Raiders' hire wins praise; Engelbert outlines WNBA expansion process; early record for Women's Euro; and connecting through the Buzzcast.
Raiders' hire wins praise; Engelbert outlines WNBA expansion process; early record for Women's Euro; and connecting through the Buzzcast.
Abe Madkour:
So I enjoyed meeting a young man yesterday for lunch. He had reached out after listening to the Buzzcast. He came to Charlotte and over Caesar salads we talked about his incredible career journey, starting in sales, and now his hard work and perseverance, he's landed a job working in college sports. It was a great story. Today, I look forward to having coffee with a young woman who started listening to the Buzzcast while in college, and she is now interning for a major sports league. It's so wonderful to get connected to longtime listeners of the Buzzcast, so keep the outreach coming. I really, really appreciate it. This is your Morning Buzzcast for Friday, July 8th. Good morning. I'm Abe Madkour. Good to be with all of you. Hope you're excited for your weekend. Let's start with news we touched on in yesterday's Buzzcast, Las Vegas Raiders owner, Mark Davis, has seemingly made a very strong hire in landing Sandra Douglass Morgan, the former chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board as the team's new president.
Abe Madkour:
She is the first Black woman to hold that position for an NFL franchise, so groundbreaking news there. We talked yesterday on the Buzz how this was such an important hire for Mark Davis as the team has seen major front offers, turmoil and questions and concerns about its workplace culture. But Sandra Douglass Morgan is a very strong executive who should immediately change the face of the organization both locally and nationally and within the NFL. I love that she's a Las Vegas native. She was raised in the area. She served as a city attorney. She was part of the state's COVID-19 task force. She is very connected to the leaders in Nevada. To show how connected she is. She sits on the boards for Caesar's Entertainment and Allegiant Travel.
Abe Madkour:
She was named vice chair of the city's host committee for the future Super Bowl, which is scheduled for Las Vegas in February of 2024. So she is in sports, she is in gaming. As the former Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairwoman, she was appointed to that role in 2019, where she, again, was the first Black woman to hold that role as well. Her appointment is getting rave reviews locally in Las Vegas, where she obviously has a ton of respect and she is going in with her eyes wide open. She acknowledged yesterday the organization has faced real challenges, but she promised she wouldn't sweep anything under the rug or avoid the problems that need to be addressed, so a big culture shift at the Las Vegas Raiders and another milestone hire this week in sports, Sandra Douglass Morgan, the first Black woman to lead an NFL team as president coming a few days after Mike Greer was named the first Black man to be an NHL General Manager with the San Jose Sharks, so big changes in the sports business.
Abe Madkour:
Let's move on. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was nominated as Sports Executive of the Year at this year's Sports Business Awards, and there's a reason because in just three years as commissioner, she has really changed the business mindset around the league. As the WNBA prepares for its All-Star Weekend. This weekend in Chicago, she gave some insight into the league's plans for expansion. She said the WNBA is searching more than 100 cities looking at the demographics and the psychographics and seeking the right cities. She said diversity of the marketplace is very, very important to the future of the WNBA. She's also trying to find cities with the right facilities and arenas, and then she's targeting possible ownership groups. She admitted there's been considerable interest in expansion and real strong interest from 10 to 15 cities looking to land a WNBA team.
Abe Madkour:
She said that while she would love to have a couple of new markets by 2024, she said it might be more reasonable for 2025. She did say the Bay Area is a top candidate for expansion as the Warriors and others have expressed interest in a team for that area. So as the WNBA holds its All-Star Weekend in Chicago, expansion from the current 12 teams is clearly top of mind. Let's stay with women's sports because we said the Women's Euro 2022 was worth keeping an eye on, right? Well, it's already making headlines. Wednesday night's opener between England and Austria at Old Trafford was a sellout with nearly 69,000 fans. Yes, 69,000 fans watching that match. That was a new record for the tournament. We talked about how this event will break records. Well, for context, at the most recent Women's Euros in the Netherlands in 2017, the average attendance was 7,700. Already for the opener they drew 69,000 fans. This is indicative of the growth of interest and support of women's soccer.
Abe Madkour:
Staying with soccer, Reuters reported that Qatar's World Cup stadiums are likely to be alcohol free when the event is held in November, as beer sales will only be allowed before and after some matches and only outside of the stadiums. Now, no final decision has been made, but the World Cup this year is the first one to be held in a Muslim country with strict, strict rules on alcohol, so this will be a challenge, of course, for FIFA, event organizers, even the fans who are used to drinking during the matches, and, of course, for any sponsors, they may sign. FIFA currently does not have an official beer sponsor globally, but right now it looks like World Cup stadiums could be alcohol free this November. So let's end the Friday Buzzcast like we do around people. One of the hottest personalities in sports, and one of the hottest names in sports broadcasting is Pat McAfee. Pat McAfee signed a multi-year extension with WWE, so he'll remain on Friday Night SmackDown.
Abe Madkour:
Since April of 2021, McAfee has served as an analyst for Friday night SmackDown weekly on Fox. He has generated an amazing following through this and his show on FanDuel. Again, Pat McAfee, one of the hottest personalities in sports. Congratulations to U.S. gymnast, Simone Biles and women's soccer player, Megan Rapinoe. Those two were among 17 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House on Thursday, so quite an honor there. Finally, it does feel like old times. If you watched Thursday night's NHL Draft, it started with NHL Commissioner, Gary Bettman, getting roundly booed by the crowd at the Bell Centre in Montreal and he loved it. He welcomed it. He thanked the audience and as he said, "It's a return to normalcy." So Commissioner Bettman getting greeted like he normally does with a pretty hardy round of boos and he eats it up. So that is your Morning Buzzcast for Friday, July 8th. Hope everybody has a great weekend. I'm Abe Madkour. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you on Monday.