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Start your morning with Buzzcast with Abe Madkour: Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

Sports Business Awards nominees revealed

Who had the best year in sports business? 

Sports Business Journal is revealing the 90 nominees for the 17th annual Sports Business Awards, recognizing excellence over the past year. There are some themes that have emerged -- a lot of love for MLS, MLB and NASCAR. Lionel Messi’s signing with Inter Miami led to a number of nominations, including Deal of the Year; Inter Miami for Team of the Year, Jorge Mas for Executive of the Year and Major League Soccer for League of the Year. MLB is up for League of the Year, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is up for Executive of the Year and the World Baseball Classic is up for Event of the Year. NASCAR also had a big year, with nominations for League of the Year, Deal of the Year for its seven-year media rights deals with Fox Sports, NBC Sports, Prime Video and TNT Sports and Event of the Year for the new NASCAR Chicago Street Race. We will honor The McLendon Foundation with our Celebration of Service Award and Arthur M. Blank with our Lifetime Achievement Award.

Winners will be announced May 22 at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square.

Click here to see the full list of nominees.

SBJ unveils its Best Sports Business Cities for events

In Sports Business Journal’s second year of ranking the Best Sports Business Cities, we focus on the cities that have been the most successful at attracting and hosting sporting events, which are major economic drivers for these communities. This year, it was the event hub of Orlando that took home the top spot due to its wide range of events and hosting capabilities, followed by Las Vegas, L.A., Atlanta and Indianapolis rounding out the top five. The ranking also takes into account cities that are without a Big Five sports team, with Fort Worth, Texas; Greensboro, N.C.; Birmingham, Ala.; Louisville and Palm Beach County, Fla. making up the top five in that category.

See more information on the full list, how each city was ranked and the methodology behind it here.

Nike continues as top NCAA Tournament outfitter

By Wes Sanderson

Nike continued to dominate as the top shoe and jersey provider of teams in the NCAA Tournament. Nike and its affiliated Jordan Brand are outfitting 42 of the 68 teams in the field, improving by two from last year’s 40. That includes outfitting all four number one seeds in UConn, Purdue, Houston and North Carolina. Under Armour rebounded this year with 16 team’s sponsored making the big dance after only having 11 earn a bid in 2023. No. 4 Auburn was Under Armour’s highest ranked school. Meanwhile, Adidas saw the biggest decrease in team’s sponsored, going from 17 to only ten including just one -- Kansas -- with top four seeding.

 

 

PGA Tour players set to meet with Al-Rumayyan, PIF

PGA Tour player Patrick Cantlay confirmed a meeting will take place today between Tour players and representatives of the Saudi PIF, including PIF Gov. Yasir Al-Rumayyan. While "not confirming who will be in the meeting from either the PGA Tour, PIF or the Strategic Sports Group," Cantlay characterized the meeting as "more of a meet-and-greet than a substantive discussion" on the issues with the Saudis. Cantlay: "I'm not even sure that we're to that point yet. ... So, I don't want to get out ahead of myself. And say something that may go different" (SI, 3/17).

Details "remained vague" on where the meeting would be held and "whether it would be anything more than an ice breaker" with Al-Rumayyan. Cantlay: "I doubt we will get into anything substantive in the first meeting" (AP, 3/17). Cantlay said that he "expects to do more listening than talking" during the first meeting and said that he "remains 'all for' a deal with the PIF if it’s in the best interest of the entire PGA Tour membership" (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 3/17).

Meanwhile, LIV CEO Greg Norman posted a photo to Instagram yesterday that showed him at a Spring Training game with Mets owner and Strategic Sports Group member Steve Cohen (SBJ).

PWHL sets another attendance record in Detroit

The PWHL once again set the record for the largest crowd to watch a professional women’s hockey game in the U.S. Saturday night, with an announced crowd of 13,736 coming out for the Boston-Ottawa game at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The mark surpassed the 13,316 that watched Minnesota win its home opener against Montreal Jan. 6 at Xcel Energy Center. Saturday's game was part of the PWHL's Takeover Weekend, with Ottawa and Boston playing on the Red Wings' home ice in addition to Montreal and Toronto playing on the Penguins' home ice at PPG Paints Arena. Montreal and Toronto hold the Canadian record after a sellout crowd of 19,285 came out for their game at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto Feb. 16 (AP, 3/16).

