SBJ Unpacks: NFL, Union Install The Spread

A lot of good news this week for sports. The NFL appears back on track for an on-time training camp thanks to a tentative deal reached with the NFLPA just a couple hours ago, and we see continued good COVID-19 test numbers from MLS and the NBA. 

Meanwhile, my wife and I are celebrating our MLB Opening Day tonight with a few beers, a Bluetooth speaker, and the MLB app, which will give us the Reds-Tigers radio call from the banks of the Ohio River -- where the season always should start, as far as this old-timer is concerned.

-- Ben Fischer

NFL CAMPS TO OPEN ON TIME, PENDING PLAYER REP APPROVAL

• A deal between the NFLPA and NFL on how to spread the pain of the pandemic is close at hand this afternoon, SBJ’s Ben Fischer reports, keeping the league on track to open training camps on time next week. The headline deal point: Salary cap cuts as a result of this year’s expected $3-4 billion pandemic losses would be spread over four years starting in 2021, with no cuts now. 
  
  
• Under the deal approved by NFL owners and the NFLPA’s executive committee, next year’s salary cap will go no lower than $175 million, sources said. That is still a deep cut compared to what it might have been without any pandemic -- probably around $210 million -- but is far better than the calamitous dropoff (down to $120-$130 million) that would have occurred without alterations to the union contract.
  
  
• Whatever other losses to overall revenue occur due to the pandemic will then hit the cap in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Both sides are hopeful that new revenue from media rights deals and the expanded 17-game season will be in place by then, further offsetting the pandemic. Owners had reportedly wanted to cut $8 million off this year's cap, forcing players to take the pain now, while players originally wanted to spread it out over a decade.
  
  
• Owners did win a crucial change: Players will get prorated salaries if games are canceled this year. The standard player contract strongly suggested players are entitled to full salaries as long as the season starts, regardless of later disruptions. But with the pandemic making every day touch-and-go, owners pushed hard for a change.
  
  
• The deal isn’t totally wrapped until the NFLPA’s 32 player reps agree to the deal, which could come within hours. But the executive committee was unanimous, so there is little drama expected there. Barring a major backlash within the union, you can count on the Chiefs and Texans reporting to camp on Sunday. 

NBA TOUTS BROADCAST BELLS & WHISTLES

• The NBA revealed a multidimensional plan for in-venue and broadcast enhancements it will introduce when its season resumes in Orlando, placing an emphasis on an immersive experience intended to bring fans closer to the game even though they won't be physically in attendance, writes SBJ's Eric Prisbell.
  
  
• The most unique element is that, while games will be played in empty venues, some 320 fans for each game will be invited to appear live on the "Michelob ULTRA Courtside" 17-foot video boards surrounding the court. Those fans will have the opportunity to digitally interact with each other throughout the game using Microsoft’s “Together mode” to create a virtual experience by removing fans from their individual backgrounds and bringing them together in a shared visual space that will be seen both through the broadcast and in the venue. 
  
  
• This new experience -- the first to go live as a result of the NBA’s alliance with Microsoft -- gives participating fans the feeling of sitting next to one another at a live game, while players experience their energy in-venue. The fans will be selected by home teams, and the overall process used to select fans will be determined by each team. 
  
  
• For more on the NBA's plans, click here. 

Fans for each game will be invited to appear live on the "Michelob ULTRA Courtside" video boards surrounding the court

MLS CLUBS PREPARE ATTENDANCE POLICIES POST-ORLANDO TOURNEY

• Some MLS teams won’t have fans in stadiums if and when the league continues with its 2020 season following the bubble tournament in Orlando, reports SBJ’s Mark J. Burns. The Sounders today notified season-ticket holders that -- based on local health guidelines -- the club won’t be allowed to have fans in attendance at CenturyLink Field.
  
  
• Meanwhile, LAFC Chief Business Officer Larry Freedman told Burns earlier this week that he could envision a “mixed bag” of fan attendance at MLS matches, if and when play resumes post-Orlando. Freedman: “Look, I’m watching on one ESPN channel. I’m watching our bubble with no fans in Orlando. On ESPN2, they’re airing USL games in various markets where there are fans in the stands. I think it’s going to be interesting when we get back to our home markets, how it all unfolds.” 
  
  
• MLS Commissioner Don Garber earlier this week at part two of SBJ: The Road Ahead virtual event reiterated his desire to return to home markets later this summer.

MLB SPONSORS ROLL OUT AD CREATIVE AROUND SEASON'S START

• Nine different MLB sponsors are breaking a total of 12 new pieces of creative this week around the league's return, more than any opening week in recent memory.
  
  
• The list includes long-standing league partners like Chevrolet and Mastercard, as well as newer sponsors like Doosan and Hankook. The spots, some of which have already been released widely, are running in national and regional early-season TV broadcasts, on MLB Network and in social media campaigns.
  
  
• The chart below lists the new ads.

