Tonight in SBJ Unpacks: Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke says the Kraken's arena will be ready for late 2021.
- MLS set to wrap up season after whirlwind 2020
- Mike Krzyzewski backs up comments; Duke opts out of non-conference
- Putting a bow on the Intercollegiate Athletics Forum
- Army-Navy still on amid unprecedented circumstances
- ECHL set to begin season with limited number of teams
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Seattle Kraken's Arena On Pace For October 2021 Opening
Climate Pledge Arena, home of the Seattle Kraken, is still on pace to open in October for the inaugural 2021-22 season, per SBJ’s Mark J. Burns. “We are on target to hit that timeline,” Tim Leiweke, CEO of Oak View Group, tells Burns.
He added that by January, the Kraken will be “pretty much sold out of club seats, opera boxes and suites” and still has one founding sponsorship deal left to announce, adding to the likes of naming rights sponsor Amazon, Alaska Airlines, WaFd Bank and Coors Light, among others.
Leiweke said OVG is now turning its attention to the "climate pledge" partners, who are part of the Amazon relationship. Two of Amazon’s vendors will be part of the arena’s sustainability program, he said, and be the presenting sponsors for the opening concert at Climate Pledge Arena. He declined to disclose specifics on the venue’s opening event and an estimated date, but did say, “We’re focused on doing something that’s global, big and geared towards climate pledge.”
Meanwhile, for 2022, OVG currently has “60 to 70 nights on hold for music” at the venue, according to Leiweke. Leiweke: “(2022 and 2023) are going to be the two best years for live entertainment, touring and sports, ever because of the pent up demand. We open right in front of all of that. I look at all of that and say our timing is impeccable.”
MLS Set To Wrap Up Season After Whirlwind 2020
The Sounders and Crew play for the MLS Cup on Saturday in Columbus, wrapping up the "wildest schedule attempted by any professional sports league in America," per the Wall Street Journal.
By the time the season ends, the league will have "somehow organized 324 games in the year of the pandemic" across its Florida bubble and the current schedule. In the end, 97% of games scheduled after "hiatus went ahead as planned." But even a "patchwork season of more than 300 matches couldn’t erase the massive financial hit incurred by MLS and its clubs," as together they lost over $1 billion in 2020.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber said, “I’ll be really relieved to get on the plane after the game late on Saturday night. Three hundred and twenty-three down, one to go."
Best Of The Intercollegiate Athletics Forum
Knight Commission co-Chair Len Elmore defended the group’s recent proposal to create an entity separate from the NCAA to govern FBS football, calling the current model “financially dysfunctional.” Elmore's argument came at the Learfield IMG College Intercollegiate Athletics Forum after many college leaders -- including NCAA President Mark Emmert and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey -- criticized the commission's idea throughout the week. Elmore said the FBS “lacks accountability” to the rest of the NCAA because of the outsize power of major college football, and because it is beholden to outside stakeholders, such as the CFP, in ways the rest of the NCAA is not.
Sankey said while he believes “something uniform” is needed to address NIL issues, he is “not sure we actually have the perfect or the optimal destination identified through anything.” Sankey expressed concern about the NCAA, which plans to vote in January on its rules governing NIL, in particular with the nation still dealing with the pandemic. He said, “I’m not sure that’s the optimal time. But we have six or so weeks before those decisions of the council of the Division I Board of Directors are made and I think it’s incumbent on the NCAA as an entity to be incredibly thoughtful and maybe adjust their timeline to facilitate a governmental review, particularly at the congressional level before we just run down a road in making unilateral decisions because states have clearly gone further than what even the NCAA has identified.”
Meanwhile, West Coast Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said she believes it is appropriate to continue playing college basketball right now, despite some calls for the NCAA to pause the season. Nevarez said, "I think the ability to get out there and compete safely helps the mental wellness of our student athletes."
For more coverage of the IAF virtual event, click here.
