A Blazers blockbuster? Takeaways from Silver's state-of-the-league; Coyotes take baby steps in Tempe and NASCAR gets warm welcome in St. Louis
Well, we know it's a big weekend for sports, but a big weekend for tennis. And it includes 18-year-old Coco Gauff playing in her first Grand Slam final on Saturday. She will play one of the most formidable players in tennis right now, facing the Number One seed, Iga Swiatek, at the French open for the women's title. The American, Coco Gauff, really emerging as a face of women's tennis in Paris.
And this is your Morning Buzzcast for Friday, June 3rd. I'm Abe Madkour. You got to like these short work weeks. Another weekend right in front of us, great news. But the big news yesterday was that on the day of Game 1 of the NBA finals in San Francisco it was reported that Nike's Phil Knight and Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner, Alan Smolinisky, have delivered a written offer of more than $2 billion to buy the Portland Trail Blazers. And ESPN reported that the two plan to remain aggressive in acquiring the team. The Trail Blazers acknowledged the offer, but said, the team remains not for sale.
Now this is early in the process and the Blazers will surely attract a lot of interested bidders, but I'm fascinated by the fact that Phil Knight is a serious bidder and that shouldn't be understated. He has a very close relationship with the NBA and Adam Silver. Phil Knight's been a huge proponent of the game of basketball around the world. He's incredibly marketing savvy. He has deep wealth and deep resources and deep ties to the Pacific Northwest. And he will surely focus on keeping the Trail Blazers in Portland for the long term.
Remember, the Blazers and the Seahawks are held in the Paul Allen Trust, which is managed by Paul Allen's sister, Jody, since Paul Allen's death in 2018. The belief all along has been that the sales of the Blazers and the Seattle Seahawks are part of an eventual plan for the Trust. So now this news will surely put into question the future of the Seahawks. Adam Silver said at his annual news conference ahead of Game 1 on Thursday night that the Blazers will have to be sold per the terms of the Paul Allen Trust, but Silver said he did not know when a sale would take place. Now, like I said, it's too early to know how this will play out. I'll just say, the NBA would become instantly stronger and instantly more interesting with Phil Knight as a team owner.
In meeting the media last night before Game 1, Adam Silver did touch on a few interesting nuggets around the state of the NBA. Here's what I took away. First, Adam Silver did acknowledge the league and the NBPA, the Players Association, have the ability to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement in December ahead of it expiring next summer. He said he hopes that they can follow the current or the most recent model in where they reached a long-term CBA extension even before the opt-out. The wrinkle here is at this time Adam Silver is working with and negotiating with a new executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, that is Tamika Tremaglio. And so we'll need to see how that relationship develops and the early offers between the two sides. So the collective bargaining agreement, one issue in focus.
Adam Silver also said the idea of an NBA mid-season tournament remains on the table, though it is not yet finalized. He also said, interestingly, he'd be open to discussing a shorter NBA season. That was a surprise to me, but he acknowledged he'd only agree to a shorter season if it could be proven to help mitigate injuries. And while we've talked a lot about expansion on the Buzzcast, Adam Silver said that expansion to any market, like Seattle or Las Vegas, is not the near-term focus of the NBA. Though he did admit it is something that the NBA will do again at some point.
And of course, the NBA's relationship with China came up and Adam Silver said the NBA has lost hundreds of millions of dollars because of the strained relationship with China. But he said he continues to believe that doing business with China and engaging with China is not inconsistent with the NBA's values in light of the alleged human rights violations taking place within China. A couple of interesting takeaways from Adam Silver, state of the league, before Game 1 of the NBA finals.
Let's move on some good news for the Arizona Coyotes, as the Tempe City Council said that it will enter negotiations with the Coyotes regarding construction of a new entertainment district that would include a new arena for the team. This is just the first step, but it does represent a major step forward for the franchise because it really needs to seek some sort of long-term future in that region. Now the city council, the City Tempe, the team, they'll begin months long negotiations that will include community input and public meetings.
NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman, joined the meeting, joined the city council meeting, virtually. It was on the day of his 70th birthday yesterday. He of course endorsed the project and said that if the project is eventually approved, the Coyotes would have to sign a 30-year non-relocation agreement. He also said that NHL would bring the league's draft and All Star game to the new arena once it's built. So there's still a long way to go here, but an initial positive step for the Arizona Coyotes.
Let's shift to NASCAR, because NASCAR makes its debut this weekend at the World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis, and the reception in that market has been very strong. A sold out crowd of more than 57,000 is expected for Sunday's race, it's called the Enjoy Illinois 300. It'll mark a record crowd for the facility at this inaugural event for NASCAR.
Now track officials in St. Louis have spent a lot of time and money to get this facility up to standards. At least $50 million has been spent on renovations. And right now this track is the only motor sports facility in the United States to host a NASCAR race, an IndyCar race, and an NHRA race, all in one year. So obviously this track is incredibly versatile. NASCAR, they love the location and that the track draws fans in that Midwest region and states like Illinois and Missouri. So it's been a hit, and Sunday should be a strong business story for NASCAR.
And one story that shouldn't be overlooked that broke this week is the continued growth of the Wasserman agency. Wasserman entered into the sport of rugby by acquiring an Australian-based talent agency and rebranding it as Wasserman Rugby. This gets Casey Wasserman into the rugby talent business, and also puts his agency into the Australian marketplace. They have footprints in Europe and North America, South America, Asia, but now Wasserman will be in Australia.
One report stated that a key motivation for Wasserman was the awarding of the 2031 Rugby World Cup to the United States, we've talked about that on the Buzzcast. So Wasserman obviously looking at an emerging global sport of rugby, and now getting into rugby with the acquisition of a talent agency. Pretty interesting strategic move there by the Wasserman agency.
Let's end around people. Marketing and production company, Wisdom Gaming, has appointed Steve LaCroix as president. Steve LaCroix is one of my favorite people in the sports business. He is a sports industry veteran. He began his career in the early nineties. He was with the Pacers, he spent more than two decades at the Vikings. Couple years ago he opened up his own agency, LaCroix Sports & Entertainment. Now he will lead Wisdom Gaming as it launches a new esports and gaming broadcast studio and venue at the Mall of America near Minneapolis. LaCroix will also be charged with growing Wisdom Gaming across all business lines. So Steve LaCroix, joining Wisdom Gaming as president.
That is your Morning Buzzcast for Friday, June 3rd, a short workweek. Hope everybody has a great weekend. I'm Abe Madkour. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you on Monday.