Tonight in Unpacks: During a spring training press conference today, Rob Manfred said he’d step down as MLB commissioner when his term ends in January 2029.
Also tonight:
- MLS Season Pass surpassed 2 million subs in 2023
- DraftKings acquires lottery app firm Jackpocket for $750 million
- NASCAR talking to Honda as it tries to keep car manufacturers happy
- Guardians hope nature doesn't eclipse their new era on Opening Day
Listen to SBJ's most popular podcast, Morning Buzzcast, where SBJ’s Abe Madkour dives into Discover’s sponsorship of the PWHL, how more women and young people are tuning into the Super Bowl, Suns owner Mat Ishbia launching the Player 15 group and scoring a G League franchise and more.
MLB's Manfred plans to retire when term ends in 2029
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred indicated that he “will retire when his current term ends in January 2029,” reports the AP.
Speaking from spring training, he pointed out that he will be 70 years old in 2029 and will have been commissioner for 14 years when his term ends on Jan. 25, 2029. He's been in that role since succeeding Bud Selig in January 2015.
“You can only have so much fun in one lifetime,” Manfred said. “I have been open with [the owners] about the fact that this is going to be my last term. I said it before to them -- before the election in July, and I’m absolutely committed to that.” Manfred agreed to a four-year extension over the summer.
As for the timing of Manfred's announcement, the Athletic's Evan Drellich noted that since "the day he was re-elected last year, Rob Manfred said he was unsure if this term would be his last. Today's answer suggests he had, in fact, already decided."
Manfred's time as commissioner saw a number of ups-and-downs, as Yahoo Sports' Jack Baer writes: "Overall, he is not popular with fans (like most commissioners) and even less so with MLB players and their union, which he has negotiated and lobbied against." Sports Illustrated's Patrick Andres mentioned how "Manfred won widespread criticism for his handling of labor relations and the Athletics’ relocation to Las Vegas."
But Baer also notes that some of Manfred's decisions pleased fans, such as his "constant refrain" of "shortening games, which he accomplished with the pitch clock last season." Other changes have "included a ban on defensive shifts and restricting pick-off moves, with even more on the horizon, including possibly robot umps."
See Friday’s editions of Morning Buzz and SBJ Daily for more on this story.
Sources: MLS Season Pass surpassed 2 million subs in 2023
MLS Season Pass, the streaming service launched last year in collaboration with Apple, surpassed 2 million subscribers by the end of the 2023 season, two sources confirm to SBJ's Alex Silverman. The end-of-year subscriber count suggests that Lionel Messi’s July debut with Inter Miami provided a major lift in subscriptions, meaning the number of subscribers more than doubled during the latter portion of the season.
This figure includes paid annual subscribers, some of whom signed up later in the season at a prorated price, as well as paid monthly subscribers, complimentary MLS club season-ticket holder accounts and those who signed up via promotional offers (T-Mobile subscribers, for example, were offered free subscriptions). Apple and MLS are working to renew 2023 subscribers for the upcoming season and attract new users to the service for 2024. The annual pass is once again priced at $99 for non-Apple TV+ subscribers and $79 for Apple TV+ subscribers. The MLS regular season begins on Wednesday.
DraftKings acquires lottery app firm Jackpocket for $750 million
DraftKings acquired lottery app Jackpocket for $750 million. The deal, agreed to on Sunday and revealed in a SEC filing Thursday afternoon, will see existing Jackpocket shareholders receive $412.5 million in cash and $337.5 million in DraftKings stock. Goldman Sachs and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP advised DraftKings, while The Raine Group and Cooley LLP advised Jackpocket.
Long-term, and assuming no changes in sports betting legality, DraftKings projects the transaction will help drive as much as $340 million in incremental revenue in 2026 and up to $450 million of incremental revenue in 2028.
Jackpocket operates in the increasingly competitive online lottery market, which has attracted major investors as more states move toward legalizing online sports betting and iGaming. Jackpocket raised $170 million across two funding rounds in 2021, with financial backers including Mark Cuban, David Blitzer of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky, Padres 3B Manny Machado and The Raine Group, among other individual and institutional investors. The following year, competitor Jackpot raised a $35 million Series A with investments from Courtside Ventures, Arctos Sports Partners, Elysian Park Ventures, Sapphire Sport, the Kraft Group and Haslam Sports Group, among others. DraftKings CEO Jason Robins had also joined the Jackpot funding round as an investor.
NASCAR talking to Honda as it tries to keep car manufacturers happy
NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell says negotiations to add a new auto manufacturer for competition are “heating up,” reports SBJ's Adam Stern. The racing series starts its 2024 regular season this weekend at Daytona, and it’s NASCAR’s biggest weekend not only for viewership and attendance but also hosting high-level corporate titans -- such as those from automotive brands.
