May 20, 2024

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One LIV golfer almost stole the show at the roller coaster that was the PGA Championship. … Arena plans in Phoenix and Las Vegas are facing challenges. … The WNBA’s Liberty set a revenue mark with Caitlin Clark in town. … The 2024 NFL schedule has some interesting quirks. … And Front Office Sports Today explores the wild world of bare-knuckle fighting.

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

PGA Championship Drama Nearly Delivers a Major Boost to LIV Golf [[link removed]]

Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports

A wild and chaotic PGA Championship—both on and off the course—concluded with a dramatic finish Sunday evening as American standout and PGA Tour loyalist Xander Schauffele birdied the final hole to defeat LIV Golf star Bryson DeChambeau by one stroke to win his first major championship.

Schauffele takes home $3.3 million for his victory at Valhalla Golf Club, bringing his total earnings so far in 2024 to just under $11 million. That puts him in second place on the PGA Tour this year, behind only Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, who has made more than $19 million on the course.

Scheffler finished tied for eighth at the PGA Championship—a solid result considering he nearly missed his second round tee time Friday morning after being arrested [[link removed]] following an incident just outside the golf course. Four charges were levied [[link removed]] against Scheffler, including second-degree assault of a police officer, which is a felony. However, those charges are reportedly set to be dropped, according to at least one report [[link removed]].

The drama surrounding Scheffler’s arrest could mean big viewership numbers for ESPN, which had complete coverage of the early rounds. And lingering interest in the Scheffler story, along with a tight leaderboard including players from the PGA Tour and LIV on Sunday may end up giving CBS a good number for the final round.

What’s Next for LIV, PGA Tour?

With two majors in the books this year, the scoreboard now stands at PGA Tour 2, LIV Golf 0.

Players from the rival tours will meet two more times this year, next up in the U.S. Open during the second week of June. Before then, LIV will have one tournament in Houston the week prior, while the PGA Tour has three tournaments scheduled over the next three weeks, including a $20 million signature event at the Memorial Tournament.

It would be a surprise if any significant progress was made on the negotiation front between the Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. But with all the twists and turns that have come off the course recently, perhaps nothing should be off the table until a deal to unify the professional game is actually reached.

New Stadiums, New Hurdles: Coyotes and A’s Face High Stakes [[link removed]]

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The good news for the NHL’s former Coyotes franchise is that owner Alex Meruelo is in active conversations with Phoenix mayor Kate Gallego about the possibility of a new arena. The bad news is that Gallego remains firmly opposed to some core parts of a potential Coyotes arena plan.

As the team has relocated [[link removed]] to Utah and been sold to a group led by Ryan Smith—setting off a five-year window [[link removed]] for Meruelo to revive the Coyotes—Gallego’s office late Thursday confirmed a meeting held earlier this month with the owner. The mayor’s representatives called the session “productive,” but emphasized that public funds should not be part of the project.

“The mayor believes professional hockey can thrive in the desert, but also made clear that she does not support using taxpayer funds, including property tax abatement, for sports arenas,” Gallego’s office said in a statement.

Prior arena plans [[link removed]] released by the team have centered on a privately funded arena, but also creating a special theme park district with taxing authority within it, and using those funds to help finance the project. Whether that aligns with Gallego’s firm stance against taxpayer funds will be the subject of further talks. But already, the Meruelo plan has begun to draw other local opposition [[link removed]].

The meeting between Meruelo and Gallego also precedes a public land auction scheduled for June 27. Much of the franchise’s hopes are tied to that event, where Meruelo intends to secure a 110-acre parcel of state-owned land in north Phoenix, initially appraised at $68.5 million.

Winning that land would represent a critical step forward for Meruelo, but only an initial one with many more hurdles likely still ahead of him.

Back in Las Vegas

The Las Vegas Stadium Authority, meanwhile, recently reviewed a non-relocation pact from MLB’s A’s, marking the third of four primary agreements the authority must approve as part of the previously sanctioned $380 million in state funds for a planned ballpark along the Las Vegas Strip, and tying the team to the market for at least 30 years.

