Abe Madkour:
Good morning. This is your Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, May 24th. I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the Buzzcast. We have the Sports Business Awards tonight in New York and more on that later.
First, some news from the NFL owners meetings. Commissioner Roger Goodell's new employment contract still hasn't been finalized by owners, despite reports it would be done in March. Now, even with this delay, several owners and Roger Goodell himself expressed confidence a deal will get done.
The specific reasons for the delays are unknown, but what is known is that the deal would run through March of 2027, adding three years to Goodell's current contract that expires in March of next year, March of 2024.
Meanwhile, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said the three years is important as Goodell's contract would give the owners time to thoroughly consider their next steps with the commissioner position. Remember, there's been some speculation owners might split it into two positions, a CEO for all business matters and a commissioner over football. By then, Irsay said, they may know more about the future direction of the NFL's business.
So it looks like a deal for Roger Goodell certainly will get done, but the timing still to be determined. So bottom line, a deal with Roger Goodell will get done, but the final details and the timing of the announcement still to be determined.
Let's move on. The state of Nevada looks ready to step up again. We know what they did for the Raiders when they came from Oakland, giving the Raiders one of the most generous public financing deals ever. Now, the As and the state are close to a deal that would see up to $380 million in public money go toward the team's planned 1.5 billion Las Vegas ballpark. The As would be responsible for any amount over that $380 million threshold.
Earlier in the week, it was reported that A's owner John Fisher was willing to contribute a billion dollars of private financing for that ballpark. So the financing plan could be coming into shape, but Nevada, again, really stepping up to bring sports to that state.
Let's move on to some news from events over the past weekend, some softer ratings than expected for the PGA championship, which saw its lowest final round viewership in 15 years. That surprised me. Brooks Koepka's two-shot win is down 14% from last year. That's when Justin Thomas came back to win a playoff. The only lower event was in 2008 won by Paddy Harrington, and that was up against an Olympics broadcast.
It wasn't just Sunday that was down. Saturday's third round on CBS was also down off 11% from last year. Some surprising softness there with the PGA championship.
Also, the Preakness on Saturday saw its lowest race segment audience since 2000. That's when it was on ABC. Of course, that is outside of 2020 when there was the pandemic and it was run during a different time of year. But NBC averaged 5.1 million viewers for this year's race. That's down from 5.3 million last year and down from 7.1 million in 2021. So some softer ratings for both golf and a Triple Crown race over the weekend.
Meanwhile, the Preakness certainly doesn't draw like it used to. I would go to the event in the early 1990s when I lived in Washington, DC. We'd go up the 45 minutes to Baltimore and there would be close to a hundred thousand people at Pimlico. It was crazy.
Last weekend's Preakness had attendance total that was higher than last year, but it was still significantly down from previous years. There was a combined 65,000 people for Friday and Saturday, and that's in comparison to roughly 182,000 who attended the events over two days in 2019, just a few years ago. So it's really down about more than a third from the previous Preakness before the pandemic.
Now organizers said the smaller crowd of the past couple of years was by design. They have reworked the fan experience, but it is still a far different experience and a far different event at the Preakness than it was in years past.
Finally, we have more than 1100 attendees for tonight's Sports Business Awards at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. We will have a full recap tomorrow on the Buzzcast, but a couple of things to preview.
First, NFL Commissioner Gary Bettman will receive our Lifetime Achievement Award. He will be introduced by actor and diehard NHL fan, Jon Hamm. Some fun categories to watch, Sports Team of the Year, the nominees, Angel City, the Buffalo Bills, the Florida Panthers, the Golden State Warriors, LAFC, San Diego Padres. That's going to be an interesting result. Sports Facility of the Year is always very competitive. Allegiant Stadium, Fenway Park, Geodis Park, Moody Center, Snapdragon Stadium and SoFi Stadium. And the big one, the last award of the evening, Sports League of the Year. The nominees are the big 10, MLS, NASCAR, NBA, NFL, NHL, and the WNBA.
So those are the big-time categories. They're all big, but those are the ones that get a lot of attention that will have the room buzzing tonight. We will recap all the winners in every category and more on a special awards Buzzcast on Thursday morning.
So that is your Morning Buzzcast for Wednesday, May 24th. I'm in New York. It's a shorter Buzzcast. We have a lot to do today, a lot of rehearsals. I'm Abe Madkour. Remember, stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.