The sports industry is bullish on sports betting, remains smitten with Adam Silver, and sends a strong and important reminder that fans are price sensitive. Those are some of my biggest takeaways from our 15th annual Reader Survey, which starts on Page 18 and reflects the thoughts and comments more than 1,300 of you shared with us over the past month on the state of sports.
AT THE LEAGUE LEVEL: The NBA continues to see positive results in the survey — it again finished as the hottest sports property and as the property brands would most want to be aligned with. But the gap in both is closing significantly; in the former category, the NBA’s margin over the second-place NFL shrank from 56%-29% a year ago to 48%-40%. In the latter category, MLB was the runner-up yet again but closed the gap from a 53% vs. 25% split to 40% vs. 35%.
On the flip side, NASCAR, NFL, MLB and NCAA were the top choices of properties heading in the wrong direction, mirroring the results from 2018. In terms of executive leadership, Silver again took the top spot as the most intriguing sports executive and the most effective commissioner — and voting transpired while the NBA was dealing with its geopolitical crisis in China. However, his vote total in the most effective commissioner category declined considerably, from 63% in 2018 to 41% in 2019. The biggest jump in this category occurred for MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, who moved into second place with 25% of the vote, up from 10% last year. That could be reflective of Manfred’s aggressive posture on changes to the game and in building the sport’s global footprint with its inaugural games in London.
Overall, baseball — both MLB and MiLB — scored well, interesting considering the dispute over MLB’s plan to change the structure of its relationship with its affiliates. But one clear concern about baseball is labor peace, as MLB is seen as the sport most likely to lose games during a CBA dispute when its agreement expires at the end of the 2021 season. MLB (34%) came in just ahead of the NFL (31%), which has had a more optimistic tenor in its labor talks so far. The other notable point is that readers seemingly don’t have a great deal of confidence in the players’ leadership, as MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark received the fewest votes in the ranking of the strongest union leaders, although Clark (22%) finished very close behind both the NFLPA’s DeMaurice Smith and NHLPA chief Donald Fehr.
HOW WOULD YOU WEIGH IN? I spend a lot of time talking to colleagues and sources about the upcoming media rights negotiations, and debating the pressure on two specific leagues — and their commissioners — to get a sizable increase in rights fee: MLS and the NHL. I believe Don Garber and Gary Bettman both feel tremendous pressure to deliver big wins for their owners. Who is under more pressure? You voted MLS (41%) as the league under the most pressure to grow media rights, followed by the NHL (23%). In addition, one of my favorite questions to ask an audience during our conferences is about the future viability of the XFL, and reader reaction is pretty similar to live event response. More than 65% felt the league would last anywhere from two to five years, with 25% believing it won’t go more than 12 months.
WHO WILL LEAD ON THE VALUE PROPOSITION? It was refreshing to see a healthy 43% of readers say pricing is the single most important factor in improving the fan experience at stadiums and arenas. Too often the focus is on entertainment options and Wi-Fi capabilities, but it still boils down to cost. I wish we would see more owners and entities look at progressive and customer-friendly ways to reduce pricing to spur attendance and overall sales. There are areas to experiment with — but outside of Arthur Blank’s industry-precedent move to lower concessions pricing at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, we haven’t seen enough experimentation. Who will be bold in this space in 2020?
MORE OF WHAT THE SURVEY SAID: It struck me that 81% of readers believe the spread of legalized sports betting will have an overall positive impact on sports. I totally get the interest in the segment, but so many sources I talk to still have concerns about integrity issues that would quickly negate any revenue or engagement increase brought about by legalized betting. … Female respondents tabbed Megan Rapinoe as the most intriguing athlete of the year, getting 28% of that vote, while placing Zion Williamson (12%) second, whereas males had it the opposite way: Zion got 26% and Rapinoe 10%. I thought Tiger Woods, fresh off his storybook Masters triumph, would garner more votes, but his fifth-place total of 4% suggests the public knows his story well enough already.
First Look podcast, with industry news and trends Abe is watching, at the 18:30 mark:
Abraham Madkour can be reached at amadkour@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
