May 31, 2023

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Everton narrowly escaped relegation from the English Premier League, but Leicester City, Leeds United, and Southampton weren’t so lucky. On the latest Front Office Sports Today, Owen Poindexter breaks down what relegation could mean for each of the clubs. Then we hear from Golazo’s Susannah Collins and Jeff Gerttula about CBS Sports’ emerging all-soccer network.

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

MLS Clubs Seeing Valuations Soar In 2023 [[link removed]]

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

American soccer teams are quickly becoming some of the most valuable in the global game.

Forbes’ 2023 list [[link removed]] of most valuable soccer clubs rightfully highlights European giants Real Madrid and Manchester United — each of which surpassed the $6 billion mark for the first time — but also includes three Major League Soccer teams in the top 20 after none last year.

LAFC ranked 17th on the list and first among its domestic rivals with a $1 billion valuation. That puts the defending MLS champions just below Serie A stalwarts Inter Milan ($1.03 billion) and above Premier League clubs like Crystal Palace and Newcastle United.

The LA Galaxy ($925 million) were just behind their Southern California counterparts in 18th, while Atlanta United ($850 million) was 19th.

Four other MLS teams made the list of 30 clubs — NYCFC, D.C. United, Toronto FC, and Austin FC, with the lowest valuation coming in at $680 million.

Meanwhile, 2016 Premier League champs Leicester City — whose fall from grace and descent to relegation was discussed on the most recent episode [[link removed]] of the Front Office Sports Today podcast — came in 23rd with a $781 million valuation.

The Foxes can expect that number to go down next year as they operate without a share of the lucrative EPL media rights and try to earn their spot back in the first tier of English soccer.

Federal Judge Denies Adidas’ Bid to Recover $75 Million Paid To Ye [[link removed]]

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The ongoing legal battle between Adidas and Ye has taken another turn.

A federal judge denied a request from the athletic apparel company to refreeze [[link removed]] $75 million worth of funds it paid to Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. A months-long freeze on the money was lifted [[link removed]] last week.

Adidas claimed the $75 million is at risk of never being recovered, citing reports that Ye may be headed for insolvency and therefore unable to pay the money back.

While the ruling is a short-term loss for Adidas, the brand may still prevail. The judge said that it seemed likely Adidas would eventually win back the $75 million in arbitration.

The saga has been making constant headlines since Adidas dropped [[link removed]] Ye after he made antisemitic comments in October. In early May, Adidas finally decided to move forward with selling [[link removed]] the remainder of its Yeezy product line — worth about $1.3 billion — and donate the proceeds to charity.

Adidas was able to beat [[link removed]] quarterly revenue projections in May, however — the 1% dip it reported was something of a relief after analysts predicted a 4% downturn.

More court developments could come later this week as lawyers for the company and controversial rapper/entrepreneur continue to search for a compromise.

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As a host of new players such as betting and streaming giants grow sponsorship opportunities, is your team equipped to optimize fan data to prove return on sponsor investments?

PwC’s 2023 Sponsorships Playbook [[link removed]] shares key insights, including:

How to expand your inventory Data tracking and optimization How to capitalize on sponsorship metrics

Take a deep dive [[link removed]] into the sponsorship playbook and browse PwC’s other 2023 Sports Outlook trends.

MLB’s Takeover Of Padres’ Rights Is First Reckoning For RSNs [[link removed]]

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

After months of tension, Major League Baseball’s day of reckoning with regional sports networks has arrived — which could have seismic effects on one of the sport’s key revenue streams.

Since early this year, MLB has been actively preparing [[link removed]] to take over the local TV rights of 14 teams served by Bally Sports and its bankrupt [[link removed]] parent, Diamond Sports Group. Now, Diamond has officially missed [[link removed]] its rights payment to the San Diego Padres, prompting the league’s immediate takeover of the team’s local rights.

Starting Wednesday, MLB will distribute Padres games on DirecTV, Cox, AT&T U-Verse, fuboTV, Spectrum, and MLB.TV, dispensing with blackouts typically shutting local fans out from watching their teams.

With these changes, the ballclub’s local footprint grows from about 1.13 million homes to around 3.26 million.

“While we’re disappointed that Diamond Sports Group failed to live up to their contractual agreement with the club, we are taking this opportunity to reimagine the distribution model, remove blackouts on local games, improve the telecast, and expand the reach of Padres games by more than 2 million homes,” said Noah Garden, MLB chief revenue officer.

But as the league and newly hired [[link removed]] executive VP of local media Billy Chambers implement this plan, uncertainty abounds. Local media is typically one of the top three revenue streams for any MLB club. The Padres — who are paying a club-record $250 million player payroll this year — are looking to replace the annual $60 million received from Diamond.

More missed payments are expected as Diamond wrestles with more than $8 billion in debt. Diamond has only paid half what it owes to Arizona, Cleveland, Minnesota, and Texas — and will attempt to lower those fees in a bankruptcy court hearing Wednesday.

Conversation Starters Snack swap alert: Starting this season, the Cheez-It Bowl will be replaced [[link removed]] by the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Pat McAfee’s new deal [[link removed]] with ESPN is worth about $17 million annually, per Andrew Marchand. In his new role as Nashville Predators GM, the franchise’s very first [[link removed]] head coach, Barry Trotz, has tapped the team’s very first goal-scorer, Andrew Brunette, to be head coach.

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Editor's Picks Average Ticket Price for Stanley Cup Finals’ Game 1 Exceeds $1K [[link removed]]by Andrew Cohen [[link removed]]SeatGeek's average ticket price is down 34% from last year’s Game 1. Heat-Celtics Game 7 Is TNT’s Most-Watched NBA ECF Game Ever [[link removed]]by Andrew Cohen [[link removed]]Game 7 was TNT's third most-watched NBA game ever. Rose Zhang Embraces Ties to Tiger Woods Ahead of LPGA Tour Debut [[link removed]]by Andrew Cohen [[link removed]]Zhang is the first female golfer to win consecutive NCAA titles. What to Watch

The Cincinnati Reds take on the Boston Red Sox Wednesday night at Fenway Park.

How to watch: 7:10 p.m., ET., ESPN+

Betting odds: Reds -1.5 || ML +140 || O/U 10.5

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

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