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NFL Accused of ‘Reverse-Engineering’ Sunday Ticket Jury Award
Blasting the NFL for trying to “reverse-engineer” how a Los Angeles jury calculated the NFL must pay $4.7 billion in damages for Sunday Ticket antitrust violations, attorneys for the class action plaintiffs Wednesday urged the presiding judge to not “play Monday morning quarterback,” and instead deny the league’s motion for a judgment as a matter of law or new trial.NCAA House Settlement Delayed by 'Infighting,' Per Plaintiffs' Lawyer As Sportico detailed, the NFL maintains the jury in the federal Central District of California court reached a “nonsensical” and “irrational” decision to find liability and to award billions of dollars in damages in a class action...
NFL’s Trent Brown Wrangles D-Linemen and Cattle for a Living
Trent Brown has never played for the Dallas Cowboys, but he knows a thing or two about tending cattle.NFL Eyes Ratings Slide as Election Threatens to Upend Fall TV The Cincinnati Bengals hired the rancher this offseason to protect franchise quarterback Joe Burrow. But when the NFL veteran isn’t focused on passing schemes or slide protections, you can probably find him on his ranch back in Bastrop, east of Austin, Texas. At that three-stable property, he’s building a livestock enterprise, one he expects will generate revenue long after his playing days are over. “I plan on this being my life after football,”...
NFL Eyes Ratings Slide as Election Threatens to Upend Fall TV
While Americans resign themselves to another three months of the punditry class banging on about how this is the Most Important Election Cycle of Our Time®—a rhetorical feint that’s been in circulation seemingly since the Whigs made their last stand in 1852—the nation’s sports-industrial complex is quietly doom-scrolling through the latest Nielsen ratings. As much as it might stand to reason that a rematch of two historically unpopular candidates would be met with little in the way of enthusiasm, recent events have conspired to send tens of millions of citizens scrambling to their TV sets, a mass movement that could...
Powering the WNBA’s Meteoric Rise On and Off the Court
Rebecca Dyer is the director of business development and sales for Genius Sports. Caitlin Clark Not Gloating After WNBA All-Stars Top Olympic Team Two months into a historic WNBA season and amidst a flurry of broken records, unprecedented media coverage and incredible growth, it’s been difficult to find even a moment to reflect on a landmark period for the league and women’s sports in general. We’ve all seen the stats. The start of the season has been the most-watched ever, including the 2.3 million who tuned into ESPN to watch the Indiana Fever play the Chicago Sky, marking the most-viewed WNBA game...
Caitlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu Opt Out of WNBA 3-Point Contest
Caitlin Clark and Sabrina Ionescu, two of the WNBA’s best-known players, declined to participate in Friday’s 3-point contest in Phoenix.Mat Ishbia Relishes WNBA All-Star Game as Phoenix Empire Expands Ionescu is preparing for the Paris Olympics—group play begins July 29 against Japan—and, according to the Associated Press, is focusing on the Olympic camp. Clark, who was left off Team USA’s roster, is finishing the first few months of what’s been a record-setting first half of her rookie campaign. On Wednesday, WNBA players’ association head Terri Carmichael Jackson objected to reports that the league would receive nearly $200 million annually as part of...
On Location Named FIFA World Cup 2026 Hospitality Provider
FIFA has selected On Location, a premium global hospitality and travel agency, to be the official hospitality provider of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The New York-based company is collaborating with Major League Soccer (MLS) to manage the hospitality program for the tournament’s 23rd edition, which will be the biggest in FIFA World Cup history after expanding from 32 to 48 teams. In turn, the hospitality program will also expand, serving the 16 host cities and 104 matches.Pitch Invaders in Soccer Cast Spotlight on Security Protocols In 2021, On Location partnered with MLS...
Alonso, Soto Free Agent Futures Will Shape MLB After All-Star Game
ARLINGTON, Texas – Coming out of the Major League Baseball All-Star break, we give you one Pete Alonso, the New York Mets’ star first baseman. A Scott Boras client, he’s due to be a free agent at the end of the season. In the meantime, we’re barreling toward the MLB trade deadline on July 30, with many teams facing decisions on whether to buy or sell, and to what level.Skenes All-Star Start to Atone for MLB's Strasburg Marketing Miss One of those teams is the Mets, who drafted Alonso back in 2016 and have seen the slugger blossom into a four-time...
