July 19, 2024

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The relocation of the A’s to Las Vegas still carries lots of questions around the club’s sought-after stadium. … The Premier League’s Everton is starting over again in the search for a new owner. … The NBA’s forthcoming expansion will not come cheap. … There’s big money on the line this weekend in golf, cycling, NASCAR, and basketball. … Plus: More on ESPN, CBS Sports, Unrivaled, and Microsoft.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

A’s Stadium Site Demolition Begins, but Many Questions Still Remain [[link removed]]

Sacramento River Cats

The A’s were due Thursday to offer more clues about their financing for the planned $1.5 billion stadium in Nevada during a meeting of the Las Vegas Stadium Authority. They did that—but only to a point.

During the stadium authority session, club board member Sandy Dean laid out the three broad parameters of the club’s intended plan for the ballpark targeted for the Las Vegas Strip. But there are numerous pressing questions remaining within each of the three primary funding sources.

Public financing: The A’s will tap into $380 million of previously approved [[link removed]] taxpayer funding, but say they plan to leave about $30 million of that in reserve to help with finishing the project. Debt financing: The club intends to borrow $300 million for the project, but there are not yet formal lender commitments for that. “We’ve had strong interest from a number of companies that want to participate in that portion of the project,” Dean said. Equity financing: The remaining $850 million will be funded by owner John Fisher and his family and partners. There has been an ongoing effort, involving [[link removed]] veteran sports finance company Galatioto Sports Partners, to potentially bring in new team investors to help fund the project. But that process, too, is ongoing.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred earlier this week conveyed [[link removed]] his confidence in the club’s financing. Like the Rays, the A’s intend to open their new ballpark in 2028, and the Tampa Bay club on Thursday received [[link removed]] St. Petersburg, Fla., city council approval for that effort. But the issues around funding the Las Vegas ballpark are still far from resolved.

“There is a lot more to still happen,” with the A’s stadium, said former Marlins president David Samson on his podcast [[link removed]], Nothing Personal with David Samson. “Just because you saw a 90-page [development] agreement does not mean that’s the agreement that is signed or the agreement that will be approved.”

Change at the Site

Demolition efforts have begun at the Bally’s-owned Tropicana Las Vegas, the former resort that for decades was a fixture of the Las Vegas Strip, but is now being cleared to make way for the stadium—even before the ballpark development agreement is completed.

An implosion of the primary hotel towers is targeted for October. The overall demolition effort will leave a 9-acre site for the A’s ballpark that will be among the smallest footprints of any MLB facility.

Should the stadium ultimately not be built there—as is the hope [[link removed]] of some such as Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman—the site will easily be among the most coveted in town, potentially for another casino.

Schedule Matters

Also on Thursday, MLB released the 2025 regular-season schedule [[link removed]], the first of three in Sacramento [[link removed]] for the A’s. Instead of listing the club with a city signifier in the schedule, like the other 29 teams, the league denotes the A’s as “ATH,” short for Athletics.

The schedule, meanwhile, does not include specific start times, and those will be determined at a later date based on several factors, including the wishes of MLB’s national broadcast partners. But the A’s will be battling the effects of the Sacramento summer, which is typically much hotter than Oakland, and where temperatures have repeatedly reached triple digits in recent weeks. On July 6, the temperature peaked at 113 degrees [[link removed]].

Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park (above) is an outdoor facility, and next year will have an artificial turf field that is easier to maintain, but it could potentially magnify the heat effects. Because of that, Manfred said the field will have a “hydration component” to aid in cooling. The ballpark will also have baseball happening nearly every day there throughout the season, as the A’s will be sharing the stadium with the Sacramento River Cats, the top minor league affiliate of the Giants.

Déjà Vu: Everton Loses Takeover Bid From U.S. Investor [[link removed]]

Everton FC

Everton is back in the hunt for a new owner after yet another U.S. investment group backed out of taking over the embattled Premier League club.

On Friday, Everton announced that The Friedkin Group will not be progressing with a purchase of the club after the conclusion of a period of exclusive discussions for a potential sale of a majority stake. “The parties agree it is in both their interests for Everton to explore alternative options,” a team statement read.

Led by billionaire Dan Friedkin, the Houston-based company was considering [[link removed]] buying the shares of Everton held by Farhad Moshiri, who owns 94.1% of the club through Blue Heaven Holdings. It would have been the second top-flight European soccer club for Friedkin, who also owns Serie A side AS Roma.

Deal or No Deal?

The latest development with Everton comes less than two months after a separate takeover attempt by Miami-based investment firm 777 Partners collapsed [[link removed]]. That agreement was originally struck last September and was supposed to close in 2023, but it never received regulatory approval due to financing issues for 777.

