How cool would an Old Hickory bat with your name engraved on it look in your office or den? Find out how you can win a free one from FOS in our giveaway section below!
|
|
|
|
Los Angeles Rams/Design: Alex Brooks
|
|
NBCU has already sold 85% of its in-game advertising inventory for Super Bowl LVI. It’s the largest round of sports upfront negotiations in company history, according to Adweek.
NBCU pocketed more than $1.5 billion in total digital video ad sales this upfront, which is a 20% increase compared to 2019. The company’s streaming service, Peacock, reeled in $500 million of that total.
NBCU surpassed Fox for the largest Super Bowl upfront of the decade. NBCU secured as much as $6 million per 30-second spot, a 9% increase compared to what CBS charged to advertise during Super Bowl LV.
- Fox sold 78% of its in-game ad inventory in November of 2019, prior to Super Bowl LIV. Nine days later, remaining spots completely sold out.
- CBS generated roughly $545 million of in-game advertising for a total of 57 minutes, including promos, national, and local spots, according to Kantar.
NBCU increased the asking price for in-game ads on the heels of declining NFL viewership.
Regular-season viewership dropped 7% to 15.4 million fans for live or same-day viewers — the lowest average since 2017, according to Nielsen. February’s Super Bowl between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs recorded only 96.4 million viewers — the lowest since 2007.
NBC signed a 10-year media rights deal with the NFL in March, paying the league $2 billion annually.
The network will retain its “Sunday Night Football” package and hold rights to broadcast the Super Bowl in 2026, 2030, and 2034.
|
|
|
|
|
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports/Design: Alex Brooks
|
|
Ares Capital Management has invested over $1 billion in sports this year. Now it’s looking to more than double that figure.
The Los Angeles-based investment firm controlling $239 billion in assets laid out plans for a $1.5 billion sports, media, and entertainment fund. Ares has put in $100 million into the fund and is raising the remaining $1.4 billion.
Ares’ co-founders are both team owners: Chairman Tony Ressler owns the Atlanta Hawks, and partner Bennett Rosenthal is co-managing owner of Major League Soccer’s LAFC.
With leagues and teams seeking to shore up pandemic-battered balance sheets, the firm has followed the lead of its founders.
- Ares has a minority stake in Atlético de Madrid.
- It bought around $100 million in debt from the San Diego Padres in March as part of the team’s $350 million capital raise.
- It secured credit facilities for the Ottawa Senators, Rugby Australia, and Professional Fighters League.
- It supplied a $100 million credit line to support Rawlings’ acquisition of Easton Diamond Sports in March.
- It participated in a $12.6 million Series A round for Meadowlark Media in April.
The fund’s advisory board will reportedly be made up of former ESPN president John Skipper, former NBA player and Hawks’ co-owner Grant Hill, former MLB player Mark Teixiera, Snapchat chairman Michael Lynton, Penske Motor Group CEO Greg Penske, and executive chairman of Sportsology Mike Forde.
|
|
|
|
|
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports/Design: Alex Brooks
|
|
New Zealand Rugby is reportedly in negotiations with Amazon to replace AIG as the All Blacks’ front jersey sponsor, according to the New Zealand Herald.
At $13.9 million, the deal would be the biggest jersey sponsorship in rugby history. NZR’s current deal, set to expire this year, is estimated to be worth $12 million.
Though Amazon is best known as an e-commerce site, the tech giant continues to expand into sports.
- February: Amazon Web Services became the official cloud, AI, and machine learnings infrastructure provider of the NHL.
- March: Secured its first exclusive NFL deal to broadcast “Thursday Night Football” at $1 billion per season.
- May: Secured exclusive streaming rights to 16 WNBA games per season.
- June: Signed a three-year deal to broadcast Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 games for $333.2 million per year.
Amazon is no stranger to rugby, having bought broadcast rights for the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup and produced the 2017 “All or Nothing” docu-series featuring the All Blacks.
The company will forgo using its logo in favor of promoting The Climate Pledge initiative, which aims to hold companies accountable in regard to the Paris Agreement on climate change.
In June 2020, Amazon agreed to a naming rights deal for Seattle’s new downtown arena, for between $300 million and $400 million. The Climate Pledge Arena will be home to the Seattle Storm and Seattle Kraken.
UK-based Ineos recently made a deal to become a secondary All Blacks sponsor for an estimated $5.7 million each year.
|
|
|
|
- As first reported by Front Office Sports, ESPN’s Maria Taylor is nearing a possible deal with rival NBC Sports. Taylor could host “Football Night in America” as Mike Tirico transitions to play-by-play.
- BBQGuys, an online retailer of grills backed by former NFL quarterbacks Eli and Peyton Manning, is in talks to go public via merger with Velocity that values the company at around $900 million.
- Social media followers of NBA teams grew 4.7% during the season up to 496 million. Followers of NBA players grew 4.9%, reaching 768 million.
- A running feud with Bryson DeChambeau isn’t the only reason to keep an eye on Brooks Koepka during The Open Championship. The World No. 8 has made some serious bank in majors — winning four in three years. Get this story and more in Sports Section, a free daily newsletter. Click here to subscribe.
|
|
|
U.S. stocks were mixed on Thursday. Here’s a look at how sports-related stocks performed:
Up:
Vista Outdoor Inc. (NYSE: VSTO) gained 1.02%
Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE: PLNT) gained 0.96%
Penn National Gaming, Inc. (NASDAQ: PENN) gained 0.85%
Down:
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) dropped 7.01%
Genesco Inc. (NYSE: GCO) dropped 5.66%
Scientific Games Corporation (NASDAQ: SGMS) dropped 5.44%
(Note: All as of market close on 7/15/21)
|
|
|
The New York Yankees (46-43) host the Boston Red Sox (55-36) tonight at Yankee Stadium.
How to Watch:
7:08 p.m. ET on ESPN
Betting Odds:
Yankees -1.5 || ML -120 || O/U 10*
Pick: The Yankees are back in the swing of things after the break. Take NY to cover and lean under.
Who ya got? Reply to this newsletter with your prediction for the Red Sox-Yankees winner, final score, and home run hitter(s). Nail it, and you get a mention in Friday’s FOS PM edition. Don’t forget to include your Twitter handle.
Shoutout: On Wednesday, we asked readers to make predictions for Suns-Bucks. The Bucks beat the Suns 109-103 despite Devin Booker’s game-high 42 points.
*Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.
|
|
|
Want to win an Old Hickory bat with your name engraved in it? Refer your friends and colleagues to Front Office Sports and you could! One referral = one entry.
It’s easy to spread the word. Copy and paste your unique link below and share it in an email or on your timeline.
Your custom referral link: [RH_REFLINK]
Or use these one-tap sharing methods:
Email // Twitter // Facebook
|
|
|
