LA28

AXS and CTS Eventim have been selected the Official Ticketing Service Providers for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The two companies formed a joint venture for LA28 to promote, sell, and distribute Olympics tickets on a global basis. Tickets will be sold through LA28’s website, as well as AXS and CTS Eventim’s existing online storefronts. Eventim and AXS have a strong pre-existing relationship, including co-ownership of the Eventim Apollo in London. They formed their partnership early in the LA28 ticketing RFP process. 

According to a European Union regulatory agency filing, the deal is worth at least $108M to Eventim. 

“As we looked at the requirements for the Olympics, we thought this was a perfect opportunity to partner with them to rewrite the paradigm of what was possible with an Olympics,” said AXS CEO Bryan Perez.

LA28 Chair/President Casey Wasserman noted in a press release that AXS’ strong North American footprint and CTS Eventim’s track record of ticketing Olympics in the past made the right team for LA28. Publicly traded in Germany and based out of Bremen, Eventim provided official ticketing services for past Olympic games in Turin, Sochi, Rio and will again this summer in Paris. Greg Klippert heads Eventim USA as CEO. In 2023, Eventim, by most measures the world’s No. 2 ticketing company, generated $2.59B in revenue across more than 25 countries.

AXS, owned by AEG, tickets Crypto.com Arena and its tenant teams, as well as the Golden Knights, Rockets, T'Wolves and is growing quickly overseas, especially in Asia and Australia, where it opened an office last year. After signing an agreement with LA28 organizers over the weekend, the new joint venture company is working with LA28 to pin down a date when tickets will go on sale. 

Games Delivery Revenue SVP Allison Katz-Mayfield said, “This is a major milestone for planning for the LA28 Games. With AXS’ LA roots and Eventim’s Games experience, we’re thrilled to collaborate together to offer an exceptional global ticketing experience for fans as we prepare for the 2028 Games.”

“We can spend our time over the next four years to innovating on what is possible as opposed to building something for the first time,” Perez said. 

LA28's Olympic Games run July 14-30 and the Paralympics go Aug. 15-27. For this year's summer Games in Paris, organizers planned to sell nearly 10 million tickets for the Olympics and 3 million for the Paralympics.

Jim Ratcliffe also cited Old Trafford as one of the key areas in which he can "guarantee immediate improvement"Getty Images

Jim Ratcliffe spoke for the first time today about his decision to take a minority investment in Manchester United, and he "outlined his vision to knock Manchester City and Liverpool 'off their perch'" by restoring the club "to the top of world football within three years." But Ratcliffe "also asked for 'some patience' as the team closes the gap on their 'enemy'" clubs in the Premier League. He also cited Old Trafford as one of the key areas in which he can "guarantee immediate improvement." Ratcliffe: "It’s not a 10 year plan. The fans would run out of patience if it was a 10-year plan. But it’s certainly a three-year plan to get there." He confirmed state funds "could be used as part of a plan for regeneration" around Old Trafford. He has "yet to make up his mind about demolishing or rejuvenating the existing stadium," but will "announce a taskforce ... to explore various options next week" (London TELEGRAPH, 2/21).

Former ManU captain Gary Neville has been invited by the club "to join a special committee to oversee the regeneration of Old Trafford and the surrounding area." Neville, who co-owns Hotel Football and University Academy 92, which both neighbor the stadium, has "had a series of meetings" with ManU COO Collette Roche about the role. He "has no interest in any role that conflicts with his work for Sky Sports," but he is "more than happy to give his time to a project that will also benefit the area between the football ground and the Manchester ship canal" (London TIMES, 2/21).

MLS Commissioner Don Garber said that even before Lionel Messi joined MLS the league was seeing record attendanceGetty Images

The 2024 MLS season begins tonight with a standalone match featuring Inter Miami at home against Real Salt Lake. While the league is clearly looking to leverage the popularity of Inter Miami F Lionel Messi to attract eyeballs to its opener, MLS Commissioner Don Garber emphasized in an exclusive interview with SBJ that the league has a lot more going for it than just the presence of the Argentinian star.

“It's easy and somewhat lazy for reporters to just write about Messi -- it's like writing about Taylor Swift,” Garber said. “There's so much more here that I think people need to recognize.”

