May 26, 2023

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The Coach Prime effect is triggering a surge in ticket demand [[link removed]] for the University of Colorado’s football program. As of Thursday, the get-in price for Sanders’ Sept. 9 head coaching debut against Nebraska at Folsom Field was $460 — with club seats as high as $924 on the school’s website.

Even in Retirement, Brady a Huge Draw for Coming NFL Season [[link removed]]

Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL season is still three months away, but certain matchups are already hot commodities.

Even in retirement, Tom Brady has a strong pull on demand for NFL games: The most expensive game on the secondary market is the New England Patriots’ home opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, where Brady is expected to be honored. Fans are paying $1,054.22 on average for seats, according to Logitix.

Brady’s influence is visible in another way: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have seen a 41% drop in demand for their games with the legend no longer playing quarterback for their team.

The Brady commemoration game makes the Patriots the home team with the highest demand at an average price of $563.82.

However, the Las Vegas Raiders are close behind at $544.88, and seven of the top 10 most desired games are at their Allegiant Stadium. Brady recently reached an agreement to become a minority owner of the Raiders, pending NFL approval.

Allegiant is also hosting Super Bowl LVIII in February 2024.

There is a wide gap from the Raiders to the third top home team, the San Francisco 49ers, who have an average secondary-market home-game ticket of $383.28. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles, fresh off their run to the Super Bowl, are seeing a surge in interest with a 97% leap in secondary ticket prices.

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🎙️ They Said What?

“When prize-money increases come annually, we need to make sure that we’re taking care of the players who are losing early in the tournament … It’s increased the life span of the lower-ranked players because the top players are saying, ‘We don’t need it.’”

— Jim Courier, former World No. 1 tennis player and Tennis Channel analyst, on highly ranked tennis players taking less of the prize money to help support lower-ranked tennis players. Hear more from Jim Courier on tennis and this weekend’s French Open on the latest episode of Front Office Sports Today.

🎧 Listen and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Google [[link removed]], and Spotify [[link removed]].

Indy 500 Approaching Record Numbers As Race Nears [[link removed]]

The Indianapolis Star

This year’s Indianapolis 500 is set to draw its second-largest crowd this century.

“We will be pushing the 325,000 range,” Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles told [[link removed]] Forbes. The record still belongs to the historic 100th running of the race in 2016, which drew 350,000 fans.

This latest predicted number would equal last year [[link removed]]’s race, which was the first to run at full capacity post-pandemic after operating at 40% in 2021 and no fans in 2020.

As of Thursday afternoon, 230,000 tickets had already been sold [[link removed]] for Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which has a permanent capacity of just over 257,000, in addition to tens of thousands more who can fit in the racetrack’s infield.

“It will feel like what an Indianapolis 500 should feel like,” Boles told the Indianapolis Star.

Roger Penske has been working to revamp the IndyCar Series — and its flagship event — since purchasing the series and iconic racetrack in 2019.

The sport appears to be in a healthy spot, with NTT Data this year re-upping as title sponsor of the IndyCar Series, which is in the midst of a multiyear media rights deal with NBC Sports. IndyCar also expanded [[link removed]] its international broadcast coverage to 223 markets in 142 countries this year.

Southern Comfort

The motorsports-heavy weekend will be capped Sunday night by NASCAR’s longest race, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway — where Michael Jordan’s 23XI race team will outfit [[link removed]] driver Bubba Wallace with a Carolina blue, Jumpman-themed No. 45 car.

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$1.4B NBA Teams Sponsorship Revenue Surge

NBA team sponsorship [[link removed]] revenue skyrocketed this season, reaching a record-breaking $1.4B.

Category spend in Financial, Retail, and Sports Betting led the charge, accounting for nearly half the revenue surge.

The increase in overall deal spending is even more remarkable, rising by 10.5% YoY, further proving that brands recognize the unique value of this sport and its passionate fanbase for their marketing strategies.

