T-Mobile decides on an agency; Tennis events in the news, early World Series nuggets and the Hills invest in MLS and NWSL
I hope to see many of you this week at Media Innovators on Thursday at the Westin, Times Square. If you're going to be there, let me know. Love to say hello.
Also, NASCAR's Final four is set for next weekend's championship in Phoenix, as Ryan Blaney won in Martinsville on Sunday, clenching a spot in the championship four final that will determine the 2023 NASCAR Cup champion. Joining Blaney for a run at the title are Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, and William Byron. That race next weekend in Phoenix.
And this is your Morning Buzzcast for Monday, October 30th. Good morning, I'm Abe Madkour. Hope everybody's doing well.
A big assignment in the sports consulting space, as CAA Consulting has won a high profile review to become T-Mobile's agency of record. As the wireless carrier consolidated its agency shops, CAA Sports has been servicing T-Mobile's golf properties for a few years, but now gets the entire business. T-Mobile had been using Genesco and 160over90 for much of its sports strategy and activation.
And we know T-Mobile is a big player in the sports space. They have a big deal with Major League Baseball. They have a number of deals with Major League Baseball teams. They are a sponsor of the SEC and the SEC Network. They have a sponsorship in Las Vegas with the upcoming Formula One race. And of course they have naming rights at the Golden Knights' home arena, T-Mobile Arena, in Las Vegas. They have a new multi-year deal with LAFC. So they are a big player in sports. And this was a much talked about review as the wireless category represents among the biggest marketing spenders, especially in sports. You have T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, Comcast Business. There's a lot of competition.
CAA Sports said the review lasted more than three months, but that it's too early to say if getting this big business would mean hiring additional consulting staff. But as we noted, there is a lot of connections between T-Mobile and sports, and this will be a big, big account for CAA Sports' consulting group.
Let's shift to some tennis news. How many have made Wimbledon a bucket list item in their life? For years, people have told me it's a great event, but it can get crowded. But now it's expanding, so there's more room for all of us. The All England Club's plan to build an 8,000 seat stadium and 38 new courts at Wimbledon that would allow the event to hold its qualifying tournament onsite is moving forward. This has won early approval. There's still a few more steps to go, but the bottom line is, the expansion would happen across the street from the All England Club, and allow up to 10,000 fans more per day for the qualifying tournament. Club officials estimate the courts being ready by 2030 at the earliest. So nothing's imminent here, but this is a long-term plan. And the 8,000 seat stadium would have a retractable roof and so it would give Wimbledon a new high profile show court. So again, if the plan goes ahead, the new courts would be in operation sometime around 2030, but the All England Club and Wimbledon expanding.
We have the women's WTA finals being held this week, and they're being held in Mexico. And here's why this is interesting. Remember last year they were held in Texas and they didn't really draw very well. The tournament is looking for a long-term home. In 2019, the WTA thought it was going to be secure for a long time. They had a 10-year deal for the WTA finals to be held in China. But the WTA did not return due to human rights issues around former player Peng Shuai, and now the question is, will the WTA finals possibly move to Saudi Arabia, and if so, when? The WTA board supported a move for this year, but no announcement has ever been made.
Apparently most of the details have been worked out, but again, no announcement on the future site for the WTA finals has been formally announced. And there is a mixed bag. Some players want to go to Saudi Arabia. Many of the younger players like Jessica Pegula have been quite vocal as being in favor of playing the WTA finals in Saudi Arabia, while others, Martina Navratilova, Pam Shriver, I would say some historical names in women's tennis, are opposed to having the WTA finals in Riyadh.
So again, this is a story to watch. This year's tournament being held in Cancun, Mexico. Have to watch attendance, because again, this is one of the WTA's ultimate marquee events. It should have the support that it deserves, and it should be at a regular spot location on the calendar. Not quite the case yet. Have to see about the future of the women's WTA finals.
