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Afternoon Edition

February 7, 2025

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Singapore and Saudi Arabia are backing a new international basketball league with big ambitions—and deep pockets. Aiming to be the “F1 for basketball,” the upstart league is targeting $5 billion in funding and plans to hit major global cities. Here’s what we know so far.

— Dennis Young [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Daniel Kaplan [[link removed]], and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

Singapore, Saudi PIF Among Investors in Int’l Basketball League [[link removed]]

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The upstart international basketball league advised by LeBron James’s longtime business partner Maverick Carter has scored significant backing. Its investors, according to the Financial Times, [[link removed]] include the Singapore government, SC Holdings, Riyadh’s Public Investment Fund, UBS, Skype founder Geoff Prentice, former Facebook executive Grady Burnett. VC firm Quiet Capital and tech investor Byron Deeter are reportedly raising capital. Galaxy Entertainment, which is based in Hong Kong, is also reportedly a partner.

In January, Bloomberg reported [[link removed]] that the league was seeking $5 billion in funding to launch an international league.

Sources familiar with the new league told Front Office Sports [[link removed]] last month that James would not be involved [[link removed]], and that the league has no intention of competing directly with the NBA. The league instead is aiming to be an “F1 for basketball,” making two-week stops in eight global cities. Singapore was known as a host location, and the FT report listed Macau as another host.

FT also reports the league expects to be a “full-time” responsibility, unlike Unrivaled, which happens during the WNBA offseason and lasts for just a few months. However, like Unrivaled, players would receive equity in the league.

The NBA has only a short window between its Finals in June and the start of its season in October, making any new league a potential rival. Kevin Durant’s longtime business manager Rich Kleiman said Thursday that he could see his client [[link removed]] “potentially” joining the new league.

Wealthy investors have poured money into competing leagues across sports in recent years, but men’s basketball has seen few attempts to compete with the NBA or the EuroLeague. Unrivaled [[link removed]], a new women’s league, recently started in South Florida, although WNBA players can play in both leagues because of how the women’s basketball calendar is set up.

The new league is reportedly planning to include six men’s and six women’s teams.

There were barely more than 16 weeks between the end and the start of the NBA season in 2024, meaning the new league would likely overlap with the NBA calendar.

Carter and James are childhood friends, and Carter is the CEO of SpringHill, a production company he runs with James. SpringHill announced a merger last year [[link removed]] with British production company Fulwell 73, which produces the Grammys and Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

SPONSORED BY TICKPICK

2025 Super Bowl Ticket Breakdown

Super Bowl LIX [[link removed]] is almost here, but ticket records will not be set in New Orleans. Despite history on the line as the Chiefs seek an unprecedented third straight Lombardi Trophy and the Eagles play for their second in seven years, prices are bucking a steady trend since 2014.

According to TickPick [[link removed]], this year’s $6,838 average purchase price is 33% cheaper than last year’s Big Game ($9,136), and only the third-most-expensive Super Bowl. Prices have fallen over the last few weeks as hotel rates in New Orleans spiked. The get-in price for the Feb. 9 matchup is $4,070.

For more NFL ticketing trends and insights, check out our Big Ticket Trend Report [[link removed]], presented by TickPick, and get $15 off your first purchase of $99+ [[link removed]] with code FOS15.

ESPN Faces Potential Exit from MLB Media Rights As Opt-Out Looms [[link removed]]

Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Could there be a scenario where ESPN doesn’t have MLB rights? It’s technically possible as a mutual contract opt-out window in their existing rights agreement becomes active next month. The state of negotiations, however, will be a key litmus test on the fast-changing state of sports media.

The Disney-owned network already reconstructed its MLB rights in 2021, signing a new, seven-year agreement running through 2028 that shaved the annual fee from $700 million to about $550 million, and focused the package more on premier events, such as the annual Home Run Derby, the wild-card round of the playoffs, Sunday Night Baseball, and the MLB Little League Classic.