Two prior components—a core lease agreement and a community benefits plan—were previously presented. The fourth part, a development agreement for the ballpark, has yet to arrive and is perhaps the most critical component. There, the club and its owner, John Fisher, will detail how they will pay their share of the projected $1.5 billion total stadium cost.

That team chunk, set to exceed $1.1 billion, also intersects with Fisher’s recent hire [[link removed]] of veteran sports finance firm Galatioto Sports Partners to help secure investors to help fund the project.

“I think the A’s have been pretty darn clear about what they’re doing—they’re coming,” said Steve Hill, stadium authority chair. “They said they can finance the stadium, and they are going to play baseball here in 2028. Frankly, I think it’s just fun for some to create some drama around it, and that’s happening. … But it doesn’t change the facts of the matter, which is [that] they’ve said what they’re going to do, and they’re just doing it.”

Like the situation in Phoenix, the planned ballpark development in Las Vegas is one of the most noteworthy facility projects, either proposed or in progress, across the entire sports industry.

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LOUD AND CLEAR Strength in Numbers

Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

“It’s a long time coming.”

—Breanna Stewart (above, right) after being told that the New York Liberty brought in a league record $2 million in ticket revenue from Saturday’s game against Caitlin Clark (above, left) and the Indiana Fever. The Liberty won 91-80 in front of 17,735 fans at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. “I think that obviously the buzz and just the eyes that Caitlin has brought from Iowa now to the WNBA is gonna be a collective win for all,” Stewart said. “And now that she’s a part of our league and a part of our 144. … When I first started in the league, some teams weren’t even making revenue.”

ONE BIG FIG (Almost) Seven Days a Week

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

6

Number of days of the week that the Chiefs will play on during the 2024 NFL regular season. In addition to typical Sunday, Monday, and Thursday matchups, Kansas City will also hit the field on Christmas, which is on a Wednesday, Black Friday, and on a Saturday against the Texans in late December.

So, now that we’ve all had time to digest our favorite team’s slate of games this fall, Front Office Sports wants to know which quirk about the NFL schedule [[link removed]] readers find most interesting. Maybe it’s a stretch of road games, an early bye, a run of prime-time games, the growing number of streaming services needed to watch every game, or something else entirely.

Reply to this newsletter with your thoughts, and we’ll run some responses in an upcoming edition.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY Uncovering Bare-Knuckle Fighting

Detroit Free Press

Bare-knuckle fighting has lived in the shadows for most of its existence, with matches happening in secret locations, often funded by organized crime. Author Stayton Bonner joins the show to explore a seedy world that is looking to go public.

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

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Conversation Starters In 2008, billionaire Sheikh Mansour took over Manchester City and since then, the club has spent more than $2.5 billion on players. On Sunday, City completed [[link removed]] the first four-peat in Premier League history. Tom Brady, Michael Rubin, and Jay-Z hosted [[link removed]] some of the NFL’s top rookies in Los Angeles, including Bo Nix, Drake Maye, Malik Nabers, Brock Bowers, Caleb Williams, and Jayden Daniels, to discuss sports and business opportunities. ESPN’s Rece Davis spent 250 hours recording 30,000 audio samples for EA’s College Football 25, ensuring a more realistic experience for gamers. Listen here [[link removed]]. FinanceBuzz has a list of some unusual (but legit) ways that people can stack their bank accounts without having to leave their house. Learn more [[link removed]].* Editors’ Picks ‘I Prefer It This Way’: How Life Works for PGA Club Pros [[link removed]]by David Rumsey [[link removed]]Here’s how life works for the qualifiers at golf’s second major. ‘A Breathtaking Lobbying Campaign’: The NCAA’s Sophisticated Effort to Save Amateurism [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]Inside the carefully coordinated, multimillion-dollar operation to end the athletes’ rights era. The WNBA Rookies Are Creating a New Celebrity Row [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Major celebs like Kim Kardashian and Latto are showing up for the newbies. DISCLAIMER

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