SBJ Morning Buzzcast
SBJ Morning Buzzcast: June 21, 2024
(upbeat music) - Good morning, it's Friday, June 21st, and this is your morning buzzcast from Sports Business Journal. I'm Ted Keith, stepping in for A-Mad Gore who is in Los Angeles. I'm coming to you again today from Birmingham, Alabama, just hours after Major League Baseball closed a highly successful week honoring the Negro leagues with its first ever game at Rickwood Field. Shortly after the game ended, I caught up with MLB Chief Operations and Strategy Officer Chris Marenak, and he shared with me the three things that the league needed to go right in order to ensure that the event would be a success. Venue, fan experience, and a compelling storyline. We really lucked out with all three things he said. Let's start by looking at the venue. Rickwood Field looks and feels like the 114-year-old building it is, but in a charming way, and it doesn't ever feel dilapidated. MLB and its partners did a terrific job upgrading the playing surfaces, the dugouts, even the warning track, all of which looked and felt like they could have been in any of the league's 30 ballparks. Broadcast positions, new lighting, fresh paint, period-appropriate signage on the outfield walls, it all made for a perfect mix of past and present. Then there was the fan experience. The displays honoring the Negro leagues outside the gates were well presented. Once inside, there was more history to soak in, starting with the handwritten lineup chalkboard greeting you as you stepped through the main entrance. Legends had set up its merchandise tents on the perimeter of the ballpark, heavily air-conditioned, thankfully, no doubt a welcome draw for fans looking for a break from the punishing temperature, which checked in at 89 degrees on first pitch. And there were copious amounts of concessions available outside so that no line was ever too long. Finally, MLB wanted a compelling storyline, and it certainly got that, though not in the way it wanted. The evening was already scheduled to include players from the Giants and Cardinals, escorting living Negro Leaguers to the field for a pre-game ceremony. But when Giants legend Willie Mays died on Tuesday, the event suddenly took on the feel of a wake with many of the say-hey kids' contemporaries in attendance. Not that it was a somber affair far from it, in fact. With Grammy and Oscar-winning songwriter John Batiste leading the way, improving himself to be a five-tool performer in his own right, with piano and guitar being just two of the instruments he played, the event struck exactly the right balance between respectful and somber. It didn't hurt that Fox got a close and well-played game won by the Cardinals. Oh, the weather was great too. Before Rick would field had emptied out, folks were already wondering when MLB could come back for an encore. Here's hoping it will. As Ernie Banks, another former Negro Leaguer turned MLB legend used to say, "Let's play two." Or if you're the NHL, how about six? Unlikely as it might have seen when the Florida Panthers jumped to a three games to none lead in the Stanley Cup final, there will in fact be a game six held tonight in Edmonton. If the Oilers can successfully defend their home ice, they will force just a second game seven in the last 13 cup finals. That is great news for ABC. Through the first five games, ABC is averaging 3.4 million total viewers, up 31% compared to last year's series, which aired on TNT. For the entire playoffs, the ESPN platforms are averaging 1.6 million total viewers, up a staggering 43% compared to the average in 2023. If there is a game seven, it will take place back in Florida on Monday at Amor and Pank Arena, where the team's playoff run has pushed it over one million fans in attendance for the first time. I'm betting the organization would be just fine with not adding to that total this season. Elsewhere in the hockey world, the Los Angeles Kings unveiled a new logo yesterday that is straight out of its wing Gretzky era. The black and silver color scheme remains, but one look at this and you'll be half expecting Gretzky to go zooming up the ice looking for Luke Roboty on the wing. The New Jersey's will be introduced next week. It'll be interesting to see how they sell. Nostalgia is always a popular selling point, but are these enough of a call back to evoke that sentiment in the team's fans? Or are they gonna be seen as just another variation of a theme that's been in existence for more than 30 years? The King's new branding proclaims "Legacy Moves Us Forward." Their Crypto.com arena co-tenants, the Los Angeles Lakers, have one of the richest legacies in sports, but they're making their own forward move this week by moving in what might be a risky direction. Yesterday, the team announced the hiring of JJ Redick as its new head coach. Redick, a college star and longtime NBA player has never been a coach at any level, but he had developed a successful brand as a communicator and exes and owes master through his podcast and his work as an analyst with ESPN. Next up for the Lakers, see if they can retain Redick's podcast, Powell, LeBron James, as he hits free agency. The guess here is that even if their mind the game pod goes on hiatus, JJ and LBJ will still be working together. Redick's departure from broadcast and creates an opening on Disney's lead NBA team. After 15 years of stability with Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson and Mike Breen, ESPN has now lost both Doc Rivers and Redick to NBA head coaching jobs. Could longtime NBA player Richard Jefferson get a shot? How about Monica McNutt, who has elevated her profile on first take? Or maybe ESPN just goes with the two-person team in Breen and Doris Burke, at least for one season? We'll end with more basketball, college basketball. On Wednesday, NCAA officials presented a plan to expand the men's tournament to either 72 or 76 teams with additional at-large selections and another first foresight. This wouldn't necessarily be a revenue play as media partners, CBS and Turner are not obligated to increase their rights via the tournament expands. But even though this proposal wouldn't go into effect until the 2025-26 season, it's starting to feel like an expanded tournament is inevitable. And if it is, so be it. The tournament is wonderful just the way it is, but there's no reason to think 72 or 76 teams will be anything less than wonderful too. That's certainly the bet the NCAA seems to be making, and I think they'll be proven right. This has been your morning buzz cast for Friday, June 21st. I'm Ted Keith. Have a great weekend. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)