Abe Madkour:
We had 27 out of 30 of our New Voices Under 30 celebrate last night at the JEWEL Nightclub at the ARIA Hotel here in Las Vegas. Matt West of the Professional Bull Riders was our MC. We had a great night, and tonight Friday, Cynthia Frelund of the NFL Network leads our celebration for 40 Under 40. It should be another fun evening. Speaking of Las Vegas, another championship for the Las Vegas Aces as they won the WNBA title on Wednesday at Barclay's Center. I know Raiders owner Mark Davis has his fair share of critics, but it should be noted that in his third season as owner of the Aces he's already got two championships. Now, Mark Davis credited Aces coach Becky Hammon, GM Natalie Williams, and president Nikki Fargas for leading the franchise, but it all is done under the ownership of Mark Davis, and keep your eye on the final ratings for the WNBA Finals as the series has been drawing strong viewership.
Going into game four, the Finals were averaging more than 670,000 viewers across ABC and ESPN, that was up a healthy 13% from last year, so keep your eye on the final numbers and very good timing for the WNBA as it looks for a new media rights deal in the years ahead. And this is your Morning Buzzcast for Friday, October 20th. Good morning, I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the Buzzcast. It is fascinating that we're able to get an inside glimpse, the first look inside the financials of ESPN as we're seeing the numbers of the standalone ESPN for the first time as Disney has changed its financial reporting process to the public and they came out this week, it's a must read, and it shows still what a healthy business ESPN is. Let's look at the numbers. ESPN made $12.5 billion in revenue in the nine months ending July 1st, 2023.
They had an operating income of roughly 1.9 billion in those nine months. That shows what a healthy business it still is. For 2022, ESPN showed revenue of $16 billion and a profit of nearly $3 billion. So most of the takeaways from the financial analysts was that despite all the talk that the sky is falling in ESPN's world because of declining number of subscribers to the linear network, the financial numbers show that the monetary decline is not at the alarming rate that many had speculated. Well-respected analyst Michael Nathanson said, "The ESPN business was not as bad as we thought. The top line was more stable." And as my colleague John Ourand told me, "ESPN looks like a business worth saving." So again, get into these numbers and you'll see the size of ESPN's business, and again, these numbers will be reported out in the future, and so we will see a consistent line item on ESPN's financials moving forward.
I want to shift to the NWSL because do not overlook what Chris and Angie Long are doing in Kansas City with the NWSL's Kansas City Current as they landed a big, big deal on Thursday. Railway giant CPKC is now the naming rights partner for the team's historic stadium set to open this spring in Kansas City. The 11,500 KPKC Stadium and KPKC Plaza will be the first stadium and open plaza around a women's pro sports team in the world. This is a specific sports stadium built specifically for a women's pro sports team. The steps that Chris and Angie Long have taken and the investments they've made since purchasing the team in December of 2020 are consistent with their mission to bring excellence to ownership. Now, Chris and Angie Long were central in this deal process because they had a relationship with CPKC leadership, as was current president Allison Howard, she has an extensive background from previously selling sponsorships for the Lakers, and of course she worked at Premier Partnerships before that.
So, you had some real deal makers at the table and they completed a massive deal with major significance. Now, Chris and Angie Long, they met at Princeton. She played rugby, he played basketball. The two worked together at JPMorgan Chase, and then they launched Palmer Square in 2009, which is based just outside of Kansas City and manages nearly $24 billion in assets. Now, the two are not pedestrian investors, and they approach the NWSL with a critical lens and saw it as an undervalued asset. And they also knew if they could focus on the product and invest in facilities that would allow for product optimization. They both believe about creating an environment that enables an organization to be successful, and this stadium, which will open in the spring and their own training center, which they've already developed, are key parts to that puzzle.
So, Chris and Angie Long have a persistent quest for excellence. They admit it, they say they talk about excellence all the time and they strive for it. They're incredibly motivated, they see the big picture, and they also see the little details that really matter, and they are demonstrating and showcasing and executing on their vision with deeds and actions, not just words and people are noticing, but if you haven't paid attention to what Chris and Angie Long are doing with the Kansas City Current, you're missing one of the most important and interesting stories in sports business.
We talk about all these mixed use development projects on the books. We have one to add to the list, the Orlando Magic. They hope to break ground on their $500 million basketball plaza by the end of 2024. They hope to finish it within two and a half years, and they hope to host the 2027 NBA All-Star Game at this new development. So, the Magic are part of the group that is financing this development. It'll sit on about eight and a half acres. It's expected to feature a 250-room hotel, multifamily apartments, an entertainment venue that will seat nearly 4,000 people. There'll be the Magic corporate headquarters, parking of course, retail and restaurants, and a centralized plaza.
So, this project has been planned for years. It's all part of the Magic's vision to amplify and build up Downtown Orlando, and again, they hope to break ground by the end of '24 with a $500 million basketball district ready to roll in Orlando. And finally, we'll end with this, former Bucks owner Marc Lasry is using his new Avenue Sports Fund to buy up the fifth team in the TGL. That's the startup golf league backed by Mike McCarley, Tiger Woods, and Roy McIlroy, which will launch in January. So, Marc Lasry will own a San Francisco-based team, along with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Andre Iguodala. Now, the team does not have a name or a brand yet, so Lasry recently launched this Avenue Sports Fund. He said at the time of the launch that he was looking for non-traditional growth sports and he was looking for leagues that had big upside.
And he saw this league being formed and he reached out to TMRW Sports and the TGL about six months ago. Now, Steph Curry is well-known for his love of golf, was among the initial investors in the TGL's parent company TMRW Sports when it was founded late last fall. So, Marc Lasry said that the franchise is still in the process of building out its front office and staffing, but he hopes to have pieces in place over the next couple weeks.
So, the TGL is coming together. It now has franchises in San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, LA, Boston, and the ownership groups are incredibly strong. They have a six and final franchise location still to be confirmed. All matches will be played in Florida in the league's first year, and remember, the league starts in January on ESPN. And so, that is your Morning Buzzcast for Friday, October 20th. I'm Abe Madkour coming to you from Las Vegas with New Voices Under 30 and 40 Under 40. Hope you have a great weekend. Stay healthy, be good to each other, and let's all pray for some peace around the world. I'll talk to you again on Monday.