January 24, 2024

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Move over, Las Vegas. The latest pro sports boom town may be about 400 miles to the northeast. … Record-level spending on players in the NWSL this offseason now reaches the transfer market. … College football viewership across the U.S. is dominated by just a handful of top-tier programs—perhaps not surprising, but boy are the numbers staggering. … Plus: More on the latest news surrounding Peacock, the World Surfing League, Al-Nassr, and Puma.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

Next Sports Boom Town? Salt Lake City Makes Case for NHL Expansion [[link removed]]

Christopher Creveling-USA TODAY Sports

Salt Lake City is one of the country’s fastest-growing cities and sports markets. And now local pro sports magnate Ryan Smith wants to add an NHL franchise to that expanding profile.

Smith, the owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz (along with their Delta Center) and co-owner of MLS’s Real Salt Lake and NWSL’s Utah Royals, issued a public statement on Wednesday through his Smith Entertainment Group calling on the NHL to initiate a formal expansion process that would consider Salt Lake City, advancing two years of private discussions with league commissioner Gary Bettman. The development of a new, state-of-the-art hockey arena is part of Smith’s pitch for an NHL franchise, which he says is predicated “on making this happen as soon as possible.”

Though Bettman and the NHL are not [[link removed]] currently focused on adding to the current 32 teams, the league was still supportive in its initial response to Smith, issuing its own reply statement, saying in part, “Utah is a promising market, and we look forward to continuing our discussions.”

Hot Market

Regardless of the outcome of the NHL quest, there is no denying Salt Lake City’s elevation as a major U.S. city and as a sports town. Salt Lake City hosted last year’s NBA All-Star Game; the Utah Royals will return to the NWSL this year after a prior iteration of the franchise became the Kansas City Current; the 2034 Olympics are likely to be held [[link removed]] there; and the city is now bidding [[link removed]] to be a temporary home of the Oakland A’s—a move aimed in part at advancing an existing MLB expansion effort [[link removed]].

Underpinning all this Salt Lake City activity is the continued rise in population in the metro area, and Utah broadly. The state led [[link removed]] the 2020 U.S. Census in population growth, with a 18.4% spike between 2010-20 to nearly 3.28 million—more than doubling the national rate. More recently, a local technology boom and lower costs in Salt Lake City relative to many other major U.S. cities have helped position [[link removed]] the market as a high-growth area akin to Austin or Raleigh.

To the List of NWSL Firsts This Offseason Add: A Record Transfer Fee [[link removed]]

Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

A transfer fee of $320,000 is not typically an eye-popping sum for a soccer club acquiring a new player. But that amount is the new record for an NWSL team, according to multiple reports, with the Portland Thorns in the process of buying midfielder Jessie Fleming from Chelsea, currently the top team in the U.K.’s Women’s Super League. Fleming also stars for the Canadian national team, which she helped lead to a gold medal during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Earlier this month, the Thorns were sold [[link removed]] to members of the Bhathal family for $63 million, representing the largest franchise purchase price in NWSL history. The Bhathals head up venture firm RAJ Capital, which also has a minority ownership stake in the Sacramento Kings. Portland finished second out of 12 teams in the NWSL’s 2023 regular season, before losing in the playoff semifinals. Now, the club’s new ownership isn’t wasting any time spending its resources to keep competing.

Just Getting Started?

The financial strategy of paying for top talent outside of the U.S. being used by the Thorns is likely the next evolution for NWSL clubs, as they strive for top-tier global status while building upon the league’s growth.

In the wake of the NWSL’s new $240 million media rights deals with ESPN, CBS, Amazon, and Scripps Sports, this offseason has resulted in record contracts [[link removed]] for multiple NWSL players. The Chicago Red Stars gave Mallory Swanson a four-year, $2 million deal and the Houston Dash will pay forward María Sánchez $1.5 million over the next three years.

Meanwhile, the NWSL will play [[link removed]'s%20new%20record-setting,expansion%20of%20the%20league's%20schedule.] a record 26 matches per club this season, with more TV slots to fill and two incoming expansion franchises in Boston and the Bay area.

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See That Car? Find It on Autotrader

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Look around. What do you see?

Cars. Lots of them. And guess what? They’re probably on Autotrader [[link removed]].

Big cars, small cars, blue cars, new cars.

Whether you’re into timeless classics or the latest trends (Did somebody say “solar-powered, eco-friendly, vegan leather-wrapped, aromatherapy-scented, disco-ball equipped, self-driving” car?), if you see it on the road, you can likely find it on Autotrader.

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ONE BIG FIG Exclusive Viewing

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

18

Number of college football teams that, added up, account for 50% of the total Nielsen-rated game viewership between 2016 and 2023—while the other half was spread across 130-plus schools— according [[link removed]] to Sports Media Watch. The group of TV viewership heavyweights include six teams from the SEC, four from the Big Ten, three from the Pac-12, two each from the ACC and Big 12, and Notre Dame, an independent. (Conversely, a mere 10% of viewership emanated from the bottom 71 schools, comprising 53% of the total schools.)

The 18 teams in the big-draw group: Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Southern California, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.

STATUS REPORT Two Up, Two Down

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

PEACOCK⬆ The exclusive streaming broadcast of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 26-7 win over the Miami Dolphins in the NFL’s wild card round generated an estimated total of 2.8 million sign-ups to Peacock, according to the research firm Antenna [[link removed]]. The game was viewed by 23 million people, making it the most-streamed live event in U.S. history.

WSL⬆ The World Surf League has secured a media rights deal with ESPN that will see all 10 of its events in 2024 streamed on ESPN+. The WSL reportedly previously had conversations [[link removed]] with Netflix about the streaming company buying the league.

PUMA⬇ Puma blamed Argentina’s ongoing currency devaluation (the country recently weakened its peso by more than 50% against the U.S. dollar) for some less-than-stellar preliminary financial results in its most recent quarter. Shares of the German sportswear brand were down [[link removed]] more than 10% at the close of business on Wednesday.

AL-NASSR⬇ Cristiano Ronaldo apologized [[link removed]] to his Chinese fans after his club, the Saudi Pro League’s Al-Nassr, canceled a two-game tour in China because of an injury that would prevent the star from playing. Now also in doubt is a Feb. 1 match in Saudi Arabia against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, who are in the midst of a 23,000-mile preseason tour.

Conversation Starters A rough week is beginning to look up [[link removed]] for Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass. After missing a potential game-winning kick against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Bass deleted all of his social media accounts. But since then, Bills and Chiefs fans have donated more than $100,000 to his charity, the Ten Lives Club, a local cat adoption center. NFL viewership numbers are setting records, and the league’s three biggest games of the year are on deck. Check out [[link removed]] the eyeballs for the four divisional round playoff games. In our latest FOS course, learn the history behind legalized sports betting in the U.S., hear from FanDuel RG Ambassador Craig Carton, and more. Register [[link removed]] for free today!* Editor’s Picks A Chronology of CNN’s Bizarre Doc Rivers Scoop [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Breaking down the strange unfolding of some very important NBA news. ‘The Match’ Will Include Female Golfers For The First Time [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang compete with Rory McIlroy and Max Homa. Former USM President: Brett Favre Agreed to Pay for ‘Entire’ Arena Project [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]Lawsuit alleges Favre entered into “handshake deal” to “personally guarantee the funds” for volleyball facility. Careers in Sports

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