August 4, 2023

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Who’s waking up nice and early on Sunday morning for the USWNT’s do-or-die match against Sweden at 5 a.m. ET? The match has plenty of implications for the squad and the Women’s World Cup’s TV partners.

Meanwhile, two NBA teams ushered in new eras on Thursday, while a veteran trading card company launched a legal attack on Fanatics.

— David Rumsey [[link removed]]

Fox Sports Facing Prospect of World Cup Without Big Draw of USWNT [[link removed]]

Jenna Watson-USA TODAY Sports

The USWNT head into this weekend’s Women’s World Cup Round of 16 match with its fate — and Fox Sports’ prospects for big viewership — highly uncertain.

After watching one win and two draws during group play, fans in the States will need to be awake at 5 a.m. ET on Sunday to see the Americans’ knockout-round clash with Sweden from Melbourne. Had the U.S. won Group E as projected, their first knockout game would have been against South Africa on Saturday at a much more favorable 10 p.m. ET.

After drawing more than 5 million viewers [[link removed]] to Fox for each of their first two matches in prime time, Tuesday’s draw against Portugal at 3 a.m. ET delivered 1.35 million — which was enough to solidify the most-watched group stage ever on English-language TV with an average audience of 4.35 million.

The U.S. are still favored to beat Sweden but have fallen behind England and Spain in tournament betting markets. If they advance, the remaining three matches would take place between 3:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. ET.

Paying A High Price

Team USA members comprise [[link removed]] 11 of the 15 highest-paid players at the Women’s World Cup. But the U.S. scored fewer goals than 10 other teams during the group stage — prompting an awkward back-and-forth with former USWNT captain Carli Lloyd, who is serving as an analyst for Fox during the tournament.

After Tuesday’s game and the resulting second-place group finish, Lloyd said [[link removed]], “I’m just not seeing that passion.” That prompted current USWNT captain Lindsey Horan to call Lloyd’s comments “frustrating,” explaining the team is trying to “keep the noise out as much as possible.”

PODCAST

“Fox has turned the Women’s World Cup into a marquee event that’s on par with … the way we cover a Super Bowl, the way we cover a World Series. It’s in that top mix of events that Fox is most proud of.”

— Michael Bucklin, SVP of Fox Sports Digital, on the effort and dedication Fox puts into broadcasting the Women’s World Cup. To hear more about the Women’s World Cup ahead of the knockout round, download the latest episode of FOS Today.

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

Spurs See ‘Transformation’ With Wemby, Arena Deal, Practice Facility [[link removed]]

Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports

The San Antonio Spurs’ business is significantly escalating — and not just thanks to the heralded arrival [[link removed]] of rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama.

On Thursday, the NBA team completed an arena naming rights pact with longtime sponsor Frost Bank to rename the former AT&T Center to the Frost Bank Center.

That deal is only the beginning of the franchise’s revitalization. Next month, the Spurs open their $500 million practice center and mixed-use campus, the Rock at La Cantera, a project combining a next-generation training facility with parkland, an event plaza, and commercial space.

The team also received 4,000 new season-ticket deposits this summer, thanks largely to Wembanyama.

“We’ve been building a team for the future, a franchise for the next generation, and then the hoop gods gave us a gift,” Spurs CEO R.C. Buford told Front Office Sports. “We’re now looking to be on a transformational growth trajectory.”

One of the NBA’s revered franchises on and off the court with five league titles and a reputation for best-in-class business operations, the team missed the postseason the last four seasons, and attendance rankings have dropped from 10th in the league to 25th in that time.

“This team is now on a great path,” said Frost Bank CEO and chair Phil Green to Front Office Sports. “We’d have done the deal with or without Victor, but his being there is icing on the cake.”

Next Arena?

The Frost Bank deal calls for a series of upgrades to the current facility, including a new Frost Club and an interactive light show corresponding with fan noise.

The team’s current arena lease expires in 2032, and Spurs leaders have been increasingly [[link removed]] exploring [[link removed]] a new downtown venue.

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New Hornets Owners Outline Revamped Structure, Vision for Franchise [[link removed]]

Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets have started a new era with the introduction of Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall as owners on Thursday, officially ending Michael Jordan’s 13-year tenure as majority owner.

