Greetings again to The Inning, our recurrent roundup of all things athletics commerce. Among those making headlines this week: Rob Manfred, Ken Rosenthal, Andrew Marchand, Cal “Big Dumper” Raleigh, Patrick Zalupski, Mario Lemieux, TravisMathew, Cole Palmer, Gianni Infantino, Caitlin Clark, JuJu Watkins, Laurent Mekies, Bill Ackman, Scottie Scheffler, Paul Finebaum, UNO, and many more. Moving onto our main discussion: a promising strategy to advance televised MLB sports.
Last night’s MLB All-Star game captured our attention not only for its excitement, but also for the fresh, game-ending ‘Home Run Swing-Off’. This innovative move resulted in reactions from players reminiscent of youthful excitement. A much-needed step considering MLB’s current struggles with its broadcast strategy which include accessibility for fans, cost of subscription to all MLB platforms and inexplicable blackouts. ESPN, for instance, has momentarily discontinued its services.
Envision a single service that broadcasts local games around the nation, accessible via each streaming platform for a fair monthly fee. Now that’s an idea. However, the situation gets complex as we delve into the fluctuating landscape of sports media, but let’s keep our focus on the main elements.
While wrapping up on the hottest updates in sports commerce, some noteworthy developments include NBA’s expansion plans. Adam Silver hints at detailed analysis for expansion within NBA Summer League, an initiative they never entertained before. An update on the MLB situation at midseason reveals Manfred’s desire for a salary cap opposed by the players union.
A significant news on the horizon is the anticipated sale of Tampa Bay Rays. While $1.7B might not match the Lakers’ stratospheric $10B, the potential ownership by Jacksonville developer, Patrick Zalupski, may foster an amalgamation of zeal and steadiness to secure a stadium agreement and permit MLB’s foremost creative office to press ahead.
A related update indicates that should the Rays advance to the playoffs, their games would be hosted at the relatively small Steinbrenner Field (capacity: 10,046). These announcements indicate significant fluctuations in the world of MLB.
In another headline, Formula 1 looks like it’s on its way to Apple with a substantial fee rise to the tune of $120M-$150M, a marked increase from the previous ESPN deal. Is this a strategic over-investment by Apple? Only time will tell if such a massive spend on IP acquisition pays off and breaks the ‘revenue > reach’ curse previously seen with MLS and MLB.
Hot on the heels of this news, YouTube golf sensation, Grant Horvat has declined a sponsor invitation to play at the PGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship. The reason? PGA won’t let him bring along his own crew to record competition rounds due to some restrictions imposed by its media-rights deals.
Turning our glance towards other currently trending themes in sports business, we have the impending marketing campaign for HR Derby champ Cal “Big Dumper” Raleigh, Mario Lemieux’s recent reacquisition of the Penguins, the buzz surrounding the TravisMathew Guinness limited edition golf shoe, and some chatter around Cole Palmer’s brand.
Now, did the Club World Cup achieve the desired success? Chelsea emerged victorious with a hefty portion of the $1B prize pool, yet there’s an argument that FIFA’s Gianni Infantino may have been the true winner, despite the tournament’s mixed reviews.
Described as a ‘qualified success’ by some, Infantino is sure to tout the event as an enormous triumph. After all, the event generated a massive $2.1 billion in revenue, drew a crowd of over 80,000 for the final, had 16 games with attendance exceeding 60,000, and the broadcast deal alone was valued at $1 billion.
Several concerns remain however, including the plummeting ticket prices and controversial connections to Saudi Arabian broadcast and sponsorship deals. Thus, the real question may be whether such success can be sustained in the future, given the considerable prize money expectation from clubs.
Ending on a fun note, a vibrant shift in Las Vegas gaming has been sparked by the introduction of the family-favorite game UNO, pulling in gamers at The Palms for a viral gimmick event. Honorable mention to Puma, who renewed its jersey deal with Man City, setting the record for the largest deal in the Premier League, with a staggering value of over a billion dollars for the decade-long contract.