July 6, 2023

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Good afternoon. Eric Fisher [[link removed]] here. The Elon Musk-Mark Zuckerberg social media rivalry has leveled up with Meta’s introduction of Threads, whose meteoric rise presents major implications for sports fan engagement around the world.

Also, a highly influential dealmaker in sports gets a fresh infusion of capital, and Las Vegas’ sports profile gets yet another boost with the arrival of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament.

With Threads, Meta Challenges Twitter’s Grip on Sports [[link removed]]

Jefferson Graham/USA TODAY

One of the leading tools for sports fan engagement now has a serious, fast-moving competitor that could potentially reshape the entire social media landscape.

Beloved by millions of fans, teams, leagues, players, and journalists, Twitter has been embroiled in near-constant controversy in the eight-plus months of Elon Musk’s ownership — and is now facing its first significant challenge in the real-time, short-form social media space from Threads.

Developed by Facebook parent Meta and that company’s Instagram team, Threads [[link removed]] is a text-focused outgrowth of Instagram and represents a new platform for real-time updates and public conversations.

Blowing past other rival entities such as Blue Sky and Mastodon, Threads attracted [[link removed]] more than 30 million users in less than 24 hours of initial availability.

Threads’ development arrives with plenty of questions. As Musk has alienated many Twitter users with his embrace of extreme right-wing politics and impulsive management and policy shifts [[link removed]], the similarly reviled Meta co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has his own history [[link removed]] of flouting government regulation and spurring allegations [[link removed]] of spreading misinformation.

“This new effort is from a company proven to be rather derelict about user privacy and data,” Tom Richardson, Mercury Intermedia senior vice president and a longtime influential voice in digital sports media, told Front Office Sports.

On a practical level, key Twitter features — such as chronological feeds vital to that platform’s link to live sports — are not currently available on Threads.

In the early days of Threads, the service has already attracted top sports newsbreakers such Adam Schefter and Adrian Wojnarowski, heightening curiosity as to how large it can grow.

NBA Heading To Las Vegas For In-Season Tournament [[link removed]]

Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports

Las Vegas will add another major sporting event to the city’s roster by hosting the first NBA In-Season Tournament, which will be announced during NBA Con at Sin City’s Mandalay Bay.

ESPN reports [[link removed]] Las Vegas will host the inaugural tournament’s semifinals and final on Dec. 7 and 9, 2023. The tournament’s full schedule, competitive structure, locations, trophy unveiling, and group drawings will all be revealed Saturday night on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The NBA’s new CBA — which went into effect [[link removed]] July 1 — has already laid out several parameters for the In-Season Tournament [[link removed]]. A group stage will divide each conference’s 15 teams into three groups of five — each playing the other four once. Records from the prior season will determine group placement, with each including a team that finished first-third, fourth-sixth, seventh-ninth, 10th-12th, and 13th-15th.

The six group winners and a wild-card team from each conference — chosen from the best group-play record without winning — will advance to the eight-team, single-elimination knockout stage. After the first knockout round, the remaining games will be played at a neutral site — this year in Vegas.

The other 22 teams will play two additional regular-season games during the knockout stage. The four teams that lose in the first round of the knockout stage will play one extra regular-season game during the same time period. All stats will count toward the regular season except for the championship game, per ESPN.

ESPN and TNT are expected to broadcast this year’s tournament, but it could be sold as its own package when the NBA takes [[link removed]] its media rights to market next year.

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The Influence of CTV on Sports Franchise Valuation

Live sports programming has always dominated primetime ratings on linear television, but streaming content has become extremely popular [[link removed]] with younger generations of sports fans, particularly among millennials and Gen Z viewers.

The surge in demand for streaming TV and short-form content has disrupted the traditional TV media rights model and significantly boosted the valuation of sports franchises. With streaming television’s influence on ever-expanding media rights, franchises across all sports are being purchased at a premium due to their promising growth potential [[link removed]].

Leagues, franchises, and sports that can be innovative and agile enough to stay aligned with the shifting mediums of engagement will have the advantage for capturing the next generations of valuable fans.

Find out [[link removed]] how your company can gain this advantage for connecting with younger sports fans everywhere they’re consuming sports media on connected TV.

Influential Sports Dealmaker Raises $760 Million in New Money [[link removed]]

Chelsea FC

One of the foremost behind-the-scenes investors and dealmakers in sports just got a big pot of new money for more large-scale activity.

The Raine Group — a backer of major entities such as DraftKings, Premier Lacrosse League, and TelevisaUnivision, and a broker on record-setting team sales such as Chelsea FC — has closed on a new, $760 million fund focused on growth-stage companies in sports, media, entertainment, and gaming.

Raine Partners IV was developed from a variety of institutional investors — including undisclosed public pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices — and gives the New York-based Raine nearly $4 billion in assets under management.

“We appreciate this vote of confidence from our limited partners, and we look forward to building on our firm’s strong track record,” said Sherri Williams, Raine partner and head of investor relations and fundraising.

The first investment from Raine Partners IV is in Tripledot Studios, a London-based mobile games developer boasting about 50 million monthly active users across its suite of products.

Raine also played a key role in brokering Endeavor’s $9.3 billion takeover [[link removed]] of WWE and is leading the long-running sale process [[link removed]] for Manchester United, which also could set another industry record.

Conversation Starters Tennessee has approved [[link removed]] $100 million in renovations to Lindsey Nelson Stadium to create “one of the most intimidating atmospheres in college baseball.” Kobe Bryant will be the cover star [[link removed]] of “NBA 2K24,” and we want to know who’s buying. Weigh in with our new poll [[link removed]]. FOS is live on Threads [[link removed]] — check us out! Rep your favorite newsletter with a new t-shirt, water bottle, coffee mug, and more! Shop our new store here [[link removed]]. Be sure to keep an eye out for monthly drops.

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Today, stadiums and arenas also want in on the action and are creating dedicated sportsbook locations inside or close by their venues.

Daktronics [[link removed]] high resolution product line is designed, developed, assembled, and supported exclusively in the US and is the ideal AV solution for sportsbook environments. To date, they have products installed in nearly 30 sportsbook locations across the country for betting giants like Circa, Westgate, Penn Gaming/Barstool, BetMGM, BetRivers, Unibet and more.

Discover more [[link removed]] about Daktronics’ sportsbook solutions.

Editor's Picks Olivia Dunne Launches Fund to Support LSU Female Athletes [[link removed]]by Andrew Cohen [[link removed]]

The Livvy Fund will help secure NIL deals for LSU's women athletes.

MLB All-Star Game Tickets Reach Record Demand [[link removed]]by Andrew Cohen [[link removed]]

Average ticket price is up 67% over last year, TickPicks says.

ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins Could Be Promoted to ‘NBA Countdown’ [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]

The NBA champion could replace Jalen Rose.

Win an NFL Sunday Ticket Subscription

The NFL season is just around the corner, and we’re helping one lucky winner take their fandom to the next level.

We’re giving away a one-year subscription to NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV, giving you access to every out-of-market NFL game so you don’t miss out on any of the action!

To enter, simply complete one or all of the actions on this page [[link removed]]. Contest ends on July 14, 2023. See Official Rules [[link removed]] for details.

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