December 26, 2023

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As we head into the new year, we want to know what FOS’s readers think will happen in 2024 in the business of sports. Send us your predictions for the future of pro leagues, ownership, media rights, venues, college athletics, and the rest. Respond to this email and your answer may be featured in an upcoming newsletter.

In today’s news, disgruntled Manchester United fans got quite the Christmas present with a new, influential minority owner. … The Mets’ 2023 season of failures keeps getting more expensive. … And the Pistons look to avoid becoming the biggest losers in NBA history.

— David Rumsey [[link removed]]

Ratcliffe’s $1.3B Injection Paves Way for New Manchester United Era [[link removed]]

Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports

After more than a year of uncertainty, Manchester United is finally bringing on new minority ownership that could drastically alter the Premier League club’s future on and off the pitch.

In November 2022, United announced intentions to explore a sale. Now, the club has formally unveiled a deal for British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe to acquire up to a 25% minority stake. Ratcliffe, who made his fortune largely through his chemicals company, Ineos, originally sought to buy majority control of the club, and he had fierce competition [[link removed]] from Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

Here are the key details in Ratcliffe’s deal:

Ratcliffe will pay $1.3 billion ($33 per share). Old Trafford will receive an additional $300 million investment from Ratcliffe. The deal values Manchester United at $5.4 billion. Ratcliffe will take over control of soccer operations. The Glazer family will retain majority club ownership and control of commercial operations.

As of close of business Tuesday, Manchester United’s stock price sat at $20.52, up 5.72% over the past five days, but down more than 11% over the past year.

Return to Elite Status?

The deal is still subject to Premier League regulatory approvals, which are not expected to present any major issues. It starts a new chapter for Manchester United, whose fans have grown increasingly vocal with their displeasure over the Glazers’ ownership, which began in 2005.

Ratcliffe will now look to return Manchester United to its formerly elite status. The club, which has won the Premier League a record 13 times, sat at eighth (out of 20) in the Premier League table heading into a Boxing Day match against Aston Villa and failed earlier this month to advance out of the UEFA Champions League group stage.

On Brink of NBA Infamy, Pistons Owner Adamant He Won’t Sell Team [[link removed]]

Brian Bradshaw Sevald-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Pistons are playing for a record on Tuesday night. They hope they don’t achieve it.

Detroit will host the Brooklyn Nets, the same team that beat them on Saturday to give the Pistons their 26th straight loss, tying the NBA record for successive futility. Whether or not the Pistons make it 27 losses in a row, significant damage has already been done to franchise morale.

Pistons center Isaiah Stewart called [[link removed]] the losing streak the “hardest thing” he and many others on the roster have ever dealt with professionally. “We had a lot of tough breaks this year,” said Monty Williams, the Pistons’ head coach, who this offseason signed a then-record $75.8 million contract.

At the most recent home game, fans in Little Caesars Arena chanted [[link removed]] for Detroit owner Tom Gores to sell the team. In 2011, Gores paid $325 million for the Pistons, who are now worth $3 billion (ranking 23rd out of the NBA’s 30 franchises), according to Forbes [[link removed]]. While Gores admitted that blame for the losing streak must fall on him “at some level,” he pushed back on selling the franchise.

“They can say what they want, but that’s ridiculous,” Gores said [[link removed]]. “Other than winning—and we should win more games—we do a lot in the community. … We’re doing multibillion-dollar things outside of [basketball]. I understand the fans being upset, but it’s a ridiculous thought.”

Hope for the Future?

Heading into Tuesday’s game, the Pistons are tied with the 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers and the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers, each of which also suffered 26-game losing streaks. Those 76ers ended up taking Joel Embiid, now the reigning NBA MVP, with the third pick in the 2014 draft, while the Cavs selected Kyrie Irving with the first choice in 2011. Both of those franchises still have the same ownership groups in place.

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Mets, Still Paying for 2023 Gamble, Slapped With $100M Tax Bill [[link removed]]

Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The price tag on the New York Mets’ historically expensive failure during the 2023 season keeps getting bigger.

After beginning the year with an MLB-record $344 million payroll on Opening Day, the Mets ended up trading away many of their best and highest-paid players midseason en route to a 75-87 record, the eighth-worst in MLB. Despite the selloff, New York still finished with an unprecedented $374.7 million luxury tax payroll, according to league figures obtained by The Associated Press [[link removed]], resulting in owner Steve Cohen getting hit with a record $100.78 million bill under MLB’s competitive balance tax system. Tax payrolls are calculated using an intricate system that tallies things like average annual values and earned bonuses, and they factor in benefits and deferred salaries.

The Mets’ bill more than doubled the previous record of $43.6 million, set by the Los Angeles Dodgers, whose payroll in 2015 totaled $291.1 million. (The Dodgers lost to the Mets in the NLDS that season.) In 2023, the San Diego Padres were responsible for the second-highest luxury tax bill of the season, at $39.69 million.

More in ’24?

The Mets are projected [[link removed]] to once again have the highest tax payroll next season, at $298 million. The New York Yankees are predicted to be second, at $290 million. And in third: the L.A. Dodgers, at $283 million. The Dodgers had a billion-dollar offseason with the $700 million signing [[link removed]] of two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani and a $325 million deal for Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but with 10 years of unique $68 million deferrals in Ohtani’s contract, L.A. is staying fiscally responsible in the near term.

Conversation Starters Who were the top 10 highest-paid female athletes in 2023? Find out [[link removed]] which stars—and which sports—dominate the list. College football bowl season is in full swing, and sponsoring partners are finding creative ways to showcase their products. Check out [[link removed]] how the Pop-Tarts Bowl promotes its brand. Can you believe it’s been a decade since the NBA released the classic “Jingle Hoops” TV commercial? This one never gets old. Check it out [[link removed]]. SPONSORED BY INVESCO QQQ Between unprecedented conference realignments, historic media rights deals, the wild world of NIL, and high-stakes competition, this space couldn’t be more exciting right now, but you need someone to help you make sense of it all. That’s where we come in. 2023 In Review: How the Pac-12 Conference Crumbled [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]Power 5 administrators’ own decisions were the ones that caused the implosion of college sports’ richest conferences. ‘Absolute Bulls—.’ ‘Completely Made Up.’ Don’t Believe Everything You Read About NIL Deals in the Transfer Portal [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]“You can say whatever you want, because no one knows,” one Power 5 collective operator told Front Office Sports. Seminole Moment: FSU Wants to Leave ACC, Will Take it to Court [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]The school has explored how to get out of a "draconian" contract. DISCLAIMER

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