January 29, 2024

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It’s a rough morning in Detroit after the Lions coughed up a 17-point lead Sunday night in the NFC Championship Game. But the Super Bowl LVIII matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers features two of the league’s modern-day dynasties. … Can Taylor Swift make it to Las Vegas for the game? It’ll be an extreme time zone challenge. … NBA commissioner Adam Silver is reportedly close to a contract extension. … LIV Golf will start its 2024 season this week with a series of burning questions surrounding it. … And: On this day in 1981, the start of an epic ownership run in Chicago.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

Clash of the Titans as Super Bowl LVIII Matchup Set [[link removed]]

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Two of the NFL’s modern-day dynasties will meet in Super Bowl LVIII as the league will likely look to a certain pop icon to help pursue another viewership record.

The San Francisco 49ers, playing in their fourth NFC Championship Game in five seasons, clinched the conference title with a 34-31 win late Sunday over the upstart [[link removed]] Detroit Lions. The 49ers will face the Kansas City Chiefs, who won their fourth AFC title in five years with a 17-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens and extended a historic run of success over the past six seasons, taking it to new heights [[link removed]] of popularity this year thanks to tight end Travis Kelce’s romantic relationship with pop star Taylor Swift.

“One of the things I think [the team] is best at is being consistent, no matter what’s going on,” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said after Sunday’s game. “That’s an important message when you’re being successful, but it’s even more important, I think, when things aren’t working for you.”

The NFL will now head to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for the first Super Bowl held in the sports industry boom town. Thanks to additional viewers likely to be attracted to the game by the Chiefs’ connection to Swift—who has attended each of the team’s three playoff games but faces a far greater logistical challenge [[link removed]] for Super Bowl LVIII—the league will look to beat last year’s record-setting average audience [[link removed]] of 115.1 million viewers.

The Feb. 11 game will be a rematch of Super Bowl LIV, won four years ago by Kansas City. The matchup will have a strong viewership foundation fortified by a banner campaign that included growth in the regular season [[link removed]] and then the wild card [[link removed]] and divisional [[link removed]] playoff rounds, with more bullish totals expected for Sunday’s conference title games.

Taylor Swift Is in Tokyo Night Before Super Bowl: Can She Make the Game? [[link removed]]

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Taylor Swift has become a staple of Kansas City Chiefs games this season, supporting her boyfriend Travis Kelce. But as Kelce heads toward the season’s biggest game, it’s unclear whether Swift will be in attendance, because she plays a concert the night before—halfway across the world.

The superstar resumes her Eras Tour on Wednesday at the Tokyo Dome, playing a four-night stint in Japan. Just as she scheduled shows on the U.S. leg of the tour, Swift has several days of downtime before her next set the following weekend in Melbourne, Australia.

If Swift were to hop on a plane immediately following her final show in Japan, she would arrive around dinnertime on Saturday night in Las Vegas. The math: Las Vegas is 17 hours behind Tokyo, and the flight takes upwards of 12 hours.

That leaves plenty of time before a 3:30 p.m. kickoff in Las Vegas the next day—and time to return to Australia by Friday.

The long flights might be less of an issue than the time zone changes. The Super Bowl starts at 8:30 a.m. Monday morning Tokyo time. To backpedal 17 hours then quickly advance 19 hours within the same week would be quite the feat, much less playing multiple concerts on both ends. But history suggests she’s physically capable. Her concerts span more than three hours, without significant breaks or intermissions, and she prepared for the current tour by singing the entire set list on a treadmill [[link removed]] daily, running for upbeat songs and lowering to a jog or speed walk for the slower ones.

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Adam Silver Reportedly Finalizing NBA Renewal

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

On Saturday, as Adam Silver approached the 10-year anniversary of his arrival as NBA commissioner, where he succeeded David Stern, ESPN [[link removed]] reported that he was finalizing an extension that would tack another decade onto his tenure. Largely respected for his accessibility and his openness to working with teams and players, and for his handling of an array of curveballs (including toxic owners and the COVID-19 pandemic), Silver is the key player in a crucial moment for the league, as he negotiates its next set of broadcasting rights deals.

Altogether, those deals are predicted to return as much as $8 billion per year, by many estimates, whereas the existing deals, inked the year Silver arrived, yielded an average of $2.67 billion per year. One more way to measure the Silver Effect:

$634 million: Average NBA franchise value in 2014, per Forbes $3.85 billion: Average NBA franchise value in 2023 Four Burning Questions for LIV Golf’s 2024 Season [[link removed]]

Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

LIV Golf is making its way to Mexico this week for its season-opening event, which tees off on Friday at El Camaleón Golf Course in Mayakoba.

Entering its third season, the controversial league with financial backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has made waves this winter, most notably with the signing of Jon Rahm, ranked No. 3 in the world, at a reported cost of more than $500 million. Just four days before Rahm hits the course, the 2023 Masters champion still hasn’t announced which LIV team he’ll play for—a key component of the tour. But off the course, LIV is facing even more questions:

Can Jon Rahm attract new viewers?