Jordan sold [[link removed]] the Hornets to Plotkin and Schnall’s group at a $3 billion valuation and is keeping a minority stake in the team while remaining an alternate governor. Plotkin and Schnall said they each own a similar amount of the franchise.

The two men will rotate the team’s governorship every five years, beginning with Schnall, a former minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks. Schnall was already an investor in the Hornets under Jordan. The Milwaukee Bucks have recently operated under a similar structure with alternating governors instead of one primary owner.

Other notable members of the Hornets’ new ownership group include North Carolina natives like rapper J. Cole and country music artist Eric Church — as well as Dyal HomeCourt Partners, a division of investment company Blue Owl that currently has or had stakes in the Hawks and Sacramento Kings, and Phoenix Suns.

Queen City Spotlight

Schnall and Plotkin said [[link removed]] they have no plans to move the Hornets from Charlotte and would like to build a standalone practice facility to improve on the current training gyms attached to the Spectrum Center. A plan for a $60 million uptown practice center had been approved, but Schnall said that nothing further has been decided.

The Hornets’ arena is undergoing $275 million in renovations [[link removed]] that Schnall said fans will start noticing this year.

Panini Files Antitrust Suit Against Fanatics as Collectible Wars Heat Up [[link removed]]

Fanatics

The sports collectible wars are escalating in a major way.

On Thursday, Panini America filed an antitrust suit against Fanatics, claiming the Michael Rubin-led giant violated federal law with its dominant entry into the trading card business.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, also alleges Fanatics disparaged Panini to various industry partners and interfered with existing contracts.

Fanatics has made a massive sweep into the industry over the past two years, buying [[link removed]] Topps and striking exclusive, long-term licenses with the NBA [[link removed]], MLB, NFL, and their players unions. The pacts upended an industry that had enjoyed decades of relative stability.

“Fanatics is preemptively eliminating all competition before showing competitive superiority or any ability to benefit consumers,” the suit reads. “By locking up player trading cards for all three major U.S. professional sports leagues for the next decade and two of them for the next two decades, Fanatics is foreclosing any meaningful competition for the foreseeable future.”

Panini is seeking unspecified monetary damages and Fanatics’ divestment of Topps, and has supplemented its intentions by hiring veteran attorney David Boies. The longtime power broker has represented Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, numerous leagues, and players unions, and also aided the U.S. government in a successful antitrust suit against Microsoft.

Fanatics Pushback

Fanatics blasted both the Panini lawsuit and the company’s overall approach to collectibles.

The “lawsuit is a baseless, last-gasp, flailing effort by a company that has lost touch with its consumers, is failing in the marketplace, and has tried unsuccessfully to sell itself,” Fanatics said.

In May, the sides reached a separate agreement restricting Fanatics’ ability to recruit Panini staffers and enjoining Fanatics’ ability to use confidential information from former Panini employees.

Conversation Starters Zack Conti has played four years of football at Eastern Michigan as a walk-on — and once had to sell his plasma to help pay bills. Today, starting his final season, team captain Brian Dooley gave up his scholarship [[link removed]] for Conti. The NBPA has released a statement [[link removed]] in opposition to the Orlando Magic’s recent political donations. The Pro Football Hall of Fame is set to open a $600 million village in Canton, Ohio, featuring rides, restaurants, and a waterpark. Take a look [[link removed]].

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Editor's Picks NBPA Calls Orlando Magic Donation to DeSantis PAC ‘Alarming’ [[link removed]]by Andrew Cohen [[link removed]] and A.J. Perez [[link removed]]Orlando made a $50,000 donation to PAC supporting Ron DeSantis' presidential bid. Big Ten Rushes Back Into Expansion Talks, Hoping To Enhance Media Revenue [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]The Big Ten is again considering Washington and Oregon, a source confirmed. Terence Crawford-Errol Spence Jr. Bout Nets Around 700K PPV Buys [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]Showtime bout had around 700,000 buys, a source tells Front Office Sports. Question Of The Day

Are you in the market to purchase or lease a vehicle in the next 12 months?

Yes [[link removed]] No [[link removed]]

Thursday’s Answer

55% of respondents run for exercise or to train for another sport.

Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Sports Careers [[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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