MLS history made in Charlotte; What does close US Soccer vote mean? Robert Kraft to be honored by SBJ.
Well, what a great week. It started at the National Sports Forum in Round Rock, Texas. Then there was the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston. Thank you to all of you who came up and said hi and checked in during those events. Your support of the Buzz Cast means a great deal. And it was great to see you. And then on Saturday, it was a historic day in my home city of Charlotte, North Carolina. And now we start another exciting week as it really feels like society is moving on from COVID. This weekend was unseasonably warm on the east coast. People were out and droves and look at the results of the film, the Batman, which brought in nearly $130 million at the North American box office this weekend, exceeding industry expectations. And it's the best opening of a film for 2022 so far.
So again, we could be seeing a return to normal. And this is your morning Buzz Cast for Monday, March 7th. I'm [inaudible 00:01:05]. Let's start with the historic day in Charlotte. And for MLS, I was fortunate enough to take in Charlotte FC's inaugural home opener on Saturday. And it was a who's who of sports business leaders, both from the Carolinas and nationally. You had MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Deputy Commissioner Mark Abbot, and other league officials. You of course had Charlotte FC owner, David Tepper and his wife and their executive team. And AEG chair, Phil [inaudible 00:01:34] flew in from Los Angeles to taking the game with a number of executives from the Galaxy and AEG. Now, Charlotte FC lost to the Galaxy one mil, but set an MLS single match attendance record of more than 74,000 fans. And yes, I did win my bet with my producer here, Reggie Walker, as he took 65,000. I of course took the over and won that bet easily.
Now, that crowd of 74,000 beat the previous MLS record of 73,000 set by Atlanta United in 2018. That was for the MLS Cup in 2018. Atlanta United also previously held the regular season attendance record of more than 72,000 set in 2019. But those records shattered as Charlotte FC led by Nick Kelly and his team drew more than 74,000 people Saturday night. What did I notice? Well, Charlotte FC, they have to feel good about it operationally as the game went off without major issues. The crowd was young, it was diverse. It was very, very loud and it was fitting to see Don Garber, David Tepper, Phil Anschutz, all take in the supporters march to the match in entering the stadium. So it marked another milestone for major league soccer. And while Charlotte FC is expecting attendance to settle in at about 28 to 30,000 a game, I have a feeling this will be a wildly successful first year MLS franchise.
Now, major league soccer will look to St. Louis next year as the 29th franchise, and then try to confirm Las Vegas as its 30th franchise. So a big weekend, a historic weekend for major league soccer in the city of Charlotte. Let's stay with soccer because there were a lot of relieved executives among the professional soccer ranks on Saturday when US soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone won reelection and narrowly beat Carlos Cordero in the race for US soccer presidency. Now, Parlow Cone won just over 52% of the vote from the national council. She will serve a four year term that will expire in 2026, just months before the FIFA World Cup, which of course will be hosted by US, Canada, and Mexico.
Now this outcome much closer than I anticipated, and it was the closest final ballot in US soccer history. So why was the vote so close even though Parlow Cone has had some serious, impressive accomplishments during her tenure? She settled a high profile discrimination case. She also closed a significant deal with Nike and last week with Warner Media for US soccer's media rights. Well it's because the US soccer base is very fragmented. You have the professional ranks that largely supported Cindy Parlow Cone. And you had the grassroots ranks that really aren't happy with her leadership. And they supported Cordero. He had the support from organizations like US youth soccer and other grassroots organizations. Now it just shows how I would say fragmented US soccer is, but now Cindy Parlow Cone is in leadership for the next few years. They have a new media deal. They seem to have handled the ranker within the ranks. And if you're at US soccer, if you're a leader at US soccer, you have to feel good about what's on the horizon and how they can activate against their strategic goals.
