October 1, 2024

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NFL commissioner Roger Goodell broke quite a bit of news today, from (another) change to kickoffs to the league’s approach to international games—and its connection to adding an 18th regular-season game. We go through what Goodell said and what it means.

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

Goodell Expects to ‘Make a Few Changes’ to NFL Kickoff Rules [[link removed]]

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After four weeks of the 2024 NFL regular season, commissioner Roger Goodell has seen enough of the league’s new dynamic kickoff rules that he’s apparently ready for something different.

“I think we’ll have to make a few changes on the kickoff that will, I think, lead to a lot more kickoff returns,” he said Tuesday on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football.

Teams are returning 29.1% of kickoffs so far this season, compared to the record low of 22% in 2023. Goodell said that moving touchbacks up 5 yards to the 35-yard line “would be a game-changer right away.”

It’s extremely unlikely the NFL would make a major rule change midseason, though, given the competitive imbalances that could occur.

“I think that there will be a change,” Goodell said. “Whether we make it immediately after the season, we’re going to have a competition committee [meeting] in the next week.”

International Appeal

Goodell has not been shy about his ambitions for the league to expand its regular-season schedule to 18 games, and eventually play 16 international contests each year.

Now, he’s indicating those two moves may be connected.

Ahead of the Jets and Vikings playing in London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday—the second of five games outside of the U.S. this fall—Goodell said he’s confident the global games will continue to grow.

“I think we’ll end up going to 16 games at some point in time,” the commissioner said. “The owners have already authorized us to go to eight [[link removed]], but I’m confident, particularly if we’re going to do the restructuring of the season, that we would get to 16 at some point.”

Ahead of the Eagles’ 34–19 victory over the Packers in Brazil on Peacock in Week 1, Goodell said he hoped to see the NFL play 16 games abroad [[link removed]], rather than create an international division. Around the NFL draft in May, Goodell ramped up his most public push yet for an 18-game regular season [[link removed]].

“What can we do next, ultimately? And how do we continue to expand this? I do think we can do this,” Goodell said of international games on GMFB. “I think scheduling, we may have to make changes to that in some ways, probably roster sizes and some other things. But I do think it’s something we’ll do more of.”

The NFL’s current collective bargaining agreement runs through March 2030. If not already approved by then, both an 18-game season and 16-game international slate figure to be a major negotiation point for a new CBA.

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Nike Avoids Disaster As Sales Fall 10% in Q1, in Line With Expectations

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Nike reported a 10% drop in revenue for its fiscal first quarter after market close on Tuesday, in line with estimates it provided last quarter. Revenues came in at $11.6 billion. The sports apparel giant said that given the company is reporting Q1 results amid a CEO transition, it will “address its approach to guidance on the conference call. In addition, the Company’s previously announced Investor Day is being postponed.”

After reporting disappointing fourth-quarter earnings in June [[link removed]] and cutting full-year guidance, Wall Street’s expectations for the period were already lower.

Analysts expected revenue of $11.65 billion for the quarter, according to financial market data provider LSEG, compared with $12.93 billion in revenue notched in first-quarter 2023—a 10% drop. Nike reported 70-cent earnings per share, ahead of analyst expectations of 52 cents.

The sneaker giant’s efforts to drive more sales through its direct-to-consumer channel, mainly in North America, have not bore fruit, which is one of the reasons the board made the abrupt decision to replace CEO John Donahoe [[link removed]] with Nike veteran Elliott Hill on Sept. 19. Shares are down 18% year-to-date.

Nike is at an inflection point as Hill returns to the company in its effort to revitalize the brand [[link removed]]. The management change—Hill officially starts his new role Oct. 14—makes it hard to gauge how significant the Q1 results are, in particular, because the company had warned the Street so fully in advance that shareholders are already looking toward Hill’s first quarter.

“I don’t think the quarter is as important anymore because we have a new CEO, but he’s not starting for another few weeks so this is the last quarter under Donahoe,” Aneesha Sherman, apparel and specialty retail analyst at AllianceBernstein, tells Front Office Sports.

The report was none too surprising given Nike’s well-known recent challenges. Sherman says investors will likely see Nike’s performance issues begin to change two quarters from now (around March 2025). That’s when the “innovation pipeline will have kicked off with new releases in the spring, and inventory may have cleared by that point,” she says.

