A big threat to the NCAA; NASCAR ends successful season with media deal on horizon; Pressure mounts on WTA's Steve Simon and Excel Sports makes major football play
Well, how lucky did I feel to be part of the final Bedlam on Saturday at Stillwater? The energy and emotion was spectacular. I really haven't experienced a game like that. And of course, if you watched, you saw an OSU celebration after they upset Oklahoma 27-24 in the final Bedlam for at least the next several years, maybe another decade, maybe more. And this is a series that dates back to 1904. It's a shame this rivalry game is ending for the foreseeable future. But what an experience in Stillwater on Saturday. And this is your Morning Buzzcast for Monday, November 6th. Good morning, I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the Buzzcast.
A big case that had a lot of people talking in Stillwater over the weekend was House versus the NCAA. And that's because a federal judge granted class action status in the damages portion of this antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA. It's a decision that could mean the NCAA would be responsible for a potential multi-billion dollar payout to former and current college athletes. House v. the NCAA is being heard in the Northern District of California by Judge Claudia Wilken. This is the judge who has previously ruled against the NCAA in other cases. Now this suit was brought by Arizona State swimmer, Grant House in 2020, and it challenges the NCAA's name, image, and likeness compensation rules. Now, Friday's ruling could make more than 14,000 current and former college athletes eligible to claim damages if the NCAA loses the case.
And so what does that mean? Well, that means by getting class certification, the NCAA could face financial damages totaling more than $4 billion in back pay to these former and current student athletes. So that's why this case is so important. Even SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said on Saturday, "Friday's decision was not a good day for the NCAA." So keep your eye on House v. the NCAA.
Let's move on. Congratulations to everyone at NASCAR after a successful season ended yesterday in Phoenix with Ryan Blaney winning his first championship and giving team owner, Roger Penske back to back NASCAR titles. Now everyone waits for NASCAR's media deals to be completed and announced. And President Steve Phelps said before the race that talks with media partners are ongoing, and that in the end he expects NASCAR to have a strong deal that will feature a combination of broadcast, cable and streaming to some degree. Phelps did acknowledge he thought the process would be completed by now, but that they are nearing the end and he called it an incredibly competitive marketplace. Now, Fox's Lachlan Murdoch said last week that Fox is in the final stages of negotiating its renewal with NASCAR. They're very bullish on the sport and are happy to continue that partnership. So for NASCAR, a media deal and completing the charter agreement are still two big items they have to complete. But overall, people in the sport feel good about the season and where they can build from here.
Another topic talked about a lot this weekend, the NBA's In-Season Tournament, and it tipped off Friday. I thought the games felt and looked different, certainly with the courts and the City Edition uniforms. It certainly made these games feel unique. Now some of the courts are getting talked about in Indianapolis, the Pacers debuted their new court and there were some criticism of the surface as there were a number of non-contact slips and falls. Some players thought the surface was a bit slick, but this seemed isolated to this game. And the other fun fact, the Nuggets Court for their In-Season Tournament game Friday had wrongly measured the three point line. It was too far back, but it was fixed in time. And in the time between shoot around and the game, the three point line was repainted for the right distance. But so far, In-Season Tournament tipped off, it led SportsCenter on Saturday morning that I saw. So there's some energy, there is some interest and this is a long play, but it will be fun to see how it plays out over the next five weeks.
Shifting to golf, Golf Week is reporting that five groups remain in the mix to be the primary investment partner in PGA Tour Enterprise as the PGA Tour has narrowed the list from more than a dozen initial suitors. And these are some big names. You're looking at Fenway Sports Group, which is partnered with investors such as Mets owner Steve Cohen and Falcon's owner Arthur Blank. You've got Liberty Strategic Capital in the mix. You have Acorn Growth Companies and Eldridge Industries in the mix. And finally, you have a group of influential individuals who are being referred to only as "Friends of Golf." So these suitors interested in investing in the tour will present their proposals to the PGA Tour's Board of Directors, perhaps as early as this week. And sources said that while the private equity component to a future deal with the tour is moving fast, the negotiations with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund have slowed and there's still a lot of work to do to complete that deal. So you see the tour working in almost parallel paths here about future investment.
