Tonight in SBJ Unpacks: Giannis Antetokounmpo's long-term commitment to the Bucks provides a significant win for small-market NBA organizations.
- NFL virus cases hold steady in latest weekly report
- Fox' MLS Cup Final viewership up 30% from last year
- New Charlotte FC president Nick Kelly talks initial agenda
- Jersey ads keep sprouting up, with one big exception
- NFL, Nickelodeon plan kid-friendly broadcast for Wild Card Game
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Giannis' Decision Provides Path For NBA's Smaller Markets
Back-to-back NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo has "committed to the Milwaukee Bucks long-term" by agreeing to sign a five-year, $228 million supermax extension, per ESPN. Had he passed on the offer, Antetokounmpo "would have been an unrestricted free agent next summer and the biggest name to hit the market since Kevin Durant in 2016."
SI's Jeremy Woo writes Antetokounmpo’s decision to re-sign is an "obvious, massive win for mid-market and small-market organizations around the NBA, setting a new precedent for superstar talent by staying put for a third contract." He "prioritized long-term financial security and belief in the franchise ahead of short-term flexibility and leverage over the team’s personnel decisions."
Reaction across social this afternoon praised Antetokounmpo for sticking with the franchise that drafted him in 2013.
Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel: "Big deal for the NBA, which needs to have stars stick with teams, especially small market ones."
The N.Y. Post's Mike Vaccaro: "45 years after Kareem said 'no' to Milwaukee, Giannis says 'yes.' Good for Milwaukee."
The N.Y. Times' Marc Stein: "The Milwaukee Bucks did not win an NBA championship today ... but this is the closest thing to it for the franchise."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Jim Owczarski: "Antetokounmpo has said for years he loves Milwaukee and the #Bucks - and has had no intention of going anywhere. Once again, he proves true to his word."
NFL Virus Cases Hold Steady In Latest Weekly Report
The NFL recorded 45 positive COVID-19 cases the week of Dec. 6-12, the league and NFLPA said today, unchanged from the prior week, writes SBJ's Ben Fischer. The stable numbers amid a huge uptick in cases nationally are seen by the NFL as proof its mitigation efforts are working without adopting a more radical “bubble” concept. There were 31 staff members and 14 players who tested positive last week, with the player cases reaching a six-week low. In fact, 21 teams recorded no positive tests last week, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills told reporters.
While numbers remain high compared to the early weeks of the season, the NFL has apparently stopped a trend of more frequent outbreaks that forced several game postponements in late November. On Nov. 21, the league prohibited all in-person meetings and required masks in team facilities, including practice. Also, Sills told reporters, the league has further cut down on total people permitted close to players. Nearly 69% of all 515 positive cases since training camp have occurred since Nov. 1.
Meanwhile, NFLPA officials today said they will seek to make permanent some of the procedures that were changed this year to minimize COVID-19 risk. Among the targets of union President JC Tretter and Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith: in-person offseason workouts and residential training camp, both of which went by the wayside during the pandemic with, by their judgment, little impact on the game. Click here for more.
Tretter and the NFLPA will push to make some of this year's safety procedures permanent
Fox' MLS Cup Final Up 30% From Last Year's Match On ABC
Fox averaged 1.07 million viewers on Saturday night for the Crew’s 3-0 win over the Sounders in the MLS Cup final, up 30% from the 825,000 viewers that ABC drew in early November last year on a Sunday afternoon (Sounders-Toronto FC), reports SBJ's Austin Karp.
Saturday’s game is down 32% from Fox’s telecast of Atlanta United-Timbers in early December 2018 (1.57 million viewers). Fox has drawn over 1 million viewers for each of its MLS Cup Final telecasts (2020, 2018, 2016), while ABC/ESPN hasn’t hit that mark since averaging 1.04 million for Galaxy-Dynamo in 2011.
Saturday’s Spanish-language telecast averaged 459,000 viewers on UniMás, marking the most-watched MLS Cup Final on a Univision-owned network since Sounders-Toronto FC in 2016. Crew-Sounders is up 2% from the 2019 on Univision and up 137% from 2018’s title game on UniMás.
New Charlotte FC President Nick Kelly Talks Early Agenda
The first item on new Charlotte FC President Nick Kelly’s agenda list will be converting the 10,000-plus season-ticket deposits into paying customers at Bank of America Stadium, writes SBJ’s Mark J. Burns.
Kelly, whose appointment was announced this morning and first reported yesterday by SBJ's Terry Lefton, said the second element will be helping Charlotte businesses understand what role the expansion club will play in the broader community. Kelly: “We’re not the Panthers, we’re not the Hornets, we’re not the (Triple-A Charlotte) Knights. What we’re going to be is different. Our goal is to tell our story across the business community.”