Download the New Ads From MLB Sponsors

NHL'S TECH PLANS TAKE SHAPE FOR RESTART

• The NHL does not intend to use its puck and player tracking technology, powered by Durham, N.C.-based SportsMEDIA Technology (SMT), for the first two rounds of the playoffs, writes SBJ’s Mark J. Burns. However NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly did say the league is considering utilizing the technology in the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final. Daly did say the league is "committed to having that technology available to use on a full-time basis starting next regular season.”
  
  
• Meanwhile, NHL Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer said virtual advertising in both hub cities of Edmonton and Toronto “is not a piece of our overall design,” which includes eight LED monitors and screens around the ice. Mayer: “The RSNs will also have the opportunity to do some virtual signage on the glass, and they’ll take advantage of that in the early rounds.” He added that “there are possibilities as we get to later rounds to add a virtual component to the environment for the Conference Final and the Final.”

WORKING FROM THE MLS BUBBLE WITH JEFF LEMIEUX

• Revolution Senior Staff Writer & Editor Jeff Lemieux has been with the MLS team in the Orlando bubble since July 2, but he says the weeks have gone by quicker than expected. He told SBJ's David Rumsey, “We didn't know exactly if the time would feel like it was going to drag on because you're living in a hotel and you're kind of with the same people all day every day, but we’ve been so busy” he said.
  
  
• Practice days include a team breakfast, morning training session and then back to the Walt Disney Swan & Dolphin Hotel -- where the entire MLS contingent is staying -- for lunch and content production. “Our afternoons is when the schedule changes a little bit from day to day because there are some days I would come back to the room and I would write two or three stories … or I would come back and I'd have to do a sit down with our head coach in the studio.”
  
  
• The nighttime starts have been pretty standard for the Revs, aside from Lemieux moving his now-virtual pregame show with fellow host Elizabeth Pehota (back in New England) up to 3:00pm ET. However, the Revs’ 9:00am match on Tuesday was a shock to the system. “It was weird being down in the team meal room at 6:30 for a kickoff,” he said. “It’s a completely different prospect getting up and going to the training facility and practicing for an hour as opposed to getting yourself in the right head space to go play an actual regular season game in 85-90 degree heat.”
  
  
• While Lemieux hasn’t had all that much free time, he’s been able to work out occasionally in his hotel room and catch a few rays down at the pool. He’s also seen plenty of players and referees playing beach volleyball or hanging out at the ping pong and pool tables. “They did set up a lot of random leisure activities … just little things to go down and do for an hour or so, just to kill a little bit of time.”

Lemieux (r) in a socially-distanced sit down with Revolution coach Bruce Arena

OUTSIDE CONTRIBUTORS: PROJECT RESTART

• Tonight's op-ed contribution is from Robert J. Caldwell, counsel in Fox Rothschild’s Las Vegas office, where he concentrates his practice on business litigation and transactional matters, including sports and entertainment. He writes under the header, "What North American Sports Can Learn From The German Bundesliga."
  
  
• "In completing the full 2019-20 season, German soccer dodged a financial bullet. Although Germany managed the human costs of COVID-19 efficiently, the pandemic still threatened the existence of several professional soccer clubs. ESPN reported that German clubs would have lost $350 million in broadcast revenue if the season had been abandoned in March. According to Transfermarkt, 12 of the 36 teams in Germany’s top two leagues had pledged their final broadcast rights payment to creditors, leaving fears of insolvency and unemployment. The focus was not only on saving the season, but on saving the system."
  
  
• To read the full contribution, click here.

SUMMER PLANNING WITH JULIE ALEXANDRIA & ADAM RICHMAN

• With 2020 forcing everyone across the industry to shift their calendars around, SBJ's Kody Timmers is catching up with execs, talent, team personnel and more to see how they are making the most of an unprecedented summer. Below, LaVida Baseball Live co-host Julie Alexandria and Strat-o-Matic President Adam Richman dish on how they've been spending their free time and what future vacation they'd most like to take.
• LaVida Baseball Live's Julie Alexandria:
  
  
  • Working on: "I have hosted the (digital media) show remote, from my study in San Diego, with co-hosts Jennifer Mercedes and Ozzie Guillen Jr. both in the Chicago-based studio for the past eight months. ... La Vida Baseball never took a break, never went off air and continued to tell the stories of Latinx ballplayers and influential icons in the industry."
  • Future vacations: "I would love to get back to my place in NYC once the quarantine restrictions are lessened and it's deemed (more) safe to fly. I'm hoping to introduce my one-and-a-half year old son, Kingston, to his extended family, whom he has never been on the East Coast."
    
    
• Strat-o-Matic's Adam Richman:
  
  
  • Working on:"Many home improvement projects as we finish up the house we just moved into in New York, including some landscaping in the backyard, painting and having our basement finished."
  • Future vacations:"Mexico would be great.  But that feels like a couple of years away." 

SPEED READS

• ESPN averaged 4 million viewers for the 5-inning Yankees-Nationals season opener last night -- an opening game record for the network (previous was 3.7 million for Cubs-Cardinals in 2017). It was also the most-watched MLB regular-season game on any network since 2011, per SBJ's Austin Karp.
  
