focused specifically on brands and properties activating in global soccer, reports our Chris Smith. The soccer-focused expansion grew out of GMR's long history within the sport. The agency has worked on the last 13 Men's and last six Women's World Cups, and the expertise of staffers who have operated across events in FIFA, UEFA, MLS, and top European leagues. The soccer-focused vertical has already been operating with its public-facing debut, set to align with the start of the Women's World Cup, where GMR has some 20 staffers on the ground and with a clear north star in the stateside return of the Men's World Cup in 2026. Over the last 10 years GMR's soccer portfolio has included work with Adidas, ESPN, HPE, Nissan, Rakuten, Univision, and Visa.
New York Mayor Eric Adams and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy are making a pitch to land the 2026 World Cup final, presumably at MetLife Stadium. A YouGov online survey of professional soccer fans from across the US agreed with Adams and Murphy that New York, New Jersey was the preferred place for the final. The survey found 21% of those polled wanted the final in New York, New Jersey, followed by Los Angeles with 17%, and Miami with 10%. But 25% polled expect to see Los Angeles awarded the marquee match, with New York, New Jersey at 23%. FIFA is expected to announce the locations for marquee games, including the World Cup final, later this year.
Victor Wembanyama's debut with the Spurs helped fuel the NBA 2K24 Summer League from Las Vegas to its second best season yet on ESPN airwaves, reports our Austin Karp. The 2023 slate of games across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU averaged 310,000 viewers. That's behind only 2017 when the three networks averaged 322,000. On Monday night this summer's title game from Vegas between the Cavaliers and Rockets drew 434,000 viewers on ESPN. That's up 46% from Trail Blazers/Knick's last year, which was aired on a Sunday in the 3:00 PM Eastern window. Vegas also will be the site of the semi-finals and final for the new NBA Cup tournament coming up this fall.
In this week's Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast, Bank of America's Securities Analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich joins hosts Andrew and John to discuss ESPN's future. Reif Ehrlich dissects Bob Iger's CNBC interview from last week, when he spoke about looking for a strategic partner for ESPN. She talked about who the likely partners for ESPN might be, when ESPN would take its main channel direct to consumer, and whether Disney is a stronger company without ESPN right now. Reif Ehrlich also analyzed where the multichannel universe is headed, the companies that are best situated for the changes in the media, and the decision facing the NBA is that league takes its rights to market. You can download the Marchand and Ourand Sports Media podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
And that's your SBJ Morning Buzzcast for Thursday. I hope everyone has a great day, and we'll see you back here tomorrow morning.