The CW is returning for its second season as LIV’s U.S. broadcast partner. How many people watched in 2023, though, is a little unclear. After initially reporting viewership figures using data from iSpotTV, as opposed to Nielsen (the industry standard for audience measurement), LIV stopped [[link removed]] releasing ratings altogether following its sixth tournament. Some broadcasts were drawing fewer than 200,000 viewers late in the season, according to Sports Media Watch [[link removed]]. But now LIV has one of golf’s top stars in Rahm. Through two seasons, big names like Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, and Dustin Johnson didn’t appear to move the needle, but perhaps having Rahm will be different.

Will a looming PGA Tour-PIF deal interrupt the season?

The PIF, PGA Tour, and DP World Tour are still working toward a deal to unify pro golf after missing the Dec. 31 deadline to reach a definitive agreement. LIV’s regular season is scheduled to run until August, followed by two postseason events. So, there is a strong possibility that any official deal would come during that time frame. While it is possible that some LIV players could be allowed back at PGA Tour events this year, if a deal was struck, conventional wisdom says that any major changes would not come until 2025.

Can LIV get world rankings points?

All of LIV’s efforts thus far to secure accreditation from the Official World Golf Ranking board have failed. Players who were once safely inside the top 50 and 100 are now plummeting down the rankings, and that’s creating what would be the smallest [[link removed]] Masters field in decades. But there is turnover [[link removed]] happening with the OWGR (two key spots from Europe are changing hands), and a deal with the PGA Tour could help LIV events secure rankings points even sooner.

Will LIV land Anthony Kim?

Former U.S. Ryder Cup team member Anthony Kim, who last played pro golf in 2012, is reportedly mulling a comeback, despite an insurance policy worth an estimated $10 million that would be voided if he returned to competition. Kim has “spent the last few months in discussions with the PGA Tour, LIV and potential sponsors,” sources told Golf.com [[link removed]]. Kim would no doubt bring a welcome spotlight to LIV, if they signed him.

ONE BIG FIG Caitlin’s Card

Iowa City Press-Citizen

$78,000

Sale price last week for a signed 2022 Bowman University Superfractor Caitlin Clark trading card on the PWCC Marketplace, the most ever paid for a women’s basketball card. (Previous high: $11,500, for a Sabrina Ionescu issue.) Among women, only Serena Williams [[link removed].] has ever had a card sell for more.

TIME CAPSULE Jan. 29, 1981: A Sports Empire Begins

Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

On this day 43 years ago: Jerry Reinsdorf completes his $20 million purchase of the Chicago White Sox, beginning a deeply influential run in pro sports that continues to this day. Succeeding the colorful but oft-losing Bill Veeck, the former real estate and tax lawyer immediately elevates and modernizes the White Sox. Reinsdorf ultimately oversees six division winners and the 2005 World Series champions, and he is now embarking on another big chapter with a potential move [[link removed]] of the club close to downtown Chicago. Four years after the White Sox acquisition, Reinsdorf expands his local sports ownership with the purchase of the Chicago Bulls, ultimately winning six titles there, though a certain distance [[link removed]] remains between the owner and star Michael Jordan.

Beyond the local presence, Reinsdorf ultimately rises to be one of the most powerful figures in both the NBA and MLB, acting as a close confidant to multiple commissioners and helping form key elements of labor and economic policy. Reinsdorf also goes on to become a central figure in the creation of MLB Advanced Media, which produces billions in new wealth for the league and forges baseball’s leadership position digitally. (On the same day in 1981 that Reinsdorf buys the Sox, George Argyros also receives approval for his $13 million purchase of the Seattle Mariners, but he’s not nearly as successful, and he sells eight years later.)

FUTURE OF SPORTS

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FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY They Said What?

“CBS owes the NFL $2 billion a year, every year [until 2033]. … Paramount Global is in a situation that borders on dire—in large part because of that NFL deal.”

—Alex Sherman, CNBC reporter, on why Paramount Global may shed its sports-broadcasting subsidiaries in a rumored merger with Skydance Media. To hear more about Paramount’s potential merger, listen in to the latest episode of Front Office Sports Today.

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

Conversation Starters What a rise for budding tennis star Jannik Sinner: Five months ago, he’d never won a title above the ATP 500 level and on Sunday he overcame an 0-2 deficit to stun [[link removed]] Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final, his first Grand Slam title. The Baltimore Ravens lost the AFC title game at home on Sunday, but better days are coming [[link removed]] for M&T Bank Stadium, with nearly half a billion dollars worth of upgrades planned by 2026. Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones reworked his contract this fall to add a $1 million bonus if he made the All-Pro team and the Chiefs made the Super Bowl. It paid off [[link removed]]as Jones was named All-Pro two weeks ago and, on Sunday, Kansas City won the AFC Championship Game and punched a ticket to Super Bowl LVIII. Editor’s Picks Viewership Records and Crying Swifties: Taylor Swift and the NFL’s Budding Business Relationship [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Swift’s impact on the league, from TV records to a new fanbase. Here Comes the Great Chinese Pickleball Revolution. The Goal Is Olympic Supremacy [[link removed]]by John Walters [[link removed]]A country with over 1 billion people wants to dominate the sport. Five Burning Questions: Fox’s Tom Brady-Greg Olsen Dilemma [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]The GOAT is set to take over Olsen's No. 1 analyst job. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Sports Careers [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Margaret Fleming [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Adam Duerson [[link removed]]

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