Nike is facing major headwinds, stemming from three areas of weakness. First was the boost in sales it saw during the COVID-19 pandemic, when stimulus funds and excess savings drove consumers to buy sneakers and athletic wear.

The COVID-19 sneaker boom has normalized as consumer demand slowed—the second factor contributing to Nike’s malaise. Consumer appetite for discretionary spending is lower than it was three years ago.

And third, innovation is lacking. “They haven’t put forth anything compelling in their product lines,” Sherman says.

In its latest footwear tracker analysis published last month, investment bank BMO Capital Markets wrote that Nike’s new sneaker releases (Air Max Dn and Pegasus 41) continue to see disappointing performance in the U.S., though new products have performed better in the U.K. “These specific launches have not been grand slams,” Simeon Siegel, BMO retail analyst, tells FOS.

The increased competition from smaller upstarts like Hoka [[link removed]] and more established brands like New Balance have shown Nike’s vulnerabilities with innovation. “Smaller, trendy up-and-comers have generally outperformed legacy footwear players in their direct-to-consumer channels over the past several quarters, with Hoka and On as notable standouts on the upside,” says Michael Gunther, Consumer Edge’s head of insights.

Nike’s U.S. market share in the sportswear category fell to 66% in 2024 from 69% in 2021, according to market research firm Consumer Edge.

Editors’ note: Read Lisa Scherzer’s full story here [[link removed]] on Nike’s Q1 earnings report.

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MLB Enters 2024 Postseason With Attendance Up, Game Times Down [[link removed]]

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Major League Baseball’s improvements last year in attendance and average game times each held in 2024, and then some, providing the league with a key dose of momentum heading into its postseason.

The league’s regular season—capped with a dramatic doubleheader Monday [[link removed]] that produced playoff berths for the Mets and Braves—ended with a total attendance of 71.35 million. The figure grew by 0.85% from a year ago and, perhaps just as important, showed no retreat from 2023’s 9.6% gain [[link removed]]. With the new total, MLB generated its first back-to-back years of attendance growth since 2011–2012 and its best overall figure since 2017.

Average game times, meanwhile, shrank to two hours, 36 minutes—a four-minute reduction from last year and MLB’s lowest figure since 1984. MLB last year introduced a series of rule changes to tighten the pace of play and introduce more on-field action, including a pitch clock, larger bases, and a ban on extreme defensive shifts. Those measures have proved highly popular with fans and have been a major factor in driving the improved attendance. The number of stolen bases, part of that heightened game action, reached 3,617 this season, the third-highest figure in league history and most since 1915.

There’s also been a qualitative attendance impact to those rule shifts as the percentage of MLB ticket buyers ages 18 to 35 has jumped by 8.5% in the last five years, and recent reductions in the median age of attendees [[link removed]] have also largely held.

MLB’s total attendance, by far the largest of any major pro North American sports league, remains a critical bellwether on the overall health of the sports industry.

Market Leaders

The Dodgers led the league for the 11th consecutive year with a total draw of 3.94 million, up slightly from the club’s 3.84 million in 2023. The A’s again ranked last with a figure of 922,286 and, after a solemn goodbye at the Oakland Coliseum last week [[link removed]], are now headed to Sacramento and ultimately hope to finalize financing on a stadium in Las Vegas.

After 26 of 30 MLB clubs improved at the gate last year, the league was evenly split this year between 15 with increases and 15 with decreases. The Royals, who produced a 30-victory improvement from 2023 and a return to the postseason, led the league with a 27% attendance boost. After setting a modern-day MLB record with a 121-loss season, the White Sox declined in attendance by more than 16%, representing the steepest percentage drop.

As is often the case, team performance was a material factor in many of the figures. The top five totals, and six of the top eight, involved playoff teams, and five of the top six aggregate attendance increases were generated by clubs reaching the postseason.

Turning the Page

With the National League playoff field now solidified with the inclusion of the Mets and Braves, MLB’s postseason begins Tuesday with a four-game slate of wild-card series contests. A similarly packed schedule follows Wednesday. Deciding game threes in those series, if needed, will follow Thursday, and the division series round starts Saturday.

