The Charlie Baker era begins; UFC/PBR fuel Endeavor; Add OKC to markets eyeing new venue; Disney doubles down on F1 and people on the move
I'm shipping up to Boston where I'll be attending the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference on Friday. It'll be a quick trip, but it's always a very worthwhile event. I'm always so impressed by how the students put together such a lineup of speakers and topics. If you're there, I'd love to see you and say hello.
This is your Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, March 1st. Can you believe, two months are in the rearview mirror for 2023? I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the Morning Buzzcast.
Let's start with a new era for the NCAA and it begins today as former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker takes over as president, and Mark Emmert will serve as an advisor for a few months before officially moving on. But as of yesterday, really, Mark Emmert has left the NCAA. Charlie Baker has already started to put together his staff. We know he won't be based in Indianapolis. He'll remain in Boston while traveling a great deal. He certainly has a lot on his plate. A number of key legal cases are close to being decided in the courts, and NIL and the Transfer Portal are also pressing issues. He will also look to revisit the NCAA's commercial sales structure and model.
This is an interesting time as my colleague, Michael Smith, noted in his SBJ college newsletter last night. Will the NCAA Board of Governors, at times a pretty heavy-handed group, let Charlie Baker lead and will they step to the side? You'd be amazed at how many athletic directors I speak to who want the NCAA to break up all these various committees they have, studying and examining every issue. They want to end the slow-moving process and they want the NCAA to just move faster on issues. That's what I'll be looking to see if Charlie Baker can move, and can move quickly on the issues. It's not known when Baker will offer his first State of the Union address or meet with reporters, but certainly, a new day at the NCAA begins today.
Last year, there were some raised eyebrows when the UFC won Sports League of the Year at the Sports Business Awards, while the judges who voted for the UFC should feel better and better about their choice because the numbers on the UFC are quite impressive. Endeavor released details during an earnings report call on Tuesday with the UFC, once again, being the key revenue driver for the company. Overall, Endeavor's own sports properties, the sports properties that they own and operate, which include the UFC and the Professional Bull Riders, generated just over $300 million in the fourth quarter, which is up 9% from the same quarter last year. For the year, revenue for the sports properties was up to $1.3 billion that was up more than $220 million from 2021 or 20%. Big, big gains. Both the UFC and PBR had record revenue. Very impressive feats. For the UFC, they saw all 21 events with live audiences sold out. They posted its best sponsorship year ever for the UFC, and data showed that the fan base of the UFC grew double digits over 2021 in the United States.
Some other interesting insights from Endeavor, their events, experiences, and rights business, that's including on-location, saw a full-year revenue up nearly 21% to $2.5 billion, and that shows the public's interest to attend live events. This division includes on-location, which, of course, handles high-end experiences around the Super Bowl, the Miami Open, March Madness, and the Final Four. So a good year for that division.
Meanwhile, Endeavor CEO, Ari Emanuel, downplayed any speculation the company may be interested in buying the WWE. He said while the WWE has an unbelievable product, he said Endeavor was not going to do anything that would increase the leverage of the company at this point in time. So right now, it doesn't seem that Endeavor is interested in acquiring the WWE, but again, a very strong year for the UFC and PBR.
Let's move on. We keep talking about this building boom in sports around facilities, and you could add Oklahoma City to the list of markets that could be looking to build a new venue. Oklahoma City mayor, David Holt, said the likely need for a new arena for the Thunder and other events in the city, is the main issue for him this year. He said the city was adamant about keeping the Thunder in Oklahoma City and he said talks of a new facility or talks on a new facility, will require a lot of his time over the next few months.
I also found it interesting that he spoke about the intrinsic value of having sports in a city. He said the Thunder has changed the way that Oklahoma City sees itself, and it has changed the way the world sees Oklahoma City. Now the city is certainly in need of a new arena. Paycom Center was built for, I think, $190 million. It's one of the smallest facilities in the NBA. Nothing is imminent, but the city seems ready to have these conversations, and so it sounds hopeful that the Thunder have a path to a new facility in Oklahoma City.
As the regional sports network marketplace becomes even more concerning around Diamond Sports and Bally Sports, Major League Baseball is taking steps to avoid potential risk. The League took a big, big step towards taking control of its team's local media rights by forming a Major League Baseball local media department. They hired three senior executives with decades of experience in producing and distributing Major League Baseball games.
You can read details about the executives in the Morning Buzz. This report by John Ourand details the hires. Very strong executive hires, one from AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh and two from Bally Sports. So these people have major experience in how to produce games and how to get them distributed. Baseball is taking the step in case it has to take action and be aggressive in terms of producing and distributing these games, if things go south for Diamond Sports Group and Ballys where baseball is being by far the most aggressive of the leagues in preparing itself if it has to take regional sports broadcasting into its own hands, and that's understandable because baseball season is going to be right in the throws of all these issues impacting or hitting Diamond Sports. So baseball, taking some real concerted steps to fortify its local media division.
Let's shift to Formula One. We know how hot the sport is in the United States and we know ESPN is bullish about it. It signed a three-year media rights extension last year. Well, now ESPN acknowledged it will increase its coverage around Formula One, which will include live coverage on ABC for the first time of the prestigious race in Monaco, as well as every property's hope, there'll be more consistent coverage on SportsCenter and more content on ESPN Plus. Disney Networks made this announcement yesterday, stating that 18 of 23 Formula One races this year, will be on either ABC or ESPN. That's the highest number since ESPN picked up rights for Formula One back in 2018. The other five races will air on ESPN too. The Monaco Grand Prix has traditionally aired live on ESPN or ESPN2, and then it was replayed later in the day on ABC, but now it will be shown live on ABC this year. That's a big move. ESPN also said there will be greater coverage of qualifying this season and more coverage, like I said, on SportsCenter.
So why is Disney and ESPN so bullish on Formula One? Well, last year ESPN averaged an all-time high for Formula One viewership in the United States as viewership was up almost 30% from the prior year. So they are seeing year-over-year continued growth of viewership of Formula One and they're putting more and more resources behind it.
Let's end the Buzzcast around people. First, Tina Shah is leaving Turner Sports after a career that spanned more than 21 years at the company. She was executive vice president and general manager of Warner Bros discovery Sports. She is the latest in a few longtime Turner Sports executives to leave the company. Three months ago, former Turner Sports president, Lenny Daniels, left. Also, Tara August, announced that she was leaving Turner Sports after 18 years. Now Tina Shah joins them. Tina Shah was named an SBJ game-changer in 2016, and she was instrumental behind the scenes in playing a big role in Turner Sports' rights negotiations. She also had a key role in the Bleacher Report acquisition in 2012. All of these moves come amid management changes, as Warner Bros Discovery Sports Chair, Luis Silberwasser, has established a new senior leadership team, which, obviously, has led to some departures of some longtime executives. Tina Shah is just the latest to leave Turner Sports.
Finally, the National Lacrosse League has named longtime minor league baseball business operations executive, Kurt Hunzeker, as executive vice president of commercial operations. This is a new role for the National Lacrosse League. Hunzeker will oversee all of the revenue and marketing initiatives, and this is one of the first big new hires of the new National Lacrosse League Commissioner, Brett Frood. He came over from Stewart-Haas Racing. Kurt Hunzeker, like I said, well-known in minor-league baseball circles. He will begin his work this week as the new executive vice president of commercial operations at the National Lacrosse League.
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So that is your Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, yes, March 1st. I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the Buzzcast. Thanks for sharing the word on the Buzzcast. Stay healthy. Be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.