Krzyzewski Backs Up Comments As Duke Opts Out Of Non-Conference
Duke will "not play any more nonconference men’s basketball games this season," opting to "only play ACC opponents who must adhere to the same health and safety protocols for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic," according to the Raleigh News & Observer.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said his players "need a break mental health wise. They need a break. And so we made that decision and my team loved it." The move "allows Duke’s players to see their families for the first time" since the summer when the athletes "arrived on campus and entered the school’s strict testing and quarantine protocols." Krzyzewski after a loss to Illinois on Tuesday said that playing games as the pandemic continues to spread "didn’t 'feel right' and that the situation should be reassessed."
The Undefeated's Jesse Washington writes if high-level college sports "did not 'preach education but vote money,' the games would pause until the coronavirus pandemic was no longer out of control." The virus has "already ripped through dozens of teams," and college programs are "burning through tens of thousands of tests."
Army-Navy Game Still On Under Unprecedented Circumstances
Army and Navy will play for the 121st time on Saturday, and while it "won’t look or feel the way Army-Navy is supposed to look or feel," the teams still "will play," per the Washington Post.
The game will be played at Michie Stadium, with "about 9,000 spectators in the stadium -- including about 4,300 from the Corps of Cadets and 4,300 from the Brigade of Midshipmen." Each school will be "allowed about 200 VIPs, who will watch from glassed-in luxury boxes after going through rapid-result coronavirus testing that morning."
Saturday's game was "supposed to be played in Philadelphia, which has hosted six of the past eight games," per USA Today. The rivalry "hasn't been played at Michie Stadium since 1943." President Trump is "scheduled to attend the game."
Thirteen ECHL Clubs Ready To Begin 2020-21 Season
Thirteen of the 26 teams within the ECHL, the ‘AA’ equivalent of pro hockey in North America, will start the 2020-21 season this weekend, some of whom will play tonight. Eleven teams have opted out of the campaign while two remaining clubs -- the Fort Wayne Komets and Toledo Walleye -- will resume in February. All of the clubs beginning this weekend are scheduled to play 72 regular season games and will have fans in some capacity, at least for now. Below is a snapshot of what the breakdown will look like for fans in-venue, per SBJ’s Mark J. Burns.
TEAM
|
CAPACITY ALLOWED
|
CAPACITY %
|
Allen Americans
|
2,115
|
40%
|
Florida Everblades
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
Greenville Swamp Rabbits
|
3,924
|
30%
|
Indy Fuel
|
N/A
|
25%
|
Jacksonville Icemen
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
K.C. Mavericks
|
2,169
|
37%
|
Orlando Solar Bears
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
Rapid City Rush
|
4,500
|
75%
|
South Carolina Stingrays
|
2,700
|
27%
|
Tulsa Oilers
|
4,000
|
25%
|
Utah Grizzlies
|
1,800
|
15%
|
Wheeling Nailers
|
1,250
|
25%
|
Wichita Thunder
|
1,500
|
11%
|
Speed Reads
- In next week's print issue of SBJ: Terry Lefton on what to watch for in the 2021 buyer’s market and new sponsorship categories to keep an eye on. Plus, John Ourand predicts that media deals will ramp up in the next year.
- Ligue 1 broadcast partner Mediapro is "set to abandon" its €830M ($1.01B) annual TV rights deal. The Spanish media company has agreed to return the rights to Ligue 1 and 2 matches from '20-24, but "will pay only a portion of what it owes ... after skipping two payments since October" -- the first for €172m ($208M) and the second for €152.5M ($184.8M). Read more in SBJ Global.
- The MLSPA claims that “nearly 20% of the league’s players tested positive for the coronavirus over the course of the season.” That comes out to around 150 players, per the AP.
- The NHL is “investigating selling ads on players’ helmets,” according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. The concept was “brought up on Wednesday’s Board of Governors call,” though there will not be “any formal comment until team presidents are briefed on Monday.” There is an understanding around the NHL “of the need for more creativity in revenue development.”
News From Sports Business Daily
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