The postseason field contains a mix of large-market juggernauts, upstart stories, and many of the sport’s biggest stars. In particular, MLB will be able to enjoy the presence of its top two draws, the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and the Yankees’ Aaron Judge. Joining those figures are a compelling mix of narratives, including the upstart rise of the Tigers [[link removed]], the Royals’ rebirth, and the Padres’ financially precarious attempt to finally win a title [[link removed]].

Five Teams Top Three Million Mark

FOS graphic

Only five teams totaled more than three million in attendance this year, compared to eight in 2023. The Astros, Blue Jays, and Cardinals all fell below the three million mark.

However, the top four teams saw attendance grow faster than the average increase of under 1% across the league. The Dodgers, Phillies, and Yankees—all playoff teams in 2024—saw increases of at least 2%, while the Padres grew by 1.9%.

Attendance for the Braves actually declined by 5.6%, though the team still, barely, tallied three million fans this year.

MLB’s Embrace of Sports Betting vs. the Exile of Its Hit King and His Legacy

Fort Myers

Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s hit king, died Monday at the age of 83, leaving one of the most complex and troubled legacies in sports—and one still not entirely resolved.

The main parameters of Rose’s life are well-chronicled and broadly known. Rising from humble origins in Cincinnati, Rose used his legendary hustle and grit to amass a 24-year career that included 4,256 hits, three batting titles, three World Series titles, a National League Most Valuable Player award, and a Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year honor.

Rose’s eventual downfall would be his betting on baseball while a player and manager of the Reds—violating baseball’s cardinal rule. He would be ruled permanently ineligible in 1989 from working in baseball, also scuttling any consideration for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Rose then spent much of the final 35 years of his life unsuccessfully trying to regain inclusion into the sport.

Many fans and pundits have struggled to reconcile the meteoric growth of sports betting—one that MLB, like other pro leagues, has actively monetized—with Rose’s continued exile. For the league, though, the line has been clear: Those involved in baseball and in any position to affect game outcomes cannot bet on the sport, must sacrifice some broader societal rights, and it has punished violators accordingly [[link removed]]. Even in death for Rose, that difficult coexistence between legal betting and league operations is certain to continue.

STATUS REPORT Two Up, Two Down

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NASCAR ⬆ The sport’s Netflix docuseries, Full Speed, will return for Season 2. NASCAR’s version of Formula 1: Drive to Survive debuted ahead of the Daytona 500 [[link removed]] in February, with five episodes chronicling the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Women’s Euro ⬆ UEFA has launched ticket sales for the 2025 tournament in Switzerland. After a record 574,875 fans attended the 2022 edition in England, 720,000 tickets have been made available for next summer’s games.

Renault ⬇ The French car manufacturer will stop producing Formula One engines after the 2025 season. The Alpine Renault F1 team, currently ninth in the sport’s 10-team constructors’ standings, will transition to using power units made by another manufacturer.

Golf agents ⬇ The PGA Tour will start charging player agencies an annual $1,500 fee [[link removed]] as part of a new agent certification program starting in 2025, according to the Associated Press. Additionally, it will cost another $500 per agent who wants access to clubhouses, locker rooms, practice areas, media centers, and family dining spaces.

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Conversation Starters The Bucks launched a junior reporter program last month, and two of its members interviewed Giannis Antetokounmpo during the NBA’s media day. Check it out [[link removed]]. Virginia Tech–Miami drew 3.3 million viewers [[link removed]], ESPN’s second-most-watched Friday college football game since 2018. Buster Posey spent all 12 years of his playing career with the Giants. Now he’s been named their president of baseball operations [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Imprisoned Ex-Jaguars Employee Sues FanDuel for $250 Million [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]Amit Patel stole tens of millions of dollars from the NFL team. WNBA Finally Lays Out Expansion Draft Rules for Valkyries [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]The WNBA will have its first expansion draft in 16 years on Dec. 6. Charles Barkley Expanding Media Empire Even As He Sticks With TNT [[link removed]]by David Rumsey [[link removed]]Round Mound Media will produce more sports and cultural projects. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Written by David Rumsey [[link removed]], Lisa Scherzer [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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