June 5, 2023
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On the latest Front Office Sports Today, former Green Bay Packers executive Andrew Brandt provides insight on what it’s like working in the front office of an NFL organization — including contract negotiations, Aaron Rodgers’ big move to the New York Jets, and what the media often gets wrong.
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Bettman Still Committed To Arizona Even After Tempe Plan Rejected [[link removed]]
Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports
Following a stinging ballot box defeat [[link removed]] in Tempe, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league and the Arizona Coyotes remain committed to the Phoenix market and are looking at alternate options to build a new arena in the area.
Bettman’s deputy Bill Daly had confirmed talks with Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith about the latter’s desire to place an NHL team in Salt Lake City.
“It’s a good market, and if we can make it work, we’ll make it work,” Bettman said of Phoenix.
The $2.1 billion Tempe proposal that was rejected included a 16,000-seat arena, hotels, shops, restaurants, and as many as 1,990 apartments on 46 acres.
MetLife Bonanza
The NHL confirmed [[link removed]] plans to stage two outdoor Stadium Series games next season at MetLife Stadium, home of the NFL’s New York Giants and Jets. The Philadelphia Flyers will face the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 17, followed by the New York Rangers vs. the New York Islanders the next day.
The games will be he NHL’s first to be played outdoors in New Jersey.
Bettman said the NHL’s hockey-related revenue for the 2022-23 season is approaching $6 billion — a healthy number that nevertheless won’t boost next year’s salary cap significantly, as players continue to pay off pandemic-related revenue losses.
Goodell: No Stadium Groundbreaking ‘More Meaningful’ Than Bills [[link removed]]
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills formally broke ground on their new $1.54 billion stadium in Orchard Park on Monday, officially launching a project big on both dollars and emotions.
The stadium — set to open in 2026 and whose development involved more than two years of political wrangling [[link removed]] – includes $850 million in money from the state of New York and Erie County, the second-largest public subsidy ever for an NFL stadium behind the newly finalized [[link removed]] Tennessee Titans project.
For NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, though, the event meant much more given his own Western New York upbringing: “I’ve been to a lot of groundbreaking ceremonies in my time at the NFL, and none of them are more meaningful.”
Bills owner Terry Pegula followed with his own tearful remembrance of victims of last year’s deadly mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket.
The stadium represents a major asset for the Bills — who play in the NFL’s second-smallest media market — to remain economically competitive.
New Building, Same Name
The $690 million contribution to the stadium project from the Bills and the NFL will be buttressed by a newly finalized extension of the team’s existing stadium naming rights deal with Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. The new facility will be called Highmark Stadium, the name of the Bills’ current home since 2021.
Highmark had first right of refusal to keep the naming rights. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“It was really important for us to have that continuity,” said Ron Raccuia, Bills’ executive vice president and chief operating officer.
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Ratcliffe’s New Man United Pitch Includes Stakes For Glazers [[link removed]]
Manchester United
The Glazers could stick around Manchester United — even if the family ends up selling the team.
British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe’s attempt to take over the club reportedly includes room for all six Glazer siblings to retain minority shares in Manchester United, according [[link removed]] to the Financial Times.
The flexible structure of Ratcliffe’s reported $6.25 billion bid to takeover Man United could give him the edge over fellow finalist Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani, a Qatari banker seeking to acquire 100% of the club — effectively leaving the Glazers without any shares.
Manchester United’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange have fallen amid uncertainty surrounding the potential sale. After reaching a peak of $27 in February, the club’s stock price now trades around $18.50.
On the field, Manchester United won this year’s EFL Cup and finished third in the Premier League to secure its spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League. On Saturday, United lost its last match of this season against crosstown rival Manchester City in the FA Cup final [[link removed]].
Manchester United fans have regularly held protests urging the Glazers to sell [[link removed]] the team, whose last Premier League title came in 2013. The American family’s relationship with United’s fan base became exceedingly strained in 2021 upon United’s support of the failed European Super League.
Conversation Starters Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark signed autographs at this weekend’s Iowa Cubs game. Judging from the line to see her, there was probably a bit of a wait [[link removed]]. After 10 years with the New York Jets, D’Brickashaw Ferguson says he’s been taking community college prerequisite classes [[link removed]] for nursing school. He’s gotten into several programs and starts in the fall. On Sunday, Viktor Hovland won the 2023 Memorial Tournament, earning $3.6 million. On Monday morning, he appeared [[link removed]] at U.S. Open Final Qualifying — caddying for his former Oklahoma State teammate, Zach Bauchou.
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