NFL touts Back Together Saturday; Kliavkoff set to present the path forward for Pac-12; Blue Jays roll out massive Rogers Center renovation and trends in sports viewership
I really enjoyed speaking to the sports NBA program at San Diego State yesterday. The director of the program, Scott Minto, and I go back for years. So it was wonderful to reconnect with him and get great questions from the students. A lot of questions about college realignment, LIV Golf, career paths, sales and marketing, and new sponsorship categories. Smart group of students who are excited to continue along their professional journey, and I look forward to staying in touch with them.
This is your Morning Buzzcast for Friday, July 29th. I'm Abe Madkour. We made it to Friday. I know all eyes are on the Pac-12 today, which holds its football media day in Los Angeles. Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff, will meet the media and certainly be asked about his vision for the conference. This will be his most visible and public appearance and remarks since USC and UCLA announced their plan to go to the Big 10. I know George Kliavkoff will be pressed on his plans for the conference going forward.
Let's move on to the NFL. The NFL continues its Back Together Saturday program this weekend. Now remember, this was a program started last year as a way to celebrate normalcy after the pandemic. Back Together Saturday is now a standing feature of the NFL's annual calendar. So tomorrow, Saturday, all NFL teams are expected to have an open practice for fans with additional event programming like speeches from notable team players or personalities, alumni appearances, youth football activities.
NFL sponsor Wilson has bought presenting sponsorship rights to Back Together Saturday. Interestingly, it will also be a big TV event, as the NFL network will have cameras across all camps and ESPN will air NFL live from 9:00 AM to noon, and then they'll be programming on ABC. It's all about engagement. It's all about connecting with fans early in the season.
Last year, the NFL added more than 60,000 new social media followers and more than 40,000 names to its customer database. So again, it's all about engaging. It's all about a data play. Last year the league saw a 34% increase in single game ticket sales over the same period from 2019 on that Saturday. So again, it drives some revenue, it drives some ticket sales. A QR code to Ticketmaster for NFL games will be on the screen in all of NFL networks coverage. So this is intended to be a long build by the NFL and as they say, the NFL draft wasn't built overnight and the league believes this Back Together Saturday program will continue to gain ground year over year.
Staying with the NFL, Commanders owner, Dan Snyder, participated remotely in a sworn deposition with the House Committee on Oversight and Reform for more than 10 hours on Thursday, during a deposition, that of course was not public. The proceedings went from 8:00 AM to 6:30 PM. So a very intense day. The proceedings were transcribed, but it's not clear whether the committee will release the transcript anytime soon.
The depositions conducted by committee staffers, lawyers, and it went on four times longer than the two and a half hour public hearing last month at which NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell was questioned by lawmakers. That was in front of lawmakers. This deposition was more in front of lawyers. So now we'll wait and see whether the transcription of this deposition does become public by the committee. Dan Snyder participating in sworn deposition yesterday lasting more than 10 hours.
We continue to see major facility projects be announced throughout the country and there are so many exciting new buildings and renovations taking place. Let's add Toronto to this list as the Blue Jays on Thursday revealed renderings for the first phase of their upcoming, pretty significant renovation of the Rogers Centre. It'll be about a $230 million privately funded project. It will begin this off season. So eventually this will be a full renovation of Rogers Centre, but this winter's work will focus primarily on the outfield.
The renovation of Rogers Centre will be done by populace. You'll see the elimination of some seats in favor of social areas, open areas, patios, viewing areas. That is the trend that we're seeing throughout facilities right now. The outside of the venue and the roof of the venue are not part of the current renovation plans. Those are both pretty signature features of the facility.
Now Rogers Centre is the seventh oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball. This is the first time it will undergo major renovations since it was built in 1989. Blue Jay's president, Mark Shapiro said that this is not, not, not a long term solution. They will eventually need a new ballpark probably in about a decade, but this will be a great improvement for the players and the fans and get them through a period of about six to 10 years.
Going over to the NHL, the league will have a big partnership up, as Adidas said it will not renew as the NHL's official supplier of uniforms and apparel when their agreement expires after the '23, '24 season. The NHL has reportedly informed other apparel companies that the rights are back in play and on the marketplace. Adidas began its deal with the NHL in the 2017, '18 season. They replaced Reebok. Remember Reebok had been the NHLs official uniform supplier from the 2005 season.
So for about a decade, they were with Reebok, Adidas takes over. Now we already have Nike providing uniforms for the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NBA. So we'll have to see who the NHL brings on as its official uniform supplier, because this is very valuable inventory. So again, Adidas will step away as the NHL's official supplier of uniforms and apparel after the '23, '24 season.
A couple things as we finish up today on this Friday, one good follow on Twitter is Fox Sports' Mike Mulvihill. He is the head of strategy and analytics at the network. He's one of the smartest minds on viewership trends in the sports space. He just has a great overall style and a great understanding of the sports business. Now, he dropped some very interesting TV nuggets on Twitter on Thursday. Here's what he had.
During the first half of 2022 paid TV distribution, the paid TV universe was down 7%. So fewer homes subscribing to the paid TV bundle, meaning sports networks are in fewer homes. However, sports viewership continues to be resilient. He noted that Major League Baseball's Regional Sports Network viewership, the RSN viewership has been flat. Total day viewership of Fox Sports One was up 3%. Total day viewership of ESPN was up 6%. On ESPN Two, it was up 9%. For all of sports viewing, excluding the winter Olympics in February viewership was up 12% compared to the first half of 2021 with the paid distribution universe lower. When you include the Olympics viewership was up 24%.
So what is he saying here? He's saying that all this comes while the paid distribution universe is down 7% and it shows the massive strength and appeal and value of sports and sports programming. So again, a very good follow on Twitter, Fox Sports' Mike Mulvihill.
Let's end around people. We know all the buzz and interest around the F1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix this year during the inaugural event. Well, now the event has a new leader as Tyler Epp was named to president of the event. Remember that was first held in May of this year. Tyler Epp has been with the Miami Grand Prix really since the beginning. He previously served as COO, and now he is president.
Tyler EPP joined the Miami Grand Prix after eight years at the Chiefs. He's also held roles with the Padres and Chip Ganassi Racing. He is very well regarded in sports business circles. He previously worked with Tom Garfinkel who was managing partner of the Miami Grand Prix, and of course, a member of Steve Ross's group with the Dolphins. Tom Garfinkel recruited Tyler EPP from the Chiefs to join the Miami Grand Prix. So again, Tyler Epp named president of the F1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix.
So that is your Morning Buzzcast. It's a Friday, July 29th. Hope everybody has a great weekend. I'm Abe Madkour. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you on Monday.