May 24, 2024

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The Indy 500 arrives with plenty of questions surrounding the sport. … The most well-known ticketing company in sports may have some mounting legal problems. … Formula One heads to Monaco this weekend. Is the famous locale getting a discount for its race? … The French Open prepares to say goodbye to Rafael Nadal. … And we look back at the complicated history of one NFL franchise.

Meanwhile, Amanda Christovich of Front Office Sports reports [[link removed]] that the Power 5 conferences and the NCAA announced a tentative settlement which would mark the first time in history that schools share revenue with players.

— A.J. Perez [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], and Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

Cheating Scandal and Media Rights Battle Loom Large Ahead of Indy 500 [[link removed]]

The Indianapolis Star

The 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday will be the sixth broadcast by NBC, the network that took over the rights after ABC’s 54-year run of showcasing “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Whether NBC, whose contract expires [[link removed]] after this season, will continue as the exclusive home of the IndyCar Series and the Indy 500 is currently unclear.

NBC and Fox remain the two main suitors for the media rights, which, like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, are part of Roger Penske’s business empire. It’s expected that over the next month, IndyCar will announce a new media deal—and, while a rights-fee bump is anticipated, money won’t be the only major factor.

“The financial side is a piece of it,” a source with knowledge of IndyCar’s negotiations tells Front Office Sports. “But the second piece really is who can guarantee the most exposure? That would mean being on network [television] as much as possible.” NBC is paying $20 million annually under its current three-year deal that expires at season’s end, and IndyCar has seen audience growth with the network.

The 2023 season was the most-watched IndyCar Series season since ’11 and last Sunday’s Indy 500 qualifying session where Scott McLaughlin secured the pole averaged 1.2 million viewers on NBC, Peacock, and NBC Sports Digital—a 38% bump over last year.

The Captain’s Dilemma

Team Penske (above, right) swept the top three qualifying slots, the second time a team claimed the front row for an Indy 500 start in race history after two Penske cars did it in 1988.

It was a rebound for the team that has claimed a record 19 Indy 500 victories after Penske suspended team president Tim Cindric and three others earlier in the month for their ties to a cheating scandal [[link removed]] uncovered weeks after the season-opening race in St. Petersburg, Fla.

“To see us come back from some adversity here shows how good our team is and what a deep bench we have,” Penske said.

Two-for-One Special?

Weather could complicate 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champ Kyle Larson’s attempt to become the fifth driver to pull off competing in the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the same day. The forecast [[link removed]] in Indianapolis calls for a high likelihood of rain at the 12:45 p.m. ET start time Sunday and continues through the afternoon. His NASCAR team owner, Rick Hendrick, told Fox Sports [[link removed]] that it would “be very disappointing” to pull Larson out of his Indy 500 ride to make it to the North Carolina track in time.

Ticketmaster’s Future at Risk As DOJ Lawsuit Threatens Industry Shake-Up [[link removed]]

David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports

Ticketmaster parent Live Nation has seen a largely uninterrupted run of growth since emerging from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic that brought the live event industry to a crashing halt. Its most recent quarter featured a 21% bump in revenue to $3.8 billion, the seventh straight quarter of double-digit percentage growth where meaningful year-over-year comparisons could be made.

But that momentum hit a major obstacle Thursday, one that could render seismic changes for both the company itself and the businesses of both concerts and sports.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued [[link removed]] Live Nation for antitrust violations, alleging a wide range of improper practices to block out competition. The court is seeking a split of Ticketmaster and Live Nation, essentially undoing a landmark merger of the two entities in 2010. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have also joined in the lawsuit with the DOJ.

“It’s time for fans and artists to stop paying the price for Live Nation’s monopoly,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. “It’s time to restore competition in the entertainment industry. It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster. The American people are ready for it.”

The market reaction was swift and severe. Live Nation stock ended the day down 7.8% to $93.48 per share, but the company is remaining defiant and called the DOJ claims “absurd.”

“Calling Ticketmaster a monopoly may be a PR win for the DOJ in the short term, but it will lose in court because it ignores the basic economics of live entertainment,” Live Nation said.

Impact on Sports

The government’s case against Live Nation stems primarily from the concert business—where rising ticket fees, difficult on-sale dates, and spotty customer service have particularly frustrated fans for years. But if the government is successful in breaking up the companies and introducing a broader realm of competition, that could also lead to a reduction of some ticket fees fans pay to see games.

As it currently stands, sports represents more than 60% of Ticketmaster’s overall ticket volume, and the company controls the vast bulk of primary ticketing in the NHL and NBA while also maintaining an extensive presence in the NFL, MLB, and many other major sports leagues.

