Buzz around F1 grows; Suns set to make CEO hire? MLB changes continue to play to good reviews; "Creed III" delivers at box office and GMR Marketing tabs Forty Under 40 alum as CEO.
Buzz around F1 grows; Suns set to make CEO hire? MLB changes continue to play to good reviews; "Creed III" delivers at box office and GMR Marketing tabs Forty Under 40 alum as CEO.
My colleagues, John Ourand, Terry Lefton, and I went to Zanesville, Ohio on Sunday for the funeral of our colleague's wife, Ben Fischer has been an SBJ reporter for more than a decade and is a great person and is great at his job. His wife Mandy, was an incredibly talented and vibrant, dynamic leader in media. She died at the age of 42 of breast cancer. The service on Sunday was of course very, very sad, but also a great tribute to the life of Mandy Jenkins. Ben Fischer and Mandy's brother had wonderful remarks on the impact Mandy made, and none of us will forget about her. Live every day and tell the people you're around, you love them. And this is your morning Buzz cast for Monday, March 6th. Good morning. I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody's doing well today. Thanks for listening to the Buzz Cast.
We know the F1 season started in Bahrain on Sunday with Max for Stoppin winning, and there is more buzz around this upcoming F1 season than any I can remember. And the buzz is certainly around the debut of the Formula One race in Las Vegas in November. And here are two items around that race. First, MGM Resorts International says that it's Bellagio Fountain grandstand Packages are sold out for the F1 race, and they are now putting a second three day package on sale for more than $11,000 per person. MGM rolled out the first package of grandstand seats back in November, and those sold out very quickly. This pricing is higher. The Bellagio Fountain Club includes race tickets, food and beverage, access to hospitality decks. The Fountain Club will be an elevated location and those who buy the package will also get access to the paddock and a pit lane tour.
So these packages are selling well. There's a lot of interest around this race. Meanwhile, Caesar's Entertainment is so bullish about the event that it is expecting a lift in company earnings or EBITDA of 5% or more during the fourth quarter because of this race. Caesars, of course, is a founding partner of the race and they get race ticket inventory and they'll include that in hotel plus event packages that are of course selling at a premium and selling well. So keep your eye on the F1 race in Las Vegas this November. Let's move on a big and youthful hire in the N B A by the Phoenix Suns. As the team is hiring Detroit Pistons, assistant General manager, Josh Bartelstein as its new C E o, Josh Bartelstein will lead the franchise for new owner Matt Ashia. I do not know Bartelstein, but he has worked on the business side for the Pistons for a number of years before becoming Assistant general manager.
He was executive Vice president of Business and Basketball Operations under Palace Sports and Entertainment Vice Chair ar Tellem, a great person to learn the business under. Now, Josh Bartelstein is a very young 33 years old. He spent four seasons as a walk-on for the University of Michigan. He's also the son of Mark Bartelstein, one of the leagues prominent player agents and the C E O of Priority Sports and Entertainment out of Chicago. So Josh Bartelstein at 33 years old becoming c e o of the Phoenix Suns shifting to Major League Soccer, a very successful opening for the latest l s expansion team as St. Louis City SC on Saturday night won its first home game at City Park before more than 22,000 fans who had been waiting for a long time for soccer in that marketplace. MLS Commissioner Don Garber was on hand. He has been a big believer in the ownership.
He's been a big believer in the market and he sang the praises of the new stadium downtown St. Louis fan stayed after the game and chanted S T L to show their support. This team, I believe, will be a big hit in the community and be very successful on the business side. You know, I took in MIT's Sloan Sports Analytics conference on Friday, and one of the interesting takeaways was about baseball as Major League Baseball executive Morgan Sword was on a panel and said that since introducing the pitch clock at the start of spring, training games and baseball have been on average 24 minutes shorter. And that is through the first 95 spring training games. And that is quite a positive figure for baseball, which of course is trying to shorten the games and more importantly, increase the pace of play. Remember, batters must be ready in the batters box within eight seconds or else receive a strike as a penalty.
Pitchers must begin their delivery to the plate within 15 seconds when the bases are empty, or 20 seconds when a runner is on base. Now these changes have really been the talk of spring training and really overwhelmingly positively received. Also, over the weekend, I read Joe Penske's detailed piece in Esquire Magazine looking at Baseball's plan to fix the game. And I'd suggested it's a good comprehensive, yet accessible read on what was behind the thinking of the rule changes. And again, all these rule changes so far are being well received this spring. Let's shift to entertainment because a lot of sports brands were sponsors of or are sponsoring the new movie Creed Three, such as Deone and Hennessy. And a key litmus test is how any film will perform at the box office. And while I didn't see Creed three over the weekend, the reviews were quite positive and it had a very strong box office weekend.
In a day and age where we don't talk about really box office returns anymore, Cree three brought in a very healthy $58 million domestically in its opening weekend that set a Creed franchise record. The film also drew well internationally bringing in another 40 million, bringing its global tally to a hundred million over the weekend. That is very good news for the movie Cree three. It's good news for boxing and it is good news for those sponsors who affixed their brand two three believing it would really find an audience. And certainly this movie is an early, early hit and I wanna end the buzz cast around people. A big promotion at G M R Marketing in Milwaukee as the agency promoted Tyson Webber to Chief Executive Officers. So Tyson Webber becoming c e o, he will succeed Cameron Parsons, who will take on a leadership role across Omnicoms experiential group.
Now Tyson Weber becomes the third C e O in GM R'S 40 plus year history. Tyson Weber is a good story as he started at G M R 20 years ago as an account coordinator in the agency Charlotte North Carolina office. Now, Tyson Webber was a member of s BJ's 40 under 40 class in 2012. He has served as G M R President since 2016 and now becomes C E O of G M R marketing. And I'll end with my thoughts on a friend who died last week. I know former Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson was very controversial. I know many of you will probably stop listening to the Buzz Cast now because you don't think that Richardson deserves your time, and that is fine. But Jerry Richardson was a significant figure in the growth of the N F L. He is the reason why the N F NFL is here in the Carolinas.
He loved the N F L and he loved the shield. Only two N F NFL players ever became controlling owners in the league's. First 100 years, George Hallis and Jerry Richardson. While we all know how Richardson's career ended amid sexual harassment and racial allegations, that's not the Jerry Richardson I knew or will remember. I'll remember a kind, generous, funny, complex, difficult and tough individual and I will remember what an important figure Jerry Richardson was behind the current success of the N F L and the current state of the N F L Jerry Richardson died at the age of 86. Thank you for listening to the morning Buzz cast. I'm inviting you to check out our best subscription offer, s BJ all access. We will offer that at a special price. Go to our website and to our subscribe page and use the code Buzz Cast 19. Use that at checkout and receive your first month of s bj All access for only $19. That is Buzz Cast and the number 19 at checkout for your first month of s pj. All access for only $19. This offer ends March 12th and that is your morning Buzz cast for Monday, March 6th. I made Mad Corp. Thanks for listening to the Buzz Cast. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll chat with you tomorrow.