April 26, 2024

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Amazon makes some big steps toward a rare sweep of rights among the four major men’s U.S. sports leagues. … There is seemingly no ceiling to the fan appeal of the NFL draft. … Plus: More on Lionel Messi, the Bundesliga, John Sterling, and MLB team valuations.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]] and David Rumsey [[link removed]]

Amazon Nears NBA Rights Deal, Eyes Sweep of U.S. Sports Leagues [[link removed]]

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

After picking up two separate pieces of NHL media rights, Amazon is inching closer to a highly rare sweep of the four major men’s U.S. pro sports leagues.

The online retail and streaming giant has completed a two-year pact with the NHL to stream games on Mondays in Canada, starting with the 2024–25 season, creating a new Prime Monday Night Hockey showcase. Amazon has also struck an additional deal with the Kraken for regional rights to show the NHL team’s games on Prime Video to fans in Washington state, Oregon, and Alaska.

The company, meanwhile, is separately closing in on a landmark deal to acquire a portion of the NBA’s national rights, according to The Athletic [[link removed]].

The hockey pacts add to Amazon’s existing, long-term rights with the NFL for Thursday Night Football and a regional streaming pact with MLB’s Yankees for 21 games this season. Amazon also has a deal with Diamond Sports Group that—if the regional sports network operator’s reorganization bid [[link removed]] is approved—will provide [[link removed]] bankruptcy exit financing in exchange for an equity stake and a much broader set of regional broadcast rights.

Exclusive Company

Amazon’s active pursuit [[link removed]] of domestic streaming rights to the NBA builds on what the company already does [[link removed].] with the league in Brazil. If the latest basketball pursuit is successful, Amazon would have a set of U.S. rights relationships among the most popular American sports properties only rivaled by ESPN. The Disney-owned network currently has national-level domestic rights to the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL.

By comparison, what Amazon is potentially stitching together is an amalgam of national and regional rights. But every other broadcast network and streamer is missing out entirely on one or more of those major leagues in their respective rights portfolios.

Amazon is scheduled to have its 2024 upfront presentation to advertisers May 14, and its fast-growing sports programming slate is expected to be a central component of that event.

NFL Draft Grades: Belichick, Saban, and Detroit Get High Marks [[link removed]]

Detroit Free Press

The NFL, the Lions, and Detroit officials all knew they had a likely hit [[link removed]] on their hands by putting the league’s draft in Motor City’s downtown. But even the most bullish of previous projections are quickly being rendered obsolete.

The first day of the three-day showcase event drew a crowd of 275,000, according to league commissioner Roger Goodell, smashing the prior single-day attendance record of 200,000 for the event set by Nashville in 2019. At Detroit’s current pace, the city could also top Nashville’s three-day total of 600,000, which remains the draft’s high-water mark, and attract roughly 750,000 fans by weekend’s end.

That NFL attendance total for Thursday night denotes only the number of fans within the official event footprint, which reached capacity about 90 minutes before the formal start of the draft’s first round. Detroit police, however, pointed to as many as 400,000 people having descended on downtown.

Big crowds are expected Friday and Saturday for the latter two days of the draft, as well, further emphasizing the rapid transformation [[link removed]] of Detroit as a top-tier market for NFL fan affinity. After decades of on-field futility, the Lions’ march last season to the NFC championship game helped reenergize the city and lead to a full sellout of the team’s home schedule for the first time in Ford Field history.

“This community is such a football town,” Goodell said on ESPN’s live draft coverage. “We told the people here to do this Detroit-style, showcase the things that make you special, and these fans are a big part of it.”

Legendary Analysis

The options for watching Thursday night’s madness play out on TV were plentiful: ABC, ESPN, ESPN+, and NFL Network all rolled out their A-list football analysts and personalities, but two draft coverage newbies captured the most attention. Former Alabama coach Nick Saban fronted ABC’s more family-focused telecast, while former Patriots boss Bill Belichick got out of his comfort zone with The Pat McAfee Show draft special.