NASCAR has been searching for over a decade to find a fourth manufacturer to join Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota. NASCAR has also been chasing Honda for years and remains in discussions with the automaker, according to a person familiar with the matter. Despite the disruption in the auto market, the changes are providing a boost to racing series that can convince car companies that they can help them market and develop new technologies. F1 attracted several new manufacturer commitments in recent years, such as Volkswagen Group’s Audi brand and American giant GM.
D.C. United signs kit sponsorship with consultancy Guidehouse
D.C. United signed a multiyear kit sponsorship with Guidehouse, a Northern Virginia-based consulting firm for business and government, reports SBJ's Wes Sanderson. The Guidehouse logo will appear on the front of all D.C. United game and training kits beginning with the 2024 MLS season.
This is Guidehouse’s first sponsorship deal in sports. Terms were not disclosed, but MLS kit sponsorships typically run in the low- to mid-seven figures annually, according to sources. Guidehouse negotiated the deal directly with D.C. United and retained Hogan Lovells as outside counsel.
Guardians hope nature doesn't eclipse their new era on Opening Day
In five of the past six seasons (discounting 2020), the Guardians have hosted their home opener at 4:10 pm ET. Under normal circumstances, that’s when fans on April 8 would get their first chance to see the Guardians under the leadership of first-year manager Stephen Vogt, who replaced longtime skipper Terry Francona, and the renovations at Progressive Field, which have come with a $202.5 million price tag.
Instead, for the first time since 1806, Cleveland will experience a total solar eclipse at 3:13 pm that day, a phenomenon that will cast the city into complete darkness for four minutes before a partial eclipse continues to linger until 4:29 pm. Hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected to descend upon Cleveland for the spectacle.
Guardians executives have consulted with city officials and even scientists from NASA’s nearby Glenn Research Center in trying to determine an ideal time for first pitch, an exercise that has required the team to consider concerns over traffic, parking and big crowds. While such an announcement is expected in the coming days -- plus word on any eclipse-related game-day activations at the ballpark -- it has already been determined by the club that the game won’t start until 5:10 pm at the earliest, pitting the dawn of a new era in Cleveland against a once-in-a-lifetime challenge for the Guardians’ front office, writes SBJ's Erik Bacharach in this week's magazine.
Blackhawks, Isles use RFID checkouts to boost merch sales
The Blackhawks and Bulls are leaning on a new way to sell merch with the help of Retailcloud, reports SBJ's Ethan Joyce. The point-of-sale platform uses RFID to create a fast checkout experience for fans.
In this week's Tech Newsletter, Joyce dives into how the teams are using Retailcloud at United Center -- and how the RFID tags are not just speeding up merch sales but also helping streamline back-of-house operations.
Does Emirates-NBA pact signal more airline deals?
While it has been reported otherwise, it was indeed Sportfive assisting Emirates with the airline’s recent tie-up with the NBA -- a big enough deal that it engendered some jealousy from NFL marketers in Las Vegas for the Super Bowl. That's a dynamic that SBJ's Terry Lefton hasn't seen in decades, striking him as the most significant win for Sportfive in some time.
Still, it feels like the greater significance of the Emirates deal is that it marks perhaps the most high-profile deployment of Middle Eastern sponsorship dollars yet for American stick-and-ball sports (Emirates has sponsored properties like the U.S. Open Series and USA Rugby). And it could also mean the airline category is back for the big leagues.
Also in this week's SBJ Marketing, Lefton reports that Daytona for the first time is permitting LED signs on pit boxes, with ANC getting ad buys for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Speed reads
- Discover Financial Services will continue its sponsorship of professional women’s hockey via a one-year deal with the newly launched PWHL, notes SBJ's Alex Silverman.
- USA Fencing inked new official sponsorship deals with wellness/sleep supplement brand Beam and Rain Pure Mountain Spring Water, reports SBJ's Austin Karp.
- Horizon Sports & Experiences and Fox Sports are creating the Women’s Champions Classic, a prime-time doubleheader that will feature UConn, Iowa, Louisville and Tennessee on Dec. 7 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, writes SBJ's Ben Portnoy.
- Street League Skateboarding signed a multiyear renewal of its sponsorship with Monster Energy, which has been with the tour since its 2010 debut, notes SBJ's Chris Smith.
- The National Pickleball League, entering its second season in 2024, is expanding from six to 12 teams, with new ownership groups from Coachella Valley, Seattle, Princeton, K.C., Houston and Columbus, reports SBJ's Rob Schaefer.
- The WNBA is taking fan engagement to new heights at NBA All-Star Weekend by launching a fan-centric Draft stage and providing opportunities for fans to engage with some of the league’s biggest stars, notes SBJ's Na'Andre Emerson.
- The Larry H. Miller Company/Miller Family unveiled renderings and details of the “The Power District” -- a 100-acre development where the company wants to put a stadium for a potential Salt Lake City MLB expansion team, writes SBJ's Bret McCormick.
- TKO Group has a new long-term deal with the Honda Center that includes a UFC and WWE presence at the forthcoming OCVibe mixed-use development in Anaheim, reports SBJ's Adam Stern.