SponsorUnited’s report [[link removed]] dives deeper into the breakdown of the NBA sponsorship ecosystem. Find out:

Why brands are leveraging NBA players’ social media influence. What platform could be a secret gold mine for future sponsorships. How social responsibility initiatives are taking center stage for over 300 brands.

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Big Prices, Bigger Drama Surround Ambitious Paris Olympics [[link removed]]

Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

The organizing committee for the 2024 Paris Games is planning the largest opening ceremony at any Olympics ever — but at significant human and financial costs.

The Games will begin with an elaborate parade along the River Seine, with plans to draw hundreds of thousands of fans along the route, marking the most elaborate opening ceremony ever — and one intended to revive the event after a pair [[link removed]] of editions spoiled by the pandemic.

To pull that off, the French government introduced a new protocol in which those wishing to watch for free must pre-register for tickets and will be separated from about 100,000 projected to pay as much as $2,900 each for closer, waterside views.

The government also plans to relocate homeless people out of Paris ahead of the Olympics, opening up hotels that authorities use to provide emergency accommodations, but also fueling outcry from regional towns expected to house those people.

Meanwhile, further criticism [[link removed]] is growing, even from athletes, over high ticket prices to many individual events, leading committee president Tony Estanguet this week to acknowledge [[link removed]] the frustration — even while touting more than 6.8 million tickets sold.

Making matters worse, Brigitte Henriques, the president of France’s Olympic Committee and the first woman to lead Olympic sports in the country, resigned on Thursday after months [[link removed]] of heavy infighting within the organization. Astrid Guyart, that committee’s general secretary, will assume the role on a temporary basis before a successor is chosen this summer.

Iconic Monaco GP Offers Pricey Seating, Including On Yachts [[link removed]]

F1

Formula 1 rolls into its most prestigious race of the season this weekend when the Monaco Grand Prix takes over the seaside city-state with the highest [[link removed]] GDP per capita of any country in the world.

Red Bull has won every race in 2023 as the circuit heads to Monte Carlo, where cars will race around the world-famous casino seen in James Bond movies, which also sponsors the F1 race. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez is the grand prix’s defending champion, while fellow teammate Max Verstappen won the 2021 event.

As of Thursday afternoon, the cheapest ticket for a grandstand seat on Sunday on F1’s website was $954. If you’d prefer to watch from the water, hospitality companies offer yacht seating [[link removed]] on three different vessels for between $2,600-$3,800. VIP terrace packages were going for nearly $5,000.

On the ground, a major change [[link removed]] in operations will see F1 produce the race broadcast for the first time, supplanting the long tradition of local hosting. F1 already produces the world feed for every other race on the schedule.

F1 is keen on presenting the best aspects of a race that saw record [[link removed]] U.S. viewership last year on ESPN, which is reportedly paying [[link removed]] at least $75 million annually for F1 rights. The broadcast audience will likely grow again this year as Disney moves the Monaco race to network coverage on ABC at 9 a.m. ET on Sunday.

Conversation Starters The Kansas City Current are taking women’s soccer facilities to the next level. Take a look inside [[link removed]] the NWSL club’s new $18 million training complex. Led by Nike founder Phil Knight, the University of Oregon has built [[link removed]] “the finest track and field facility in the world” in Eugene. The San Jose Sharks are introducing [[link removed]] new “Penthouse Lounges” next season. The theater-box seats cost $250-$300 per ticket and include food and beverage.

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Editor's Picks DirecTV Retains NFL Sunday Ticket for Business Customers [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]DirecTV will continue to offer NFL Sunday Ticket for commercial use. Betting Giant Entain Commits $545M Toward New Zealand Horse Racing [[link removed]]by Andrew Cohen [[link removed]]Entain is taking over New Zealand TAB's betting operations. Question Of The Day

Do you plan to watch any of the MLB All-Star Week events this year?

Yes [[link removed]] No [[link removed]]

Thursday’s Answer

38% of respondents plan on watching WNBA games this season.

Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Pro [[link removed]] Written by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Brian Krikorian [[link removed]]

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