The changing face of - and path to- the NBA; Tastemaker takeaways and a hat tip to Bill Hancock.
Abe Madkour:
While we made it to Friday, this is your Morning Buzzcast for Friday, June 23rd. I'm Abe Madkour, thanks for listening to the Buzzcast. What an interesting night with the NBA Draft on Thursday. Fascinating to see a changing face of the league with these dynamic young players who come from different backgrounds and different training. You had the charismatic Victor Wembanyama, and I love the Thompson twins who were picked back to back, what a great story there. But here's what I found really interesting. For the first time since 2001, four of the top five picks in the NBA Draft did not play college basketball in the States. That's what really shows how sports are changing. Wembanyama, of course, goes to the Spurs after having played in France's top league. The third pick, Scoot Henderson went to the Portland Trail Blazers after two seasons at the G League. I mentioned the Thompson twins. They played for Overtime Elite in Atlanta.
So don't overlook the significance of having two players go in the top five and what that means for Overtime Elite as they continue to build their league. This will only make their really unique efforts more intriguing and more popular. But last night's draft also shows the global nature of the game. Just look at the last few MVP awards, and they were given to three international players. You have Joel Embiid of course, from Cameroon, you have Jokic from Serbia, Giannis from Greece and Nigeria. And now you have Victor with such promise going to the Spurs. And you also see the different pipelines that there are to get to the pro game. You have the traditional college space, you have the G League, and you have Overtime Elite, all players being drafted. It just shows a very dynamic changing environment in basketball and I think that was very evident during last night's draft.
Meanwhile, in other big news, the Qatar Investment Authority is seeking to buy a minority stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment. That is of course, Ted Leonsis's group that owns the Wizards, the Capitals, the Mystics, and of course a local regional sports network. This deal, if it does get approved, it would make the Qatar Investment Authority the first foreign sovereign fund to own a piece of a major US team sports franchise. This is significant and we will surely have more as this story develops.
Let's move on. A number of you asked about the dinner I mentioned in the Buzzcast on Wednesday morning. This is something that Sports Business Journal does a few times a year, we bring together a number of top executives. We had about 25 the other night at a restaurant, private room, in New York for an off-the-record conversation about some of the big issues of the day. Here's what I can tell you about what was discussed. First, plenty of conversation about the value of meteorites and the erosion of the cable bundle and what that means for the future business models around media rights, whether that is direct-to-consumer, over the year, what it means for local viewership and what it means of course for rights fees. There was a lot of conversation about alternatives that young fans are using to engage and experience with sports and short form video platforms that young fans are engaged with.
There was of course a lot of interest about the growth of women's sports. Now there were questions about how to grow the fan base, how to get more fans watching and at attending women's sports. And also how the presentation, the discovery, and the coverage of women's sports, how that can be improved and packaged better. There was plenty of discussion about the increasing valuation of sports teams and how that will likely continue. While we all know the value in team ownership is in the appreciation of the team, the big question is will the teams continue to increase in value? What, if any, are possible headwinds that could slow the increasing valuations, whether it's the economy or increased interest rates? There was a lot of discussion about that. There was also varying opinion of the impact The Messi Effect will have on Major League Soccer.
And finally, a fascinating conversation about artificial intelligence and its impact on sports, such as a frictionless fan experience. While one person strongly stressed there are big threats looming because AI is a major focus for nimble, smaller organizations who don't care about legacy business models and are ripe to disrupt the norm. So some great points of view. If you're ever interested in learning more about these events, just let me know.
Let's move on. Sports Business Journal's Ben Fischer reported Thursday night that while we still don't know the final candidates in the NFLPA's very low-profile search for a new executive director, leaders are expected to choose one by June 29th. Yes, by next week. NFLPA staffers have been asked to attend a meet and greet with a new executive director next Thursday according to Ben Fisher. The player reps are scheduled to meet next Tuesday and Wednesday to select a successor to the outgoing De Smith. The search so far has been remarkably quiet. There have been very few leaks of potential candidates, but two sources tell Ben Fischer there is one heavy favorite at this point. And like we said, they anticipate to choose a next executive director by the end of next week.
A big weekend for Major League Baseball in London as a two-game series between the Cubs and the Cardinals at London Stadium marks baseball's return to the UK after the very successful Red Sox-Yankee series was played there in 2019. MLB likes its growth prospects in the UK. Britain is baseball's biggest market in Europe in terms of broadcast revenue, in terms of merchandise sales, and subscribers to digital products. Though it does trail other countries like Mexico, it Trails Japan, and South Korea, and China. But there's some growth prospects, as research shows that interest in Major League Baseball among British sports fans has increased from 4% in 2019 to almost 6% last year. And this will be a consistent play for Major League Baseball, London is locked in on the schedule for a series in 2025 and in 2026.
So the Cubs will feature an advertising patch from Advocate Health on the sleeve of its uniforms for the series. The Cubs worked with baseball to sell the patch for international games. The patch is a league-controlled asset, but this Advocate Health group, they were already a sponsor of the Cubs. As part of the deal. I like this, three nurses from Advocate Health will be traveling with the club on its charter flight to London to attend the two games. The Cardinal's Jersey patch sponsor is Stifel and they will be on the uniform sleeves for the two games in London. Both teams will wear batting helmets with decals featuring a Capital One logo, which comes as that league sponsor expands its relationship with baseball. The games from London will be on Fox and ESPN.
Let's put a bow on the post-season ratings for the NBA and NHL. SBJ's. Austin Karp reported that the NBA playoffs, the full playoffs, all rounds, represented the NBA's best figure since 2018. This year's postseason 2023 was up 7% from last year. Now the five game Nuggets-Heat finals was down 6% from Warriors-Celtics in 2022, but overall, the postseason was up for the NBA. Shifting to the NHL, Austin Karp reported that after starting out the early rounds with record audience numbers, the loss of big name teams and a shift to cable for the Stanley Cup final put a dent in the NHLs post-season numbers. The overall playoffs for the NHL were down 10% from last year. The biggest drop was shifting the Stanley Cup final from ABC in 2022 to TBS and TNT this year, as that led to a 43% decline in Stanley Cup final viewership. And that of course dragged down the overall number, and once again, the overall playoff number, post-season number for the NHL, down 10% compared to last year.
And finally, a hat tip to one of the really good people in sports. I know I'll mention him again, because he is not leaving for some time, but I can't say enough about College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock who announced that he is stepping down when his contract expires on February 1st, 2025. Now Hancock, who will be entering his 19th season working in post-season football, was hired by the College Football Playoff just a few months after the event was created in 2012, and was the only employee at that time, and how he has built such an impressive product and event that is continuing to grow, and more importantly, he's just one of the great, kind, talented people in the sports business with a great wit. If you're lucky to spend time with Bill Hancock, you come away a better person.
One tip, read his book, Riding with the Blue Moth, where he writes about how bicycling across the country was the way he chose to distract himself from his grief after the death of his son Will in the 2001 airplane crash that took the lives of the Oklahoma State basketball team when that plane crashed in 2001. It's a very powerful read. And while Bill Hancock is moving on, we are lucky he will still be on the job for another year and a half, but I can't say enough about the good man, bill Hancock. And that is your morning Buzzcast for Friday, June 23rd. I'm Abe Madkour, thanks for listening to the morning Buzzcast. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you on Monday.