August 16, 2024

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A judge has blocked the launch of Venu Sports, a collaboration among Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox. We take you inside the case and why FuboTV said this venture would doom its own business.

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

Judge Grants FuboTV Injunction, Blocking Venu From Launching

Syndication: Canton Repository

The sports streaming joint venture between Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery will have to wait. A federal judge has blocked the planned Aug. 23 launch of Venu, a collaboration among the three media giants.

FuboTV sued over the planned app in February, and it argued the launch should be enjoined for antitrust reasons. Judge Margaret Garnett agreed.

“[I]t appears to the Court that Fubo is likely to succeed on its claims that by entering into the JV, the JV Defendants will substantially lessen competition and restrain trade in the relevant market in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act,” she wrote in a 69-page decision.

The three media giants may seek emergency relief. A lawyer for WBD argued earlier this week [[link removed]] that “a preliminary injunction would terminate the joint venture.” Fubo had argued that the lack of one would doom its business.

Fox, Disney, and WBD released a joint statement after Garnett’s ruling.

“We respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling and are appealing it,” the statement said. “We believe that Fubo’s arguments are wrong on the facts and the law, and that Fubo has failed to prove it is legally entitled to a preliminary injunction. Venu Sports is a pro-competitive option that aims to enhance consumer choice by reaching a segment of viewers who currently are not served by existing subscription options.”

Read the full story by Daniel Kaplan here [[link removed]].

MLB Trying New Plan for Players’ Weekend [[link removed]]

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

MLB is reviving its Players’ Weekend after a five-year hiatus, in turn restoring one of the league’s most prominent vehicles to advance its marketing of individual players.

The initiative, which begins Friday and ends Sunday, will bring back a program that ran from 2017 to 2019, but then was shelved for a variety of reasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift of the league’s on-field uniform contract to Nike. Like before, Players’ Weekend is designed to showcase the personalities of individual athletes. But instead of special uniforms bearing player nicknames, specific plans include the use of customized bats [[link removed]] and personalized cleats, in-game and social media content, and segments within game broadcasts. Special game caps for the weekend will also feature player numbers on the side panels.

Each of the three days of Players’ Weekend will be centered on defined themes, with Friday’s games to showcase players’ off-field interests, Saturday’s schedule to focus on charitable causes and community efforts, and Sunday’s games to spotlight players’ appreciation of those who aided their journeys to the big leagues.

“The time was right to bring this back and give players the opportunity to express themselves beyond the nightly stats,” Noah Garden, MLB deputy commissioner for business and media, tells Front Office Sports. “This is for the fans, but it’s also for the players, and it’s all about finding new ways to make a connection.”

The program is happening as MLB’s efforts to promote its players remain a source of fervent debate, both among fans and within the industry. Most recently, Mets president of business operations M. Scott Havens said at the FOS Huddle in the Hamptons event that MLB has not sufficiently marketed its player talent [[link removed]], particularly those beyond megastars Aaron Judge (above) and Shohei Ohtani.

The league, however, is coupling Players’ Weekend with a new iteration of its “Baseball Is Something Else” [[link removed]] brand campaign, with new spots featuring Academy Award nominee Brian Tyree Henry.

Little Big Leagues

Players’ Weekend will additionally coincide with Sunday’s prime-time staging of the seventh version of the MLB Little League Classic. The game between the Yankees and Tigers will be played in Williamsport, Pa., site of the Little League World Series, and the in-person attendance will predominantly involve participating players and coaches from the high-profile youth event.

ESPN will again show the MLB Little League Classic, an event that has long been a core part of its overall baseball programming [[link removed]], and, on Sunday, follows the network’s coverage of the Little League World Series. The Yankees-Tigers broadcast will be supplemented by a return of ESPN’s KidsCast alternate production featuring youth commentators.

“That notion of appreciation and the journey to the majors has always been part of this particular game, but certainly will be enhanced here,” Phil Orlins, ESPN VP of production, tells FOS. “Players will be encouraged to let their guard down, but here in Williamsport, it all sort of happens authentically, anyway, just by being in this environment and how special it is.”

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Get the looks that show your love for soccer at Champs Sports. Find them in store or online here [[link removed]].

NBA Schedule Tweaks Focus on Load Management [[link removed]]

Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA is making another proactive attempt to address load-management issues by adjusting its schedule.

All 30 NBA teams announced their regular-season schedule for the 2024–2025 season Thursday, and Associated Press writer Tim Reynolds noted the league cut the average back-to-backs [[link removed]] per team by 23%, removed instances of four games in five nights and eight games in 12 nights, and made sure that teams will not play a day before or after “high-profile national TV games.”

The criteria for “ high-profile national TV game [[link removed]],” Reynolds later pointed out, are games on Christmas, ABC on Saturday night, TNT on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and national TV opening-week games—except for Friday. While these restrictions are more stringent than in years past, they do not completely absolve teams playing national TV games from back-to-backs.

For example, the Lakers face the Spurs in San Antonio on ESPN on Nov. 15, then travel to New Orleans to play the Pelicans in a regionally televised game the next day. And, on Jan. 28, the Lakers will face the 76ers in Philadelphia on TNT one day after playing the Hornets in Charlotte.