Yesterday's neutral-site game between Toronto and Montreal in Pittsburgh drew 8,850 fans to PPG Paints Arena -- the largest crowd ever for a women's hockey game in Pittsburgh, "shattering the previous record" of 5,410 set last season for a U.S.-Canada exhibition game (DK PITTSBURGH SPORTS, 3/17).

Barclays Center set for big offseason renovation

By Bret McCormick

The Nets have unveiled more details about the offseason renovation of Suite Level B at Barclay's Center, which will be the largest in the arena's 12-year history. The cost of the renovations remains undisclosed, and the work will mainly focus on two new club areas -- The Row and The Key. Work begins as soon as the Brooklyn Nets’ season concludes and will be finished before the 2024-25 NBA campaign commences in October. Along with Populous, Shawmut Design and Construction is involved again. Shawmut handled either design or construction for most of the previous Barclays Center capital projects, including the addition of locker rooms and weight rooms for the New York Liberty, and the 2021 addition of the Crown Club, BSE Global’s luxury premium homage to rapper Notorious B.I.G., featuring an entire room devoted to candy.  The two spaces, facing each other from across the seating bowl, are very similar in size but possess their own vibe and personality. The Row is higher-end, while The Key is more energetic and sportier. Naming rights will be available for both. 

Spurs confirm they'll play in Paris in 2025

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich confirmed last night that the Spurs "are heading to Paris next season," something that former Spurs G Tony Parker revealed several weeks ago. The NBA hasn’t announced which teams will be playing in Paris next season, though "it has long been expected" that the Spurs and Pacers would be the teams selected. At the All-Star Game last month, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Spurs F Victor Wembanyama "would very much like to see" the team playing in France next season. It's unclear if it’ll be a one- or two-game trip for the Spurs, though Parker said at this year’s NBA Paris Game that he "expects the league to play two games in France next season." Wembanyama "appeared to make reference to that possibility as well" when asked last night. The league hasn’t revealed when it’ll announce the slate of international games for next season (AP, 3/18).

Yahoo Sports adding analysts for NCAA tourneys

By Ben Portnoy

A few famous faces are being added to Yahoo Sports' NCAA Tournament coverage, as longtime NBAer Danny Green, former Stanford G Ros Gold-Onwude and ex-Syracuse and Siena G Isis Young will join the company as analysts throughout its postseason coverage. An official announcement is expected  on Monday.

Green, who starred at UNC and won the 2009 national title with the Tar Heels, will join Yahoo Sports analyst Jason Fitz and Yahoo Sports NBA Draft analyst Krysten Peek to provide video coverage of the men's tournament.

Gold-Onwude and Young will team up with Yahoo Sports women's college basketball reporter Cassandra Negley to produce video coverage throughout the women's tournament. Gold-Onwude will also cover the tournament for Westwood One radio, including serving as the sideline reporter for the Women’s Final Four in Cleveland.

Video content featuring Green, Gold-Onwude and Young will run on Yahoo Sports and across social media beginning March 19. Yahoo Sports will also tape on-site at both Final Four sites.

Jägermeister to title USL League One tournament

By Alex Silverman

USL

German liquor brand Jägermeister has signed on as the title sponsor for a new USL League One in-season tournament kicking off next month. The three-year deal is worth a mid-six-figure sum annually for the soccer league organizer. Jägermeister will receive brand exposure during the tournament on ball stands, specialty merchandise, in-stadium signage and LEDs, along with tournament-related social media content. 

Known as the USL Jägermeister Cup, the event begins April 27. Group stage matches will be played as part of the League One regular season through Sept. 1, and the final will be held on Sept. 28 or 29. ESPN, one of USL’s two national broadcast partners, will exclusively carry Jägermeister Cup matches. League One is USL’s Division III professional men’s league, which currently includes 12 teams.  

Legends, USL’s commercial agency of record, worked with USL in negotiations with Jägermeister. USL Senior VP/Corporate Development & Partnerships Josh Keller led efforts at the league office. Jägermeister is the second alcohol brand to recently sign on as a USL sponsor, joining el Jimador Spiked Bebidas malt beverages. 

