SBJ Morning Buzzcast
SBJ Morning Buzzcast: June 25, 2024
(upbeat music) While I am fortunate to go to plenty of sports events, there are always still a few sports events that I watch and really truly wish I was there in person. Last night was one of them. The energy at Emmerit Bank Arena, home of the Florida Panthers, off the charts, you could feel it through the ABC ESPN broadcasts. Also, so many Edmonton Euler fans were there. They had purchase tickets for the game, and during the opening anthem, it was audible. They out-saying O Canada over Alanis Morissette. And then Panthers fans did their own best efforts during the star spangled banner, and she was visibly surprised and almost enjoying it and feeding off it. Unreal visuals, Unreal fan engagement, and a thrilling end to the NHL season. Congratulations to the Florida Panthers for their first Stanley Cup. And as my colleague Rick Ellington wanted me to be sure and point out, the first in the team's 31 year, 30 season history. That's a little inside Panther history there. And this is your morning buzzcast for Tuesday, June 25th. I made Matt Corps breaking news out of Arizona is that Alex Morello is ending his pursuit for a new hockey arena to lure an NHL team back to Phoenix. Multiple sources that ownership addressed Coyote staff on Monday telling them that they have no plans to pursue further arena options. This comes after the Arizona State Land Department canceled an auction, which Morello hoped to win. And that would be a site for a new hockey arena and entertainment district. But Morello doesn't have a lot of local support. There's a lot of opposition. And he apparently feels it's not worth going forward to try to bring a franchise back to Arizona. We'll see how the NHL moves next. I am sure there will be groups interested in bringing the NHL back to Phoenix under the right circumstances with an arena solution. And so we will have to see how the NHL reassesses future bidding. But right now, it looks like Alex Morello is calling it quits to bring an NHL team back to Phoenix. SBJ's Ben Portenoy and Austin Carp were first to report yesterday that the big East is close to signing a new set of six year media rights deals could be announced as soon as this week, it'll see Fox, NBC, and TNT takeover starting with the 25, 26 school year through the 30, 31 year. Financial terms were still being finalized at press time. Now remember, Fox and CBS have one more year remaining on a 12 year, $500 million deal with the big East. That comes out to around $41.6 million a year. So Fox will continue as the lead A network in the new deal. But CBS, which has long been a Big East partner, will not return to the conference, but the conference gets new partners in NBC and TNT and will chart the rights fee increase as more details become available. But this would be a big deal for the big East. You know, I wanna give a real hat tip to US swimming CEO Tim Hinchy and his entire team at US swimming as setting up a temporary pool inside Lucas Oil Stadium for the US Olympic swimming trials, which ended Sunday, was a huge hit. And I'll just say, you won't see any future swim trials at small venues. No, those days are done. The week long trials drew nearly 300,000 fans, two indie, two sessions drew crowds of more than 20,000. Yes, that's for swimming trials. And you know what a boost those ticket sales are to US Swimming's top and bottom line. They were really able to monetize this. And the swimmers also raved about it. Katie Ledecky called it awesome and it blew away everybody's expectations. So seeing 20,000 fans in a venue, generally reserved for NFL games, opened eyes across event operations and all organizers of events saw this. And you will see more and more of these type of events move to larger venues because they can draw and they become bigger spectacles. It just raised the level of event presentation. And it was nothing like swimming had ever seen before. And it's one reason why you saw LA 28 moving it's Olympic swim competition to SoFi Stadium. And again, I think what US Swimming did around Lucas Oil Stadium will be a model for the future. Let's move on. I've said before that I watch attendance figures because I believe it shows how sophisticated or appealing a business or product is. And one story over the last few years is how strong MLS clubs have been in selling tickets. So far this year, MLS is averaging more than 23,000 fans per match. That's up 7% from the same point last year, 20 of the leagues, 29 teams have seen year over year increases. And of course, yes, I get it. Lionel Messi, he is making a huge difference. He had yet to join the league at this point last season. I understand that. But remember, MLS has also launched a club performance group that helps teams improve business fundamentals with a particular emphasis on ticket sales. And so clubs are just smarter and they're more effective in segmentation and pricing. And I do think MLS is more consistent schedule under which most matches start at 7.30 p.m. local time on a Saturday evening has also helped. But yes, no doubt about it. Messi has really helped because the teams with the biggest increases have all greatly benefited from playing into Miami. Vancouver white caps were up 82%. The New England Revolution, which of course drew heavy when Messi was in Foxboro, up 33%. Sporting KC, remember they moved that match to Arrowhead Stadium. They're up 28%. And Inner Miami themselves are up 27%. In addition, I passed one. The Chicago fire also up close to 30%. And they largely benefited from an appearance by Inner Miami. So yes, bottom line MLS attendance is up, largely due to Messi, of course. But MLS teams are also much smarter and more sophisticated in their business fundamentals. You know, let's close a loop on something we talked about Monday as the Charlotte City Council did approve $650 million to modernize Bank of America stadium. It was a seven to three vote Monday night. This deal keeps the Panthers and Charlotte FC in Charlotte, part of a 20 year tether agreement that will keep the teams in the city. Now, the renovation will be funded by revenue from hospitality and tourism taxes. The county and the state are not contributing to this project. Tepper sports and entertainment will be responsible for any cost overruns. And so we've seen cost overruns in other developments. So we'll have to keep an eye on that here. Yes, there's more to do, but this work should begin in 2025 and continue through 2029, a big step forward for Tepper sports and entertainment to modernize an urban building in a very active Southeast quarter part of the country. And so that project will be moving forward. Another project moving forward is at Northwestern. They broke ground on its new Ryan Field football stadium, although work has been underway for months. Now, this is a $800 million privately funded stadium. It'll open in 2026. The school released several new renderings of the design. It looks very, very cool. It'll seat 35,000. It'll be surrounded by a community park and public green spaces. Remember, the football team will play two seasons at a much, much smaller facility, largely used for lacrosse. They'll also play two games at Wrigley Field, but plans moving forward for a new $800 million stadium at Northwestern. And finally, I do want to end with this, a big promotion for one of the good leaders in sports business as Packers COO and General Counsel Ed Policy was named CEO of the team. By the Packers Board of Directors, he will replace current CEO Mark Murphy in July of 2025. Remember, Mark Murphy, another strong leader in sports business, will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 next year, so Ed Policy will replace him. Ed Policy, a very accomplished executive. He is the son of longtime NFL executive Carmen Policy. Ed Policy was an SPJ 40 under 40 Hall of Famer. He made our list three times. He went to Notre Dame. He went to Stanford. He joined the Packers in 2012 as General Counsel. He is currently 53 years old. He was responsible for development of the Packers, much talked about and heavily respected Title Town District, which is west of Lambo Field. The Packers did a very extensive search. They considered more than 90 prospects, applicants, and referrals across sports, media, and entertainment. But Ed Policy will now handle the reigns of the Packers, a great high profile position for one of the most storied brands in all of sports. So congratulations go to Ed Policy. I will fly to Atlanta later today. I will be speaking at the Atlanta Business Chronicles Business of Sports event at the Overtime Elite Arena on Wednesday. I am sure that'll be a great event. I think they have close to 300 people. And if you're there in Atlanta, I would love to say hello. Austin Carp will bring you the buzzcast Wednesday and Thursday. I'll be back on Friday. And so that is your morning buzzcast for Tuesday, June 25th. I made Matt Corps. Stay healthy. Be good to each other. I'll speak to you later in the week. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)