  

• The MLS is Back Tournament and the wave of soccer matches throughout the past month has resulted in increased digital metrics for the league, writes SBJ’s Mark J. Burns. The league’s digital audience on MLSSoccer.com is up 22% in the U.S. and 40% in Canada, compared to July 2019. Additionally, Twitter and Instagram interactions have seen an uptick of 48% and 35%, respectively, during the same time period while video watch time during the 24-team tournament on MLSSoccer.com is up 20%, too.
  
  

• The NWSL Challenge Cup heading into Sunday’s Chicago Red Stars-Houston Dash championship game has generated more than $1.1 million for brand partners, over half of which went to Procter & Gamble’s Secret brand, according to data provided to SBJ's David Broughton by Hookit. Meanwhile, NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird appeared on "CBS This Morning," where she talked about what she has learned as commissioner during the pandemic. Baird: "Make sure that you come up with an end-to-end solution and that’s what we did when we designed the tournament. I talked about the health and wellness of the players and we spent a lot of time with our doctors doing that."
  
  
• NBA Kings owner Vivek Ranadivè is launching a company – BowX Acquisition -- to invest in tech companies that can benefit from the rush to digitization due to COVID-19, per the Sacramento Business Journal. Ranadivè is seeking to raise $403 million for the effort. BowX will target businesses with enterprise valuations between $1-3 billion.
  
  
• The fall season for LigaMX begins tonight, and all matches across Univision networks (including UniMas and TUDN) will feature virtual fans in the stands, SBJ’s Austin Karp notes. The network tested virtual fans during some matches of the recently-concluded Copa por Mexico preseason tourney. Univision also will deliver recreated fan noise during games that will be taken from previous matches involving whichever clubs are playing on a given telecast. This season will also see Monday night LigaMX games for the first time.
  
  
• The clock is ticking on college decision-makers as the football season nears kickoff, and according to Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel, one conference commissioner's actions will have a domino effect across the nation: Thamel, on the Yahoo College Sports Podcast, said, "At the end of the day, this is Greg Sankey's call. You can talk about president this, and board of governor that, ultimately everyone is going to follow the SEC. ... They'll be some synergy and some cohesion. It'll all sound good in the press release. But ultimately, what Sankey does -- folks are going to end up following. And it's a fascinating, pressure-filled situation."
  
  

NEWS YOU NEED FROM SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY

• During this crisis impacting the sports business, we want everyone to be up-to-date on the latest news and information. Select stories from Sports Business Daily are free, outside the paywall, for the foreseeable future. Below are today's headlines:
   
  
  • Blue Jays Will Call Buffalo Home For '20 MLB Season
  • Soto's Positive Test Reveals MLB's Looming Risk On Opening Night
  • WNBA To Hit The Court After "Big Sacrifice" From Players, Coaches
  • Report: Pac-12 Eyes 10-Game, Conference-Only Football Schedule

SBJ UNPACKS -- THE ROAD AHEAD

• Check out the most recent editions of our "SBJ Unpacks" podcasts around COVID-19:
  
  
  • The best of Adam Silver and Don Garber from the latest SBJ: The Road Ahead virtual event.
    
    
  • 16W Marketing co-founder Frank Vuono on the upside down nature of the sports world.
    
    
  • SBJ's Eric Prisbell joins Bill King to discuss the start of the MLB season.
    
    
    

2020 SBJ THOUGHT LEADERS RETREAT (VIRTUAL)

• Aug. 13, 2:00-7:00pm ET (by invitation only)
  
  
• The road ahead has never been more challenging -- and it has never been more important for executive leadership to pause, learn, reflect and relax in order to prepare themselves to step up and navigate what the future holds. This year, we are continuing the tradition of Thought Leaders, creating the industry’s most intimate, senior-level event with a virtual program.
  
  
• Content will include:
  
  
  • Mindful Leadership with Pandit Dasa
  • The C-Suite Imperative: Corporate Responsibility & Social Impact
  • The New Fan Experience: A 360-degree approach; a 365-day Journey
  • Reinvented: A Conversation with Agent Leigh Steinberg
  • Supporting Social Justice Reform: Backing Words with Action
  • Navigating the Road Ahead: Fundamental Shifts We Can Expect in the Sports Business (group discussions)
    
    
• In addition to the compelling content, we will have plenty of time for some of the best virtual networking activities of the year, including:
  
  
  • Jack Daniel’s whiskey tasting
    • Aquimo golf (live challenge)
    • Aquimo cornhole (live challenge)
    • Cooking demo with "Iron Chef" Marc Forgione
    • A private set from John Popper and Brian Wilson of Blues Traveler
    
    
• For more information please visit, www.Thought-Leaders-Retreat.com.

Something related to coronavirus and sports business catch your eye? Tell us about it. Reach out to Austin Karp (akarp@sportsbusinessjournal.com) and we'll share the best of it.