Business Beyond the Game: Austin Ekeler on Investing in Tech
Austin Ekeler knew he had everything to prove when he entered the NFL.Business Beyond the Game: Breanna Stewart Chasing WNBA Greats Undrafted out of Western Colorado in 2017, Ekeler faced a daunting task of not just making the team but also earning playing time for the Los Angeles Chargers. The running back ended up starring for the Chargers over the next seven seasons, leading the league in total touchdowns twice before signing as a free agent with Washington Commanders this offseason. Ekeler, a former zero-star recruit from the small town of Eaton, Colo., has carried his blue-collar mindset from the gridiron into...
Personalized Baseball Development App Raises $3M Seed Round
Youth baseball video-based assessment and digital training platform Pelotero has raised $3 million to democratize access to player development support with an app-based model.Yankees Tally $257.6 Million in Ticket Sales Through June Pelotero (which means “ballplayer” in Spanish) collects data from phone videos, using computer vision capabilities, as well as other tracking inputs to identify athlete strengths and weaknesses before offering customized training programs. For now, the product is pitched toward coaches and facilities looking to individualize their offerings for players ranging from tweens to aspiring pros. The company was founded by former Minnesota Twin and Toronto Blue Jay Chris Colabello and...
Sporticast 363: Jim Dolan Has Thoughts on NBA’s New TV Deals
On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including the latest with the NBA’s TV deals, worth roughly $76 billion. TNT on the Clock as NBA Board of Governors Approves Media Deals League owners voted this week to approve the 11-year deals with Disney, Comcast and Amazon. Now all eyes turn to WBD, a current partner of the NBA, which has vague matching rights in its deal and could pursue legal action to delay or derail the agreement. Also part of the NBA’s talks, the WNBA will...
Ticketmaster’s ‘Legally Permissible’ Abuse of Monopoly Power Won’t Fly
Today’s guest columnist is Mark Meador, president of the Fan Fairness Coalition and partner at Kressin Meador Powers. He is an antitrust authority with federal government (FTC and DOJ), client and legislator experience. He served previously as Deputy Chief Counsel for Antitrust and Competition Policy to Senator Mike Lee.StubHub vs. Ticketmaster vs. SeatGeek: What's the Difference? A bad news cycle is getting worse for Live Nation-Ticketmaster. Following the recent filing of the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit, Live Nation-Ticketmaster is catching flack from fans over a failed presale for the U.S. Open as well as a data breach that’s reportedly impacting half a billion Ticketmaster...
‘Heretic’ Lawyer Behind Houston Christian’s House v. NCAA Fight
Since the defendants and plaintiffs in House v. NCAA reached a tentative $2.8 billion settlement agreement in May, there have been no shortage of complaints from non-Power 5 schools and conferences, arguing that they are being made to suffer financially for matters over which they had no control.NCAA House Settlement Delayed by 'Infighting,' Per Plaintiffs' Lawyer But so far only one institution, Houston Christian University, has taken the formal—if legally debatable—next step in attempting to halt the case’s impending resolution. In a seven-page motion filed June 20, the school of 2,300 undergraduate students asked a federal court to allow it to...
WNBA Players Union Questions New $2.2 Billion Media Deal
The NBA and WNBA reached a new $76 billion TV rights deal with Walt Disney, NBC and Amazon that boosts the payout for NBA clubs by more than 150% on average. The news is even better for the WNBA clubs, which will receive a 500% gain on what they previously made.Ally Becomes Founding Partner of Women's 3-on-3 League Unrivaled But not everyone in the pro basketball ecosystem is cheering today. “We have wondered for months how the NBA would value the WNBA in its media rights deal,” Terri Carmichael Jackson, WNBPA executive director, said in a statement provided to Sportico by a...