Saudi Arabia showed its strength with combat sports this weekend. They hosted a marquee boxing match where Tyson Fury beat Francis Ngannou by a split decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A very close decision. And this event opened Saudi Arabia's Entertainment Festival. It's called the Riyadh Season. And they had all types of notable names. They had Cristiano Ronaldo, Conor McGregor. They had former champions like Sugar Ray Leonard, Manny Pacquiao. They had Eminem. It was a big kind of marquee event. It took place inside a 26,000 seat Kingdom Arena. And again, they had a lot of celebrities. One person who attended said the event had the feel of an Olympic Games, with legends from the world of boxing and mixed martial arts.
But why is this important? It's another step by Saudi Arabia's efforts to bring more and more marquee sports events to the Kingdom, and you're going to see more and more of those.
Game 3 of the World Series tonight in Arizona. I said earlier on the buzzcast maybe last week, that many in baseball didn't love the playoff format, where top teams had a long layoff and got eliminated. But there won't be any change anytime soon. Any change would have to be collectively bargained with the players. And baseball commissioner Rob Manfred over the weekend said he supports the league's current playoff system despite the criticism, as MLB's top three regular season teams, the Braves, the Dodgers, and the Orioles, all who won at least a hundred games, they all lost in the division series, and two wild card teams, the D-backs and the Rangers advanced to the World Series. Manfred said he believes the format works well, and inside Baseball's office, they love the increased post-season field from 10 teams to 12 teams that was implemented for the first time last season. And I'm told that many in the league want to expand the number of slots even further. They'd love to see more teams qualify for the postseason.
Bottom line, I think many teams around baseball will see the Rangers and the Diamondbacks getting into the World Series as further proof you do not have to spend a lot of money or have a big payroll to play at the end and have a chance to win it all. So I could see this leading to a trend of more mid-level payrolls.
Like I said, the series shifts to Arizona tonight. Both Game 1 and Game 2, Boy, they were rocking at Globe Life Field. The Rangers set back-to-back attendance records at Globe Life Field. Game 2 on Saturday night had 42,500 fans. Game 1 had 42,400 fans. Again, both records at Globe Life Field. Globe Life Field opened in 2020 and can hold around 40,000 fans, so they're obviously maxing out their numbers during the World Series.
Here's a good story. The Diamondbacks made a great effort. They invited their entire full-time front office staff to Texas to watch the first two games of the series. About 225 employees made the trip. Some employees who could not attend were preparing for the team's three home games this week, those staff members have been invited to travel for Game 6 and 7 in Texas if the series extends that far. But a very good effort by the D-back's organization to reward employees.
Remember that Charter-Disney dispute in early September? I heard from a number of you who urged me to drop Spectrum cable and move to another service. And while I'm still with Spectrum cable, apparently many did move on. Charter reported it lost 320,000 video customers in the third quarter, and that really shows the impact of its dispute with Disney. Now, the company noted it had lost about 211,000 customers a year earlier. So you could argue they lost around 100,000 more subscribers than they would have otherwise had the dispute not happened. Remember, Charter and Disney were in a dispute for over 10 days in September. They were arguing over a new distribution agreement. Overall, Charter lost 320,000 customers. Most don't feel that's too bad, but it is an indication of the impact. Charter also had to pay $63 million in credits to customers as compensation for the blackout of Disney Channel, so you're seeing the impact there.
Let's end the buzzcast around some names in the news. Grant Hill and his wife Tamia have joined the ownership groups for the Orlando City SC and the NWSL's Orlando Pride. They've become limited partners in both clubs. The Hills, who have been seasoned ticket members for both teams, live in Orlando.
And a shout-out to an old friend and a strong baseball mind. The Washington Nationals got themselves a good one, as they named Danny Haas Vice President of Amateur Scouting. I've known Danny for about 20 years. I've watched him put together great teams for the Red Sox, the Orioles, and the Diamondbacks over the years. Now he will take his talents to Washington and be vice president of amateur scouting for the Nationals. Danny and his wife Katie Haas, who is Executive Vice President of Ballpark Operations and Experience for the New York Mets, are quite the sports business power couple, and they are even better people. So congratulations to Danny Haas. And if that name sounds familiar, yes, Danny comes from a long time baseball family, as his father, Eddie Haas, was a player, a coach, a manager, a scout, really a baseball legend for years. So Danny Haas now with the Washington Nationals.
And that is your Morning Buzzcast for Monday, October 30th. I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the buzzcast. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.