December 1, 2023
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In the future, a Super Bowl-like rotation of networks for the College Football Playoff national championship game makes a ton of sense. If you haven’t yet, make sure to read this report [[link removed]] with all the details from my colleagues Michael McCarthy and Amanda Christovich.
— David Rumsey [[link removed]]
Commanders Spend Big On Current Home While Planning New Stadium [[link removed]]
Albert Cesare-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Commanders are working on two stadiums, but one doesn’t exist yet.
That was the message from team owner Josh Harris, who recently provided some updates on the team’s current and future venue goals.
“We’re going to improve the existing stadium as much as we can while we look for a new home,” Harris said [[link removed]] at Sports Business Journal’s Dealmakers conference in D.C.
Since purchasing the Commanders for an NFL-record $6.05 billion this summer, Harris and his ownership group have already committed [[link removed]] $40 million for immediate upgrades to FedEx Field — and the franchise will likely keep spending to make an often criticized stadium a better place to watch an NFL game.
“We did as much as we could in six weeks,” Harris said, referencing the short time frame between closing on the team purchase in July and the start of this season. “But there’s a lot more work to do in the offseason.”
Harris knows the long-term answer is not FedEx Field: “We’re going to be looking at, ultimately, how do we move to a new stadium?”
Options to build a new venue in D.C., Virginia, or Maryland remain on the table, but Harris didn’t lay out a new timeline. In September, he told Front Office Sports that plenty of work was on the horizon. “We’re very early, very early,” Harris said at the time. “We’re beginning to create a real estate organization and just beginning to think about it.”
Through five home games this season, the 4-8 Commanders are 27th out of 32 teams in average home attendance [[link removed]], drawing just over 64,000 fans per game, about 94% of capacity at FedEx Field, which ranks 20th out of the NFL’s 30 stadiums in capacity.
New Indiana Pacers Investor Could Offer Succession Option [[link removed]]
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
The Indiana Pacers have a new investor who will acquire a significant minority stake — and possibly put the franchise on a new ownership trajectory.
Billionaire businessman and film producer Steven Rales is buying 20% of the Pacers, upon NBA approval. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Forbes most recently valued [[link removed]] the Pacers at $2.9 billion, which is 27th out of 30 teams on its 2023 list.
An official announcement [[link removed]] from the team made no mention of any previous formal involvement with Rales, but Sportico reported [[link removed]] that he already had a 5% stake in the team, which they value at $3.47 billion.
Taking all the information into account, Rales’s 20% holds an estimated value between $580 million and nearly $700 million. Rales’s brother Mitch owns 12% of the Washington Commanders.
The Pacers’ stake sale arrives as the Phoenix Suns [[link removed]] and Golden State Warriors [[link removed]] are both reported to be exploring sales of minority stakes.
More Options For Succession?
In 2017, Pacers owner Herb Simon said [[link removed]] his oldest son, Steve, 57, was next in line for ownership of the team: “If anything happens to me, he’d be taking over.” The 89-year-old remains the Pacers’ governor, with Steve Simon as alternate.
Keeping the Pacers in Indianapolis long-term has always been a priority for Simon, who listed Rales’s collegiate and business ties to Indiana in the sale announcement. If the Simon family wanted to sell the Pacers altogether, Rales could be a contender to buy majority control.
In 2019, the Pacers signed a 25-year lease extension to continue playing at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Editor’s note: Front Office Sports senior reporter A.J. Perez contributed to this story.
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The Ticket-Buying Hack You Need to Know
Fun fact: Costco sells tickets to major sporting events all across the US and Canada.
It’s true. The retailer is famous for treating its members like royalty — with insane deals on every product under the sun, including experiences.
Powered by FEVO [[link removed]]’s exclusive ticketing integrations, hundreds of teams from the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS and more offer ticket packages at Costco-member prices both in warehouse and online.
The best part? You don’t even have to be a Costco member to take advantage of these offers (though it’ll get you a sweeter deal).
Just in time for the holidays, there are currently dozens of live offers from the likes of the Atlanta Falcons [[link removed]], Detroit Pistons [[link removed]], Texas Rangers [[link removed]], Washington Nationals [[link removed]] and NY Yankees [[link removed]].
See all the available tickets here [[link removed]].
Formula 1’s Growth Hits A Speed Bump With U.S. Viewers [[link removed]]
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Formula 1 has clearly stated its goal [[link removed]] to continue growing in North America, but it will head into the 2024 season looking to rebound from a decline in U.S. viewership.
F1’s 22 races this season averaged 1.11 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC. That’s an 8% drop from last year’s record [[link removed]] U.S. viewership average of 1.21 million on the same Disney-owned channels.
This dip in viewership came in a second consecutive season dominated by Max Verstappen, who won 19 of the 22 races and secured the constructors’ championship for Red Bull along with teammate Sergio Perez. The lone grand prix not won by a Red Bull driver was Carlos Sainz’s victory in Singapore.
The 2024 season will grow to 24 grand prix races and return to three American stops: Miami, Austin, and Las Vegas. The next campaign will also mark the second year of ESPN’s three-year deal for the sport’s U.S. broadcast rights at a reported price [[link removed]] of $255 million.
Next season’s viewership could be crucial in determining how high a fee F1 can command for a subsequent U.S. deal, which would begin in 2026 — and how much competition ESPN may have to retain those rights.
Hold The Caution Flags
NASCAR, meanwhile, saw a 5% viewership decline [[link removed]] over its recently concluded 2023 season, but that didn’t stop the racing outfit from sealing a big combined media rights increase from its incumbent partners and two new broadcasters.
Amazon, Fox Sports, NBC Sports, and Warner Bros. Discovery just agreed to seven-year deals with NASCAR, which will reportedly receive [[link removed]] $7.7 billion for its media rights, including a separate package for its Xfinity Series on The CW.
Conversation Starters Adidas responded [[link removed]] to Kevin Durant’s diss of Anthony Edwards’ signature sneakers with some shade of its own. The cheapest ticket for the SEC title game is 22 times [[link removed]] more expensive than the get-in price for the last-ever Pac-12 title game. LSU put up a Heisman Trophy billboard [[link removed]] for Jayden Daniels in Las Vegas — just in time for Bo Nix and Michael Penix to play each other there on Friday. Editor's Picks New Lawsuit Could Decide Whether NIL Is Subject To Title IX [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]It's one of the biggest unanswered questions of the NIL era. The NBA Has Autumn Relevance Thanks to In-Season Tournament [[link removed]]by Doug Greenberg [[link removed]]The league set a new attendance record in the month of November. Coverage of a Fan’s Chiefs Getup Sparks Outrage. Legal Fallout? Not So Fast. [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]Deadspin has faced criticism after Monday story on race. Would Disney’s ESPN Walk Away From The NBA? [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]Will financial pressures impact the company's decision with a longtime partner? 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]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Brian Krikorian [[link removed]]
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