SBJ Morning Buzzcast
SBJ Morning Buzzcast: August 9, 2024
(upbeat music) Something that will not please Boston Celtics fans and maybe make them a bit ill. A report that Fenway Sports Group led by John Henry are seriously considering making a significant bid for the Celtics. That will not go over well on Boston Sports Talk radio. And this is your morning buzzcast for Friday, August 9th. Good morning, I'm Abe Madkor. While the final weekend of the Paris Games is upon us and all eyes will be on a number of sports, track and field finishes up, basketball will finish up, and the men's US team will take on France for gold. In men's basketball tomorrow, Saturday. This is a rematch from the Tokyo Games three years ago where the US team won in a very close game. But it wasn't an easy road for the US men's team to get here as they rallied to beat Serbia in a great game on Thursday that had everyone buzzing. And as we close out the summer games, the US's two flagbearers at the closing ceremony on Sunday will be rower Nick Mead and the great Katie Ledecky. We know so much about Ledecky. Meanwhile, Nick Mead won a gold in the men's four boat final. He is the first ever rower to receive the honor as the flagbearer at the closing ceremony. We will have more on the Paris Games on Monday, but let's all appreciate what an overwhelming success these past two weeks have been. Let's move on. We talk about raising revenue on campus. Here's another example. Elevate has been selected by Penn State to lead strategy on fan engagement, on ticketing, on premium seating and experiences as Penn State undergoes a $700 million renovation of Beaver Stadium, yes, $700 million. So in the 10 year deal with Penn State, Elevate will touch a number of areas for the renovated stadium. We're talking about strategy, sales, hospitality opportunities. And the renovation, designed by Populis, is expected to be completed by the fall of 2027. So this is a very big assignment for Elevate. They'll touch so many groups and they will also conduct a nationwide survey of Penn State's alumni that will be used to develop and implement new initiatives and new offerings and new opportunities for the game day experience at Penn State. So there's a lot going on here. This facility is in dire need of renovations. And remember, there's urgency to make this stadium more up to date considering that there are new additions to the Big Ten and there's potential playoff home games with the expanded CFP. So you can see a big, big effort going on at State College. Penn State's retain Elevate, Playfly for multimedia rights and Oakview Group for food and beverage. And the key to all of this? Colleges must do all they can to generate more and more revenue in this new day and age. And this is an example of Penn State doing this across multiple areas. So this is a project you certainly want to keep your eye on. Moving on, everyone I speak with is asking about the pieces and components of Endeavor and what happens when Silver Lake takes the company private in 2025 and what the company will look like. The company previously has indicated plans to sell off segments of Endeavor and IMG as part of going public by Silver Lake. Though it had not previously revealed which divisions, which units of the business were most likely to be sold. Well, we got our first glimpse into that on Thursday. When Endeavor revealed that it is looking for buyers for its open bet and IMG arena business. So open bet is a sports betting service provider, Endeavor acquired it in September 2022 for roughly $800 million. And IMG arena has been part of IMG since 2012. And so those two businesses will be offloaded by Endeavor. There was no timetable given to any possible sale, but there are other questions. What happens to the Miami Open that's owned by Endeavor? What happens with Fashion Week? What happens with the 160 over 90 agency? What happens to the PBR? So there are other decisions left to make. Meanwhile, Endeavor Sports Property Division continues to perform very well as income from its sports properties which includes UFC and WWE, which is part of the TKO group and the separate PBR professional bull riders. Overall, those three properties grew more than 160% year over year. They brought in almost $900 million in revenue. So these properties continue to perform very well for the company. Endeavor's Mark Shapiro said he is very bullish about sports content and live events. And he also noted that IMG will be representing the United States Tennis Association as the company negotiates a new media deal around the U.S. Open. So a lot going on around Endeavor. If you have listened to the morning bus guys for a while, you know of my admiration for how the Atlanta Braves handle their business. And they just continue to execute better and better on the business side. Yes, I know the team is in a little bit of a funk on the field recently, but, but, but the business continues to roll. For the second quarter, the Braves revenue was $280 million. That was up 5% over the same period last year. Baseball revenue was up 4%, while income related to the battery Atlanta mixed-use development around truest park was up 11%. Every metric continues to grow. The team has 18,000 fans on a season ticket wait list. They have already hit a 90% renewal rate for 2025 and the big number operating income for the Braves, up 28% to nearly $25 million in the quarter. So more and more revenue dropping to the bottom line for the Braves and all of this comes while expenses increase. It's more expensive on player salaries. There's more revenue sharing. There's more expenses around minor league team and player expenses, but the Braves continue to drive more and more to the bottom line. I really think it's one of the best operating organizations, certainly in baseball, if not in all of sports. And we'll finish around some sellouts. So let's talk about some sellouts. First, the Oakland A's final game at Oakland Coliseum on September 26th already sold out with more than 45,000 fans likely. That will also lead a surge in sales for the rest of the final homestand for the A's. The A's season high so far is 35,000 fans. That happened last week when the Dodgers were in town, but the team's averaging just under 9,000 fans per game, which is easily the lowest in all of baseball. But here's an interesting element. You know that Vass expands in centerfield. It's called Mount Davis at the Coliseum in Oakland. That was developed when the Raiders were playing at Oakland Coliseum while they will not sell tickets to that Mount Davis section of the Coliseum in centerfield because it is in such disrepair that they don't feel that section in centerfield that has 20,000 seats is safe. So that section will not be sold, but the rest of the building will be, there will be a sellout. And of course, all of this comes as the A's set to play in Sacramento for the next three years while awaiting a move to Las Vegas. In Monday's issue of Sports Business Journal, we have a very extensive and well researched look at the issues over the years that caused the rupture in the relationship between the A's and the city of Oakland and what led to this relocation. It's a piece you certainly want to read. And finally, one of the coolest events in college sports, the Airlingus College Football Classic in Ireland is coming up soon. Football in August in Ireland. It's been a big hit and it's getting even more popular as more than 47,000 tickets have been sold to this year's game in Dublin. It's between Georgia Tech and Florida State. It's on August 24th at Aviva Stadium and it is a sellout. And that 47,000 ticket figure includes more than 25,000 tickets purchased in the United States. So these events, these games are a party. The location is great, there are pepperales, there are pubs, the stadium is modern and these are some of the highest revenue generating sporting events ever held in Ireland. In a first ESPN's college game date will broadcast from Dublin. This is the first time the pregame show will be broadcast from outside the United States. So this looks to be a big event to kick off the college football season in week zero. The Airlingus College Football Classic is certainly on my bucket list in the future. And so that is your morning buzzcast for Friday, August 9th, I made madcore. Thanks for listening to the buzzcast. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you on Monday. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)