SBJ Morning Buzzcast
SBJ Morning Buzzcast: July 18, 2024
(upbeat music) - This is your morning buzz cast for Thursday, July 18th. Good morning, I'm Abe Madcore. Let's get right to it today. Thursday is a very big day for the Tampa Bay race. As the St. Petersburg City Council is set to decide on whether to approve a new ballpark plan for the baseball team, a vote that could move forward the team's proposed 30,000-seat ballpark in St. Pete's historic gas plant district. Now, overall, it's a $1.3 billion project. It is a big effort. The city of St. Pete would contribute roughly $287 million through bonds. Pinellas County would contribute more than 300 million from tourists' taxes. And the race, well, they would contribute $600 million towards this effort. And it's not just a ballpark. Of course, over time, it would be an extensive mixed-use development. So again, a very big day, a very big vote on the future of the race in St. Pete, the race hosted an event Wednesday night. It was called Here to Stay. And it was in St. Pete, and it featured team leaders and community figures, and team owner Stu Sternberg was on site. So again, we'll have more tomorrow, but a very big day that could determine the future of the race in St. Petersburg. You know, another day, another record-breaking deal in sports, as Bob Iger and his wife, Will Obey, formally acquired a controlling interest in the NWSL's Angel City. Now, the deal gives the team an enterprise value of $250 million, far and away a record for a women's sports team. Other figures show after a investment of $50 million in new capital, the team is worth $300 million. So all these different valuations. But the bottom line is Bay and Iger brings stability to Angel City. They bring star power. This is a very significant deal for the NWSL. And for sports business. Now Bay and Iger's total investment in the team will be at least $88 million. And that figure could likely increase as Angel City shareholders are given the opportunity to sell their equity in the team to Bay and Iger. So Angel City is a very strong story. They have led the NWSL and most business metrics since debuting in 2022. Now the club generated around $30 million in top line revenue last year. Very strong ticket sales, very strong sponsorship sales. And now there is $50 million in new capital to invest in the team to fund operations. And again, Bay and Iger brings stability to a pretty, I would say, fractious ownership group. There was a lot of competing interests and opinions. And now that seems to end with these two taking the lead. Willow Bay will be Angel City's control owner. Bottom line, a very big deal in sports circles and a very significant deal for the NWSL. If you're Jessica Berman, now you have Bob Iger and Willow Bay in your ownership group. Whew, that is a big, big addition. More private equity coming into sports as former Bucks co-owner Mark Lazary's Avenue Sports Fund has taken a minority stake in Track House Entertainment Group. That is the Motorsports Company founded by Justin Mark. So of course, Track House Racing, Pitbull was a part of that. They have been a very interesting new addition over the last few years to Motorsports. So Mark Lazary will invest. They didn't say the amount he is investing. They only said it was a sizable investment. Now Mark Lazary's group, Avenue Sports, has made investments in Pitbull, and they were part of a group that invested into a sale GP United States team. So Justin Marks and Track House now have some new investment. Like I said, they have brought some new thinking to NASCAR, and they've been trying a lot of new things. And they've opened up a lot of eyes among other teams and NASCAR officials. So now they'll use these funds from Avenue Sports in several areas, including investing in technology to boost performance on the track, and they'll also look at ways to boost fan engagement. So Mark Lazary investing into Motorsports Company Track House Entertainment Group. I was at a dinner last night with some sports business executives, and we went around the table on some of the top sports business topics of the day. When it came to baseball, virtually every one of the dinner guests was very supportive. And in our game of buy, sell, hold, baseball was a buy for them, which was surprising. They weren't in baseball, but they were from a strong baseball market and felt the league is poised for growth. And one of the topics they mentioned was the star power. Coming up in the league, and they noted the all-star game with Paul Skeens, Shohei Otani, and so many other young players. So closing the loop on Tuesday's all-star game, it drew about 7.4 million viewers on Fox. That is up 6% from last year, but it's also the second