Florida AG Lands Look at ACC Media Rights Contracts
The ACC will soon disclose to Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody what she calls the conference’s “secretive media rights contracts,” including with ESPN.WNBA Players Union Questions New $2.2 Billion Media Deal In April, Moody sued the ACC for allegedly violating the Public Records Act of Florida. Moody’s lawsuit stems from Florida State’s legal battle with the ACC over FSU’s desire to leave the conference. FSU and Moody object to the ACC asking FSU to “pay and lose more than a half-billion dollars” in fines and penalties while allegedly refusing to turn over media rights contracts that impact the financial repercussions of a school...
Northwestern’s Ex-AD Earned $1.2M After Fraught 9-Day Stint
Mike Polisky, who lasted nine days as Northwestern’s athletic director before resigning amid campus protests and national fury, received a $1.2 million golden parachute, according to the school’s tax records.ACC Paid $7.2 Million to Lawyers, Including Ex-Big Ten Counsel In its latest IRS return, which the school filed last week, Northwestern disclosed giving Polisky a $750,000 severance in 2022. The previous year, tax documents show, he received $476,190 in separation pay. A Northwestern spokesperson declined to comment and neither Polisky nor his attorney responded to emails from Sportico. Polisky, who had served as NU’s deputy athletic director for a decade, announced his resignation...
StubHub vs. Ticketmaster vs. SeatGeek: What’s the Difference?
Fans looking for an easy way to get tickets to the Super Bowl, NBA Finals or just about any other major sporting event are by now familiar with the digital options available to them. But that wasn’t always the case. Ticketmaster's 'Legally Permissible' Abuse of Monopoly Power Won't Fly Microsoft co-founder (and then-Portland Trail Blazers owner) Paul Allen acquired 80% of Ticketmaster in 1993 for roughly $300 million, just after the ticket service announced a partnership with America Online that would allow Chicago fans to—get this—“sort through concert and sport schedules and buy tickets,” all from their personal computers. Maybe Allen saw...
WNBA’s $2.2B Media Rights Deal Marks 6x Jump for League
The NBA and WNBA reached an agreement with Disney, NBC and Amazon on a new round of TV deals worth $76 billion over 11 years, and the W will earn $2.2 billion over the life of the deal—or $200 million a year, according to someone familiar with the agreement—which represents a 6x gain compared to its prior ESPN deal.Caitlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu Opt Out of WNBA 3-Point Contest The average annual value (AAV) of the agreed-upon combined NBA and WNBA rights package is more than 150% higher than the prior pact, which was worth $2.7 billion a year and expires after...
TNT on the Clock as NBA Board of Governors Approves Media Deals
The NBA on Tuesday night took the next significant step toward securing its new round of media-rights deals, as the league’s Board of Governors voted to approve the offers from Disney, Comcast and Amazon.Sporticast 363: Jim Dolan Has Thoughts on NBA's New TV Deals Speaking to the press in Las Vegas shortly after 7 p.m. local time, NBA commissioner Adam Silver confirmed that the league owners had signed off on the papered bids, which together amount to an 11-year, $75.9 billion juggernaut. But beyond the revelation that the board has voted to accept the offers, Silver wasn’t at liberty to add...
Willow Bay, Bob Iger to Buy NWSL’s Angel City in $250M Deal
Los Angeles power couple Willow Bay and Bob Iger have reached an agreement to purchase a control stake of NWSL club Angel City FC in a deal that values the team at $250 million. Sporticast 363: Jim Dolan Has Thoughts on NBA's New TV Deals Bay, who is dean of the USC journalism school, and Iger, who is CEO of Disney, are buying equity held by a number of Angel City minority owners. Bay will become the team’s primary governor and have control of the board, according to a statement issued Wednesday morning. The couple have also committed to contributing an...
Ticket Brokers Miss Out on Olympics, but See Better Days Ahead
If you’re looking to get a last-minute ticket to the Paris Olympics, you won’t find them on the popular ticketing services Ticketmaster, Vivid Seats, SeatGeek or any other provider. Ticket sales for the upcoming games have been consolidated into one French-based platform for direct sales and resales and one global platform for hospitality and ticket packages operated by On Location.StubHub vs. Ticketmaster vs. SeatGeek: What's the Difference? The ticketing platforms locked out say it’s no big deal. “When it comes to the Olympics, as the games are in Paris, we (SeatGeek) wouldn’t be offering tickets anyway as we are not the...
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