May 16, 2024

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The 2024 NFL schedule is out, and many of the roads to ratings success will likely go through Kansas City. … Revenue records are being broken at the PGA Championship as the next major tees off. … One of ESPN’s top golf analysts joins Front Office Sports Today to break down the sport’s complicated landscape. … And Charles Barkley gives his candid take on the NBA’s media rights.

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

NFL’s Schedule Points to Network Strategies: Chiefs Lead, Texans Rise [[link removed]]

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL’s media partners have made no secret a big part of their plan to achieve more ratings growth in the 2024 season: ride the Chiefs as far as they’ll go.

With Wednesday night’s release [[link removed]] of the full, 272-game regular-season schedule, the two-time defending Super Bowl winners are playing perhaps an even bigger role among the various networks than what might have been expected for any other title winner. Kansas City will host the season-opening game on Sept. 5 against the Ravens, a previously announced matchup [[link removed]] that maintains current NFL practice of beginning the season in the home stadium of the defending Super Bowl champion.

But the Chiefs are a significant presence in many other tentpole parts of the schedule. Among the key dates for the team:

A high-profile Sept. 15 matchup against the Bengals that will be the first late-afternoon Sunday game of the season for CBS. A Black Friday game against the Raiders. Amazon will again carry that game, and is aiming for a better result than last year’s somewhat-disappointing result [[link removed]] for the debut edition with Jets-Dolphins. A Saturday game on Dec. 21 against the Texans that is a newly added part of NBC Sports’ schedule and will be shown nationally. A Christmas Day game against the Steelers that is part of the much-anticipated entry [[link removed]] of Netflix into NFL game broadcasts. Four additional primetime appearances across NBC Sports’ Sunday Night Football and ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

It’s all part of an effort by the NFL and its media partners to pursue a repeat of the banner 2023 campaign that included an across-the-board sweep [[link removed]] of ratings increases in the regular season and every part of the playoffs. As the NFL continues to separate out its schedule to create more standalone games, the Chiefs over the upcoming season will play on every day of the week with the exception of a Tuesday.

More Schedule Highlights

Almost every year, there is a team that is positioned as a breakout story, based in part on the rise in national TV appearances on the schedule. Last year, that team was the Lions [[link removed]]. And this year, it’s the Texans, who are coming off a trip to the divisional round of the playoffs and have both the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year (C.J. Stroud) and Defensive Rookie of the Year (Will Anderson Jr.) from last year on the roster.

The Texans will be featured this year in six national appearances, including Christmas Day against the Ravens and that Dec. 21 game in Kansas City.

Amazon [[link removed]], meanwhile, will be getting all 14 playoff teams on its 2024 schedule for Thursday Night Football, while NBC Sports has 13 games involving matchups of postseason participants last year, ESPN has the much-anticipated Harbaugh Bowl on Nov. 25 between the Ravens (coached by John Harbaugh) and Chargers (coached by Jim Harbaugh), CBS Sports will air at least eight Chiefs games—twice as many as any other network, and Fox Sports will show the Super Bowl LVIII rematch between the Chiefs and 49ers on Oct. 20.

Social Media Frenzy

The Super Bowl for NFL players arrives in February. But the Super Bowl for each team’s social media staff arrives on the day of the schedule release, and this year was no exception as each of them sought to showcase [[link removed]] their upcoming slate.

Inventive displays of the schedule were developed by teams such as the Chargers [[link removed]], Rams [[link removed]], Ravens [[link removed]], and Falcons [[link removed]].

PGA Championship Setting Revenue Records, but LIV Drama Still Looms [[link removed]]

The Courier-Journal

The PGA Championship tees off Thursday morning at Valhalla Golf Club, with fans in Louisville making this a historic tournament financially. The PGA of America says that this is the highest ticket-revenue-generating edition of the event’s history, with sellout crowds expected to draw 200,000 spectators over the next four days.

This week marks the fifth time the PGA Championship will be played in May since moving from August in 2019 (the ’20 edition was played in August due to the COVID-19 pandemic). While the transition may still feel awkward for some longtime fans who were used to the PGA concluding golf’s major season in late summer, it’s clear that business is booming for spring’s newest tradition.

