SBJ Unpacks: Pac-12 Eyes Halloween Kickoff
Tonight in SBJ Unpacks: The Pac-12 looks to start its football season on Oct. 31, but hurdles still remain.
Also:
- David Baker on paying homage to the first century of the NFL
- Fans quarantined after possible exposure at NFL season opener
- Raiders partner with BetMGM for sports betting
- Chiefs use paid COVID tests to fill suites
- Schreiber-led group acquires Outfront Media Sports
- French Open reduces daily fan capacity
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PAC-12 TARGETS HALLOWEEN START DATE FOR FOOTBALL
- Pac-12 athletic directors are "targeting Oct. 31 as the start of the football season, pending approval from the presidents and subject to the easing of local health restrictions, according to conference sources" cited by the San Jose Mercury News' Jon Wilner.
- That date "would place the conference one week behind the Big Ten but give the Pac-12 champion eight total games and possibly open a path to be considered for the College Football Playoff."
- Sources gave Wilner three obstacles to the season beginning on Halloween:
- Navigating the last batch of local health restrictions
- Gaining consensus on the training camp schedule
- Approval from the CEOs
CANTON, PRO FOOTBALL HOF PAY HOMAGE TO NFL'S 100-YEAR MARK
- The Bengals play at the Browns tonight, and not far down I-77, the city of Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame will dedicate Centennial Plaza, a $12.5 million downtown homage to the first century of NFL football -- and an unveiling fitting for a league that turned 100 today.
- Along with an amphitheater, a video board and a café, the plaza features 11 glass and stainless steel pylons, each five to seven feet tall, bearing the names of the nearly 26,000 players who were on the field for even one down during the NFL’s first 100 seasons.
- Pro Football Hall of Fame President David Baker discussed that project, and how the Hall and Canton have weathered the cancellation of both a game and an enshrinement, with SBJ’s Bill King on the latest episode of SBJ Unpacks podcast.
- “I confess to you that when we installed (the pylons) the other night, I drifted over to 2008 to look for the name of my son, who played for the Falcons for a number of years,” Baker said. “And while this is the coolest job in the world because I get to give out the ring -- I knock on the door, I give out the gold jacket with the commissioner -- but this is the coolest thing I’ve done, because it helped me remember him, as a boy, dreaming.”
FANS QUARANTINED AFTER POSSIBLE EXPOSURE AT CHIEFS GAME
- The K.C. Health Department has "told 10 fans to quarantine after possibly being exposed to COVID-19" at Thursday's Texans-Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium, per the K.C. Star.
- The health department said that a "person who watched the game from the group’s box tested positive the day after the game." The Chiefs in a statement said that the "organization worked closely with the health department to provide the information" for contact tracing
- SBJ's Ben Fischer writes, "This is it: Crunch time for the NFL's pandemic experiment. If the NFL's contact tracing and other protocols work to minimize the fallout, this will be soon forgotten. If lots of other cases are connected back to this, you've got big problems."
RAIDERS PARTNER WITH BETMGM FOR SPORTS BETTING
- BetMGM has reached a multiyear deal to become the official sports betting partner of the Raiders, five days before the NFL team opens Allegiant Stadium on ESPN's "MNF." The deal is an extension of an existing multiyear partnership between the Raiders and MGM Resorts.
- BetMGM will utilize assets to provide educational information about the BetMGM app to Raiders fans, and fans in Nevada can now register for the app, available on iOS and Android, by visiting any MGM Resorts Sports Book in Las Vegas. BetMGM also has NFL deals with the Broncos and the Lions.
- Yahoo's Daniel Roberts tweeted, "One day after NY Giants announced partnership with DraftKings. domino effect now..."
CHIEFS USE PAID COVID TESTS TO FILL SUITES
- The Chiefs allowed Arrowhead Stadium suites to be filled to capacity for their Sept. 13 opener, even though the bowl was kept to 22%. How? Testing, writes SBJ's Ben Fischer. The Chiefs paid for COVID-19 tests for about 1,000 suite guests, and nobody could access their ticket without a confirmed negative, team president Mark Donovan told me.
- Initially, the director of Kansas City Public Health was against anyone being allowed in the suites. But as they negotiated over the summer, Dr. Rex Archer said that negative tests would change things. The Chiefs struck a deal with Clinical Reference Lab in Lenexa, Kan., a supplier of tests to corporate clients elsewhere in the region.
- Suite holders had to confirm guest lists the week before the game, and then get a test kit to every guest to administer and submit to the lab within 72 hours of kickoff. No tickets would be distributed by the group administrator until all the test results were back. If someone tests positive, there’s no replacing them; they just don’t get a ticket. There were “less than five” positives out of about 1,000 tests, Donovan said.
- Elsewhere in the NFL, the Cowboys won’t test suite ticket holders at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, but are capping suite capacity at the number of actual seats there -- no standing-room only suite tickets will be issued to keep crowds limited.
SCHREIBER-LED GROUP ACQUIRES OUTFRONT MEDIA SPORTS
- A group spearheaded by veteran media exec Michael Schreiber, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Access Holdings has acquired Outfront Media Sports, the collegiate multimedia rights holder for LSU, Maryland, Virginia and other schools, per SBJ's Michael Smith.
