SBJ Morning Buzzcast

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: May 15, 2023

Episode Summary

The Fanatics deal the industry was waiting for; Deadline day for bids for Senators and how Toronto put its best foot forward to potentially land a WNBA team

Episode Transcription

Tennis Channel will celebrate its 20th anniversary on air today, Monday, May 15th. So happy anniversary to the Tennis Channel, which is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group. Also, today is the deadline for final binding bids for the Ottawa Senators. Each bidder will be required to put down a significant deposit in the tens of millions of dollars. The expectation is the bids should be close to a billion dollars in US funds for the Ottawa Senators. So that deal continues to move forward. This is your Morning Buzzcast for Monday, May 15th. Good morning. I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody is doing well. Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin recently said he expected Fanatics to have sports betting operations live in 12 to 15 states by the start of the NFL season. He said that just a month ago, but he also said the company wasn't in any rush and perhaps not, but right now, Fanatics is only active in betting in about three states. But that will change significantly as Fanatics has agreed to acquire the US operations of PointsBet.

This is the deal that everybody was waiting for for Fanatics. It's the first deal in the US sports betting space for the company. CNBC reported the deal is worth about $150 million in cash. With the deal, Fanatics will gain access to at least 15 states and expects to have access to the majority of states where PointsBet operates by the start of the NFL season. Only PointsBet's US assets are part of the deal. The company is an Australian-based company, but only its US assets will be part of this deal. Meanwhile, NBCUniversal, which had an equity stake in PointsBet, will get proceeds from the deal. It will no longer have an equity stake in PointsBet. It acquired 4.9% of the company in 2020. So this is the key deal that many were waiting for Fanatics to make. There may be more, but this one will get Fanatics some broader national coverage in their sports betting business. So a big deal to start the week for Fanatics' betting ambitions.

An interesting story out of Golfweek over the weekend reported that PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan decided to quash a deal with Raytheon Technologies to become the new title sponsor of the Byron Nelson tournament in Dallas because the company sells missiles to Saudi Arabia. Now the Byron Nelson concluded this weekend AT&T is the title sponsor. It's looking to end its sponsorship after this year. Raytheon was ready to take over the deal before Jay Monahan's actions. Remember, this all goes back to LIV Golf's funding by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. If the PGA Tour did a deal with Raytheon, the tour and Monahan would likely have been seriously second-guessed and certainly open to PR criticism. So Jay Monahan, probably anticipating that, deciding reportedly not to go forward with a deal with Raytheon.

Let's move over to some league news. We've talked about how the WNBA has been eyeing expansion. They have been open about their desire to add teams and Toronto is easily on the short list of possible markets because the league played its first ever game in Canada on Saturday and let's just say it was a hit. The Chicago Sky beat the Minnesota Lynx in front of a sold out crowd of nearly 20,000 fans at Scotiabank Arena. There has been a lot of buzz about Toronto being a possible market. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert admitted during a pregame interview that Toronto is definitely on the list of possible markets. She said there are about 10 cities on a final list of expansion possibilities, but there is no timeframe and there's really not a number of teams that they're set on adding.

But overall, great energy in the building. The crowd was so loud it was called almost earsplitting at times. And again, a great full crowd at the arena had to be a very positive sign for Engelbert and the W, a very good day for the WNBA in Canada. You could certainly see Toronto and I would guess the Bay Area among the early favorites to land a WNBA expansion team.

Staying with some league news, the XFL's return season is in the books and by all indications, the signs are pointing to a season two, which would be the most positive element one could take out of season one. The Arlington Renegades beat the DC Defenders in the XFL Championship Game on Saturday in front of nearly 23,000 fans at the Alamodome. Dany Garcia said that the XFL is already formulating plans for combines and player showcases plus off-season events in each of the league's eight markets. And The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, said the XFL is full speed ahead towards next year. So plans are on the books to move forward for year two. Overall, in year one, the league averaged roughly 13,000 fans in their eight markets, in average, roughly 560,000 viewers per regular season telecast. So XFL closing the door on season one, getting ready to come back for year two.

Let's stay with football because Tom Brady wants to be in team ownership. Remember, he was in the mix to be a limited partner in the Miami Dolphins last year and now he is reportedly in discussions to become a limited partner of the Las Vegas Raiders. ESPN cited sources as saying Brady would not have any operational control or authority over the club on either the business or the football side, but that he would be a limited partner. Now yes, this does make some sense as in March, Brady announced that he would form a business relationship with Mark Davis as he had purchased a stake in the WNBA Las Vegas Aces, which is owned by Raiders owner Mark Davis.

But wouldn't you ever think that the Kraft family or Tom Brady would have been interested to at least consider becoming a limited partner in the Patriots? But overall, it just shows how that relationship really seems to have soured. ESPN reported that if Brady does become a limited partner of the Raiders, it wouldn't impact his relationship with Fox Sports, which is set to start this fall. Reportedly, Fox has approved of Brady's potential ownership stake in the Raiders. So this is a story that is developing and one to keep your eye on.

Another person to keep your eye on, well, one name that many sources were talking about on Friday was Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal's longtime head of ad sales, who of course was influential in NBC's ad sales policy and approach around the Olympics and the NFL and all of NBC's big sports events. She will be leaving to be CEO of Twitter. Yaccarino is a major player in sports ad sales and now she will be succeeded by Mark Marshall. We'll want to see and want to watch how her departure influences both Twitter, which has lost significant advertising support and part of her role as CEO is to make Twitter more appealing to Madison Avenue, but also watch how her departure impacts NBCUniversal as it prepares for the Paris Summer Games. So a big move in Linda Yaccarino leaving NBCUniversal for Twitter.

If you have a chance this week or next week, I do hope you will spend some time with this week's issue of SBJ, which takes an extensive look at the career of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman who is SBJ's Lifetime Achievement Award honoree. Bettman gives no indication of slowing down as he nears completion of his 30th year as NHL commissioner. We look at Bettman's leadership style. We look at what has made him successful, how he has made critical decisions for nearly three decades, and his work that has changed a league that had teams flirting with bankruptcy to a well-funded, stable league under Bettman. Annual revenue has increased from about 500 million to more than $6 billion under Gary Bettman's leadership. We will certainly talk more about it throughout the week on the Buzzcast as Gary Bettman is SBJ's Lifetime Achievement Award honoree and will be presented with the award at the Sports Business Awards Wednesday, May 24th.

Finally, give your summer interns an advantage with Sports Business Journal. Our on-campus and university program are giving leagues, teams, agencies, and companies a chance to boost their interns' knowledge of the sports industry with discounted subscription options to SBJ. For more information on how to register your summer interns, contact collegehelp@sportsbusinessjournal.com. That's collegehelp@sportsbusinessjournal.com. That is your Morning Buzzcast for Monday, May 15th. I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the Buzzcast. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.