October 12, 2023

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What’s old is new again. And in Reebok’s case, it’s also cool again.

Two basketball legends — Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson — are moving into key leadership roles [[link removed]] at the shoe company that helped define sneaker culture in the ’90s. Shaq is returning as the new president of basketball while Iverson — whose signature shoe the Reebok Question is still wildly popular — has been named the new vice president of basketball.

— Matt Tabeek [[link removed]]

Ligue 1 Matches May End Up In U.S. To Bolster Media Deal [[link removed]]

Witters Sport-USA TODAY Sports

Kylian Mbappe will grace U.S. soccer fans with his presence at the 2026 FIFA World Cup — but the Paris Saint Germain star and his European counterparts could be playing on American soil even sooner, thanks in part to Ligue 1’s ambitious international expansion plans.

France’s top flight is in the final season of its current media rights deals and wants to boost its financial value exponentially with new contracts.

BeIN Sports currently has Ligue 1’s media rights for broadcasts outside of France, for which it pays [[link removed]] $85 million annually. Ligue 1 would like that number to triple.

In an effort to increase what its matches are worth to broadcasters, the league is apparently considering playing regular-season matches in the U.S.

LFP Media CEO Ben Morel, whose company sells Ligue 1’s media rights, said [[link removed]] “bringing meaningful games to the U.S.” is a top priority. “They can’t just be exhibition games,” Morel told Sports Business Journal. “They have to be games that matter.”

Breaking New Ground

While exhibition matches in the U.S. have become a staple [[link removed]] for many top European clubs, league competitions have thus far resisted or have been unable to facilitate playing meaningful matches in the U.S.

Spain’s La Liga has been trying to bring a regular-season match to the U.S., but its efforts have been tied up in court [[link removed]].

UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin has said that he’s open [[link removed]] to the idea of playing UEFA Champions League matches in the U.S. Meanwhile, some organizers of the 2026 World Cup have made calls [[link removed]] for the English Premier League to play matches in America.

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🎙️ They Said What?

“Anything he says at that deposition — his lawyers said he will not plead the fifth — is huge if there is an indictment.”

— Senior reporter A.J. Perez on the pressure Brett Favre is facing under investigation for embezzling funds for needy families from the state of Mississippi. To hear more about the investigation, check out the latest episode of FOS Today.

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

NFL Turf War Could End With 2026 World Cup [[link removed]]

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL’s turf controversy is nothing new.

Each time a high-profile player is injured playing on an artificial surface — like Aaron Rodgers suffering a torn Achilles at MetLife Stadium in Week 1 — more players and NFLPA officials call for the league to standardize natural grass fields.

Despite data like that of the 2022 season — the noncontact injury rate was higher [[link removed]] on turf — no major progress seems to have been made, with all signs pointing to nothing changing anytime soon.

Half of the NFL’s 30 stadiums have artificial playing surfaces, and seven of them will host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Ahead of the tournament, grass must be installed at those venues in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New Jersey, and Seattle. Canadian stadiums in Vancouver and Toronto will also have to install grass.

With the World Cup taking place in June and July 2026, there’s no guarantee that the venues that will install grass for the event will keep those natural playing surfaces for the coming NFL season.

Money Matters

While specific costs could vary, ESPN reports a natural grass field could require [[link removed]] a cold-weather team to spend $2 million to $3 million per year to maintain it — as opposed to approximately $1.25 million to install and maintain turf.

Last season, the Denver Broncos spent [[link removed]-] $400,000 to replace their grass field before their final game of the year.

However, playing on a natural surface presents its own challenges. During Super Bowl LVII in February, the natural grass at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix was subpar [[link removed].], especially in the second half when a number of players slipped during the game.

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Saudi Sports Profile Grows Further With First-Ever UFC Event [[link removed]]

Craig Kidwell-USA TODAY Sports

Saudi Arabia’s closely watched and hotly debated sports profile will grow even bigger next year when UFC brings an event to the country.