Now, ESPN, according to multiple reports, has had issues with the value it gains from its MLB rights, particularly when contrasted with Apple’s $85 million annual fee for a Friday night package, Warner Bros. Discovery’s agreement worth $470 million annually and that includes a larger set of postseason rights and the mere $10 million per year for Sunday morning games on Roku.

New Thinking

ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro, meanwhile, has also shown a desire to acquire some local MLB rights [[link removed]], saying last summer, “We are very interested in continuing to identify partnerships on a team-specific basis.” That sentiment certainly intersects but doesn’t necessarily align fully with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s plan to reconstruct baseball’s media landscape to a more centralized model [[link removed]] in 2028, when all its national media-rights deals are due to expire.

All of that adds to a level of uncertainty that has scarcely existed since ESPN began broadcasting MLB games in 1990.

“We talk to ESPN all the time,” Manfred said following league meetings this week in Florida. “They’re one of our big partners. … We both have a [contract] out in March of this year. Obviously, ’25 is set. We’ll continue to talk to them, and each side will make a decision whether they want to do anything with that.”

The Athletic reported there is an element of force behind that sentiment, and that MLB is prepared to walk away [[link removed]] from the deal if ESPN exercises the opt-out provision. Industry sources confirmed that feeling to Front Office Sports and that a formal opt-out would make it essentially impossible to construct a new deal.

Will it get to that point, though? Beyond the very long-running nature of the MLB-ESPN rights relationship, the network has taken great pride in having rights deals with every major U.S. men’s pro sports league. Pitaro is also a big baseball fan personally. His charge, however, is to run a fiscally responsible operation, an effort showing greater strength [[link removed]] this week in Disney’s quarterly earnings, while MLB content certainly would be a notable part of the direct-to-consumer service, currently called “Flagship,” debuting later this year [[link removed]].

The 2024 MLB season generated a five-year viewership high for Sunday Night Baseball, reaching 1.5 million viewers per game, up 6% from 2023, with double-digit percentage gains in several younger demographic groups. Wild-card viewership, meanwhile, rose 25% and set a new record for that round [[link removed]] since the 2022 reformation of the league’s playoff format. All those metrics on ESPN are consistent with a resurgent league that enjoyed a broader spike in popularity last year [[link removed]].

Super Bowl Ticket Prices Still Dropping As Lodging Costs Soar [[link removed]]

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

New Orleans, of course, is colloquially known as “the Big Easy,” and a still-falling ticket resale market for Super Bowl LIX has made scoring tickets to Sunday’s game easier than ever.

Low-end, get-in prices for the Chiefs-Eagles matchup fell early Friday to about $2,600 per seat across multiple marketplaces. That figure is down by more than 20% from levels at the beginning of the week [[link removed]] and is just over half what upper-deck tickets at the Caesar Superdome were selling for [[link removed]] immediately after Kansas City and Philadelphia clinched their conference titles.

A similar situation is apparent with On Location, the official hospitality provider of the NFL that controls a large swath of the Super Bowl ticket resale market. Its packages that include various fan experiences in addition to game tickets now begin at $3,750 per person. That’s down 21% from Monday, and also by nearly half compared to late January.

The entry-level pricing also is now less than a third of what was seen in Las Vegas last year, with that market’s status then as a first-time Super Bowl host driving historic levels of fan interest [[link removed]].

Overall, the game is tracking as the weakest Super Bowl on the secondary market in six years.

The prevailing factors in the downward pressure are much the same as earlier in the week and are gathering strength: an unprecedented lodging crunch has created four-figure nightly prices in many instances for even spartan accommodations and five-figure ones for luxury rooms, in turn cutting into many fans’ ability to spend on game tickets.

That situation, along with the unprecedented demand last year in Las Vegas, further showcases the heightening role of the host location in Super Bowl demand. Kansas City’s fifth trip to the Super Bowl in six seasons, meanwhile, has also furthered a sense of “Chiefs fatigue.”

