SBJ Morning Buzzcast
SBJ Morning Buzzcast: July 31, 2024
The Legend of Jerry Garcia continues as the Boston Red Sox hosted a Jerry Garcia night at Fenway Park last night on Tuesday night. This is an annual tradition for the Red Sox. Fans received a Garcia themed shirt and they heard a performance from a Grateful Dead cover band. Yes, the Legend of Jerry Garcia continues. And this is your morning buzzcast for Wednesday, July 31st. I made mat core. Thanks for listening to the buzzcast. I've been getting a lot of emails and some text messages from listeners of the buzzcast about the Olympics and USA's team performance, NBC's coverage of the games, and how Peacock is presenting them. There's no real clear theme from listeners right now. We know the viewership numbers have been strong. We will have more on that later as we're still trying to figure out here at SBJ the best comparisons because the way NBC is rolling up its viewership numbers is quite complicated to say the least. But regardless, viewership is up and advertisers are fully in support of the games. NBC said it will set a new Olympic record for advertising revenue topping the estimated $1.25 billion the network brought in from Tokyo. So this will be a big ad number. A couple of other interesting points, $500 million in ad revenue will come from first time sponsors to the Olympics. Digital ad revenue has more than doubled compared to Tokyo and the total number of advertisers has more than doubled from Tokyo and from the Rio games combined. So there's a healthy energy around advertising support. These numbers are good and NBC remember needs them as Comcast paid $7.6 billion for the media rights to the Olympics from the games from 2022 through 2032. The last NBC games for now will be in Brisbane 2032 summer games. But all in all, NBC five days in has to feel very good about the Olympics for Team USA. The Today Show leads with Simone Biles and the female gymnastics team. They also led with the surprise performance by the US rugby team. Right now the US leads in the metal cow as of this morning with 26. Now they don't lead with the most gold medals but just an overall medals. But for now Team USA NBC has to feel very good about their performance in Paris. Cosm is a company that you should be keeping an eye on. They offer immersive viewing experiences in venues. I tried it in a test facility in California and came away really blown away because you are so up close part of the action it's a really visceral experience in watching sports. So they have some new news and that they've raised over $250 million in a new funding round with support from some of the most notable investors in sports. We're talking team owners like Mark Lassery, Dan Gilbert and David Blitzer. This new funding round values Cosm at more than a billion dollars. So very impressive here. And now as part of this, Mark Lassery and Rock Entertainment Group CEO Nick Barlidge who of course works for Dan Gilbert have received board seats on Cosm. And so this new funding will support the advancement of Cosm's technology and their media business as well as develop future venues. Their first venue is in Los Angeles. That opened about a month ago. Its second venue is slated for Dallas in the fall and Cosm also announced plans to open a third venue in Atlanta's Centennial Yards development. They also are looking at venues in Miami, Nashville and New York and they want to have 50 venues by the end of the decade. So there's a big real estate play here but investors also like the unique concept. Like I said, if you have not experienced the facility you need to. They're creating a sports viewing experience unlike anything I've ever seen. You are so up close and the experience is really kind of an assault on the census and you watch sports in just a different way. So again, Cosm getting boosted by $250 million in a new funding round. Let's shift to the NFL because the league is in court today on Wednesday. They hope to have the $4.7 billion verdict in the Sunday ticket antitrust trial thrown out in a Los Angeles courtroom. And it's the first time arguing the case in front of a federal judge since the jury's decision in late June. So they're hoping this judge will overturn this verdict if he decides to uphold the verdict. The NFL's liability could be or will be tripled to $14.1 billion under antitrust law. So today is a big day and the judge will also decide if he upholds the verdict, how much of that potential judgment the NFL would need to post in a bond to stay the ruling pending appeal because it's clear the NFL will continue to appeal but like we said, they'd have to post a bond and that could really stress the league financially even if they eventually win an appeal. So the league will argue today that the jury misunderstood the facts of the case and the NFL is hoping the judge rules in their favor but they are also asking that the verdict be reduced or a new trial be ordered. Most observers think any conclusions are unlikely for today, Wednesday, they expect the judge to have a written decision in the next few weeks but a big day in court today for the NFL. Let's talk about some facility development because the Tampa Bay Rays big day, they can move forward on its new ballpark as funding was approved for a mixed use development that could really transform downtown St. Petersburg. The Pinellas County Commission approved more than $300 million toward the design and building of a new ballpark. The funds are coming from tourist taxes and this is likely the end of a very long journey for the Rays and so now the Rays and its development partner Hines will move forward in what will be one of the biggest development projects in the southeast as of this time. There'll be apartments, office space, hotels, a museum, huge project. It's estimated to cost in total $6.5 billion in public and private investment. The ballpark will cost about $1.3 billion of that. The Rays are covering $700 million and cost overruns so they plan to begin building it early in 2025 and they want to have it ready for opening day in 28 but a big, big day for the Tampa Bay Rays moving forward on a new ballpark. Meanwhile, it's a slower go for another stadium development. The one hoped for by the Chicago Bears. Illinois Governor Jay B. Pritzer said that there is almost no chance that a deal will get done this year on a new stadium for the Bears and by the sounds of it, they are still a long way away from any agreement because Governor Pritzer said the Bears have yet to make a proposal that he believes would be acceptable to state leaders. Now remember, Bears CEO Kevin Warren had said this summer and this fall would be critical for the stadium proposal and now everything is getting pushed back into 2025. Pritzer has called the Bears proposal a non-starter. He's been very vocal in his opposition and using public funds to build stadiums so the Bears are going to have to keep trying to move this forward to persuade state leaders. But, but, but remember, the idea of Arlington Heights and the Bears relocating to the suburbs is still an option for the team if they cannot get traction on a new stadium in downtown Chicago. So a lot of moving parts with the Bears in Chicago for a new facility. And so that is your morning buzzcast for Wednesday, July 31st. I'm Abe Madcore. Thanks for listening to the buzzcast. Keep me posted on your thoughts about the Olympics. Remember, stay healthy, be good to each other, and I'll speak to you tomorrow. [MUSIC]