Garber pointed out that even before Inter Miami lured Messi to MLS -- with help from the league office and media partner Apple -- the league was seeing record attendance. The league is expecting to set another high-water mark for single-game attendance at the Rose Bowl this summer when the Galaxy and LAFC meet on July 4 before an expected crowd of more than 82,000 (eclipsing the record set by the same match last year).

In addition, while Apple played a key role in bringing Messi to MLS by granting him a share of international subscription revenue from MLS Season Pass, Garber noted the world’s largest tech company agreed to partner with the league well before Messi mania.

“Messi helped take this league to new heights and gave us momentum on a trajectory that was established in the years leading up to building a league that Messi would want to be a part of,” Garber said.

Click here to read the full transcript of Garber's season preview Q&A, as well as an abridged version in this week's issue.

SBJ’s Austin Karp is joined by Apple TV+ lead MLS voice Taylor Twellman to talk about the upcoming season. The duo discuss the “Messi Effect” and the storylines to keep an eye on this season.

The Crew signed multiyear radio broadcast partnerships with iHeartMedia Columbus and Urban One Columbus. Beginning this season, all Crew matches will air live on WXZX-FM and the iHeartRadio app in English and on WWLG-FM and the La Grande app in Spanish, in addition to other content. Chris Doran returns for his sixth consecutive season as the Crew’s English radio play-by-play voice, while Juan Valladares enters his 16th season as the Spanish play-by-play voice of the Crew. Additional content includes the “Inside the Crew” show Wednesdays at 9pm ET on WXZX and the iHeartRadio app (Crew).

A group created to combat the neglect of public spaces across the city of Boston is "hopping mad -- and raising valid concerns" -- about the city’s plans to transform White Stadium into the new home of Boston’s expansion NWSL team, which is set to debut in 2026. The Emerald Necklace Conservancy has sued Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and other guardians of the stadium, "charging that the city is ramming through an ill-considered proposal that will do harm to neighbors of the park." The suit argues that the city has agreed to a deal "without sufficient public process or input." It also "challenges whether the city -- which technically controls the stadium, but doesn’t own it -- can enter into a long-term lease with the soccer folks, who would share use of White Stadium -- after a major two-year renovation -- with the Boston Public Schools." The stadium was built and is owned by the George Robert White Fund, though the Boston Public Schools have always controlled it. Boston Unity Soccer Partners, the group that secured an expansion franchise, has pledged $30M to renovate the stadium. The city has also pledged to devote $50M to the project (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/21).

WhatsApp/Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

Meta’s WhatsApp instant messaging platform will have its logo on a button on the steering wheels of the cars of Mercedes-Benz’ F1 team in 2024, the latest unique sponsor integration in the global racing series. California-based WhatsApp has started dabbling in sports over the last few years including working with Bucks F Giannis Antetokounmpo on content and rolling out a Channels feature last year that properties like UFC and NASCAR engaged with. Around the time of the inaugural F1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix in November, WhatsApp also announced that it had signed its first sports sponsorship with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, which is partially owned by the German road car giant. The team was also an early adopter of the Channels feature that it uses to share content with fans on the platform.

Now, as F1’s season got under way today with testing in Bahrain, the sides have shown off the new steering wheel activation, which will get exposure all season long when F1’s broadcasts switch to show in-car cameras of Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. The button on the steering wheel with the WhatsApp logo allows the driver to communicate with the team radio, tying into the company's status as a global messaging platform.

Other unique sponsor integrations in F1 over the years include how Mercedes drivers have worn gloves that have images of IWC watches emblazoned over the wrist area, as if they were wearing a watch during a race.

NASCAR has signed on with CAA for representation as the organization joins "the race to beef up its presence in Hollywood as behind-the-scenes sports documentaries continue to gain traction." The alliance with CAA will "bolster NASCAR Studios," a production arm established in 2022 to work with teams, sponsors, tracks and drives to develop an array of media projects. CAA will work with NASCAR Studios to "develop strategic relationships across its existing IP in film, television, music, and podcasts, and grow the brand with diverse new talent." The two sides have already forged ties, as CAA's investment bank and advisory firm, CAA Evolution, served as the media-rights advisor to NASCAR on the new media rights agreements it struck in November (VARIETY, 2/21).

The PGA Tour and Deckorators signed a multiyear Official Marketing Partnership that designates the decking, railing and accessories company as the Official Decking and Railing of the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. Deckorators will showcase its products at Tour events throughout the FedExCup Season, along with on Tour social and digital platforms through 2027 (PGA Tour).

