NCAA ramps up women's tourney; Norman ready to roll out LIV Golf plans; Spotify steps up in sports around FC Barcelona deal.
Last night in Charlotte, I was fortunate to have a conversation in front of the Charlotte Sports Foundation with Big Ten Commissioner, Kevin Warren. If you've never heard Warren's story, make a point of it. He's a motivational, inspirational speaker who talks about his remarkable journey. So if you can ever hear Big Ten Commissioner, Kevin Warren speak, don't miss the chance.
This is your Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, March 16th. Good morning. I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody is doing well. While it has been quiet on the rival golf tour front and the PGA Tour felt good about moving during the player's championship, look for news from LIV Golf Investments today on Wednesday. In a letter sent Tuesday to players and agents obtained by si.com, LIV Golf CEO, Greg Norman outlined his plan to offer more details about a tournament schedule and stressed that any schedule would be positioned as an addition to, not in place of, the player's current PGA Tour schedule.
Norman is slated to meet with executives as early as today on Wednesday, and the first events are expected to be announced today. So look for that, more news from LIV Golf Investments in a story that keeps the golf world certainly on attention.
Let's move to basketball. We had the men's tournament start last night with their first two games. Those continue today. The women's basketball tournament starts today with the first of their back-to-back nights of playing games. And look for some major changes to the women's basketball tournament after the very public instances of gender inequity that were well-documented last year. Remember a report from litigator Roberta Kaplan showed that there was a $35 million gap in spending between the men and women's basketball tournaments last year.
NCAA senior basketball executive, Danny Gavitt said that the gap has been narrowed by millions this year. And here are some of the major changes you'll see around this year's women's basketball tournament. First, the field was expanded to 68 teams, matching the size of the men's bracket. The women will receive the same gift bags as the men for the first time. It also marks the first time that the women's tournament will be branded as March Madness. Remember, that March Madness term had been used exclusively for the men's tournament. The mobile apps for the two tournaments will be more compatible. What else can you expect? Well, ESPN sold out ad sales and sponsorships 40 days before the tournament's opening tip. That's a very strong marketplace and interest in the women's event.
The NCAA has also hired a third-party auditing firm that will monitor the men's and women's tournaments for inequities. And so the NCAA is not naming the firm, but the firm will be performing real-time assessments and delivering them to the NCAA and its basketball committees. So we're seeing a lot of steps by the NCAA, Danny Gavitt, Lynn Holzman, and others. They are really putting a lot of emphasis on narrowing the equities between the tournaments and that is a very, very good thing.
Let's shift to a big deal that broke yesterday. FC Barcelona has signed Spotify as both the club's shirt sponsor and title sponsor or naming rights sponsor to Camp Nou. So Camp Nou would now be rebranded as Spotify Camp Nou. Spotify becomes the team's main partner and will appear on the front of both the men's and women's teams for the next four seasons. And the long-term naming rights deal begins in July and will continue through the redevelopment of that venue, which has been well-documented and will be extensive, extensive redevelopment of Camp Nou. The deal was reported to be worth at more than $300 million over three years. So like I said, this is a very, very big deal. Talks between Spotify and Barcelona executives began months ago. Spotify executives were seen at a FC Barcelona match against Atletico Madrid in February. It's a huge deal for Barcelona. It's easily Spotify's largest sports sponsorship to date.
It'll be interesting to see how they integrate Spotify and maybe even musical artists or podcast specialists into any type of activation. So a big deal not to be overlooked between Spotify and FC Barcelona.
Let's shift to tennis. The nexus of politics and sports is evident in the men's tennis game, where world number one, Daniil Medvedev could face a ban from Wimbledon unless he provides public assurances that he is not a supporter of President Vladimir Putin. There are real concerns that the All England Club over allowing players from Russia and Belarus to play at Wimbledon, so this is a developing story. Keep your eye on it. Meanwhile, IMG, which represents Medvedev, indicated that no sponsors have dropped him since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began.
A couple of other quick hitters as we end the Buzzcast. AXIO Sports is reporting that Barstool is launching a new philanthropy arm. It's called Barstool Difference, and it will focus on supporting four areas, women-run businesses, veterans, youth service, and sobriety. So look for more on Barstool Difference coming out in the days ahead.
And I've touched on it during the week, but we unveiled the nominee east of the 15th Annual Sports Business Awards. It will be held May 18th in New York. All the nominees are listed on sportsbusinessjournal.com. Today, let's look at the nominees for Sports Facility of the Year. The six nominees for Sports Facility of the Year, Allegiant Stadium, Climate Pledge Arena, Footprint Center, Lower.com Field, SoFi Stadium, and TQL Stadium. Those are the six nominees for Sports Facility of the Year. Remember, a group of sports industry judges will determine the winners. The Sports Business Awards will be on May 18th, and they will include a tribute to Robert Kraft who will be presented Sports Business Journal's Lifetime Achievement Award. Love to see you there in May. It's going to be a great event.
So that is your morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, March 16th. A lot going on today, I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody has a great day. Stay healthy, be safe. Let's pray for peace. I'll talk to you tomorrow.