Inside MLB's jersey patch opportunity; Will there be one women's hockey league? And the jersey and shoe provider of women's b-ball tourney teams.
Yeah. About those people who told me Kentucky was going to the Final Four, I'm sure there are some busted brackets today. That's the way March Madness goes. On another note, it was great to speak to Dr. Danny Morrison's Sports Business class at the University of South Carolina last night. Great questions from a very well-informed student group. So it was good to be with them yesterday. And today is your Morning Buzz cast for Friday, March 18th. We made it to Friday. I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody is doing well, ready for a weekend of basketball.
Let's start though with baseball because one element from the new MLB collective bargaining agreement is the addition of advertising patches on all Major League Baseball uniforms starting next year, starting in 2023. SBJ's Terry Lefton reported yesterday that baseball executives said the ad patch program is still unfinished, but that isn't stopping clubs from being in the marketplace, and some clubs are asking for more money around this four and a half by four and a half inch sleeve patch than they receive for their naming rights at their ballpark. That is an unbelievable figure. Some big market baseball teams are asking for more than $20 million a year for their patches according to sources. Most believe the average team should get between eight to 10 million dollars a year, which is still a huge number.
Now teams will not be permitted to sell advertising patches to spirit companies, betting companies, or top media brands. Now Excel Sports Management's Jason Miller, who's done a ton of these deals for NBA teams believes that with 162 game schedule, the Dodgers or the Yankees hypothetically could get anywhere between 20 to 30 million dollars a year for that jersey patch advertising. And that is massive new revenue for these ball clubs.
Now sources told our Terry Lefton that baseball, the league office has reserved the helmet decal ads as its own national inventory. So baseball, the league office will sell the helmet decals, but bottom line is baseball teams could see a real windfall from selling jersey ads starting next year.
Let's move on to women's hockey. We mentioned the growth of women's hockey on the Buzz Cast. And we've said before that the NHL was really hoping for one unified league to get behind. Well, now Sportsnet out of Canada is reporting that the NHL has asked the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, and the Premier Hockey Federation, those are the two major professional women's hockey organizations in North America, to meet in an attempt to reach some sort of an agreement that would bring the two sides together. Now, we have seen growth in both of these entities.
Now how a proposed league would operate is unclear, but sources have told me, and it's been floated, that NHL teams could align with the woman's team throughout a season in the US and Canada. But the bottom line again is, we are seeing growth by both leagues. The Professional Woman's Hockey Players Association said that Montreal will be its fifth and final stop on its Secret Dream Gap Tour and that is an exhibition tour. They've had five exhibition events, so they've been out in the marketplace. We've said on the Buzz Cast that the Premier Hockey Federation is looking for a new commissioner. The board of governors has promised to invest $25 million into the league. And we said earlier this week that the PHF has retained Octagon to help it in its strategic planning and growth. So it's clear that the NHL is seeing growth in women's hockey, but wants one league to get behind. So this is a story that certainly bears watching.
We have to talk some college basketball today on the Buzz Cast. So let's look at the jersey providers on the women's side. We talked about the men's bracket earlier this week, while Nike continues to reign as the leading shoe and jersey provider for teams in the women's tournament. Nike and its Jordan brand are outfitting 38 teams on the women's side, that is a slight increase from last year when they had 37 teams. Their high was 2018 when Nike and the Jordan brand outfitted 40 teams on the women's tournament side.
Now, Adidas saw an increase in teams. It has 18 teams on the women's side this year. Under Armour has 12 teams on the women's bracket this year. Remember on the men's side, Nike and the Jordan brand is outfitting a tournament high 39 teams. So Nike and the Jordan brand will be well represented in both the men's and women's tournament. So from shoe and jersey providers to viewership, our Austin Carp is reporting that the early numbers from the first four games on the men's side are very strong and that is an early good sign for the tournament. And this would come after college basketball regular season viewership was very strong. Of course, it was stronger compared to the 2020, 2021 COVID impacted season. But overall, college basketball number are close to where they were in 2018 and 2019.
CBS for example, was up 5% from last season and on par with two seasons ago. ESPN and ESPN2 both saw gains. They had the most games, of course. ESPN averaged about 928,000 viewers. That was up 21% from last year. The top two regular season games this season on ESPN, North Carolina-Duke in March and Gonzaga-Duke in November. So Duke is obviously a draw. Finally, Fox Sports was up 8%. Fox Sports won up 13% and the Fox controlled Big 10 network was up 9%. So all good indicators for college basketball in terms of viewership, and that could portend strong numbers for the men's basketball tournament. We will see.
A couple of things to finish the Buzz Cast on a Friday. Another disturbing story for the Dallas Mavericks and Mark Cuban, as Cuban is denying allegations made by former Mavericks President of Basketball Operations and General Manager, Donnie Nelson, that Cuban fired him in retaliation for reporting that a top executive of Mark Cuban's at the Mavericks, sexually harassed and sexually assaulted a job applicant who was Donny Nelson's nephew and that occurred during a job interview in February, 2020.
Donny Nelson also claimed that Cuban offered him 52 million dollars to withdraw his claim of wrongful termination and to sign a confidentiality agreement. Cuban called Nelson's allegations false by saying, quote, "Everything in that filing is a lie." End quote. But this issue is noteworthy. Donny Nelson and the Mavericks have a long history. Remember, a week after the Maverick's first round playoff loss in June, roughly 15 months after the alleged incident in the lawsuit, Mark Cuban fired Donny Nelson after 24 years with the franchise. And that was amid reports of a dispute with some Mavericks officials on the personnel side.
Remember, a day later, Rick Carlisle resigned. So, there was major turnover to the Mavericks basketball operations. And again, the Mavericks are strongly denying Donny Nelson's claims and said they thoroughly vetted the incident and that the league was aware of this incident. But, this charge comes against a team that has had previous issues of sexual harassment allegations. And of course, remember the Mavericks brought in the well regarded Cynthia Marshall to usher in a new era. So this is a new allegation. So we'll have to see what happens next around the Maverick and Mark Cuban.
And finally, we did unveil the nominees of the 15th Annual Sports Business Awards earlier this week. The awards will be held May 18th in New York City. Let's look at the nominees for Best In Digital Sports Media. The nominees in that category are Prime Video, ESPN Plus, Fan Duel, Paramount Plus and Peacock. A group of sports industry experts will serve as judges to determine the winner. The Sports Business Awards on May 18th in New York will also include a tribute to Robert Kraft who will be presented with SBJ's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Hope you'll join us on May 18th in New York and what promises to be a great evening. So that is your morning Buzz Cast for Friday, March 18th. I hope everybody has a great weekend. I know I'm looking forward to some basketball. Stay healthy, be good to each other. Let's pray for some peace and I'll speak to you on Monday.