In the eyes of Front Office Sports media expert Michael McCarthy, both coaching legends lived up to the hype. “Saban seemed comfortable in the center chair on what amounted to his debut on College GameDay [[link removed]] this season,” McCarthy says. “Why not? He brought unique knowledge, either playing against or recruiting many of the top prospects. As I previously predicted [[link removed]], Belichick was a surprise. He was sharp, incisive. He told war stories and passive-aggressively settled scores with the Pats.”

Belichick’s draft duties are done, but it looks like he could have a stint on the ManningCast during ESPN’s Monday Night Football this fall, as well as more work with Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions. Saban will return to ABC’s coverage of the second and third rounds of the draft Friday night as another 69 players—many of whom he coached or faced in college—come off the board.

On Saturday, the convergence of rounds four through seven will play out as the NFL seeks a viewership boost from the average audience of six million viewers that consumed last year’s draft, a figure that was up 12% over 2022.

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WEEKEND PRIZE POOL Showdown in Dover

Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Front Office Sports tees up every weekend sporting slate with a ledger of the purses and prize pools at stake. Here’s what’s up for grabs this weekend:

PGA Tour, The Zurich Classic of New Orleans

When: Thursday to Sunday Purse: $8.9 million First place (individual): $1.28 million

LPGA Tour, The JM Eagle LA Championship

When: Thursday to Sunday Purse: $3.75 million First place (individual): $562,500

LIV Golf, Adelaide at the Grange

When: Friday to Sunday Purse: $25 million First place: $4 million (individual), $3 million (team)

NASCAR Cup Series, The Würth 400

When: Sunday Purse: $7.9 million First place: Individual payouts are no longer disclosed STATUS REPORT Two Up, One Down, One Push

Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Lionel Messi fans ⬆ Inter Miami coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino confirmed [[link removed]] that the Argentine legend is available to play in Saturday’s MLS match at the New England Revolution, despite lingering injury concerns for the superstar and Gillette Stadium’s artificial-turf playing surface.

Bundesliga ⬇ The league’s domestic media-rights auction has been suspended [[link removed]] due to DAZN threatening to sue its parent organization, the German Football League, over what the streamer claims was an unlawful awarding of top matches to rival broadcaster Sky.

John Sterling ⬆⬇ The recently retired [[link removed]] Yankees radio announcer received an 83-inch LG television from the club as part of an elaborate ceremony held last weekend to honor the broadcasting legend. But Sterling told the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast [[link removed]] that “we don’t know what we’re going to do with it yet. … I don’t have any room for it at my place.” Sterling lives in an apartment in Edgewater, N.J.

MLB team valuations ⬆ Already-rising franchise values in the sport are poised to getting another, and significant, boost as a small stake in the Giants is for sale at a valuation of $4 billion, according to Bloomberg [[link removed]]. That figure is far above the $1.73 million deal [[link removed]] for the Orioles or the 2020 acquisition of the Mets by Steve Cohen worth about $2.4 billion.

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Conversation Starters Caleb Williams, the NFL draft’s No. 1 pick, broke Fanatics’ record for draft night merchandise sales [[link removed]], surpassing the previous record set by Caitlin Clark just last week, according to the company. Speaking of Williams, he made a special guest appearance at the Bears’ draft party in Chicago—using a hologram. Check it out. [[link removed]] Quinyon Mitchell, who emerged as one of college football’s top cornerbacks at Toledo, turned down bigger offers and NIL money. The decision paid off Thursday night when the Eagles took him 22nd [[link removed]]—the Rockets’ first Round 1 pick in 30 years. Editors’ Picks ‘Jaw-Dropping’ Noncompete Ban Could Shake Up Pro Coaching, Experts Say [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Many pro coaches are banned from interviewing for other jobs without team approval. Mets Make Seymour Weiner Spokesman for Selling More Wieners [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]The 97-year-old veteran-turned-meme is helping the team sell hot dogs now. Indianapolis Officially Vying for MLS Expansion Team [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Questions arise about current plans for a stadium for its USL team. 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]], David Rumsey [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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