Pac-12 Network to air 12 spring football games in '24

The Pac-12 Network will televise the spring football games of all 12 of its member schools this year, "including the 10 departing for other conferences." All 12 games will be broadcast on one of the Pac-12 Network linear channels. Talks between the Pac-12 and Big Ten regarding the broadcast rights for the spring games for Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC "concluded with the sides unable to come to an agreement." However, the Big Ten Network is "sending reporters to each of those games" and "working with the schools to obtain footage for coverage on BTN" (Portland OREGONIAN, 3/17).

Speed Reads....

CBS studio host Greg Gumbel will not be part of this year's coverage because of "family health issues," and host Adam Zucker will be taking over his duties. CBS "plans to have Gumbel back for the men's NCAA tournament next season" (USA TODAY, 3/17).

The Galaxy announced Friday that LA Galaxy II, its MLS Next Pro Club, "will be moving to Ventura County and undergoing a rebrand" in a new partnership with Oak Sports Holding. The club, which will remain under AEG ownership, will now be known as Ventura County FC and play home games at California Lutheran Univ. starting in April (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 3/16).

MELT has been named the sponsorship, sales and marketing agency of record for Mobile, Ala.'s new $300M arena in partnership with Oak View Group and Live Nation (MELT).

Morning Hot Reads: Bridging the Divide

The L.A. TIMES looks into the implications of the upcoming Dodgers-Padres games in South Korea under the header, "Baseball diplomacy: How Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish bridge the Japan-South Korea divide." When the Dodgers landed in South Korea for their two-game season opening series against the Padres last week, Ohtani's picture was plastered all over the front pages of many Korean newspapers, leading journalists to dub the star P/DH "the most beloved Japanese athlete in Korea." For a Japanese athlete to be embraced by South Koreans to this degree is "extraordinary, considering the history between their countries." Wounds remain from Japan’s "brutal 35-year occupation" of Korea in the early 20th century. Such widespread admiration of a Japanese player "would have been unimaginable as recently as 15 years ago," when baseball games between Japan and South Korea were "as politically charged as soccer games between Argentina and England or India and Pakistan."

Also:

This Week's Events: March 18-24

TUESDAY

  • SBJ will host one of its All In digital conferences from 12:30-1:30pm ET, with this one focused on "Leading in Polarizing Times" -- which will explore the sociopolitical issues that our country is currently facing and how they are impacting the sports industry and those who work in it. Speakers include NHL Senior EVP/Social Impact, Growth Initiatives & Legislative Affairs Kim Davis, NWSL Chief People & Culture Officer Lauren Lopez, T'Wolves/Lynx Chief Impact Officer Tru Pettigrew, Women Leaders in Sports CEO Patti Phillips and Monumental Sports & Entertainment SVP/Communications & Social Impact Anu Rangappa. Register for the event here.
  • The IOC will host an Executive Board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • Anta Sports will release its quarterly earnings.

WEDNESDAY

  • The 2024 MLB season officially begins as the Dodgers and Padres meet for two games in Seoul, South Korea -- the first-ever regular season games in Korea. The games will be played at Gocheok SkyDome in Seoul (2 days).

THURSDAY

  • The Univ. of Mount Union, in partnership with the Pro Football HOF Village, will host the first Mount Union Student Sport Business Analytics Conference at the Village’s Constellation Center for Excellence from 10am-3pm ET. There will be discussions on analytics in the areas of ticketing, partnership, game day responsibilities and fan insights. Representatives from the Penguins, Cavaliers and Haslam Sports Group are slated to attend and lead the sessions. To learn more and register, click here.
  • Nike will release its quarterly earnings.
  • Flutter Entertainment will release its quarterly earnings.
  • Academy Sports & Outdoors will release its quarterly earnings.

SUNDAY

  • The NFL will begin its annual League Meeting in Orlando (3 days).
 

Have an event we should feature? Send an email to malongi@sportsbusinessjournal.com.

Social Scoop....

Today's Back Pages....

The Morning Buzz offers today's back page sports covers from some of North America's major metropolitan tabloids:

N.Y. Post N.Y. Daily News Newsday Boston Herald Chicago Sun-Times Philadelphia Daily News