lowest for MLB's all-star game ever. And it's down slightly from the 22 game in Los Angeles. But that might be the figure, the viewership where MLB all-star game settles into. In terms of viewership, it's not what it used to be, but it will be one of the highest rated events of the summer. It will be the highest rated all-star event of the top major leagues. And for baseball, the all-star week should be considered a success. They showed off their new generation of talent, and the league goes into the second half of its season with some strong storylines that we'll be following here on the buzz cast. You know, I was just watching the preview of NBC's Today Show this morning, and part of their intro was a look at the 14-year-old young man, Kevin Sullivan, who made history last night in the Philadelphia Unions match against New England Revolution. He became the youngest player to ever appear in an MLS game, and the youngest to ever appear in any major team sports league. So a hat tip to the youth. So the union signed the 14-year-old Sullivan earlier this year to a four-year deal worth around $500,000 a year. He is committed to move to the Premier League's Manchester City when he turns 18 in 2027. So Man City already signed him, and he'll play there once he turns 18, but for the next few years, he'll be with the Philadelphia Union. He made his debut last night, and like I said, he's already getting national attention from national outlets like NBC's Today Show. Sullivan is represented by Wasserman Stan Siegel. He's an Adidas endorser. You'll obviously hear his name a lot, and so you'll obviously want to be following the career of 14-year-old Kaven Sullivan. Some executive changes at NASCAR as part of a major restructuring as President Steve Phelps reorganized his staff more than six months before the 25 NASCAR season begins with new television partners. The names to know, Brian Hurst, Tim Clark, Ben Kennedy, Scott Prime, and Michelle Byron. Those five are taking on greater roles and responsibilities as they will work under COO Steve O'Donnell in really shaping the operation and business of NASCAR. These moves allow Steve Phelps to focus on larger strategic vision and global expansion of NASCAR's business. So very quickly, Brian Hurst will take on a larger revenue role. Ben Kennedy will take on a larger role on racing and racing venues. Michelle Byron will take on a larger role when it comes to partnership and licensing. Tim Clark will take on more responsibilities when it comes to marketing and communications in addition to his digital oversight, and the former McKinsey executive, Scott Prime, becomes SVP of global strategy. In addition, longtime NASCAR executive Eric Nyquist leads NASCAR's efforts on sustainability and DE&I. So some pretty big executive changes at NASCAR, that Steve Phelps believes has a better prepared for the future. And finally, a champion of sports business died on Wednesday. I have to say my heart sank when I woke up to this news as my friend Pat Williams, who was a co-founder of the Orlando Magic and spent more than 50 years working within the NBA, died at the age of 84 on Wednesday. The Pat Williams story is amazing. I certainly will not give a justice here on the bus gas, so I encourage you to read some of his obits and even our champions profile when SBJ honored him just a few years ago. He lived an extraordinary life. He started his NBA career as a business manager of the Philadelphia 76ers in 1968. He was general manager of the Chicago Bulls. He was general manager of the Atlanta Hawks, all at a very young age. He went back to the 76ers and was part of a group that brought Dr. J from the NBA to the NBA and also part of the group that brought a title to Philadelphia in 1983 with the Sixers. After Philadelphia, he went to Florida and led the process of bringing the magic to Orlando in 1989 and you just can't overlook the importance of bringing the NBA to that market. Remember what he did around Anthony Hardaway? Shaquille O'Neal, Dwight Howard, Pat Williams did so much for that franchise and for the NBA, but he was also a Renaissance man. He was a person of the world. He wrote more than a hundred books. He ran 58 marathons. He and his wife Ruth have 19 children, 14 of whom they adopted from foreign countries. Pat Williams was an extraordinary man, an extraordinary leader. He was such a sports business pioneer. I will never forget my experiences with Pat Williams. And like I said, I encourage you to read up and learn more about a pretty special individual dead at the age of 84. And so that is your morning buzz cast for Thursday, July 18th. I made Mad Corps. Thanks for listening to the buzz cast. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)