October 30, 2023

Read in Browser [[link removed]]

POWERED BY

It was a busy sports weekend, but today is even bigger: We have a sports equinox on our hands. Tonight, fans will have their choice of action across the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS.

Meanwhile, I consumed most of my football content on Sunday via NFL RedZone on YouTube — and didn’t experience many of the issues other Sunday Ticket viewers did. More on that below.

— David Rumsey [[link removed]]

PGA Tour Rejects Endeavor’s Investment Bid [[link removed]]

John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

A major domino in the ongoing efforts to determine the future of professional golf has fallen.

One of the most high-profile bidders looking to potentially challenge Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund as a significant financial partner for the PGA Tour is no longer in the running.

Endeavor’s offer to invest in the PGA Tour has been turned down.

“We’re not going to be an investor at any level,” Endeavor’s president and chief operating officer Mark Shapiro told [[link removed]] Sportico. The PGA Tour confirmed his statement but wouldn’t comment further.

With the PIF seeking to invest at least $1 billion in a new company called PGA Tour Enterprises, several U.S.-based entities have recently emerged as potential alternative investors. Endeavor was among the list — believed to be at least eight [[link removed]] companies deep — that also included [[link removed]] Fenway Sports Group and Artcos Sports Partners.

Shapiro said Endeavor was looking to lead a group that could acquire a 10% stake in PGA Tour Enterprises. He didn’t say how much that stake would be valued at or how much Endeavor was willing to spend. An interesting wrinkle is that the investment would have come through the newly-formed TKO Holdings, which was created out of the $21 billion merger [[link removed]] of UFC and WWE.

Beyond the investment, Endeavor — which already works with the PGA Tour for some commercial sales and tournament management — was hoping to expand that work and have the PGA Tour pay it $25 million per year.

PODCAST

🎙️ They Said What?

“They share parking. They share best practices … they’re working together to get the World Cup final there … There’s something really unique in the way the Rangers and Cowboys work together.”

— Newsletter co-author Eric Fisher on the collaborative spirit between the Dallas Cowboys and the Texas Rangers. To hear more about the Rangers and the World Series, check out the latest episode of Front Office Sports Today.

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

NFL Sunday Ticket Has First Major Hiccup Of YouTube Era [[link removed]]

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL is embracing streaming more than ever this season. On Sunday, fans experienced the most severe widespread technological issues since the league took a major broadcast package exclusively streaming in 2022.

During the 1 p.m. ET slate of games — a total of nine matchups — NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube and YouTubeTV had significant buffering problems that lasted into the second half of games.

YouTube acknowledged the problems and released a statement on X about an hour after the games began, noting [[link removed]] that “our team is aware and working on a fix. YouTube TV or NFL Sunday Ticket may also be impacted. [We’ll] follow-up here once this has been resolved.”

There was no further update before the conclusion of the early slate of games.

Google and NFL spokespersons had no additional comment [[link removed]] on the issues. It’s unclear how many Sunday Ticket customers were impacted but social media was filled with complaints and reports of the problems, and “Sunday Ticket” was trending on X.

Streaming Money

Google is paying $2 billion annually for the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, and has largely avoided [[link removed]] streaming problems before this week. Ahead of the season, the NFL was confident [[link removed]] YouTube would be able to consistently deliver the product to fans.

Amazon, which is paying $1 billion annually for the rights to exclusively stream “Thursday Night Football” on Prime Video, has not had any major outages during its broadcasts since its package began last season.

SPONSORED BY PAYCOM

Give Your HR Team the Tools to Win

Are taxes the biggest competition to your bottom line? Tax challenges [[link removed]] can be a formidable opponent for any pro sports franchise.

How can you achieve victory against noncompliance and steep penalties? Add Paycom [[link removed]] to your payroll playbook to keep costs down and ensure accuracy. With their single HR and payroll software, Paycom can help simplify sports tax compliance and protect your bottom line from preventable issues.

Read the blog, 10 Ways Paycom Helps Pro Sports Franchises Master Tax Compliance [[link removed]], and learn how you can equip your HR team with the game plan they need to process payroll like a pro.

Manfred In No Rush To Change MLB’s New Playoffs Format [[link removed]]

Syndication: Arizona Republic

The World Series heads to Phoenix on Monday night after the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers split the first two games in Arlington over the weekend.

