March 29, 2023
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NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has a track record for growing league revenue, and with a likely extension coming his way, he could tackle one of the biggest untapped sources — international expansion. FOS senior reporter A.J. Perez has the latest [[link removed]] on whether the NFL is ready for a European division.
Commerce Women’s Final Four Ticket Prices Surge Past Men’s [[link removed]]
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
With intriguing matchups and serious starpower, the women’s Final Four is probably the hottest ticket in sports right now — and far more expensive than its male counterpart.
Tickets to the women’s semifinal at the American Airlines Center in Dallas — which features the highly anticipated matchup [[link removed]] between 1-seed South Carolina and 2-seed Iowa [[link removed]] — start at $280 all-in on ticket marketplace TickPick.
The chance to see Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks [[link removed]] play Kim Mulkey’s LSU Tigers for the title is another likely draw: The championship game get-in price is $189 — while the all-sessions pass starts at a whopping $637.
Data provided to Front Office Sports from TickPick found that the get-in price to the women’s Final Four increased 168% once the matchups were set, while the average purchase price increased 185%.
That stands in stark contrast to the men’s Final Four, which saw ticket prices plummet [[link removed]] on secondary ticket marketplaces when hometown teams Houston and Texas were eliminated, thus losing the chance to play at NRG Stadium in Houston.
It’s also worth noting that while the demand for the women’s event is higher than the men’s, the supply is lower.
When NRG Stadium last hosted the men’s Final Four in 2016, the announced attendance was 75,505. By contrast, American Airlines Center can only fit about 20,000 spectators.
The place where supply and demand meet is in the ticket stock: As of Tuesday night, 900 tickets were available for the women’s Final Four on TickPick — as opposed to 7,200 available for the men’s.
Real Estate Phoenix Looks to Block Tempe’s $2.1B Deal With Coyotes [[link removed]]
Arizona Coyotes
There’s a new duel in the Arizona desert — this time between the cities of Phoenix and Tempe.
Phoenix has gone to court to try to stop Tempe’s $2.1 billion development deal with the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, according [[link removed]] to the Arizona Republic.
The inter-city conflict revolves around Tempe’s proposed entertainment district, which would include a new hockey arena and nearly 2,000 apartments on city-owned land.
Phoenix filed a lawsuit this week claiming Tempe’s planned development violates a policy limiting how close apartments can be built next to Sky Harbor International Airport.
The city asked a Maricopa County Superior Court judge to “rescind Tempe’s recent zoning and land use changes and prohibit future residential uses in an area that the Federal Aviation Administration says is incompatible with residential development,” according to a statement.
But reps for the Coyotes’ development company countered that Phoenix’s lawsuit represents “new heights of hypocrisy.”
“The ultimate question for Tempe voters is this: Do you stand with Phoenix hypocrisy or an incredible environmental and economic opportunity for Tempe?” they said in a statement.
The Coyotes certainly need a new arena. After calling Glendale home for 18 seasons, the NHL franchise is now playing home games at Arizona State University’s Mullett Arena in Tempe.
Despite seating only 4,600 hockey fans, Mullett is expected to serve as the temporary home [[link removed]] of the Coyotes through 2025.
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Leagues Formula 1 Veteran Pitches Male-Female Team [[link removed]]
Austin American Statesman-USA TODAY NETWORK
A Formula 1 veteran is developing the sport’s first evenly split male-female team to potentially fill the spot of an 11th team.
Craig Pollock — founder and former CEO of British American Racing, as well as the former manager of world championship driver Jacques Villeneuve — announced he has submitted an application for the team, Formula Equal, to possibly debut in 2026.
“Our ambition is to deliver and build opportunities and pathways for women to get to the very top level inside motorsports,” Pollock told [[link removed]] CNN Sports.“The concept and the idea was to try and build a Formula 1 team, 50% male, 50% female, which is extremely hard to do if you have an existing Formula 1 team; it’s a lot easier with a clean sheet of paper.”
The 50-50 split for men and women would apply to every job on the team, from drivers to engineers to executives.
A survey conducted by the FIA in 2016 found women accounted for just 6.5% of drivers, 16% of institutional employees, and 19% of volunteers among European motorsports.
In January, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem announced [[link removed]] that he had asked his team to begin the process of finding an 11th team to compete in Formula 1. The FIA formally opened [[link removed]] the application process in February.
A joint bid [[link removed]] from Andretti Global and Cadillac is one of the favorites to land the spot — and may have to pay an entry fee upward of $600 million to join the competition.
Conversation Starters The women’s Final Four is set, highlighted by reigning champs South Carolina vs. offensive powerhouse Iowa. Amanda Christovich joins Front Office Sports Today to break down the most anticipated matchups in college basketball — plus A.J. Perez with an update on the NFL owners meeting. Listen and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Google [[link removed]], and Spotify [[link removed]]. The SEC is the most successful college football conference, but making a bold statement [[link removed]] this year in women’s basketball, too. The conference had more teams than any other qualify for women’s March Madness, and now has two in the Final Four. The Seattle Storm have broken ground on their state-of-the-art performance center [[link removed]] set to open in 2024. The 50,000-square-foot features two side-by-side courts, a player lounge, and a nutrition and conditioning center.
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SPONSORED BY POINTSBETWhat To Watch
The Minnesota Timberwolves will take on the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night at the Footprint Center.
How to watch: 10 p.m. ET, ESPN
Betting odds [[link removed]]: Timberwolves +5 || ML Timberwolves + 165 || O/U 234.5
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