Valhalla has also set a record for the most hospitality sold at any PGA Championship, breaking the previous mark set at the 2017 tournament at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, the site of next year’s PGA Championship. Popular offerings this year include 100-person chalets and 75-person premium suites.

LIV Still in the Spotlight

During a news conference Wednesday afternoon, PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh lamented the ongoing feud between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, reiterating his hope that a deal to unify the pro game comes soon. “I don’t think the game is big enough for two tours like that, and I think we are diluting the game in a way that is not healthy,” Waugh said while calling the current state of the game “an unsustainable business model.”

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy called Jimmy Dunne’s resignation [[link removed]] from the PGA Tour policy board a huge loss, and said the Tour is in a worse place because of it. “Jimmy was basically the relationship, the sort of conduit between the PGA Tour and PIF,” said McIlroy. “It’s been really unfortunate that he has not been involved for the last few months, and I think part of the reason that everything is stalling at the minute is because of that.”

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FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY Strange Times at PGA Championship

Clare Grant-USA TODAY Sports

As the PGA Championship brings together players from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf—providing extra competition for top-ranked Scottie Scheffler (above)—uncertainty continues to linger over the Tour’s talks with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. To break it all down, ESPN analyst and two-time major champion Curtis Strange joins the show to discuss the state of golf heading into the major championship.

🎧Watch, listen, and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Google [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], and YouTube [[link removed]].

LOUD AND CLEAR The Great Unknown

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

“Everybody’s scared to death.”

—Charles Barkley, on the uncertainty surrounding the future of NBA broadcasts on TNT. During a radio interview with ESPN Chicago [[link removed]], the Basketball Hall of Famer and longtime Inside the NBA personality said the league’s media-rights negotiations have been stressful for many of his colleagues. “Am I concerned? 100 percent.” Barkley estimated that there is a 50-50 chance TNT loses its portion of NBA rights to NBC, which has been said to have submitted a bid that would pay the league $2.5 billion annually.

TIME CAPSULE May 16, 1979: Arrival of a Sports Titan

Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

On this day 45 years ago: John McMullen was approved as the new majority owner of the Astros. The former naval architect and marine engineer previously made his name in sports with one of the most well-known quotes ever when he said of the bombastic George Steinbrenner, then the Yankees’ owner, “Nothing is so limited as being one of George’s limited partners.” But McMullen soon put his own stamp on the Astros, bringing in ace pitcher Nolan Ryan with MLB’s first $1 million free-agent contract and helping lead the club to playoff berths—the first in franchise history—during his first two full seasons of ownership.

McMullen held the Astros until 1992, and his time there included another trip to the National League Championship Series. But he made an even bigger impact in hockey. In ’82, he purchased the NHL’s Colorado Rockies and oversaw a process for that franchise to become the New Jersey Devils, a complex deal that included the relocation indemnification payments to the neighboring New York Rangers and Islanders as well as the Philadelphia Flyers. While in New Jersey, McMullen led a process during which the once-downtrodden franchise became a league power, winning the 1995 Stanley Cup, and then a second one five years later, just weeks after he sold the franchise to a group including Steinbrenner. A third Cup win by the Devils, with much of the core roster and leadership assembled during the McMullen era, arrived in 2003. McMullen died in ’05, but he remains [[link removed]] in the Devils’ Ring of Honor at the Prudential Center.

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Conversation Starters Netflix has secured the rights to a 10-episode docuseries [[link removed]] about Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his journey in transforming the franchise. New York City FC’s massive $780 million stadium project is set to be unveiled in 2027. Look here [[link removed]]. In case you missed it: Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut [[link removed]] on ESPN2 drew an average of 2.12 million viewers, making it the most-watched league game in 23 years. Editors’ Picks NFL-Netflix Deal Could Set Stage for Mother of All Cash Grabs [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]The NFL’s leverage with streamers and broadcasters is only increasing. Ted Leonsis Still Wants to Buy the Nationals, Add to D.C. Portfolio [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Leonsis tried to buy the team in 2023, but the Lerner family opted not to sell. Want to Stream Live Sports? Better Know Your Bundle Options First [[link removed]]by Eric Fisher [[link removed]]Comcast’s new StreamSaver bundle adds to a fast-growing number of combined offerings. 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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