The San Antonio Spurs surprised no one with the first overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft on Thursday night, selecting French sensation Victor Wembanyama, the league’s most hyped prospect since LeBron James.

And unsurprisingly, the now-official move will continue to trigger a deluge of fan interest.

After the team generated more than 2,500 new season-ticket membership deposits immediately following last month’s NBA Lottery draw, Spurs officials told Front Office Sports that the number of new deposits is now in excess of 4,000 and still rising.

The new sales will undoubtedly push the Spurs above their 25th-place ranking in NBA team attendance — the club drew an average of 16,937 this past season. And even before entering the league, Wembanyama last season garnered 350 million views on NBA social media channels, ranking eighth among all players.

A frenzy in the secondary ticket market is also anticipated once the NBA schedule is released later this summer.

Salary Cap Rise

The NBA’s 2023-24 salary cap figure is now expected to be $136 million, according to multiple reports — up by $2 million from prior projections in September and from $123.655 million for the 2022-23 season. The luxury tax figure for next season is expected to be $165 million, up by $3 million from the initial projection.

Final figures won’t be determined until a financial audit is completed later this month, but both projections are near the maximum annual percentage increases allowed within the NBA’s labor deal with the NBA Players Association, reflecting the ongoing health of the league and its rising revenues.

Already a partner in Fenway Sports Group, several European soccer teams, and the XFL, RedBird Capital Partners is reportedly nearing a deal to expand its sports empire even further.

The New York-based private investment firm is in talks with Renault SA for a minority investment in Renault’s Alpine Formula 1 team, according to Bloomberg.

The deal would see RedBird acquire a minority stake in Alpine’s U.K. operations and aid in key revenue-generating activities, such as media rights and sponsorship sales, during a boom period for F1.

Financial terms of the potential agreement were not disclosed, but F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said last week that F1 team owners have been turning down investment and buyout offers worth “almost billions.”

An enforced scarcity is a key element of the investor interest. F1 has remained at 10 teams despite the property’s ongoing growth.

Beginning with the hit Netflix series “Drive to Survive,” F1’s fan interest continues to surge, especially in the U.S. The highly anticipated Las Vegas Grand Prix will debut this fall and media rights in the U.S. have expanded as it has experienced historic television ratings for the Miami and Monaco GPs.

RedBird manages more than $8.6 billion in assets, and through its FSG equity has ownership stakes in the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC, and Pittsburgh Penguins. It also led a $1.3 billion acquisition last year of Italy’s AC Milan and owns France’s Toulouse FC. 

The XFL, however, recently eliminated an undisclosed number of full-time positions amid cost-cutting efforts.

The NWSL’s Kansas City Current have added the final construction beam to their new stadium, the first in the U.S. purposefully built for women’s professional sports. 

The stadium — which carried a $117 million budget — will be open for the Current’s first home match next season. It’s projected to bring a $48.8 million annual economic impact to Kansas City by 2025, as well as a $1.24 billion long-term boost in anticipation of hosting World Cup events in 2026.

“The World Cup, as everyone knows, that’s such a big thing for any city, any region, and I love the fact that the Kansas City Current facilities will play a big role in that,” KC Current owner Chris Long told KSHB-TV. 

Long is the founder of Palmer Square Capital Management, a boutique investment firm that manages $22 billion in assets focused on corporate and structured credit. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes acquired a stake in the Current in January, joining an ownership group that already included his wife Brittany, a former college soccer player. 

The NWSL team currently shares Children’s Mercy Park with MLS club Sporting Kansas City. In May, the Current set a new home attendance record when 12,969 fans showed up for a match against San Diego. 

Kansas City’s new downtown stadium is located at Berkley Riverfront Park with a seating capacity of 11,500. The Current also opened their own privately funded $18 million training facility last year.

Even in an era of economic recovery for the Premier League, fans of British soccer are increasingly feeling the financial pinch.

Just days after Deloitte economic review found 10% revenue growth for the Premier League and the rest of Europe’s “Big Five” during the 2021-22 season, 17 of 20 Premier League clubs have raised ticket prices for the 2023-24 campaign, according to The Athletic — surpassing the 11 that did so last season.

Only Brentford, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur have frozen season-ticket prices. Fulham tops the list for the 2023-24 season with a peak season-ticket price of $3,821.

The price hikes arrive in the midst of conflicting U.K. economic trends. The country is grappling with a cost-of-living crisis with soaring energy costs and record inflation for food. At the same time, demand to see Premier League matches is surging, and 15 of the 20 clubs have waiting lists.

That hasn’t stopped fan outcry. Following Fulham’s announcement of planned price hikes ranging between 18% and 225% at the club’s Craven Cottage, the Fulham Supporters Trust blasted club owner Shad Khan, who also owns the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. The group is also operating what it calls the Campaign For Fair Pricing with the social media hashtag #AffordableFulham.

“While we understand the importance of ensuring the club’s long-term sustainability, we believe there are better ways to achieve this than the recent draconian ticket announcements,” the trust said.