SBJ Morning Buzzcast
SBJ Morning Buzzcast: July 9, 2024
(upbeat music) This is your morning buscast for Tuesday, July 9th. I made Matt Corps. Thanks for listening to the buscast. Get ready for a lot of talk about the state of college sports. As conference media days are beginning to take place, starting today, Tuesday, as the big 12 meets the media in Las Vegas. Yes, the first time that conference will hold its media day in that city. There will be a ton of interest in news coming out of this event for several reasons. One, it's based in Vegas and not the traditional Dallas Fort Worth area for the big 12. Two, Commissioner Breit Jormark always likes to make news. And he will be asked about his vision for growing the conference. And you could get more news about the big 12's plans for potentially selling naming rights to the conference and allowing private equity investment. Your mark is a newsmaker. And that's what media days are intended for. And we're going to see more and more questions and comments about the state of college athletics over the next few weeks, starting today with the big 12. On Monday's buscast, we talked about an eventual new arena, new home for the Boston Celtics. And that is not the only new facility that could be built. And what would be a major development for Major League Soccer in the New England market? A new waterfront stadium could be moving forward outside of Boston in a plan unveiled by the craft group that will be addressed by Massachusetts leaders this week. So a potential new home for the revolution would be on the Mystic River in Everett. And there will be a hearing this week about legislation that would move that $500 million project forward. So why is this so important? Well, since the team launched in 1996, the revolution had played in Foxboro. But more and more MLS clubs have obviously built soccer-specific stadiums. And the revolution are one of just four MLS teams in the US to play still in a football or NFL stadium. In addition, Boston is an original market for Major League Soccer, and one that MLS would love to make even stronger. And a new soccer-specific stadium could likely do that. I could see a new facility outside Boston drawing a much more diverse fan base than that which goes to Foxboro today. Early word has the stadium could see as many as $25,000. That's a bit higher than some MLS clubs. But no final number has been established. There is a long way to go here. But securing any long-term new home for the revolution, that would be a big step forward for the franchise and Major League Soccer. I hear from so many listeners who want to go to Wimbledon. And I agree with the new work they've done on the grounds, it looks great. And what a treat to take in tennis at the All England Club. So far this year, though, attendance has been dampered by the weather. Attendance for the first week, down nearly 4% from last year, certainly rain has played a role in interrupting play on several days. The total week one attendance was just over 280,000 fans. That's almost 11,000 less than a year ago to get a feel for the daily numbers Friday. Let's take that as an example. It was one of the lowest for Friday ever. Just over 36,000 fans, play was interrupted by rain. But that just gives you a sense. The comparable figure from last year on that Friday was 42,000. So those are the numbers that will hit Wimbledon on a daily basis for comparison sake. The US Open and Queens in the fall, they'll see daily numbers over 60,000 fans on the grounds. Remember, they hit a record last year for 73,000 fans for a day session. The Australian Open, they can have as many as 90,000 fans on the grounds for some of the early days of the first week. And the French Open, of course, has far fewer fans than these other three Grand Slams because their facilities are tighter. But that just gives you a sense of the attendance numbers at the four tennis Grand Slams. But again, overall Wimbledon attendance for the first week down nearly 4% from last year. And in today's buzz cast, we have a number of key executive transactions to hit on. Just a few days after Katie Griggs announced her resignation as president of business operations for the Seattle Mariners, she was announced to the same role at the Baltimore Orioles. And one of the most talked about job openings in the sports business. For weeks, I have been asked who may be chosen to run the Orioles on the business side, a very good job in a good baseball market. Now, Elevate was doing the search and the team landed on Katie Griggs. She will be the first woman to hold that title for the Orioles just as she was the first to lead any baseball club's business department when the Mariners hired her in 2021. Now, she is expected to begin in Baltimore in mid-August. She'll work for David Rubenstein and the rest of the new ownership group. Now, Katie Griggs, we talked about her 40 under 40, a game changer. She wanted to be closer to her family on the East Coast. She worked for the Atlanta United. She went to Dartmouth. So the East Coast vibe is real. And so why is this job with the Baltimore Orioles so interesting for her? Well, you have David Rubenstein, who brings serious resources and huge passion to the Orioles. You have a team steeped in history and tradition in a market that when things go really well, this market cares about baseball. And you have one of the best ballparks ever built and one that will undergo a renovation. Sure, there is work to do. It's been a bit sleepy under former owner John Angelo's, but this marks a new era for the Baltimore Orioles. The team is very good and it has the ownership to support that success. Also on the executive front, the Carolina Hurricanes have named Doug Worf as their new team president, another position I was asked a lot about. He'll oversee the Hurricanes business operations and PNC arena. Now, this is a big job as well 'cause we've talked about the massive renovation and development around PNC arena in Raleigh and the big plans under owner Tom Dundin and Worf succeeds Don Waddell, who left to join the Blue Jackets. Now, Worf's background is a little unique. He was most recently president of a Raleigh based investment and management firm, but he is not a total newcomer to the Hurricanes. In fact, he spent 16 years on the staff. He started in sales. He actually was a marketing intern and worked his way to vice president before leaving. And now he's back as the new team president overseeing the Hurricanes and PNC arena and a very big and experienced hire at US Soccer. US Soccer clearly looking to leverage as much as they can to maximize the 2026 World Cup. They have hired former WWE and Manchester United marketer, Katherine Newman as its CMO. So she will report to Chief Commercial Officer David Wright. She started at US Soccer yesterday on Monday. Like I noted, she has strong experience. She was the first ever CMO of Manchester United, came to the United States and was EVP of marketing at the WWE. Like many of today's marketers, she says she'll be digital first. And one of her priorities is to grow the digital presence at US Soccer and have deeper relationships with fans. Now, Katherine Newman is among a number of US Soccer staff who will eventually relocate to just outside Atlanta ahead of the opening of the Federation's National Training Center and Business Headquarters. We've talked about that on the buzzcast and impressive new facility that will be a very big move for US Soccer to relocate everybody just outside of Atlanta. Katherine Newman, the new CMO of US Soccer, the Federation retained CAA to help assist in that search. And so that is your morning buzzcast for Tuesday, July 9th. I'm Abe Madcourt, thanks for listening to the buzzcast. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you on Wednesday. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)