As the world came to a halt in March, uncertainty swirled about the shutdown’s impact on the $100 billion U.S. sports industry. According to an ESPN report, 3 million sports-related jobs are at risk and the industry could take a $12 billion hit.

The report assumes that MLB and MLS resume at least half their seasons, while the NBA and NHL regular seasons would be canceled and playoffs played without fans.

Key Loses

• $3.25 billion fans would have spent on sports
• $371 million in wages
• $2.2 billion in TV revenue
• $2.4 billion in youth sports tourism

Damage by Level

• Pro Sports: $5.5 billion
• College: $3.9 billion
• Youth: $2.4 billion

Whether or not the football calendar is affected adds another dimension to the situation. Each NFL regular-season game generates approximately $24 million in TV revenue and the 65 Power 5 football programs bring in about $5 billion in revenue, according to ESPN.

With DraftKings going public in April, shareholders of the company’s stock were disclosed. One of those? The Walt Disney Company.

Disney acquired more than 18.2 million shares – roughly 6% of DraftKings – through its 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox, which had originally invested $160 million into the sports betting company in 2015. That stake is currently worth more than $360 million, based on DraftKings stock closing at $20.12 on Friday.

In 2015, ESPN backed out of a deal to invest $250 million for a roughly 20% stake in DraftKings because Disney did not want to be involved in a gambling-adjacent industry, according to the New York Times. In a February 2019 Disney earnings call, then-Disney CEO and Chairman Bob Iger said, “I don’t see The Walt Disney Company, certainly in the near term, getting involved in the business of gambling, in effect, by facilitating gambling in any way.”

Disney’s holdings in DraftKings does not necessarily mean that the company wants to do more in sports betting. Dustin Gouker, who oversees U.S. sports betting content for Cantena Media explained, “Given Disney’s opposition to gambling historically, it’s certainly interesting they still hold a piece of the company. It’s also a very small part of the Disney portfolio, in the grand scheme of things, even though it’s a sizable chunk of DraftKings.”

While leagues contemplate the where, when and how to bring back sports, MGM Resorts International is pitching Las Vegas as a potential location.

The New York Times detailed MGM’s pitch to leagues, including the NBA, WNBA, NHL and MLS, for a quarantined return that would bring the leagues to the Las Vegas area. The proposal includes a quarantined campus that would house players, staff, broadcast and service vendors.

On an earnings call on April 30th, MGM Acting CEO Bill Hornbuckle said, “We have been in an ongoing dialogue with leagues and other sporting activities around televised-only events — I think boxing, MMA, NBA, NHL, etc. — and we can host some of that.” MGM’s share price fell 11% on Friday after revealing a 29% year-over-year drop in earnings for the first three months of the year.

Las Vegas is desperate for an economic windfall as the tourism and convention industries have ground to a halt, March Madness betting dried up and it missed out on the NFL Draft. The city’s jobless rate is estimated to be at 25%, so any boost to the hospitality industry would be welcomed. 

A federal district court dismissed a major portion of an unequal pay lawsuit filed by the U.S. Women’s National Team on Friday by granting summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Soccer Federation. The USWNT players were seeking $66 million in damages.

Judge R. Gary Klausner’s ruling cited the filing’s undisputed fact that the women’s national team averaged more in per-game and total payments over the 2015-2019 period in question. The women’s team argued they were paid lower bonuses for friendlies, World Cup-related games, and other tournaments, and that they would have made more under the men’s team’s collective bargaining agreement than they did under their own CBA.

The women’s national team averaged $220,747 per game in total payments (for a total of $24.5 million) in the period, while the men’s national team averaged $212,639 per game in total payments (for a total of $18.5 million).

In ruling on the pay issue, Judge Klausner noted that the women’s national team rejected an offer to be paid under the same model as the men’s team in favor of more guaranteed money, year-round salary and benefits. The USWNT CBA includes guaranteed annual salaries of at least $100,000 for 20 contracted players, while the men are paid only if they are called into camp and then participate in a match.

A trial for the remaining portions of the lawsuit, which includes allegations of differences in travel and hotel accommodations, is set to begin in June. A PDF of the full ruling is available here.