The NBA’s moves to address load management come even after the league already signed its next media-rights deal [[link removed]] worth $77 billion with ESPN, NBCUniversal, and Disney last month.

NFL Steals Christmas

NBA social-media teams took a page from the NFL’s book by pulling off creative schedule announcements, such as the Suns’ thread of memes [[link removed]] or the Magic’s Spider Verse–inspired [[link removed]]video.

But the NBA is facing pressure from the NFL [[link removed]] continuing to schedule games on Christmas Day, a holiday that has traditionally been exclusive to the NBA. The NFL has aired a tripleheader for the last two years on Christmas—and while the NBA saw a viewership increase of 5% in 2022, that was driven by all five games simulcasting on ABC. In 2023, when only two of the five games aired on ABC, the NBA slate averaged just 2.85 million viewers, a 23% year-over-year dip, and the league’s lowest Christmas Day viewership on record.

The NBA is continuing with its five-game slate this Christmas, with three games on ABC, highlighted by a matchup between the Lakers and Warriors. The NFL is pushing through with a doubleheader—even if Christmas Day falls on a Wednesday—and it will be exclusively streamed on Netflix [[link removed]], the first time the streaming giant will livestream any major U.S. sport.

Still the King

FOS graphic/Colin Salao

Despite losing in the first round of the playoffs last season, the Lakers lead the league with 39 nationally televised games—which include games on ESPN networks, TNT, and NBA TV. The Warriors, who missed the playoffs last year, followed with 36.

The numbers indicate the continued fan interest in LeBron James and Steph Curry. The two were teammates on Team USA, and their Olympic gold-medal game versus France drew 19.6 million viewers [[link removed]], the most for a gold-medal basketball game since 1996.

WEEKEND PRIZE POOL FedEx Cup Playoffs Begin

Steve Roberts-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: FedEx St. Jude Championship, Memphis

When: Thursday to Sunday Purse: $20 million First place: $3.6 million (individual)

LIV Golf: The Greenbrier, West Virginia

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

LPGA: ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open

When: Thursday to Sunday Purse: $2 million First place: $300,000 (individual)

ATP/WTA: Cincinnati Open

When: Aug. 12 to Monday Purse: $10 million First place: $1.05 million (men’s), $523,485 (women’s)

NASCAR Cup Series: FireKeepers Casino 400, Brooklyn, Mich.

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

Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports

USWNT ⬆ The team returned to the top spot of FIFA’s women’s world rankings after winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. The U.S. climbed four spots to take over the No. 1 position previously held by Spain, winners of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

Wrigley Field ⬆ The iconic Chicago ballpark will host four college hockey games Jan. 3–4 as part of a project, the Frozen Confines: Big Ten Hockey Series. The outdoor contests will come shortly after Wrigley Field hosts its second NHL Winter Classic on Dec. 31, between the Blackhawks and Blues.

Intuit Dome ⬇ The new $2 billion home arena of the Clippers that opened Thursday night for a Bruno Mars concert was plagued by entry delays [[link removed]] due to technical difficulties surrounding its facial recognition technology.

Browns ⬇ The city of Cleveland has offered the NFL franchise $461 million for a potential $1 billion renovation of the team’s downtown stadium, in opposition to a $2.4 billion dome [[link removed]]. But a new report from The Plain Dealer details how that proposal is not as close to a 50-50 financial partnership [[link removed]] as it may appear.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS EVENTS

NBCUniversal’s Lazarus Joins Tuned In

Tuned In [[link removed]], Front Office Sports’ media franchise, led by senior media reporter Mike McCarthy, appears across FOS platforms through editorial coverage, social storytelling, and newsletter segments.

On Sept. 10, Tuned In will come to life as a one-day event in New York City with the biggest newsmakers in sports media.

The daylong event will feature intimate discussions with leaders within the sports media space—ranging from athletes and on-air talent to media moguls and league executives who are instrumental in shaping the future of how fans view sports.

Adding to the conversation is Mark Lazarus, chairman at NBCUniversal Media Group. Check out the full lineup for the event or get your tickets [[link removed]] now.

Conversation Starters The Indiana Fever revealed growth metrics through the first half of the season [[link removed]] driven by rookie Caitlin Clark’s arrival. They include a 1,193% increase in jersey sales. Nicolas Cage will play John Madden in the Madden movie [[link removed]], which will tell the origin story of the video game franchise. A Topgolf-style baseball simulator called Batbox is opening its first U.S. location in Addison, Texas [[link removed]?], featuring HD screens in all cages and stadium-like concessions. Editors’ Picks The House v. NCAA Settlement Probably Won’t Kill NIL Collectives [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]Stakeholders tell FOS the restrictions could lead to more lawsuits. Miami NIL King John Ruiz’s Business Is Tanking [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]His company lost $211 million between March and June. Notre Dame Bans Men’s Swimming for Extensive Gambling, ‘Culture’ Issues [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]The swimmers reportedly made their own sportsbook to bet on themselves. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Sports Careers [[link removed]] Written by Daniel Kaplan [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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