NASCAR's big bet on Chicago; Surprise power play in women's hockey and USFL has a to-do list in its offseason
Well, I'm heading to my home state of Vermont for a few days for the July 4th holiday. I hope everybody gets a little downtime. David Albright will bring you the Buzzcast all next week. And this is your Morning Buzzcast for Friday, June 30th. Good morning, I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody is looking forward to the July 4th holiday.
A very big weekend for NASCAR as it showcases another change on its schedule by taking over Chicago this weekend with a street race on Sunday. This has been quite the undertaking by the Sport and Race President, Julie Giese, as it includes shutting down several streets in and around Chicago's famous Grant Park as NASCAR worked with the city to build out a 12 turn, 2.2 mile circuit in the weeks and days leading up to the event. They're really trying to minimize the disruption in Chicago on the city roads, and of course on city residents.
We know that NASCAR has made a number of interesting changes to its schedule and where it's been racing over the last few years. There's been the LA Coliseum, there's been the return to North Wilkesboro, and now this street race in the heart of Chicago over a holiday weekend is part of that strategy. I will say, from those that I have spoken with, there is both excitement and angst. It's a huge undertaking and a huge investment for NASCAR. There are a ton of political and community challenges. There has been one issue after another facing Race organizers, and this is more than just a race. It's a full sports, cultural and entertainment weekend. There are two races, four concerts, and so many other events during this weekend.
Now, Chicago is already a strong NASCAR market, but the sport hopes they can over index on new fans similar to what they drew at the Clash at the Coliseum, where more than 60% of attendees were said to be experiencing their first NASCAR race. That's exactly what NASCAR wants this weekend. I know they hope to draw 40,000 on one of the days. They could draw up to 60,000 over two days. They've attracted ticket buyers from all 50 states, 14 countries. You'll see grandstands, you'll see premium suites and chalets, you'll see ground passes. So there'll be a mix of ways for fans to experience this race.
Now, NASCAR is hoping that this broad audience will combine with strong television ratings to make this a high profile attention grabber during what is traditionally a quiet part of NASCAR's schedule. I'm sure NASCAR officials are hoping for a trouble-free event that operates successfully, that minimizes disruptions. I'm sure NASCAR will be relieved when this event is behind them because it's been so daunting to pull off. Let's hope the weather holds because the forecast is a bit iffy right now for Sunday. And the first on track action starts on Saturday, the main event, the Cup Series race, Sunday 5:30 on NBC.
Let's move on. Another event this weekend is the USFL Championship Title Game that will be played in Canton, Ohio on NBC 8:00 PM Saturday evening. Birmingham Stallions seek to defend their title against the Pittsburgh Maulers. For the USFL, it's confirmed it's coming back for a third season, but it finishes its second season with work to do. USFL viewership across all games was down 16% from its debut season, averaging about 600,000 viewers. That also is 3% lower than the XFL's first season. Now, the league also increased the number of markets. Remember in its first year, the USFL played all of its games in Birmingham. But this year the USFL played in four markets, Birmingham, Memphis, Detroit, and Canton. But the league acknowledged it's still figuring out its market strategy as five of the eight teams still do not play in a home market.
The central hub is intended to hold down costs, but the league still needs to figure out ticket sales because meaningful ticket sales will be hard without true home team markets and environments. So those are two things; working on increased viewership and more stable, vibrant home markets that the USFL will focus on during its off season.
Let's get to some very big news in women's pro hockey, and it's a surprise to me and it's still news that is developing as of Friday morning. Billie Jean King Enterprises and the Mark Walter Group have entered into an agreement to acquire the Premier Hockey Federation, and their hope is to start a new women's hockey league in North America as early as January 2024. The 17 Premier Hockey Federation will stop all operations. But other details are pretty scarce. The Premier Hockey Federation seemed to be making strides. It had a more consistent schedule, it had a more traditional structure. It also was paying higher player salaries. On the flip side, the Billie Jean King and Mark Walter Group was working with the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, which includes a majority of the US and Canadian national team players, and they had been studying a bid to launch their own league. So this new league, hypothetically, would bring the best players across the world for one league. But again, details remain to be sorted out. It is surprising. But regardless, this is very big news when it comes to women's professional hockey in North America.
And more positive news around women's sports, we've talked about the increased popularity of women's volleyball on college campuses, and now the NCAA Volleyball Championship will be broadcast on ABC after previously being aired on ESPN 2. Volleyball has rated very well. It's drawn strong viewership, so now they will move the championship to wider exposure on ABC. They'll actually move the NCAA Volleyball Championship to a Sunday afternoon 3:00 PM time slot. They believe that will be better to amplify viewership. Remember, ABC saw a boost when it moved the NCAA Women's Basketball Final from a Sunday night on ESPN to a 3:30 start on ABC, and that likely helps spur this decision to move volleyball to ABC on Sunday afternoon. But the bottom line, more exposure for a very popular growing sport.
And finally, if you haven't watched this yet, you should. As during Thursday night's coverage of the match, Charles Barkley surprised his longtime coworker, Ernie Johnson, in announcing that Johnson will be inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame this year. Barkley was smooth as always, and Johnson was visibly shocked by the news and it was good TV and just well done. I've had the pleasure of doing an event with Ernie Johnson and he is truly a class act. So this is a very well-deserved honor as Ernie Johnson will enter the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
And that is your Morning Buzzcast for Friday, June 30th. I'm Abe Madkour. Like I said, I'll be out all next week. I hope everybody has a great July 4th week. Until I speak to you again, stay healthy, be good to each other. Have a great holiday.