The intrigue surrounding LIV Golf's debut; Leiweke lands deal with Fenway Sports Group; Big 12 eyes new commissioner for mid-July and the party of the summer takes shape.
A historic weekend in women's sports attendance Saturday at the women's College World Series, more than 12,500, the largest in that event's history. History also made at the US Women's Open as Minjee Lee took home a $1.8 million payday, the largest in women's golf history. And it was part of a record $10 million purse that saw the second place finisher earn more than a million dollars for the first time. Women's sports continues to head in the right direction and check out SPJ for our special issue hitting today, featuring power players driving women's professional and amateur sports. You can see that full list on sportsbusinessjournal.com.
This is your Morning Buzzcast for Monday, June 6th. Good morning. I'm Abe Madkour. Speaking of history, a historic week in golf as the LIV Golf Invitational Series debut this week at the Centurion Club outside of London. And while so many questions remain about the event, it is still the story everyone is talking about and watching. To that end the one story you should make time to read over the next few days was the Washington Post excellent deep dive look at LIV Golf CEO, Greg Norman, it hit Sunday under the header, The Shark is on the Attack Again. I followed Greg Norman for years, but I still learned a great deal about him in this piece. And it writes that Norman's reputation right now has suffered a tremendous blow over the last few months and he is growing increasingly isolated as he pushes ahead with LIV Golf. It also speaks to his newly fractured relationship with Jack Nicholas, who was a father figure to Greg Norman for years. And among other things I learned in the piece, Norman said that Tiger Woods turned down a deal that was, "Mind blowingly enormous. We're talking about high nine digits" to lead LIV Golf. So we know that Jack Nicholas was made an offer to lead LIV Golf. Now Norman confirms that tiger woods was offered an incredibly generous package to lead LIV Golf. But it really looked at kind of the steps and the process and the viewpoint of Norman as he has taken on such a controversial role.
Meanwhile, the London Telegraph reported over the weekend that LIV Golf plans to spare no expense this weekend for its inaugural event, treating players to all expenses paid, luxury conditions and accommodations with lavish parties and perks. Free flights and accommodations for all the competitors and their caddies in a golf field is a rarity in golf for sure, but that's what's happening according to the London Telegraph this week with LIV Golf's inaugural event. And five time PGA Tour winner, Kevin Na, resigned from the PGA Tour over the weekend. He did so rather than either facing potential discipline or have legal action against the PGA Tour, he is going to play in the LIV Golf series event this week in London. He said the opportunity to play on the LIV Golf Invitational Series was too much to pass up. Meaning, again, the rich purses that live golf is distributing as part of their events is really getting notice by the players.
Meanwhile, a source told the Boston Globe that the USGA is still considering revoking the invitations to the US Open, which will be played later this month to those players who are participating in the LIV Golf event in London. So again, all these moving pieces to this, it's an incredibly dynamic story and one we've been talking about and will continue to talk about and keep our eye on. Let's move on.
Fenway Sports Group and the Pittsburgh Penguins have selected OVG 360 to take over management of the team's PPG Paints Arena in downtown Pittsburgh next month in July. That'll be a 15 year deal. That's a big deal for Tim Leiweke and OVG 360. They will take over from the incumbent ASM Global whose contract who operate the arena expires at the end of this month in June. The Penguins and their ownership group said they ran a limited RFP process and ultimately landed and decided on OVG. Oakview Group founder, Tim Leiweke said he wants the deal to launch a wider relationship between his company Oakview Group and Fenway Sports Group. Remember, Fenway Sports Group bought the penguins late last year, and the penguins have unbelievably ambitious plans to develop an entertainment district across the street from the arena and certainly Oakview Group wants to play a major role there. Aramark will remain the concessionaire in the building. One immediate area focus for Oakview Group in Pittsburgh is to increase the number of concerts booked at the facility, so we'll look for that as this relationship develops. But a big win for OVG 360 to take over management of the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
Let's shift to college sports interviews are expected to begin soon for the next Big 12 Commissioner replacing Bob Bowlsby, the conference hopes to have the new commissioner name by football media days, which are July 13th and 14th. So this decision coming quickly. Search firm TurnkeyZRG has already gathered a number of candidates to be interviewed. Presidents from Texas Tech, Baylor and Kansas are part of a three person search committee that will conduct the interviews, and again, they hope to have a selection announcement on a new commissioner around July 13th and 14th. Also, from the big 12 meetings that ended Friday, Bob Bowlsby will have the conference's sportsmanship trophy renamed in his honor. So that's a nice tribute to a good man in Bob Bowlsby.
Let's shift to global soccer because UEFA finally did the right thing and apologized to fans for the chaotic scene at the Champions League final in late May. Both Real Madrid and Liverpool wanted UEFA to take more responsibility for the issues at the facility just outside Paris. Remember, both French sports officials and UEFA had the nerve to really blame the chaos and the violence. First, they blamed it on fans arriving late, then they blamed it on people holding fake tickets. But finally on Friday UEFA admitted that fans shouldn't be put in that situation at all and that fans can't be tear gassed when trying to get into a stadium. UEFA has commissioned an independent review to find out what exactly happened and where all of this broke down. So they're going to talk to the teams, the federations, they'll talk to fans, security and the stadium operator to get a full sense of really what went down at that Champion's League final. But UEFA finally doing the right thing and apologizing to fans.
Shifting to baseball. We talk about competitive balance and economic parody in baseball all the time. While the AP has an early season look at the biggest spenders and the most frugal spenders so far this year. As of opening day, five teams exceeded a $230 million luxury tax threshold. That was the Dodgers, they have the highest payroll in baseball, more than $310 million. The Mets were second at $289 million and the Yankees were third at $261 million. The Phillies and the Red Sox round out the top five. And if things hold and stand, as they are, each would pay MLB's luxury tax. But four teams had payrolls under $100 million. The Guardians came in at $91 million, the Orioles at $79 million, the Pirates at $73 million and the A's have the lowest payroll in baseball at just over $64 million. So, some interesting financial figures cited by the Associated Press when it comes to baseball team spending.
In a surprise move Friday afternoon, US Soccer CEO Will Wilson announced his plan to step down from his role as of October 31st. Will Wilson had been in his current role since March of 2020, US Soccer will begin a nationwide search to replace Will Wilson. It was a little bit of a surprise because of course the Men's National Team is set to participate in the 22 World Cup, starting in November and of course, everyone is looking forward with great interest and excitement about the US co-hosting the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico. But now US Soccer will look for a new CEO to work with Cindy Parlow Cone and her team during a time of seismic change and immense opportunity for soccer in America as Will Wilson moves on from his role.
And it's the official party of summer. Yes, the New York Post reports that Fanatics CEO, Michael Rubin is bringing back his heavily buzzed about July 4th party at his home in the Hamptons. This year's guest list is reportedly to be even more exclusive. Remember last year's, it was I think an all white party that Michael Rubin held on July 4th. There were a number of sports attendees, his friend Patriot's owner, Robert Kraft was there, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred was there, A-Rod was there. Page Six is reporting that Rubin is being inundated with requests to get into this year's party, including people trying to pay their way in to the party. But no worries, Michael, I already have plans for July 4th, but rock it out. I'm sure it's going to be a heavily talked about event.
So, that is your Morning Buzzcast. It is Monday, June 6th. I'm Abe Madkour. Everybody has a great start to their week. Stay healthy. Be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.