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La Cultura del Fútbol

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TelevisaUnivision is the soccer leader [[link removed]] in the U.S., regardless of language, accounting for more than 50% of all soccer viewing on television. Its soccer portfolio is unmatched, with rights to Liga MX, the most-watched soccer league in the U.S., Liga MX Femenil, Leagues Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Mexico men’s national football team, Concacaf Nations League, 2025 Gold Cup, UEFA European Qualifiers, Colombian Football League, and the two biggest soccer tournaments this summer—UEFA Euro ’24 and CONMEBOL Copa America ’24.

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FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY The French Open Connection

The Enquirer

The French Open, which begins Sunday, will be the last for the tournament’s most dominant champion, Rafael Nadal. His exit solidifies the narrative that tennis has moved past the Big Three era and into a more open field. At the same time, the sport’s governing bodies are undergoing their own transformation, with increasing influence from Saudi Arabia.

Catherine Whitaker and David Law, hosts of The Tennis Podcast, join the show for a look at a sport in transition.

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

EVENT

Future of Sports is headed to Cannes!

Presented by Front Office Sports, Publicis Sports, and NBC Sports, join us for an afternoon of networking and creative conversations June 19. Learn more [[link removed]] or request to attend. A special thanks to our partners Relo Metrics and Footballco.

We’ll see you in France!

ONE BIG FIG Time to Pay Up?

Andreas Pranter/GEPA via USA TODAY Sports

$20 million

Estimated price that the principality of Monaco pays annually to host Formula One’s most iconic race, which will run this weekend as defending champion Max Verstappen vies for his sixth win this season. That fee is lower than what any other grand prix host shells out, and F1 owner Liberty Media is seeking additional funds from Monaco as negotiations to extend its contract beyond 2025 continue, according to Bloomberg [[link removed]]. While 200,000 Formula One fans typically visit Monaco during race weekend, its full-time population is less than 40,000. The average wealth of a person living in Monaco is believed to exceed $10 million [[link removed].].

TIME CAPSULE May 24, 1967: ‘Who Dey?’

Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY NETWORK

On this day 57 years ago: The American Football League granted Cincinnati a franchise, with that team becoming the Bengals and then carrying over into the eventual AFL-NFL merger. The existence of the Bengals is in no small part the result of a power struggle, as legendary coach Paul Brown (above) was fired in 1963 by Art Modell, owner of the Cleveland NFL team that Brown helped found and bears his name. Wanting to establish another NFL team in Ohio after the bitter split from the Browns and Modell, Brown seized upon a developing opportunity in which a multipurpose stadium, ultimately becoming Riverfront Stadium, to house both MLB’s Reds and a football team, was beginning to take shape.

The Bengals started play in 1968, with Brown coaching the first eight seasons, also serving as general manager and president until his death in ’91, and even using some of the Browns’ old equipment at first—helping lead to the Bengals’ similar use of orange and white in their color scheme.

The on-field build for the Bengals was a slow one, in part due to the dynasty of division rival Pittsburgh during the 1970s. But under Brown, the team reached two Super Bowls in the ’80s, and another happened after the ’21 season in the latest era featuring star quarterback Joe Burrow. The team’s current facility, Paycor Stadium, was known as Paul Brown Stadium for the first 21 years of its life in honor of the iconic figure, and Brown’s son, Mike, is the current team owner.

The Bengals over the years have also been the source of some of the league’s most noteworthy cultural touchstones, including the “Ickey Shuffle” in the ’80s popularized by running back Ickey Woods, the introduction of the distinctive tiger-striped helmets, and the famed “Who Dey?” fan chants.

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Conversation Starters Hype continues to grow for EA College Football 25. Check out [[link removed]] what the home of the Texas Longhorns looks like inside the new video game. New video footage [[link removed]] has been released showing part of Scottie Scheffler’s arrest last week at the PGA Championship. Greg Olsen isn’t backing down from his aspirations of being the No. 1 game analyst in the NFL, despite his demotion at Fox in the wake of Tom Brady’s arrival. Listen [[link removed]] to what he said on Front Office Sports Today. Editors’ Picks The Knicks-Raptors Beef Has Now Extended Into the WNBA [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]James Dolan cast the lone vote against a new Toronto WNBA franchise. ‘Morale Sucks’: Charles Barkley Blasts David Zaslav’s Historic Bungling of NBA Rights [[link removed]]by Dennis Young [[link removed]]Barkley speculated that Zaslav’s infamous comments may have cost TNT league rights. NBC’s Time With the NBA Was a ‘Perfect Storm.’ Will History Repeat Itself? [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]Bob Costas, Marv Albert discuss a reunion 22 years in the making. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Sports Careers [[link removed]] Written by A.J. Perez [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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