Before the 777 deal, Everton also tried and failed [[link removed]] to sell a minority stake to New York–based firm MSP Sports Capital in 2023 for $190 million.

Homecoming

Despite the uncertainty surrounding ownership, Everton has been moving forward with construction of its new 53,000-seat waterfront stadium (above) in downtown Liverpool.

Even with The Friedkin Group ending its takeover bid, the company will stick around as a lender for Everton. The new stadium broke ground in 2021 with an estimated price tag around $700 million. The club is planning [[link removed]] to move in before the start of the 2025–26 English soccer season. It finished the ’23–24 season 15th in the EPL, three spots up from relegation.

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ONE BIG FIG The Cost of Admission

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

$7 billion

Projected cost of an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas, according to Bloomberg [[link removed]]. The full figure would set the record for acquiring a professional sports franchise and its venue, surpassing the $6.05 billion that the Washington Commanders and their stadium were purchased [[link removed]] for last July.

The $7 billion would include the expansion fee—which is estimated to be around $4 billion to $5 billion—and the cost of constructing a new arena. The future owners of the Las Vegas expansion franchise might also consider playing games at T-Mobile Arena, which is owned by MGM Resorts International and home of the NHL’s Golden Knights.

While NBA expansion is still up in the air, commissioner Adam Silver (above) said last week the league will consider it “in earnest” in the fall once its media-rights deals have been finalized. The NBA is expected [[link removed]] to give strong consideration to Las Vegas and Seattle.

WEEKEND PRIZE POOL Chase for the Claret Jug

Jack Gruber-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:

The Open Championship, Scotland

When: Thursday to Sunday Purse: $17 million First place (individual): $3.1 million

Tour de France

When: June 29 to Sunday Purse: $2.5 million First place (individual): $540,000

LPGA, Dana Open, Sylvania, Ohio

When: Thursday to Sunday Purse: $1.75 million First place (individual): $262,000

NASCAR Cup Series, Brickyard 400, Indianapolis Motor Speedway

When: Sunday Purse: $9.6 million First place: Individual payouts are no longer disclosed

WNBA All-Star Weekend, Phoenix

When: Friday to Saturday Purse: $25,000 All-Star Game MVP: $5,150 Three-point contest and skills competition winners: $2,575 each STATUS REPORT Three Up, One Down

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN ⬆ Sunday Night Baseball will have a new alternative broadcast targeting the diehard MLB fan. The network announced that its new alternative broadcast on ESPN2 will feature more data and stats-focused components, similar to what the network had done for alt-casts of the Home Run Derby and some games in 2020 and ’21. The new format replaces the alt-cast of the last two seasons featuring Alex Rodriguez and Michael Kay that was designed for the casual MLB viewer.

CBS Sports ⬆ Serie A will continue to broadcast games on CBS Sports networks as the two sides announced [[link removed].] a two-year agreement that will stretch until the 2025–26 season. CBS took over the U.S. broadcasting rights of the Italian soccer league from ESPN in ’21–22.

Unrivaled ⬆ The new women’s 3-on-3 basketball league announced [[link removed]] a deal with Ally to be its first official sponsor. Founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, the league is set to launch in January 2025. Ally has been a leading supporter of women’s sports since June ’22, when it pledged [[link removed]] a 50-50 split of advertising spend between men’s and women’s sports.

Microsoft ⬇ The tech giant’s IT outage involving cybersecurity software company CrowdStrike upended businesses and stalled airlines around the world—and it also shook the sports world. ESPN’s Get Up! was unable to show graphics on its TV screens, while the WNBA’s Erica Wheeler said in a deleted tweet that she may miss the All-Star skills competition due to a delayed flight.

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Conversation Starters Nike released its newest ad for the 2024 Paris Olympics, and it’s narrated by Willem Dafoe. Watch it here [[link removed]]. ESPN just released a new look for SEC on ABC. Check out [[link removed]] the video package and images. The NBA is finalizing a media-rights deal worth about $76 billion, which could lead to the first player earning $1 billion in salary alone. Learn about [[link removed]] how and when it could happen. Editors’ Picks Jaguars Sue Ex-Employee for $66.6 Million After Thefts [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]This could help the Jags avoid suing FanDuel and DraftKings directly. Odell Beckham Jr. and Nike Claim Victory in Jury Ruling That Hands Both $0 [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]The two sides were suing over alleged contract breaches, including OBJ’s gloves. Just Days to Go: NBA Media-Rights Ball Officially in TNT’s Court [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]TNT officially has the NBA media deals on its desk. 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]], Colin Salao [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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