The weekend that was; Where does F1 go from here; Raiders turmoil continues and Braves ready to expand The Battery.
What a fun Kentucky Derby to watch. What a race by Rich Strike. Here's what I took from Saturday's race. One, fans were ready to return as nearly 150,000 fans filled Churchill Downs as the track opened its gates wide for the first time since 2019, and people were ready to spend. Handle set a record for the entire 14-race card on Saturday. A total of more than $260 million was bet. That was up 5% over the record which was set in 2019. So fans were ready to come back, and fans were ready to spend at Churchill Downs. The Preakness will be in two weeks, May 21st.
This is your Morning Buzzcast for Monday, May 9th. Good morning, I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody had a great weekend. Big sports weekend. The Miami Grand Prix took place on Sunday in front of 85,000 F-One fans around and at Hard Rock Stadium. It was one of the hottest tickets I have seen in quite some time. Congratulations to Dolphins owner, Stephen Ross, and Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium vice chair, Tom Garfinkel, for pulling it all off. I mean, this was a star-studded event. Here's who was spotted over the weekend: former First Lady Michelle Obama, George Lucas, Michael Strahan, Jeff Gordon, Greg Norman, Josh Allen, Matt Damon, LeBron James, Serena Williams, Michael Jordan, and Tom Brady. Yes, they were all among the stars who were out in Miami for Formula One.
The race showed great on ABC, and overall drivers complimented the atmosphere and the energy. They do believe the track conditions can improve. The race itself, eh, it was just fine. It wasn't a very exciting race. Max Verstappen and Red Bull brushed back Ferrari. Afterwards, you saw Dan Marino give out the trophies on a podium. He gave Verstappen a Dolphins helmet. As most people who were there have commented on the weekend, it all felt very much in line with Miami.
As usual around a big first-time event, there were some issues. I heard from people on the ground that there was massive transportation gridlock, and there were issues with the guest experience at the Paddock Club and other hospitality areas that were also seen on social media, and that was a tough look. But this was a place to be seen. While there was very strong buzz this year, we'll have to see if the buzz in Miami continues next year, or does that buzz shift to the F-One race in Las Vegas in November? But all in all, a very good weekend for Formula One in the United States.
Let's shift to the NFL. Turmoil at the Las Vegas Raiders continues as Raiders president, Dan Ventrelle, is out and said that he was fired in retaliation for alerting the NFL that owner, Mark Davis, ignored concerns that there was a hostile work environment within the organization. On Friday, Mark Davis announced that Ventrelle was no longer with the organization serving as interim president for only 10 months. Later in the day, Ventrelle went public saying that he was concerned over multiple written complaints from employees that Mark Davis created a hostile work environment and engaged in other potential misconduct. He said Davis was dismissive of these complaints, so Ventrelle then took them to the league. Mark Davis won't comment on the details and said that Ventrelle was only the interim president, whatever that really means. Regardless, the NFL said it will investigate allegations against the Raiders.
Now, again, Ventrelle was the second team president to leave the Raiders in 10 months. Marc Badain left earlier. Also last week, chief operations and analytics officer, Jeremy Aguero, resigned after just seven months. There has been so much turnover at the team, our Ben Fisher looked at the media guide, six of the eight people who were listed as president or executives are gone just two years later, and that includes Marc Badain and Dan Ventrelle who served as president. Now, you have a football side seemingly performing quite well under Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels. But boy, the business side of the Raiders continues to be in total chaos, and I don't think this story is over yet.
Let's shift to college sports. We have talked about the challenges facing name, image, and likeness for some time. Now, college leaders want to address some changes. Dennis Dodd of CBS SportsLine reported over the weekend that an NCAA committee is prepared to propose some NIL changes as early as today, yes, Monday. Ohio State athletic director, Gene Smith, one of the most influential leaders in college sports, is part of a subcommittee, and they are eager to get some guardrails or some restrictions around name, image, and likeness.
That subcommittee submitted some recommendations that primarily deal with booster involvement, so this could address these collectives we've seen so many of and we've talked about. Remember, boosters are developing these collectives to establish name, image, and likeness opportunities for the athletes. But college leaders are concerned that these activities and efforts are really just inducements for recruits and transfer candidates and really becomes pay for play. So with this subcommittee's recommendations, there are some areas to hold these boosters accountable. Dodd reports that the most likely penalty for the boosters could be the threat of disassociation from a school. A disassociation means these people cannot interact with the university in any way. Again, these recommendations will be taken up this week by the NCAA board of directors. Now, how effective these regulations will be is really up for debate. Even Gene Smith acknowledged that this action will likely lead to legal responses and lawsuits. So get ready for some more news around name, image, and likeness.
The group led by Dodgers co-owner, Todd Boehly, was named the new owner of Chelsea late Friday. Todd Boehly was then at Stamford Bridge on Saturday to watch Chelsea play. So this is all moving ahead. Now, the deal for Chelsea, like I said, was announced Friday. While Boehly is the biggest name in the ownership group, it'll be California private equity firm, Clearlake Capital, that owns a majority of the shares. Boehly's group also includes his partner in the Dodgers, Mark Walter. Now, the club's purchase price is $3.1 billion. That would be the most ever paid for a team in any sport. But the sale has a total sale value of $5.2 billion because, remember, in addition to the $3.1 billion for the team, the group has also committed to invest $2.1 billion in the club and stadium renovation. So this is a massive, massive deal.
It is expected to be completed in late May. It still requires the approval of the British government. There are still some doubts about how the money from the sale will be paid into a foundation for Ukraine, and there is concern about totally separating the club from any long-time executives of former owner Roman Abramovich, so that's what we have to see about any ties to him. But Todd Boehly, Mark Walter, and Clearlake Capital getting the green light to acquire Chelsea.
Staying with team news, the Atlanta Braves are up for Sports Team of the Year at the Sports Business Awards next week. The team's strong business performance continues into this year. Despite MLB's lockout, the delayed spring training, and even the regular season briefly, the Braves on Friday announced they had posted an increase in revenue for the first quarter of this year. It was up 44% from the same period in 2021. The team attributed its strong performance to selling the most season tickets it has sold in more than 20 years, and also they've sold out all of its premium sales and premium suite inventory. Again, the Braves are a very hot team in sports right now. They have totally engaged themselves within that Atlanta marketplace. The Atlanta marketplace is responding: season ticket sales, very strong, premium suite, premium inventory sales, very strong.
Here's something else to know. The Battery, which I think is one of the most underrated stories in all of sports, this is the mixed-use development outside Truist Park, we will see continued development around The Battery. The team announced the second phase of The Battery will be completed in the second quarter of this year, and construction is expected to begin in the second half of this year on a massive building that will be the national headquarters of Truist Securities. Again, more healthy development around The Battery in Atlanta. It certainly fuels the success of the Atlanta Braves, which have turned into one of the strongest business stories in all of sports.
Don't forget next Wednesday, May 18th, the biggest night in sports business, the Sports Business Awards. Limited tables, limited seats are available. Go to our website. Buy your ticket today for next Wednesday at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. Certainly hope to see you there. That is your Morning Buzzcast. It is Monday, May 9th. I'm Abe Madkour. Have a great day. Stay healthy. Be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.