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SBJ Unpacks: Shaq, Former Disney Execs Team Up For New Venture


Tonight in SBJ Unpacks: Shaquille O'Neal and three former Disney execs headline a new special purpose acquisition company. 

Also:

  • EPL CEO wants supporters allowed at matches
  • SEC outlines fines for failure to adhere to safety protocols
  • Good news on NFL fan front
  • Nike institutes another round of layoffs
  • HBSE's business incubator keeps at it amid pandemic

 

SHAQ, FORMER DISNEY EXECS CREATE SPAC

  • Three former high-ranking Disney execs are teaming up with Shaquille O’Neal and one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s sons to "make acquisitions in the media and technology industries," per the Wall Street Journal's Joe Flint.

  • The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Forest Road Acquisition Corp., said in a SEC filing that it "would raise $250 million for deals for the blank-check company." Potential acquisitions "could include intellectual property and 'audience aggregation platforms' such as streaming platforms."

  • Former Disney COO Tom Staggs will chair a strategic-advisory committee, while former TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer, who previously oversaw Disney+, is a strategic adviser. Former Disney strategy executive Salil Mehta has been tapped as CFO.

  • O'Neal will also serve as a strategic adviser, while civil rights activist Martin Luther King III has been tapped as a director. In recent years, King has "become active in the media industry as a co-founder of Bounce TV, a broadcast network that caters to Black viewers."

 

EPL CEO ASKS GOVERNMENT TO RECONSIDER BAN ON FANS

  • EPL CEO Richard Masters has made an “impassioned plea to the government to reconsider its ban on supporters at sports matches," per the London Times.

  • Masters said that there was “growing frustration among clubs at the inconsistency in the government approach,” as concert halls and arenas can host fans. Masters: “We do understand why caution is needed but what we are asking for is consistency from government so that sport is treated as fairly as other activities.”

  • He also indicated that the EPL “held talks with the Bundesliga about the model used in Germany for the return of fans” and that the league could “embrace an approach where the opening of stadiums was dependent on levels of coronavirus conditions locally.”

 

 

SEC OUTLINES FINES FOR FAILURE TO ADHERE TO PROTOCOLS 

  • For the second straight week, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey sent out an internal memo to ADs and coaches on the "need to follow coronavirus protocols, this time outlining fines and possible suspensions in the event that they do not do so." The memo cited the recent "spread of the coronavirus in the White House and the effect of positive tests on the NFL schedule."

  • The memo states that programs whose coaches, staff or other personnel "fail to adhere to the approved task force requirements will be assessed a $100,000 reduction in conference revenue." The amount will "increase by $100,000 for each subsequent week of noncompliance."

 

SOURCE: NFL NOT CONSIDERING SEASON PAUSE OR HOME BUBBLES

  • The NFL is "not giving serious consideration to pausing the season or going to home market bubbles with mandatory hotel stays for players, coaches and team staffers when they leave team facilities each day," according to a source cited by the Washington Post. The NFL "remains firmly convinced that its protocols work when they’re followed." 

  • Meanwhile, more positive tests this week have "put the playing of this weekend’s games involving the Titans and Patriots in doubt after both teams had their games this past Sunday postponed." They also "kept the Titans from reopening their facility Wednesday, as they had hoped, and the probe by the league and the NFL Players Association into the team’s outbreak widened." 

  • For more on how the league is viewing the Titans' situation, see today's issue of SBJ Football from Ben Fischer.

 

GOOD NEWS ON THE NFL FAN FRONT, EVEN AMID BAD NEWS IN LOCKER ROOMS

  • The NFL is confronting its worst pandemic crisis yet, but another team scored a big victory this week on the political front, as the Steelers got final clearance to sell up to 5,500 tickets for this Sunday’s game with the Eagles. They’re the 14th team to get legal permission, with more likely coming this month, reports SBJ's Ben Fischer.

  • It may seem counterintuitive that politicians are relaxing the rules right now. But the safety of the locker room and the safety of the stands are two different things, and so far, there’s been no evidence that any fan has contracted COVID-19 in the 12 stadiums with fans. Ten people were quarantined after the Chiefs' Sept. 13 opener with the Texans when one fan tested positive after attending the game at Arrowhead Stadium, but no further spread was reported.

  • Politicians and fans alike are treading carefully. The authorities are starting with very low limits in most cities with the potential of increasing them later, and many of these games haven’t actually sold out their limited ticket supply.