- Schreiber, the founder, will become CEO of a new full-service sports marketing agency, Playfly Sports, and Outfront's college and high school rights holder business will be rebranded to Playfly Sports Properties. Playfly has acquired two other esports companies -- Collegiate Star League and the World Gaming Network.
- SBJ College reported on Aug. 4 that Outfront’s college business had been for sale for a year and that the asking price had been around $35 million, according to industry insiders. But they added that the pandemic had likely eaten into the value of the business because of diminished sales.
- Outfront, previously known as CBS Collegiate Sports Properties, comes with the multimedia rights to LSU, Maryland, Virginia, New Mexico, Old Dominion, Wichita State, Denver, Troy, Oral Roberts, Oakland and St. Bonaventure. Its high school rights include athletic associations in eight states.
SOURCES: FRENCH OPEN REDUCING TARGETED DAILY CAPACITY
- The French Open has been forced to reduce the number of fans allowed at next week's tournament to "5,000 per day, all at the Philippe-Chatrier court," according to sources.
- Organizers had announced plans to allow up to 11,500 spectators per day, but the French government "finally decided to reduce the limit to 5,000" following a "resurgence in COVID-19 cases in France." The decision also was made "in the context of case increases" throughout Europe.
- Meanwhile, players will be subject to a "radical COVID-19 protocol," similar to the U.S. Open, which will see players tested two times before their first match and "every five days" thereafter. If a player tests positive, he or she will be "isolated for 14 days (subject to government regulations)."
SPEED READS
- SBJ's Michael Smith in tonight's SBJ College writes a really cool college basketball concept is coming together in Rock Hill, S.C., where Winthrop AD Ken Halpin is working to bring as many as 20 teams to the town just south of Charlotte for a series of games in a “bubble” environment. Winthrop’s on-campus arena obviously couldn’t handle that many teams, but a new basketball facility at the city-owned Rock Hill Sports & Event Center, which features eight courts and a 1,200-seat center court, opened earlier this year. The venue typically hosts AAU and conference tournaments.
- The NHRA has inked an extension of its media-rights deal with Fox Sports through at least the middle of this decade, per SBJ's Adam Stern. Fox and the drag racing series first linked up for the 2016 season after NHRA’s 14-year relationship with ESPN ended. Events from the NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series air on FS1, Fox and FS2 as part of the deal. The NHRA’s media group helps produce the events with Fox, and the sides said that the deal includes “expanded coverage on the Fox broadcast network and FS1, an NFL adjacent event and five hours of Finals coverage at the NHRA U.S. Nationals over Labor Day Weekend each year.”
- Yankee Stadium was expected to spend $36 million on capital improvements and maintenance from 2019-2021, but the financial impact of the global coronavirus pandemic will likely reduce funds, Moody’s said in a credit opinion issued today. Moody’s gave Yankee Stadium’s credit outlook a stable rating based on the venue’s move to reduce its annual debt service costs in 2020, which will give it some cushion from the loss off in-person fan attendance in 2020 and possibly in 2021, writes SBJ's Karn Dhingra.
- Delaware North "cut more than 500 positions this week at its downtown Buffalo headquarters and throughout the country" due to a "dramatic decline in airline passengers along with empty sports arenas nationwide," per Buffalo Business First. Delaware North "will eliminate 139 positions locally and a total of 517 across the United States due to the effects of Covid-19." That is "on top of 6,500 Delaware North employees who remain on leave companywide." Company officials said that they were on pace to report $3.8 billion in revenues this year, a number that "may be reduced by as much as two-thirds."
- NASCAR will be the first sports organization to join the American Gaming Association’s new public service campaign aimed at responsible gambling, launching a series of co-branded radio PSAs that will air nationally and also delivering content on social media, reports SBJ's Bill King. Using the “Take a Pit Stop” tag line, the campaign will encourage fans to bet responsibly and educate them on indicators of problem gambling. NASCAR also will produce responsible gambling content for the BetCenter betting information page on its web site.
- The Tropicana, whose sportsbook is operated by William Hill, reopened today, per SBJ's David Broughton. The Penn National Gaming-owned property, which was featured in the 1971 James Bond film "Diamonds Are Forever," had been closed since mid-March.
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:
SBJ UNPACKS -- THE ROAD AHEAD
- Check out the most recent editions of our SBJ Unpacks podcasts:
- Pro Football HOF President David Baker on the dedication of Centennial Village as part of the NFL celebrating its 100th birthday.
- USGA Chief Brand Officer Craig Annis breaks down this week’s U.S. Open.
- Ben Fischer joins Bill King to discuss NFL Week 1 with no fans, but plenty of action.
- Pro Football HOF President David Baker on the dedication of Centennial Village as part of the NFL celebrating its 100th birthday.
--- AXS SPORTS FACILITIES & FRANCHISES & TICKETING SYMPOSIUM ---
Sept. 22-23, 2020
Virtual Program
Announcing the 2020 AXS Sports Facilities & Franchises & Ticketing Symposium agenda. To view the agenda or to learn more, visit www.SportsFacilitiesandFranchises.com.
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