News from the IOC in Paris, talks about an 18th NFL game and monster TV ratings for the WNBA All-Star Game
News from the IOC in Paris, talks about an 18th NFL game and monster TV ratings for the WNBA All-Star Game
Speaker 1:
Good morning on this Wednesday, July 24th. I'm SBJ senior writer Joe Lemire, and this is your Morning Buzzcast.
We begin with some breaking news. The IOC has officially awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City in a vote a short time ago this morning. That much was a formality, as Utah's capital had been the lone viable candidate for those games, making for a particularly Happy Pioneer Day back in the Rockies.
The 83-to-6 vote was not entirely without drama, however, as one IOC member used the moment to criticize the United States for its actions related to the ongoing controversy surrounding the World Anti-Doping Agency and an issue involving 23 Chinese swimmers.
Also on the agenda in Paris this week, reported our Rachel Axon, who will be writing our Evening Unpacks newsletter with all the Olympic news you need, is that the IOC has officially partnered with the Saudi National Olympic Committee to launch the Olympic e-Sports Games beginning next year in 2025.
This has been an ongoing consideration for the Olympic movement for a while now, really since about 2017, and this seems to be a format that makes sense, with e-sports receiving some recognition by the IOC and used as a way to reach a younger audience, while also remaining a distinct competition from the Olympics as they currently stand.
Quick NFL update. The league has been banding around the idea of pushing for an 18th regular season game and in a report yesterday, the Washington Post spoke to NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell, who confirmed that the union is, quote, engaged in high-level discussions with the NFL about the potential implementation of an 18-game regular season.
Certainly such due diligence is par for the course. But what's notable here is that the CBA explicitly forbids the league from making that change unilaterally and Howell acknowledged that the union would consider the possibility even before the expiration of the current agreement, so long as proper concessions and incentives are made from the league.
Caitlin Clark and the rest of her WNBA rookie class continue to deliver for the league, this time with massive All-Star Game ratings that more than doubled the previous record. The Saturday night showcase pitted Team USA against the rest of the W's All-Star, such as Clark and Angel Reese and the ABC broadcast drew 3.44 million viewers. That's exactly 2 million higher than the previous WNBA All-Star record set back in 2003.
Incidentally, the only W All-Star game I've had the pleasure to attend was in 2004, which was also an exhibition between Team USA Olympians and W All-Stars. Notably that game took place on the stage at Radio City Music Hall.
This was 20 years ago, and looking back at the rosters was a nostalgic look for me, Dawn Staley, Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson, Tamika Catchings, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Sheryl Swoopes, Swin Cash, Becky Hammon and more, quite the legendary cast of hoopers to have participated that evening. But considering the confines of that venue compared to where they are now shows a remarkable amount of progress.
The 2024 viewership last weekend was a gain of nearly 140% over the record and about a 400% improvement year-over-year with the 2023 game pulling in 850,000 also on ABC and also on a Saturday night. The W has a record 17 games that have eclipsed 1 million viewers this season, and Clark has played in 15 of them.
In all, that 3.44 million-person audience is the third-highest for any WNBA broadcast, with the top two both coming back in its inaugural 1997 season. It was clear that the W was going to set a record for its All-Star Game in Clark's rookie year, and the added storyline of her being left off the Olympic roster and then playing against them certainly helped.
But I confess to being mightily surprised and impressed at just how far above the bar that ratings number cleared. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert believes the roughly three-week Olympic break now underway could also be a good brand exposure period for the league, as rosters consist of about 19% international players, so it's not just Team USA that you should be looking out for.
And those in attendance at the Footprint Center in Phoenix for the All-Star Game also purchased a record amount of licensed apparel. Fanatics was in its first year as the on-site merchandise retailer, and it broke the WNBA All-Star record for sales. For the season so far, merch is up 500% overall and player-specific apparel is up 1000%.
Some of the W's other marquee games, including three WNBA finals, will soon find a home on NBC, according to Comcast president Mike Cavanagh, who oversees NBC Universal and who shared details of the network's pending 11-year $27.5 billion media rights deal with the NBA during yesterday's earnings call.
NBC and Peacock will share 100 regular season games annually, as well as more than 50 W games per year. NBC will have regular Sunday night basketball games, which Peacock will follow with Monday night national coverage on the streaming service. NBC and Telemundo will both become carriers of NBA All-Star coverage.
I spent yesterday afternoon along with tech colleagues, Jenn Azara and Rob Schaefer at Sportradar Connect, the tech and data company's annual partner conference, which was held at the MSG Theater. Lots of good thoughts on AI, hyperpersonalization and media rights, but it was also clear there would be no major new developments in the NBA media deal vis-a-vis Warner Bros. Discovery's attempt to match the seed packets that Amazon is slated to get.
As the league's executive vice president of media and gaming, Scott Kaufman-Ross showed up to the Sportradar event to speak on this panel as scheduled. More than once he joked that there was nothing else going on, and indeed that was the case for a day, at least.
When I saw the headline that the ACC generated a record $700 million in revenue this year, I thought that was a good strong number and, of course, it is. But to put everything in context, I scanned through SBJ's headlines a little further and saw that Real Madrid surpassed 1 billion euros all by itself.
It's admittedly an apples to Naranjas comparison, of course, to place NCAA schools against a Champions League winning side that also won the domestic trophy as La Liga champ. But it's still remarkable, and one that Real Madrid has touted as the first for any global soccer club, and that, of course, is before they've added Kylian Mbappe, of course.
Speaking of billions, the Bulls and Blackhawks jointly announced plans for a $7 billion redevelopment around Chicago's United Center. Billed as the 1901 Project, which refers to the venue's 1901 West Madison Street address, the decade-long plan would retrofit a mixed-use development around the arena by building over parking lots that the Reinsdorf and Wirtz families own.
The proposal includes a 6,000-seat music hall, hotel and retail buildings, public open space, and thousands of apartments. Though it did not include an ask for public money, executives did indicate a likelihood of a public-private partnership to upgrade surrounding infrastructure and public transportation.
Thanks for tuning in this morning. I'm Joel Lemire signing off on the Wednesday Buzzcast. You'll hear from me again on Friday when the Paris Games officially get started. But don't forget that some preliminary competitions get underway today, including the USA Men's Rugby Sevens. Enjoy the action and have a great day.