  • Theories behind fans’ reticence range from an economic disconnect -- young fans most likely to take the risk are least able to afford tickets -- and a general hesitation to be a guinea pig. Like politicians, “people are watching and seeing what’s happening” one source said.

 

NIKE INSTITUTES SECOND ROUND OF LAYOFFS

  • The "downsizing Nike promised last summer has finally begun in earnest," according to the Portland Oregonian's Jeff Manning.

  • The first layoffs implemented over the summer "hit more than 100 vice presidents." This week's downsizing "involves so called 'S-band' employees, generally the most senior and highest paid workers after the top executives and vice presidents."

  • Rather than making all the cuts at the same time, Nike "seems to be implementing them in phases and by job classification." It appears that under new CEO John Donahoe, the "higher you are on the org chart the quicker you could be shown the door." Nike has "not divulged how many employees will lose their jobs." The company in a notification to the state in August said that the number just in Oregon "will exceed 500."

 

HBSE'S BUSINESS INCUBATOR KEEPS AT IT AMID PANDEMIC

  • Sixers Innovation Lab Managing Director Seth Berger cited the business incubator’s hands-on approach as one key factor that makes it unique in the venture space, stressing that he and Director of Operations Rhyan Truett view themselves as operators who are investing, as opposed to investors who are advising. Berger told SBJ's Andrew Levin: “It’s very different. I love to get into the details of a business.”

  • Berger -- the founder of AND1 -- said the Lab’s “standard investment is about a half-million bucks.” He credited Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment’s resources, saying, “(It) enables us to not only invest capital in businesses and provide mentorship, but actually with their resources, help these businesses grow much more quickly than just a standard investor could.”

  • As such, Berger said he “absolutely” expects other sports organizations to dive into the venture capital space. He explained, “The ability that these teams have to do those three things -- to invest real capital, to provide operational support and then, really importantly, to connect the dots -- you think about the dots that you can connect across the sports and entertainment industry to add fuel to any business, I think you’ll see so many sports teams go (into it). … It only makes total sense.”

  • Berger listed League of Legends online analytics platform U.GG, hydration-mix company Hydrant and sports betting tech platform BettorView as three SIL companies that have experienced notable growth amid the pandemic.

  • For more insights from Berger on the Lab and other dynamics related to entrepreneurship, check out today’s episode of “SBJ Unpacks: The Road Ahead” podcast.



SPEED READS

  • Hollywood agency ICM Partners has acquired London-based Stellar Group, the biggest soccer agency in the world with more than 800 athlete clients, including Tottenham F Gareth Bale and Aston Villa MF Jack Grealish. Financial details were not disclosed, but the deal establishes a new major sports division within an entertainment agency that will be called ICM Stellar Sports, writes SBJ's Liz Mullen. Stellar employs 130 in 10 countries around the world, managing clients in multiple sports with about $3 billion under contract. All employees will be joining ICM Stellar Sports.

  • The WNBA Finals saw a viewership increase for the Seattle Storm's three-game sweep over the Las Vegas Aces. Storm-Aces averaged 440,000 viewers on ESPN networks this year, up 15% from 386,000 viewers for Washington Mystics-Connecticut Sun last year, which went five games. The Storm's clinching win on Tuesday averaged 570,000 viewers, up 27% from 449,000 viewers for the Mystics' Game 5 clinching win last season.

  • Tonight in the SBJ College newsletter, Michael Smith takes a look at how the limited capacity crowd last Saturday for Auburn-Georgia at Sanford Stadium appeared deceiving on the ESPN broadcast. 

  • Sports betting operator Intralot will expand its in-play wagering offerings in DC, New Hampshire and Montana through a deal announced today with machine-learning based odds-provider Simplebet, reports SBJ's Bill King. Simplebet’s automated service quickly adjusts odds on what it calls “micro-markets," the individual events that occur in a game -- like the outcome on a single possession in basketball or football or pitch in baseball -- the likelihood of which can change rapidly rapidly.

  • Rio Tinto and A-B InBev have formed a global partnership to deliver new sustainable aluminum cans, according to both companies. The first 1 million cans produced through the partnership will be piloted in the U.S. on Michelob Ultra and will feature Rio Tinto’s “low-carbon aluminum made with renewable hydropower along with recycled content to produce a more sustainable beer can.” The companies say this will offer a potential reduction in carbon emissions of more than 30% compared to similar cans produced today in North America. Around 70% of the aluminum currently used in A-B InBev cans produced in North America is recycled content, according to the brewer.

 

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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.