WEEKEND PRIZE POOL Super Paychecks on the Line

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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:

Super Bowl LIX

When: Sunday Where: New Orleans Winning team: $171,000 per player Losing team: $96,000 per player (maximum) Most Valuable Player: No cash prize

PGA Tour: WM Phoenix Open

When: Thursday to Sunday Where: Scottsdale, Ariz. Purse: $9.2 million First place: $1.66 million

LPGA Tour: Founders Cup

When: Thursday to Sunday Where: Bradenton, Fla. Purse: $2 million First place: $300,000

ATP Tour: Dallas Open

When: Feb. 3 to 9 Where: Dallas Purse: $2.76 million First place: $516,165

WTA: Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open

When: Feb. 1 to 8 Where: Abu Dhabi, UAE Purse: $1.06 million First place: $164,000 STATUS REPORT Two Up, Two Down

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

New York Giants ⬇ The NFL franchise was hit with a double dose of bad news Thursday. Former quarterback Eli Manning, a two-time Super Bowl winner and among the league’s all-time leaders in several passing categories, failed to gain induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Manning had been one of 15 finalists. Cowboys star Micah Parsons, meanwhile, said the Giants “lied” to him [[link removed]] by telling him they intended to select the linebacker with the No. 11 pick in the 2021 draft. The Giants ultimately traded the pick to the Bears, who selected quarterback Justin Fields, and the Cowboys chose Parsons at No. 12. The comment from Parsons follows the Giants’ decision to let running back Saquon Barkley—now starring with the NFC champion Eagles—depart in free agency.

Josh Allen ⬆ The Bills quarterback was named the NFL MVP for the first time, triggering a $1.5 million bonus. Allen is on a six-year, $258 million contract signed in 2021. The average annual value of $43 million is 14th among quarterbacks.

ESPN ⬇ The network flexed in Saturday’s game between the Lakers and Pacers at 4 p.m. ET after reports came out that Luka Dončić was scheduled to make his debut. However, ahead of Thursday’s TNT doubleheader, Jared Greenberg announced that the five-time All-Star’s Lakers debut will instead be pushed to Monday against the Jazz, which will air on NBA TV. Meanwhile, ESPN removed a Friday game between the Jazz and Suns from its schedule and also adjusted its Saturday NCAA men’s basketball calendar [[link removed]].

Amazon ⬆ The streaming and online retail giant reported fourth-quarter revenue that grew 10% to nearly $188 billion, and operating income of $21.2 billion, up from $13.2 billion in the comparable period in 2023. The company credited the end of a successful season of Thursday Night Football, which posted an 11% viewership increase [[link removed]], for part of the financial lift. The company is also in line to continue showing NFL playoff games over the next eight seasons.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS NETWORK

Kenny Dillingham: College Football’s Next Great Coach

In this candid and inspiring conversation, Adam Breneman sits down with Arizona State head football coach Kenny Dillingham.

They dive deep into his journey to becoming one of the youngest head coaches in college football, the challenges of building a winning program, and his philosophies on recruiting, culture, and leadership. Coach Dillingham shares incredible stories, lessons learned, and a look into the future of ASU football.

Watch the full Next Up episode here [[link removed]].

Live From Radio Row Former All-Pro offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth sat down with FOS in New Orleans to discuss the Rams (one of his former teams), including the futures of Cooper Kupp and Matthew Stafford. Watch it here [[link removed]]. Saints legend Drew Brees gave his assessment of Tom Brady’s first year as a broadcaster at Fox Sports. Check it out [[link removed]]. Greg Olsen, the man Brady replaced on Fox’s lead NFL broadcast team, cleared the air on his feelings about the network. Take a look [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks NWSL Commish: Our Teams Can Be ‘As Valuable As an NFL Team’ [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Jessica Berman called her clubs an “undervalued asset class.” Kendrick Lamar’s High-Risk, High-Reward Super Bowl Halftime Show [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]The performance is a boon for the league—but not without complications. How Much Longer Can Fox Sports Keep the Top-Rated Pregame Crew Together? [[link removed]]by Ryan Glasspiegel [[link removed]]The three have been at Fox NFL Sunday since 1994. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Dennis Young [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Daniel Kaplan [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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