This week, one team will be crowned champion after a postseason that has drawn significant scrutiny [[link removed]] for its format that saw MLB’s winningest teams — four with at least 99 wins during the regular season — ousted as the league continues embracing change to October baseball.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said that this offseason the league will discuss potential changes to the new postseason format that began [[link removed]] in 2022. “Enough has been written and said that we have to think about it and talk about it, but my own view is the format served us pretty well,” Manfred said [[link removed]] ahead of Game 1 of the World Series.

Tony Clark, the executive director of the MLBPA, would like to see the six division winners of the 14-team postseason be in a better position to advance deeper into the playoffs. The Rangers and Diamondbacks are both wild card teams.

Manfred, however, disagrees. “One of the greatest things about the playoffs in baseball is [that] anybody can win,” he said. “It’s about the competition that takes place in the postseason. I don’t think what happened this year is all that out of line with history.”

It’s unclear when the aforementioned conversations about potential change could take place or whether there would be significant support for alterations to the 2024 playoffs. Manfred also said that two years was not a large enough sample size to make major conclusions about the format.

UEFA Could Set Ticket Request Record For Euro 2024 [[link removed]]

UEFA

UEFA is seeing massive fan demand for tickets to Euro 2024 — and could ultimately set an organizational record.

The governing body said it has received more than 20 million ticket requests during the first sales window to the upcoming event, set for June 14-July 14, 2024, in Germany. That pool is vying for more than 1.2 million tickets made available.

Another sales window will begin in December, when another 1 million tickets will be released to fans of the 21 qualified nations to the tournament, followed by another set of tickets held back for fans of those national teams that qualify for Euro 2024 through playoffs set for March.

Unsurprisingly, Germany represented the largest source of ticket requests, representing 65% of all ticket applications, followed by England, France, Spain, and Austria. The U.S. provided the most non-European ticket requests.

UEFA received 2.3 million ticket requests for the Euro 2024 final match set for Berlin’s Olympiastadion — a sum 33 times the stadium’s capacity.

Historical Lift

The initial ticket request numbers comparably favorably to results seen for UEFA 2020 prior to the onset of the pandemic. UEFA initially received 19.3 million ticket applications during the general public sales window, then another 9 million applications after the pool of qualifying teams was determined.

That unique event, featuring 11 different host countries, was ultimately played in 2021 after a yearlong postponement and with a range of limited stadium capacities.

Conversation Starters Fox Sports brought out all of its toys to broadcast the World Series. Check [[link removed]] it out. Georgia and Florida are already looking for a temporary home for college football’s biggest “Cocktail Party” should the Jacksonville Jaguars’ home stadium [[link removed]] eventually undergo a major facelift. Manchester United’s women’s team just moved in to a new practice facility. Take [[link removed]] a tour. Western Kentucky has entered into the athletic facilities upgrade contest by unveiling [[link removed]] plans for its new football field house.

SPONSORED BY MAGNIFI

A Conversation on Women's College Sports

Women’s sports in the U.S. have never been as popular as they are today. At the college level in particular, there has been a tremendous increase in attendance and viewership for sports like volleyball, softball, and basketball.

In the modern age, capturing viewers [[link removed]] and growing a fanbase begins with the ability to create engaging content and distribute it to the masses. After that comes the campus superstars, local heroes, groundbreaking NIL deals, and historic media contracts.

Tune in on Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. ET for our next webinar, The New Era of Women’s College Sports [[link removed]], presented by Magnifi, for a discussion about how women’s college sports have gained momentum in recent years and how content and marketing can impact its growth in the future.

Register now [[link removed]].

Editor's Picks MLS Wants To Prove It’s More Than Messi’s New Home. Can It? [[link removed]]by David Rumsey [[link removed]]The MLS Cup playoffs are underway, but Inter Miami isn't competing. Rangers’ Impatience, Big Spending Accelerate Rise To World Series [[link removed]]by Eric Fisher [[link removed]]Free-agent spending has hastened Texas’ rebuild. Mississippi Welfare Agency Offers Theories on Brett Favre’s Missing Texts [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]The Mississippi's welfare agency steps up pursuit of Brett Favre's texts. Women’s Basketball National Title Game Still Won’t Get Primetime Treatment [[link removed]]by Doug Greenberg [[link removed]]The 2024 Championship Game will remain in its Sunday afternoon slot. Question Of The Day

Do you plan to travel internationally in the next 12 months?

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

Friday’s Answer

43% of respondents typically set New Year’s resolutions/goals.

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]], Greg Lee [[link removed]]

If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here [[link removed]].

Update your preferences [link removed] / Unsubscribe [link removed]

Copyright © 2023 Front Office Sports. All rights reserved.

80 Pine Street Suite 3202 New York, NY 10005