Derby haze, Scripps links with Golden Knights on local broadcasts, Bills set to put shovel in the ground and boffo days at MSG Sports
While in New York this week, someone pulled me aside and said it was their favorite sports weekend coming up. And indeed, this is a very big sports weekend. We've got the Derby, we've got F1 in Miami, year two. We have the NHL and NBA playoffs. And in my home of Charlotte, North Carolina, we have the Wells Fargo Championships, which has everyone out and excited. So a big sports weekend indeed.
And this is your Morning Buzzcast for Friday, May 5th. Good morning, I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for joining us on the Buzzcast. Let's start with the Kentucky Derby. I know there will be plenty of people at Derby parties around the TV tomorrow night, Saturday night, around 6:30 PM for the 149th Running for the Roses. You'll see Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes call the riders up this year with Saturday's race expected to run under partly cloudy conditions, temperatures in the low seventies, but no threat of rain.
But people I know who are on the ground there were texting me yesterday saying the vibe was a little less celebratory than normal because of a series of horse deaths that have certainly cast a shadow over the Derby. Horse safety continues to be a very important issue, and these deaths come during the high point of coverage and attention for the sport as the Derby is traditionally the most watched and covered event in horse racing.
So the deaths of these horses will be an important and unfortunate storyline as the sport does everything it can to try and build and grow interest in horse racing, not fight off storylines that could dampen fan interest. So that will be something I'll be watching this weekend. And all of this comes amid next year's buildup to the 150th running of the Derby, which will be a massive promotional and marketing event for the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs.
Let's move on. In a meeting yesterday with some of the top officials at the PGA Tour. We went around the room at the end of our discussion and asked about the biggest story in sports business they were following. One executive said without missing a beat, "The changing local media marketplace." And just as he said this news came that for the second time in a week, a local broadcast channel has picked up the rights to a pro sports team. Scripps has signed a multi-year deal to carry all Vegas Golden Knights games that are not nationally exclusive windows on ESPN and Turner Sports. Those Golden Knights games had been carried on AT&T Sportsnet, Rocky Mountain, which of course is an RSN that is in the process of shutting down. So now Scripps will carry the teams games in the Las Vegas market on a local over-the-air channel KMCC.
Now, before the start of next season, Scripps will rebrand the channel as an independent station that carries local news and local sports. And as part of the deal, the Knights and Scripps will develop a direct to consumer streaming option as well. Now, Scripps is making it's play in sports. As two weeks ago, it's signed a deal to carry WNBA games on a Friday night package. This comes as just last week, Gray Broadcasting and Kiswe announced a deal to pick up the local media rights to the Suns and the Mercury, but remember that deal has been blocked right now by Diamond Sports Group, which has held those team's rights. So that one is a little bit in limbo, but what's the bottom line?
The bottom line is you're seeing new players emerge in the local media marketplace, and that's what teams are eager to see. They want options, they want optionality, but it does add to the major uncertainty in the marketplace and teams are going to do these deals with these new players for distribution. They want people to see their games. They are certainly getting less revenue. So right now it's a trade distribution for less revenue, but they really want to see their games broadcast in their local market. So that's why you have Scripps getting involved with the Golden Knights. Gray, getting involved with the Suns in Mercury. And again, this is one of the biggest stories in sports business you should be keeping your eye on.
Let's move to some facility news. I remember when I lived in Washington DC in the early 1990s and going to my first football game at RFK Stadium. Now things were different then for sure. The team was called the Redskins. The team was certainly one of the best in the NFL at that time. And that stadium would rock and shake like no stadium I had ever been to before or since.
Now we all know there have been calls for years for the old RFK site to be the home of any new stadium for the local football team. And now comes a report that the commanders are actually lobbying federal legislators to give up control over the RFK stadium site to the city of DC, which could lead the way for the city to offer it as a potential new home for the team.
So if Josh Harris becomes the new owner of the team, it's expected he will be looking for a new home and that would pit Maryland versus Virginia versus DC. They'd all go up against each other because they'd probably all make bids to build a new facility. Now the city of DC would want control of that RFK land.
Right now the federal government owns it and leases it. And so the government's lease does have some restrictions on what the land could be used for. And we know the Commanders would want to invest in a mixed-use development. So there's a lot of work to be done and some clarity to be figured out. But, bottom line is there's some movement and there is some hope of potentially the Commanders looking at the RFK stadium site. It's also no sure thing the team would want to return to DC, but it would be a very attractive option for them to consider.
Let's stay with facilities because the Buffalo Bills have cleared their last major hurdle on their way to a new stadium. After Erie County approved a series of stadium agreements that will allow the Bills to build a 1.5 billion dollar stadium. It will be built right next to the current Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. The new stadium is scheduled to open in 2026. Now this was the last approval required for construction work to begin, and this comes after two years of stadium negotiations and discussions. So the team just has to be thrilled. Here is the breakdown.
The 1.5 billion dollar price tag includes 250 million dollars in county funding. Another 600 million will come from the state of New York and about 650 or 700 million, or the rest, will come from the team and the NFL. Quite a good deal for the Buffalo Bills.
Construction on the venue begins now. It's being called the biggest project ever built in Western New York. And like I said, "The new Bills Stadium is scheduled to be completed in July of 2026 with the goal that it will be open for the full 2026 season." So some exciting days for the Buffalo Bills.
Speaking of exciting days, the New York Knicks, if you're a Knicks fan, you're excited because your team is still in the playoffs. The Rangers were recently eliminated, but I do think it speaks to one of the better business stories in sports, and that's what's happening at Madison Square Garden.
The organization is certainly driving some impressive business numbers with the teams playing so well, and like someone told me this week in New York, "There's nothing like when the Knicks and Rangers are both in the playoffs." Now, just look at the facts. MSG Sports generated more than 380 million dollars in revenue in this most recent quarter. That was up 13% or 45 million compared to the same period last year. That increase was driven by more home games for the Rangers and Nicks during the quarter compared to last year. But also all the other metrics were up. Operating income was up 20 million dollars, or 33%. Ticket-related revenue increased nearly 22 million dollars compared to the previous year, and this is all within one quarter.
So like I said, "All the metrics were up, sponsorship, sweet revenue, food and beverage, and President of business, Dave Hopkinson certainly has that organization in sales mode, and its delivering." It's incredibly successful right now and this success will likely continue because the next quarter's public numbers should be strong too, because the next run to the Eastern Conference semi-final will be part of that reporting period. So pretty strong good days at Madison Square Garden Sports.
And let's end by another trend we're seeing. We talked about women's sports getting primetime exposure. Remember, the NWSL championship game was moved to primetime on CBS late last year. Well now we'll see some rare primetime coverage coming for women's golf as the US Women's Open at Pebble Beach in early July will mark the first time NBC will broadcast a women's golf championship in primetime.
So that will be unique and very high-profile exposure for the women's game. NBC's coverage will run from three o'clock to nine o'clock Eastern time on that Sunday, July 9th. It might just be the longest continuous network coverage that NBC has ever given to a women's event. And this also comes as the USGA is looking to stage women's events at high-profile venues usually reserved for men's golf such as Pebble Beach. As Pebble Beach will host a number of women's golf events over the next year. So here's what to look for, amplified coverage around the US Women's Open this July.
And so that is your morning Buzzcast for Friday, May 5th. Enjoy your very exciting sports weekend. I'm Abe Madkour, stay healthy. Please be good to each other. I'll speak to you on Monday.