Big bucks for Broncos and what the deal means. Also, Big Ten sets up new sales group, NFL hits Africa and key names on the move.
This is your Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, June 8th. Good morning, I'm Abe Madkour, hope everybody is doing well. It is official, and it may spark a new run on sports team sales. A group led by Walmart heir, Rob Walton, and his family, have struck a deal to buy the Denver Broncos from the Pat Bowlen Trust in a deal that is a monster deal. Our Ben Fisher is reporting the purchase price is $4.65 billion. That nearly doubles the previous high for a pro sports team in the United States. Remember, the Brooklyn Nets went for 2.35 billion in 2019.
The last NFL team to be sold was the Carolina Panthers in 2018. They sold for 2.3 billion. So who is Rob Walton? Well, Rob Walton is the son of Walmart founder, Sam Walton. He led Walmart from 1992 to 2015. Now, of course, Rob Walton is the lead on the bid, but he is joined by his daughter, Carrie Walton Penner, and his son-in-law, Greg Penner, who is the current chair of Walmart. So we see the Walmart consistency throughout the bid.
Now, what's interesting is the bid also includes Mellody Hobson. She is co-CEO and president of Ariel Investments, but interestingly, she is the chair of Starbucks. She is a Black woman who adds diversity to the bid group, and that is something the NFL has really wanted. As a side note, she's also married to Star Wars creator, George Lucas. So Mellody Hobson is a key member of the Walton bid group. So the next step in this process is meeting with the NFL's finance committee. If that group of owners approves of the sale, and there's no indication they would not, they would pass it on to the full ownership group for approval. That's when 24 teams must approve the Rob Walton bid.
By all indications, the start of the regular season of the NFL is the goal to have this new owner in place. Now, Rob Walton is also related, as we've talked on the Buzzcast, to Stan Kroenke. Stan Kroenke, of course, owns the Rams, the Avalanche, the Nuggets. Now, Stan Kroenke's wife, Ann Kroenke, is Rob Walton's cousin. And again, we're seeing the growing influence of Stan Kroenke in the sports world, as he likely was able to bring Rob Walton into this bidding process.
So what do I mean that it could start a run on sports team sales? Well, just put yourself in a team owner's place. Every team owner will see this record price and question if now is the time to get out. I'm not saying there'll be a run of team sales, especially NFL team sales, but this type of life-changing money will surely make them all think about it. This is a big number, 4.6 billion for the Broncos is a very big number. I was asked recently if I thought the Broncos could go for 5 billion, I did not. But when you started the sale process, $4.6 billion would certainly have been on the high end of this sale.
So this transaction is a big win for the NFL and a big win for sports team owners and a big sign of the robust marketplace for sports teams. Let's move on to college sports because the Big Ten is bringing its corporate sponsorship sales in-house. That's according to SBJ's Michael Smith who reported this move yesterday. And this is part of a move that includes restructuring its longtime relationship with Learfield.
Now, the Big Ten and the Big Ten Network have established a new entity called Big Ten Network Sports Media Group. They will sell the conference's corporate sponsorship, a partnership activation, some media sales. So the conference and the Big Ten Network will hire their first vice president of sponsorship to lead this new sports media group. So this new vice president will build out their staff and will be based out of the conference's office in Chicago.
Now, bringing in corporate sponsorship in-house doesn't mean a lot of money for the Big Ten. Conference sponsorships aren't the most lucrative or plentiful, but it does mark another move by Big Ten commissioner, Kevin Warren, and the Big Ten to chart their own course and control their own rights. All this comes as the Big Ten is meeting with media companies this week in New York about its next media deal. So a lot of changes at the Big Ten.
Now for Learfield, Learfield will remain with the Big Ten, but just in a more reduced capacity. They'll sell social media advertising and some other assets. Learfield has been a partner with the Big Ten since 2008. We talk a lot on the Buzzcast about growing the games globally. Well, the NFL will embark on an effort to grow the game globally by hosting its first official events ever, first official events ever to take place in Africa. Beginning June 21st in Ghana, the week of activities is called NFL Africa: The Touchdown, and includes a number of activities.
There's like a combine type competitive event, there's a fan event, there's a flag football clinic. So the NFL Africa camp will feature 40 players from across the continent taking place in this. And again, it's all in an effort by the NFL to grow the game of football, now holding its first events ever in Africa. And we want to end the Buzzcast around names because there's some very interesting names in the news today.
First, Andrew Judelson, well-known to many listeners of the Buzzcast who has led national sales at Learfield and IMG College since 2013 has formally joined Diamond Baseball Holdings as its first chief commercial officer. Remember, Diamond Baseball Holdings, which is backed by Endeavor, launched in December and started out with the acquisition of 10 Minor League Baseball clubs. They have hopes of acquiring more baseball teams. So Judelson will be charged with building and managing the nationwide sales and marketing for Diamond Baseball Holdings. Like I said, Andrew Judelson, well-known to the sports business community. He was at the NHL, SI, WWE, and like I said, he led national sales for IMG College and Learfield for nearly a decade.
An interesting hire at Duke. They have hired Rachel Baker as the men's basketball program's first general manager. This is a newly created position and Rachel Baker will help players with NIL opportunities. And this is a trend we're seeing on campus. Now, she previously worked in sports marketing roles at Nike and the NBA and she is considered a key piece to the Duke men's basketball program in formulating the future NIL policy. And like I said, we are seeing a lot of schools take a more active role in name, image, and likeness issues, policy, and implementation. That's what you're seeing here at Duke with the hiring of Rachel Baker.
And longtime sports media executive, Eric Conrad, has joined Sportradar as Managing Director, Strategic Partnerships for North America. So he'll lead the partnership unit that last year, they did exclusive deals with the NBA and NHL. I'm sure Conrad will look to do more exclusive deals with big sports properties. He spent the last decade at Univision. Prior to that, he was at ESPN. He also had stints at MLB and the NBA. And finally, the SBJ I Factor presented by Allied Sports features an interesting interview with NFL CRO, Renie Anderson, one of my favorites in the sports business, she talks openly about her personal and professional journey from growing up in Kentucky to almost accidentally entering the sports business, and now, to becoming one of the top executives at the NFL.
Renie Anderson is a member of SBJ's 40 under 40 Hall of Fame. She was an honoree in 2013, 14, and 15. It's a fun listen. Give it a listen. Check it out on sportsbusinessjournal.com. And all next week, I'll be in Chicago for our brand innovation summit. If you have time, love to say hi, get a cup of coffee, and check in with you. So if you're going to be free, ping me and let me know. Love to hear from you. So that is your Morning Buzzcast. It's Wednesday, June 8th. I'm Abe Madkour, have a great day, stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.