Let's see what changes come to the WTA after the tour completes its season finals in Cancun. The finals are today, Monday, after play was pushed back because of heavy rain over the weekend. As one player asked, "What are we playing our finals in Mexico for during hurricane season?" And that seems to have summed up the feelings around this event. And the WTA even conceded to players that the event was not perfect and signaled the changes to the operation of the WTA will be happening after a series of complaints from top players about how they are being treated. In a letter to players, WTA CEO Steve Simon said it was clear that players were not happy with the decision to play in Cancun. And he said he understands that and he hears them.
Now, Cancun was named as the tournament site less than two months before it started, and the complaints about the Cancun event have brought to a head widespread, really dissatisfaction with the way that WTA has been managing the tour. So this has been building for some time. Players are really letting Steve Simon know that they have many issues they want to see fixed. And I believe there's growing pressure on Steve Simon to make real improvements to the WTA.
Let's stay with tennis because so many sources of mine insisted that after golf, Saudi Arabia would set their sights on the sport of tennis. And The Athletic is reporting just that, reporting that the Kingdom is looking to purchase two major tournaments, both owned by IMG. These are events in Miami and Madrid. They're marquee 1,000 level events that are just below the Grand Slams in importance. Madrid and Miami are strong, successful tournaments and they have a long history of being hosted in those respective cities. Now that could be complicated if Saudi Arabia wanted to move one of those events to the Kingdom.
The Athletic reported that Saudi officials have been in talks with top tennis executives for more than a year about potential investments in the sport of tennis. And you do wonder if Endeavor's interest to potentially sell off any non-strategic assets plays into this in the long-term because these are both tournaments owned by IMG, which of course is part of Endeavor. So many have felt that tennis like golf would benefit from some new investment, new approaches, new ideas. And so you could see Saudi Arabia's interest in that sport only grow.
The Washington Post reported that Monumental Sports & Entertainment has asked the District of Columbia for $600 million of public funding for a major renovation of Capital One Arena. Now that 600 million would be the bulk of an $800 million renovation plan that Monumental has outlined to the city. Monumental would contribute $200 million to the effort. Now think about this. This would be a significant renovation, $800 million. They would transform the seating bowl, they would add a food court that would be open during non-game hours, they would totally remake the entrance into a glass atrium. Monumental reportedly wants to do incremental construction over 4 consecutive summers, starting in 2024.
Now, Monumental in my view, is clearly trying to get out ahead of any other public ask for funding from either the Commanders or the Nationals. And it should be noted the District of Columbia is not obligated to pay for upgrades at Capital One Arena at all. But this is a careful dance as sources told The Washington Post, that Monumental remains in negotiations with Virginia officials about possibly relocating to a site in Alexandria and build a new arena there. So there's a lot of intrigue of what's going on in the nation's capital. Monumental Sports certainly wants some assistance in a major renovation of Capital One Arena.
And finally, let's end with this more growth at Excel Sports Management as it's acquiring Rep 1 Football, giving Excel a much broader presence in football and giving them a larger stake in player contracts. As part of the deal Rep 1 Football will be rebranded, Excel Football. Rep 1 Sports co-founder and CEO Ryan Tollner and President of Football, Chase Callahan will be staying with Excel Football as co-heads. That's a successful practice. Now Excel already had an existing NFL client base under partner Alan Zucker. That includes handling marketing deals for a number of players. But those are marketing deals. And now with this deal for Rep 1 Football, they get into the market of handling player contracts as well as marketing and endorsement deals. So much more full service when it comes to football for Excel in this big deal for them of Rep 1 Football.
And so that is your Morning Buzzcast for Monday, November 6th. I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the Buzzcast. Stay healthy, be good to each other, I'll speak to you tomorrow.