The former head of sports marketing at A-B InBev also expressed his optimism about MLS as a whole. When Charlotte begins play in 2022, it will be the league’s 27th season.
Kelly: “(MLS) has been growing at a pretty steady pace for the last, call it, decade. The one thing that soccer in the U.S. has on its side, more than anything else, is we’re hosting the World Cup in six years. We saw this the last time around. When we hosted the World Cup in ‘94, you saw big growth. It spurred the MLS. We have a five-year runway. … There’s going to be increased emotion, passion and interest in soccer just organically. It’s our job to take advantage of that and more importantly, accelerate that.”
Click here for more on Kelly in SBJ Marketing.
Jersey Ads Sprouting Up (With One Big Exception)
The industry has been pondering and writing about the potential for American stick-and-ball properties to follow their European counterparts with non-apparel jersey advertising for decades, and always saw it as inevitable, writes SBJ's Terry Lefton. But we absolutely never considered that it would sprout across nearly every top-tier league simultaneously.
It’s another trend established before March, but now fueled by the pandemic, empty sports venues and the frantic need at properties for new revenue. Accordingly, all the big stick-and-ball leagues this side of the NFL are on a path to uniform branding.
The NBA is in its second round of jersey patch ads and is now allowing considerably larger practice jersey ads. MLB, as reported here, is on to sleeve patches, helmet ad decals or both. Sources tell us that jersey ads outside of those from “sweater” maker Adidas are such a disputatious issue within NHL circles that the league is well on its way to helmet ads. Given the potential size of those ads, we’d question their value. Still, Navigate estimates those helmet ads to be worth $2.5 million per team annually.
For more, see today's issue of SBJ Marketing.
NFL, Nickelodeon Plan Kid-Friendly Broadcast For Wild Card Game
End zones will be filled with superimposed slime during next month’s NFL Wild Card game telecast on Nickelodeon, reports SBJ's John Ourand.
Additionally, when a player mugs for the camera following a big play, cartoonish googly eyes -- or some other Snapchat-type of filter -- will be superimposed onto him during replays. Nickelodeon’s production, which was part of CBS Sports’ winning bid to carry the game, will have a distinctly Nickelodeon look-and-feel -- one that the NFL hopes will have more young viewers sample the game scheduled for Jan. 10 at 4:30pm ET.
“This is going to look different than a normal CBS broadcast, and I think the NFL understands that,” said CBS Sports Chair Sean McManus. “They really see the value. They are intent on reaching a younger audience. They think that’s where the fans of the future are. They think this is a really cool idea.”
For the full story, click here.
Cartoonish eyes -- or other filters -- will be superimposed on players mugging after a big play
Speed Reads
- Like many organizations across the sports industry, the USTA experienced a rough but also rewarding 2020, characterized by layoffs and a restructuring of the large organization, but also the successful hosting of both the men's and women's U.S. Open. SBJ’s Bret McCormick is joined by Michael Dowse, the CEO and executive director of the USTA, on the latest episode of "SBJ Unpacks: The Road Ahead."
- In tonight's SBJ College, Michael Smith shares his favorite stories from new ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips' almost 13 years at Northwestern. Duke AD Kevin White, who worked with Phillips at Arizona State in the 1990s and at Notre Dame in the early 2000s, also shares what Phillips will bring to the conference.
- Since making TIAA Bank Field a cashless venue for the 2020 NFL season, the Jaguars have seen a 60% increase in spend per fan by users of Jags Pay, which is powered by Tappit, the team’s white-label mobile pay provider, reports SBJ's Karn Dhingra. The Jags saw an increase in transaction volume along with a 50% game-over-game increase in fans adopting Jags Pay. Tappit declined to disclose the team's average spend per fan in 2019 versus 2020, how many transactions the team processed in 2019 compared to 2020 and how many users have downloaded Jags Pay.
- The Bills following their victory over the Steelers on NBC's "SNF" led all NFL clubs in engagement on both Twitter and Instagram in Week 14, according to data from Zoomph. The Chiefs saw the most engagement on Facebook, while placing in 2nd on Instagram and 3rd (behind the Colts) on Twitter.
- Excel Sports Management has received a strategic minority growth investment from L.A.-based Shamrock Capital. LionTree Advisors served as financial advisor and Katten Muchin Rosenman served as legal advisor to Excel on the transaction.
- As part of the Holiday season, the NHL Rangers are once again aligning with Garden of Dreams Foundation, a non-profit organization that works with the broader Madison Square Garden Company portfolio, to deliver 1,000 hot meals to various programs throughout the five boroughs. They include the Children’s Aid Society, Department of Homeless Services and the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club, among others. SBJ’s Mark J. Burns notes that two of the Manhattan restaurants providing most of the food over the next two weeks -- Mustang Harry’s and Daniela Trattoria -- are owned by Rangers season-ticket holders.
News From Sports Business Daily
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