So Cindy Parlow Cone staying on as president of US soccer. Now shifting to baseball, it's unclear if major league baseball and the player's association will meet today on Monday, after yesterday's session on Sunday didn't seem to go very well according to reports. The sides on Sunday met for over an hour and a half, and the AP reported that management wasn't happy with the union's latest offer. They accused the union of backtracking on certain issues. The two sides met in New York on Sunday. Remember, they had nine days of talks in Jupiter, Florida. Overall, the tone isn't positive here, league baseball has already canceled the first two series of the season for each team. That's a total of 91 games. There's a chance if a deal isn't done soon, baseball will cancel two additional series through mid April, which would mean a total of 184 games lost.
I read a lot of media reports over the weekend and overall the tone and the themes that I read over the weekend were one, there is real questions and concerns about the leadership of Rob Manford. And two, there are real concerns that even if major league baseball and the players' association reach a deal, which they will, they won't work hard enough to really improve the game and fix what is needed to make the game more appealing. So those are the tones that I read in the media over the weekend. There is not a lot of faith in the leaders of baseball right now, and that's the pressure the leaders are under. So let's see if this week can lead to any momentum in talks.
Speaking of momentum in talks, there's real momentum between the state of New York and the bills to get a stadium deal done. And the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, on Friday said she believes a stadium deal for the bills will get done by April 1st when the state budget is due. She said there are some issues to work through, but she is confident a deal will be completed shortly. When it comes to details of a new stadium, the Buffalo News reported that it will be an open air stadium built in Orchard Park with 50,000 PSLs and season tickets. Highmark Stadium will be raised for parking as part of the project. The stadium will open at earliest 2026 and will likely cost $1.4 billion with the state and county financing likely paying for more than a billion of the costs and the bills and the NFL contributing the rest.
I know the Bills hope to have something done by the NFL league meetings at the end of March. So movement continues towards completing a deal for a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills. I found this story interesting. It broke late Friday. Edmonton Oiler Center Connor McDavid will be the first active player in a major US pro sports league to endorse a North American sports book. He signed on to appear in an ad campaign and promotions for Bet MGM as the company prepares to launch its sports betting app in Ontario next month. So McDavid will also be featured in Bet MGM's social media content, and will make appearances for the company.
Now it should be clear that NHL rules prohibit the use of McDavid's name or image and anything beyond just basic Bet MGM branding. So he won't make any calls to action or ask people to start betting or tell them how to start betting. It'll be basic branding, but it is unique because the NHL and the NHLPA allow for this. The NFL, the NBA, and major league baseball, they have rules on the books that prohibit current players from promoting sports books, but different rules at the NHL and with the NHLPA allowing Connor McDavid to be the first active player to endorse a regulated North American sports book.
And finally, I'll line with some news here at Sports Business Journal, a big announcement. As Sports Business Journal is proud to announce today that we will honor Robert Craft with Sports Business Journals' Lifetime Achievement Award at our Sports Business Awards on May 18th in New York City. Craft has made countless and significant contributions to the sports world, through his ownership of the Patriots, the Revolution, and Gillette Stadium. His vast success in sports includes six Super Bowl titles for the Patriots, five Eastern Conference Championships for the Revolution.
He is behind more than a billion dollars worth of construction and real estate development projects around Patriot Place. He has been incredibly philanthropic. And throughout his years in the sports business, Robert Craft has embraced the power of team ownership and what it does for a family, a community, a region, and as a global enterprise. Through his leadership, Robert Craft has positioned sports at the center of s-media, of entertainment, of commerce, and culture. Robert Craft is an optimist who has used the power of sports to unite, heal, and help. And we hope you'll join us in honoring Robert Craft when Sports Business Journal presents him our Lifetime Achievement Award on May 18th at New York City. So congratulations to Robert Craft receiving our Lifetime Achievement honor, and that is your morning Buzz Cast for Monday, March 7th. I'm Abe Madkour, hope everybody has a great week. Stay healthy, pray for peace, be good to each other, and I'll speak to you tomorrow.