Sports may play a starring role as savior for America’s top media companies during the Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes.

Programming from seemingly every major network and streamer will be delayed due to the strikes, whether it’s Disney’s “Star Wars” projects, the final season of Netflix’s hit series “Stranger Things,” HBO’s “The Last of Us,” or even some late-night shows. 

It would appear that one of the only types of content spared involves sports — live or otherwise.

“It really does highlight the importance of sports,” former Netflix and Hulu executive Simon Gallagher said on CNBC, noting games and docuseries are “protected” from strikes.

Gallagher, now a principal at SPG Global, is particularly impressed with Netflix’s sports offerings — the streamer’s stock is up more than 50% this year — and believes Apple is primed for success with the arrival of Lionel Messi in MLS.

Fresh from success with its Formula 1, golf, and tennis content, Netflix just released its new NFL series — aptly titled “Quarterback” — and won a $50 million bid to produce a 10-part piece on Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. HBO is following the New York Jets for this season of “Hard Knocks.”

Disney continues to buy live rights for ESPN+ (and Hulu) and fill the service with content from the likes of Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions, and this season, NBC’s Peacock service will exclusively air an NFL playoff game behind its paywall.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have officially completed the first phase of extensive development plans by moving into their new $120 million, 125,000-square-foot practice facility and team headquarters next to TIAA Bank Field.

Housing two full-size grass practice fields and one indoor field, the Miller Electric Center is complete with locker rooms, training and medical facilities, office space, and a draft room, while fans can enjoy shaded public viewing stands, concession areas, and a team store.

Jags owner Shad Khan was among the team executives on hand to officially open the building on Tuesday. The facility will host the Jags’ training camp next week.

Christening the state-of-the-art practice center is just the first step in the team’s long-term plan to build some of the best overall facilities in the NFL. Proposed stadium renovations could surpass $1 billion in costs — adding a canopy and even a shaded roof to the team’s current home.

One loose thread: The Jags still have to sort out the challenge of where to play games during stadium construction.

Trend Setters

Work on stadium and practice facilities is rampant throughout the NFL.

The Los Angeles Rams want to build a new team HQ, and the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills are each building multibillion-dollar stadiums. On the other hand, teams like the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers are struggling with the next steps for their facility projects.

One of MLB’s allegedly stingiest owners is making a big move to improve the area surrounding his team’s ballpark.

Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bob Nutting is advancing on a deal with HiLife Hospitality to build a 30,000-square-foot plaza across the street from PNC Park, a venue on the city’s North Shore perennially ranked as one of the league’s most picturesque ballparks.

The plaza is slated to include a pair of stages, a large LED screen, and a covered beer garden and food stand, along with an adjacent building with ground-floor restaurants, an experiential entertainment venue, and upper-floor residential units.

The HiLife partnership was initially announced early this year, and recent submissions to the Pittsburgh Stadium Authority and the city’s planning commission point toward a projected opening in early 2025.

Cost estimates and funding sources have yet to be finalized. This project, however, adds to a separate, $11 million worth of improvements inside PNC Park for 2023 and a new videoboard.

The plaza effort mirrors a fast-growing wave of development projects adjacent to MLB ballparks, one inspired in part by the example of the Atlanta Braves, as well as the Chicago Cubs’ programming at Gallagher Way outside Wrigley Field. Teams more recently following the development push include the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles.

The Pittsburgh plans arrive as the Pirates this year have MLB’s third-smallest payroll at $76.3 million, and Nutting has faced years of criticism as the team has no playoff appearances since 2015 and hasn’t joined a rising MLB trend of small-market success.

A $3 billion budget fiasco has left one of the world’s oldest and largest global sporting competitions without a host country — just three years before its next iteration.

The Australian state of Victoria has pulled out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games — a quadrennial event much akin to the Olympics involving up to 56 sovereign states around the world, most of them former territories of the British Empire. 

Victoria premier Dan Andrews said the cost of the Games could reach $4.8 billion — a significantly higher figure than the $1.77 billion originally budgeted. 

Australia has hosted five Commonwealth Games, most recently in 2018 at the Gold Coast in Queensland. Other recent host countries include England (2022), Scotland (2014), and India (2010).

Next steps for finding a 2026 host country are unclear at the moment.

Cost Cap

Victoria’s decision only highlights the growing difficulty of hosting major international sporting events. 

In another case, the International Olympic Committee currently only enters into negotiations with select cities to host the Olympics, then announces a preferred host — compared with years past, when multiple cities would spend millions on bids to attract the Games. The Tokyo 2020 bid alone reportedly cost $75 million.

The IOC is also stressing that cities have existing infrastructure in place rather than build completely new venues, a move designed to bring down costs for future hosts.