Netflix has greenlit an untitled documentary that will explore the Montreal Expos and the setbacks that prompted the club's departure from Canada after the 2004 season, when it uprooted to D.C. and rebranded as the Nationals. Canadian-based production company Attraction will produce the doc. The news comes two weeks after Netflix announced it had greenlit two Red Sox-related projects in conjunction with MLB (Erik Bacharach, SBJ).

McLaren Racing has extended its partnership with Hilton, with the hospitality company continuing as Global Hotel Partner of the McLaren Formula 1 Team (McLaren).

Former MLBers Anthony Seratelli and Eric Hosmer today launched MoonBall Media. The media and production company will produce original unscripted programming, a weekly podcast, social media content and upcoming FAST channels (MoonBall Media).

Safid Deen has been appointed the Lionel Messi reporter for Gannett and the USA Today Network, covering everything from his performances on the pitch to business dealings and his worldwide celebrity (USA Today).

Premier League clubs are set to have an "urgent meeting" about a $1.1B deal with the EFL. The 20 top-flight clubs will meet tomorrow to "try and agree on a six-year package" to help the 72 EFL clubs in the pyramid "after months of no progress" (MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS, 2/21).

The Saudi Arabian FA named Football Association Dir of Legal and Governance Polly Handford General Counsel and President for Legal Affairs. Handford has been a "strong advocate" of the Rainbow Laces campaign and LGBTQ+ rights in football, but "homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia." She will move to Riyadh for her new role and is "expected to remain a member of FIFA's disciplinary committee." Handford was recruited to join LIV Golf two years ago but "changed her mind" and decided to stay with the FA, where she has worked since 2014 (London TIMES, 2/21).

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Principal & CEO Toto Wolff said that the investigation into "allegations of inappropriate behaviour" faced by Red Bull Team Principal & CEO Christian Horner "is 'an issue for all of Formula 1.'" Wolff called for the investigation -- which could be resolved as early as this week -- "to be transparent" (BBC.com, 2/21).

More: 

• French Olympic cycling hopes boosted by new research and innovation.
• Twickenham has become rugby's Old Trafford -- a decaying cash cow trapped in the past.

Welcome to our biggest season yet. 👋#MLSisBack TODAY! pic.twitter.com/JW1ItL3Cm2

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) February 21, 2024

Inspired by the strength and resilience of nature 🌼

Our Pride specialty jersey, designed by Durham artist Chelsea Amato, is here.

Read » https://t.co/JwqovYjsM9 pic.twitter.com/ltWRQuLHHd

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) February 21, 2024

Fanatics and Nike have both been playing with fire for years with declining quality of their designs and garments and it’s only fitting that public outrage came to a crescendo on one of their joint ventures. Hopefully this MLB jersey fiasco marks the turning point.

— Ryan Glasspiegel (@sportsrapport) February 21, 2024

The NBA has upped its requirements on what it takes to host an All-Star Game: https://t.co/nePNHIzEjf pic.twitter.com/8gEGcmMjt8

— Joe Mussatto (@joe_mussatto) February 21, 2024

Stephen A. Smith is trying to figure out why Notre Dame is relevant.

"They have not won a national title since 1988. That is 36 years. 36 years ago, doggie, I was graduating from high school. I had an afro, [my] hairline was two feet forward." pic.twitter.com/AGiQkBMcmy

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 21, 2024

Louis Vuitton dropped a Wemby billboard in San Antonio📍 https://t.co/Pe8Z2aupmA pic.twitter.com/xQMxNqxldS

— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) February 20, 2024

The #NLBM is proud to unveil our national logo developed to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the first Negro Leagues World Series played in 1924 between the Kansas City Monarchs and the Hilldale Club (Darby, PA) that embodies the spirit of thier era.

🎨: Josh Chavis | #NLBM pic.twitter.com/Zbf8QXOPLV

— Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (@NLBMuseumKC) February 21, 2024

The Golfer's Journal takes a look at The Bridge, one of Long Island’s most exclusive private golf clubs and also the force behind one of the game's most open and innovative golf foundations.

$56,250 -- Miami Open Tournament Dir and former Top 10 player James Blake has been fined $56,250 by the International Tennis Integrity Agency for "violating tennis’s rules about betting sponsorship" (AP, 2/21).