Baseball feels good about it's Classic; Levi's Stadium focuses on premium in first phase of renovation; early poll numbers on local sentiment on LA28
As you look at your NCAA bracket, here's the bracket that matters to CBS and TNT and the NCAA. The men's basketball tournament heads into the Sweet 16 with viewership keeping pace with last year, down just 1%, according to SBJ's Austin Karp. While March Madness had a great start on the opening Thursday, Friday, second round numbers over the weekend dragged a bit and brought the tournament to overall down 1% from last year, heading into the Sweet 16. And this is your Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, March 22nd. Good morning, I'm Abe Madkour. It was certainly a successful World Baseball Classic, that ended Tuesday night with Shohei Ohtani striking out his teammate Mike Trout, bottom of the ninth, as Japan won three to two over the US team, to win the World Baseball Classic Championship. While very few listeners of the Buzzcast told me, over the day on Tuesday, that they were really into the event, it has to be considered a hit for the game of baseball.
It's getting significant positive coverage across the nation, going into MLB season. Commissioner Rob Manfred was on the ground in Miami and said the World Baseball Classic will return for its sixth edition in March of 2026. And he stressed that spring training remains the best time, better than after the World Series or better than in the middle of the season, to host this tournament. He also hopes this year's success will convince baseball owners and general managers to make their best players and star pitchers available to the national teams. The US team was certainly hampered by that, but owners will look at the injuries to Edwin Diaz and José Altuve when making their decision for the future. But let's go back to timing. Ever since the launch of the WBC in 2006, it has been played in March, ahead of opening day, and Manfred said they have looked at every timing iteration, as he said, "we have talked about timing until your head hurts.
There's just no perfect time." Manfred concluded that, on balance, although it's not perfect, this time of year, going into the Major League Baseball opening, is probably the right place for the event. But the bottom line for me, it was clearly a successful WBC. The players really, really cared. Fans from around the world really cared. I'm just not sure how it's resonating stateside with baseball fans. Let's move on. As NFL owners meet next week in Arizona, it doesn't seem that the sale of the Commanders will be high on the agenda. As SI reported, it seems unlikely the team will have a buyer to present to league owners at the meeting. It's more likely the team sale will be brought up at the NFL's spring meeting in May, but there are now multiple reports that a transition is underway, as Commanders owner Dan Snyder has reportedly cleaned out his office and hasn't been seen around the team in months.
Commanders president Jason Wright has served as the leader and represented ownership in key league matters. So right now, Dan Snyder, not really seen, and we see that the end could be near. So who was the leader in the clubhouse? It still seems like 76ers, Devils owner, Josh Harris, who boosted his bid by, of course, bringing on Magic Johnson. It's not clear how large of a stake in the team Magic Johnson would own if Harris' group is successful, but bringing on Magic surely helps Josh Harris's bid for the Commanders. Staying in the DC metro, Axios is reporting that Monumental Sports and Entertainment is planning to rebrand its NBC Washington Regional Sports Network it purchased last year. It's also planning to make a major investment in the network. Monumental President of Media and New Enterprises, Zach Leonsis said that the new name of the rebranded network will be announced ahead of a fall relaunch and that the organization will be building a new studio at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington.
In total, Monumental plans to invest around 20 million dollars in the network's technology and infrastructure. And this is a key purchase for Monumental Sports, as they see local media as critical to its goal of reaching a billion dollars in revenue in the next few years. Zach Leonsis told Axios the company is more than halfway toward that goal. And this is one of the key regional media stories, because as the RSN business gets reevaluated and really reinvented, many are watching to see how Ted and Zach Leonsis recreate the regional and local business model, as they do it in Washington DC. We're not a political outlet, but it doesn't mean we can't report on polls. An early poll in the LA market released by the LA Times gauges residents' interest in the LA 28 summer games with, yes, five years before the game.
So take that with a grain of salt. But a new Los Angeles Time poll shows that 50% of Angelinos believe the summer games will be good for Los Angeles. 20% worry that hosting the games will have a negative impact on the city. The remaining 20% or so had mixed or no opinions. The survey also showed that younger Los Angeles residents are more skeptical than older residents that the games will benefit the city. So you're seeing a little bit of a generational shift there. Now, there isn't the financial pressures facing city residents, as LA 28, the organizing committee, has committed to pay all the costs associated with the games through sponsorships and ticket sales and merchandising and other sources. So there's not this overlay of public funding. They are also avoiding spending public money on facility construction. They're relying on existing facilities, Crypto.com Arena, the Dignity Health Sports Park, and others, to host the events and therefore, avoiding spending public money on facility construction.
So we have a long way to go, and I said take these numbers with a grain of salt. But we will continue to monitor local sentiment around hosting the 28 summer games in Los Angeles. We have talked about this new building boom in sports with new venues or renovated venues, and they're all on the docket in 23 and beyond. And now, we have another one to add. Let's add Levi Stadium to that list. The San Francisco 49ers will soon begin an eight figure renovation project at Levi Stadium. That will really focus on the premium levels. It will see nine more owner suites added to the 23 owner suites that the venue already has. The project will also see renovation work on over a hundred of the standard suites at Levi Stadium. And this comes as the stadium is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary and as it prepares to host matches for the 2026 World Cup in three years.
So the team believes that enhancing these premium areas will only help and attract more top tier events, like the World Cup, to the facility. Now, the owner suites are pretty interesting. They're sold on 20 year terms. They come with upgraded membership perks, like all inclusive food and beverage. You have Napa and Sonoma vintners pouring top level California wines. You have access to all the events, whether it's football, music, soccer. You also get field access before the game, and you get access to road trips. So who is the audience? The team said they will target a who's who of Silicon Valley and Fortune 500 companies in the region, or as they said, they are taking care of the one percenters. This speaks to a trend we're seeing, where there is a real emphasis on premium and high-end seating and high-end experiences in sports. Now, the 49ers plan to complete the suite renovation project in two phases.
Half finished before the 24 season, half finished before the 25 season. The 49ers will pay for the project. The team is also looking to upgrade the stadium's video boards, as well as changes to ingress egress. But those plans are still probably six to 12 months away from being finalized. But as it nears its 10th anniversary, some changes happening at Levi's Stadium. And finally, I hit on it yesterday, I heard from a few of you, we're looking for big fans of HBO's Succession. The final season of the show begins this Sunday night. SBJ wants to hear from you about how you think this family drama ends. Let us know what you think your theories will be and your thoughts for the final season. If interested, email me at amadkour@sportsbusinessjournal.com, and that is your Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, March 22nd. I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the Buzzcast. Stay healthy, be good to each other, I'll speak to you tomorrow.