Now part of the newly formed [[link removed]] TKO Group Holdings, UFC has signed a deal to bring a Fight Night to Riyadh on March 2. The event will be part of Riyadh Season, a state-sponsored annual sports and entertainment festival coinciding with the local winter. The latest iteration begins later this month with a boxing match between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou.

This will be UFC’s first event in Saudi Arabia following 18 prior events in the neighboring United Arab Emirates, including the pandemic-era Fight Island. The agreement also extends a fast-growing international push for both UFC and its sister entity in TKO, WWE.

Participating fighters in the UFC event will be announced later, and TKO sources pledged a “stacked card.”

Developed with the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, the UFC deal advances a fast-growing sports profile for Saudi Arabia that includes the country’s own, high-spending domestic soccer league [[link removed]], the country’s involvement [[link removed]] in LIV Golf, and most recently, a fervent bid [[link removed]] to host the 2034 World Cup.

Saudi Arabia’s SRJ Sports Investments, part of the country’s Public Investment Fund, also holds [[link removed]] a minority stake in UFC competitor PFL.

TKO sources also said the Saudi Arabia event in March will likely be the first of many there for UFC in the coming years — but the latest deal will also place further attention and scrutiny on Saudi Arabia’s widely rebuked human rights record.

WWE has held events in Saudi Arabia for nearly a decade and will be in Riyadh next month for its Crown Jewel event. UFC’s presence there will continue a stance by both properties to be generally apolitical.

Juventus Trying To Combat Losses With $200M Raise [[link removed]]

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Juventus has won 36 Serie A championships and was most recently valued at more than $2 billion — but the Italian soccer giant is far from financially healthy.

In fact, the club recently reported a $130 million loss [[link removed]] from the 2022-23 season — better than the $267 million loss from the prior year, but still alarming enough to spur action from the team’s owners.

Juve is seeking [[link removed]] a capital raise of more than $200 million. This comes after the storied club previously brought in more than $700 million during two separate raises over the past four years. Juventus’ owners will commit about $135 million as part of the capital raise.

The club’s stock took an initial dip after the earnings report and is down [[link removed]] nearly 30% on the year overall. Juventus is currently third in Serie A through eight matches but is banned [[link removed]] from European competition this season for breaching Financial Fair Play rules.

Follow The Cash

Capital raises are a growing trend among international soccer clubs.

Recently, Chelsea [[link removed]] raised $500 million from investment firm Ares Management, Liverpool [[link removed]] sold a $200 million stake to New York-based private equity firm Dynasty Equity, and Everton [[link removed]] was sold to Florida-based 777 Partners for nearly $700 million after initially seeking nearly $200 million in capital funds.

Additionally, Eagle Football Holdings — which has a stake in Premier League club Crystal Palace and owns Ligue 1 side Lyon — is looking [[link removed]] to raise $200 million.

Conversation Starters No. 1 overall draft pick Connor Bedard’s NHL debut averaged [[link removed]] 1.43 million viewers on ESPN — making it the most-watched regular-season NHL game ever on cable, excluding the Winter Classic. The NHL season is underway — and its teams are more valuable [[link removed]] than ever. For the first time, the average franchise is worth $1 billion. If the NBA expands to Las Vegas, Shaquille O’Neal wants in [[link removed]] — and he doesn’t want to share.

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Editor's Picks NWSL Is Latest League to Experiment with RedZone-Style Show [[link removed]]by Doug Greenberg [[link removed]]CBS Sports will televise a live whiparound show for NWSL Decision Day. Stage Set For Federal Labor Decision on College Athlete Employment Status [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]An NLRB hearing concluded over whether Dartmouth men’s basketball players can unionize. The College Football Playoff Is Becoming One of the Hottest Media Properties [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]FOS confirmed CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery have expressed interest. Question Of The Day

Have you purchased a luxury good or service in the past 12 months?

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Wednesday’s Answers

46% of respondents have tried meditating.

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