New York gets behind Buffalo and the Bills; The Lions and Detroit get double the exposure; Capital One links with MLB and Pickleball lands a cultural influencer.
Well, one day after we talked about a really strong men's Final Four, how about the strength of the women's Final Four? Yukon is in the women's Final Four for the 14th consecutive time after beating North Carolina State in double overtime. Number one, Louisville, tops number three, Michigan. So Yukon, Louisville, join number one, South Carolina, and number one, Stanford in the NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four, a incredible weekend next weekend in Minneapolis. Meanwhile, New York Jets owner, Woody Johnson, said yesterday he is disappointed he won't be the future owner of Chelsea. He reportedly bid $2.6 billion for the team, but he said the numbers have gotten so enormous that, while he is disappointed, he said financially, it's going to be a huge challenge for any successful bidder to make those numbers work. So some interesting stories to lead your Morning Buzzcast on Tuesday, March 29th. I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody is doing well.
Well, the Buffalo Bills are certainly doing well. They are on a roll. The team is one of the strongest in the AFC, they look to be good on the field for a number of years, and now are getting a new $1.4 billion open air stadium in Orchard Park, New York. The deal announced on Monday has the State of New York and Erie County paying $850 million of the upfront cost to build the stadium. That is the largest taxpayer contribution ever for a pro football facility. Let me say that again, $850 million is the largest taxpayer contribution ever for a pro football facility. The deal also includes a 30 year lease that should keep the Bills in Upstate New York. Now, speculation had taxpayers paying a billion dollars at a minimum, but it is less than that. It's $850 million, with the State of New York slated to contribute $600 million, and the County, $250 million toward construction. The NFL will provide a loan of $200 million to Terry and Kim Pegula.
The Pegulas are contributing at least $350 million toward stadium construction. A portion of that revenue will come from PSL sales to all season ticket holders. The Pegulas are also responsible for any cost overruns at the new stadium, and in this day of inflation, that could be significant. Now, the 60,000 seat stadium is expected to be ready by September of 2026, so a very big day for the Buffalo Bills. It was also a big day for the Detroit Lions and City of Detroit, as the NFL and HBO announced that the Lions will be the featured team in this year's edition of Hard Knocks. That will be a five episode season. It'll debut August 9th. It'll be the first time a team in the NFC North will be featured in the show's 17 year history. That really surprised me.
Lion's owner, Sheila Ford Hamp, has really tried to give the team a higher profile since taking over for her mother, Martha Firestone Ford, in June of 2020. Now, the Lions were one of just three teams who could not decline a request to appear on Hard Knocks under NFL rules. The other two teams, Carolina Panthers and the New York Jets. So the Lions are in for the summer. There will be the return of the in-stadium Hard Knocks. Last year's show featured the Colts, but the team that will be featured in the upcoming season during the in-season Hard Knocks was not disclosed yesterday. Meanwhile, staying with the Lions, later in the day on Monday, it was announced that the Lions and City of Detroit will host the 2024 NFL Draft. Now, this year's Draft is Las Vegas. The '23 Draft is scheduled for Kansas City. So Detroit lands the 2024 Draft. They had been pushing for the event, and they beat out Green Bay and Washington D.C. So again, a big day for the Lions, a big day for the City of Detroit.
Don't look now, but the buzz on pickleball continues to grow. I was at a dinner Thursday night in Los Angeles, and a lot of the focus was about finding these niche sports that could emerge, and pickleball was mentioned time and time again. Now, our Chris Smith is reporting today that entrepreneur and investor Gary Vaynerchuk has joined Major League Pickleball as the owner of one of four newly created expansion teams that will begin play this year. Now, Gary Vaynerchuk, who is a widespread social influencer and pop culture influencer, has been playing pickleball since 2018, and he said he was interested in investing in a league because he sees the growth potential, saying he would be flabbergasted if there wasn't a substantial pickleball league that was a viable business in 15 years in the US and around the world. So he's very bullish on pickleball.
Now, Vaynerchuk's investment is part of Major League Pickleball expanding from eight teams to 12 teams for the 2022 season. So anytime a big voice and a pop culture influencer like a Gary Vaynerchuk gets behind a sport, it can only be good for that sport. And he said he sees tremendous upside on the league sponsorship side, on the media side, and has early ideas about other growth areas. Now, he joins other Major League Pickleball investors, including Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, and retired tennis pro, James Blake. So a big day for pickleball as well. Let's shift to baseball. Capital One is a new sponsor of Major League Baseball, replacing Bank of America as the league's official bank and credit card partner. Now, Bank of America has been a corporate partner of Major League Baseball since 2004. It will stay on as a sponsor of some of the big, big brands of teams like the Orioles, the Red Sox, the Astros, the Dodgers, the Yankees, the Cardinals, and the Giants.
So, Bank of America will still be involved big time in baseball, but Capital One now gets a league-level deal. It also becomes presenting sponsor to the World Series, and also gets rights to Minor League Baseball and Little League Baseball. Endeavor's 160over90 is handling activation for Capital One, and Capital One's sports portfolio has continued to grow. Of course, it has naming rights of the Capital's, Wizards and Mystics Arena in Washington, D.C., and it is also a team sponsor of the Nationals, among other sports sponsorships. So, Capital One becoming an official partner of Major League Baseball. We also talked about Apple TV getting a piece of Major League Baseball's media rights, and it will launch its debut broadcast of baseball on April 8th, as the Nationals and the Mets game will be seen exclusively on Apple TV+. Now, that game will be available for free. You will not need an Apple TV+ subscription, but it will not be shown locally on either MASN or SportsNet New York.
So Nationals and Mets fans locally will not be able to see it on their normal regional sports network. It will be seen exclusively on Apple TV, and that will be the debut of a season-long partnership between Apple and Major League Baseball. And finally, some sad news in the world of sports, as Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk has died surprisingly from an undisclosed illness at the age of 62. That is too young. Eugene Melnyk purchased the Senators in 2003 for $92 million. He had owned teams in the AHL and the Ontario Hockey League. Under his leadership and ownership, the Ottawa Senators reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007, and most recently played in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2007. Ottawa Senators owner, Eugene Melnyk, dead at the age of 62. So that is your Morning Buzzcast for Tuesday, March 29th. I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody has a great day. Stay healthy. Please be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.