SBJ Morning Buzzcast
SBJ Morning Buzzcast: August 13, 2024
(upbeat music) It seems so common now, but can you believe, 30 years ago yesterday, August 12th, 1994, Fox Sports aired its first NFL game, Bronco's 49ers at Candlestick Park, that came after Rupert Murdoch, Outbid CBS to gain an NFL package safe to say, Fox Sports has changed the way the NFL has been presented and televised. And that all started 30 years ago this month. And this is your morning buzz guys, for Tuesday, August 13th. Good morning, I made Mad Corps. Let's start with the NFL. We talked about the efforts and interests of the Cleveland Browns to build a new dome stadium just outside of the city in Brook Park. But boy, oh boy, there is growing opposition to that plan and the team's efforts and it's worth watching. Cuyahoga County executives informed the Browns owners, Jimmy and Dee Haslam, and they were pretty clear. They don't believe the proposal to build a new stadium in Brook Park makes fiscal sense for county residents and taxpayers. And of course, remember, the Haslams are pushing two options for the stadium. Renovate the existing lakefront stadium, which has been projected to cost about a billion dollars or build a new stadium in Brook Park, projected cost of about $2.4 billion. Now, it seems that the Browns are, of course, leaning toward the suburban new build. They've been pretty coy about their plans for the existing stadium and how they would renovate that. But overall, local support doesn't seem to be where the Browns want it to be. In fact, a Cleveland Plain editorial over the weekend stated the only option is the existing stadium, saying that the Haslams want too much public funding for Brook Park, the editorial board urged the Haslams to focus on making a deal on the lakefront and that the only affordable option for the future is to upgrade the current stadium on the lakefront. So again, major opposition or pockets of major opposition to the Haslams plan to build a new stadium in suburban Cleveland. Meanwhile, staying on NFL facilities, we've talked a lot about the Chicago Bears and now the Bears are going out to the marketplace. They will host two invite only focus groups of seasoned ticket holders this week to solicit feedback about a new stadium. Now the Bears want the feedback to focus on what amenities fans would want in a stadium. It's less about the location, whether it's downtown or out in Arlington Heights in the suburbs. So again, this is more of a fact-finding mission of what fans would like as amenities in a new building, a lot going on with the Bears. Episode two of Hard Knocks is Tuesday night and by the feedback I received from a number of you, you were all pretty pleased with the first episode of Hard Knocks on the Bears. Keep your comments coming about what you think about the series. I'll be in Milwaukee next week to speak to city leaders and I want to hear about another team that is listening to its fans. That would be, yes, the Milwaukee Brewers. They're surveying fans right now about developing an American family field outdoor entertainment area and possible other changes to the ballpark. They are surveying around 37,000 ticket buyers and this could help guide improvements to the ballpark over the next five to 15 years. It's a very smart move. They're looking for fan sentiment about possible changes to entertainment areas. They're thinking about more bars, more food stands, live entertainment. They're also surveying fans about stadium gathering places. We are seeing more and more social spaces around a number of ballparks. So the bottom line is the Brewers are asking fans about how they want their experience to be improved and you are seeing more and more segmentation at sports facilities as teams try to relate to all types of fan interests and they wanna make their facilities as relevant as possible to as many fans as possible. Let's shift to college sports because we know how athletic departments are focused and thinking hard on generating new revenue and we see a novel approach at Northwestern. As Northwestern and Northwestern Medicine signed a two year naming rights deal that brands the schools temporary stadium as Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. Remember the NCAA did approve commercial sponsor ads on fields on football fields starting this year. So this deal in Northwestern makes this one of the first field naming partnerships in the country under these new guidelines. Northwestern Medicine already had a pretty extensive deal with the university providing healthcare for all 19 of the athletic programs at the university. So remember this will be a facility that will have football, soccer and lacrosse. It's a temporary stadium for the next two years while the new Ryan field is being built that is set to be open in the 2026 season the Northwestern football team will also play a couple of games at Wrigley Field this coming year. If you have not seen the look and renderings of Martin Stadium you have to check it out. The stadium sits right along Lake Michigan and it's like nothing I've ever seen in college football. Again, you have to check it out the Northwestern football team playing in an open air stadium right on Lake Michigan. Very cool, very unique. So that's where Northwestern will play in their temporary facility and now they have a naming rights partnership for the field for the upcoming season. Staying with college sports with all the rules about to change and the structure of college sports shifting. Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannon is taking matters into his own hands. He's holding a summit with the school's coaches to discuss the details of the upcoming revenue sharing plan and how the school will determine which athletes receive how much of that revenue. He said the summit is intended to help coaches think through where they need to invest their money and how they should invest that money. So again, this is a theme we have seen. We're gonna see a change in athletic departments. There is almost the mentality of a pro team's general manager approach. Meaning these coaches and athletic directors are going to have to decide who gets paid, what amount and how that gets divvied up across different programs. These are different decisions than athletic directors and college coaches have ever had to make and that's what they're facing and that's what Troy Dannon at Nebraska is trying to get ahead of. And finally, we'll end with this. I know the NFL PA's report card at the end of the year that grades NFL teams by their player amenities and accommodations is controversial. And many teams and owners have told me they take exception to the union's methodology. But it should be noted that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross earned the highest grade of any owner in the 2024 report card. The report gave the Dolphins an A- or higher in all 11 categories. Well, now Stephen Ross is even putting more resources behind the players as coaches and players were surprised. Before Friday's NFL preseason opener, they saw a renovated home locker room at Hard Rock Stadium. The locker room at Hard Rock had not been renovated since 2005, but it was quietly refurbished this summer without any of the team's knowledge. The coach didn't know, the players didn't know, the trainers didn't know. And the new spaces, of course, include everything. New offices for the coaches and assistant coaches, treatment rooms, a big, big locker room. The team's primary locker room is across the street at the Baptist Health Training Complex, but this is the game day locker room and these renovations bring it more in line with the space that they use daily across the street throughout the season. But Stephen Ross, surprising his coaches and players with an renovated locker room, you can see images all on sportsbusinessjournal.com yesterday's morning buzz. And just about one month out from SBJ's Drive Conference September 16th through 19th at the Omni at the Star in Frisco, Texas. If you have never been to the star, you have to see it. During this event, there will be more than 50 speakers. We'll dive into topics such as new revenue streams, ticketing, data, analytics, business intelligence. We'll tour the Cowboys incredible facility at the star. We'll also tour the new PGA of America headquarters. We'll get a presentation at Cosm, which is one of the coolest presentations and experiences I've seen in the last year. We'll also take in a Rangers game at Globe Life Field. I hope you will join me next month at Drive in Frisco, Texas. Go to www.sbj-drive.com/2024 to learn more. But just let me know and I'll be happy to answer any questions. And so that is your morning buzz gas for Tuesday, August 13th. I made mad core. Thanks for listening. Stay healthy. Be good to each other. I'll speak to you on Wednesday. [MUSIC]