December 3, 2021

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The terms of the $26 million sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United are reportedly under investigation. Juventus officials say Italian prosecutors have ordered a search of its offices and are looking into the Serie A club’s financial accounting.

FTC Sues to Block $74B Merger of Nvidia and SoftBank-Owned Arm

Nvidia/Design: Alex Brooks

A Federal Trade Commission action [[link removed]] to block a merger between Nvidia and Arm could cost SoftBank $74 billion.

The deal, agreed to in September 2020, would bring one of the world’s largest providers of chip technology, SoftBank-owned Arm, under the umbrella of a global leader in chip manufacturing.

Nvidia is a major provider of gaming hardware and software, offering graphics cards, gaming laptops, and gaming cloud software. Revenue from its gaming division rose [[link removed]] 42% year-over-year in the third quarter to $3.2 billion.

The FTC said the merger would threaten Arm’s status as a neutral partner to chip producers. Arm estimated [[link removed]] that its software is used in 25 billion chips per year.

“The combined firm would have the means and incentive to stifle innovative next-generation technologies,” the regulator wrote.

Nvidia, however, said that the merger would promote competition in the chip industry — and that the company would challenge the FTC suit.

SoftBank, which bought Arm in 2016 for $32 billion, agreed to sell the company to California-based Nvidia for a package of cash and stock worth $40 billion at the time. Nvidia’s stock price has more than doubled since then, bringing SoftBank’s potential haul from the sale to $74 billion.

SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 has invested [[link removed]] at least $2.6 billion in sports and entertainment this year, and its Fortress Investment Group bought Accordia Golf for $3.5 billion last month.

Sportsman’s Warehouse and Great Outdoors Nix Merger

Nathan Papes/Springfield News-Leader/Design: Alex Brooks

Outdoor sporting goods retailer Sportsman’s Warehouse and Great Outdoors Group, the parent company of Bass Pro Shops, have terminated plans of a merger, according to a regulatory filing.

Great Outdoors first agreed [[link removed]] to acquire Sportsman’s Warehouse in December 2020 for roughly $800 million. The merger is now off following feedback from the Federal Trade Commission indicating the two companies would not receive clearance to close the deal.

As a result, Great Outdoors will pay a $55 million termination fee to Sportsman’s Warehouse.

It is believed the deal would not be approved due to a call for regulators to boost competition across all industries following an executive order signed in July by President Joe Biden.

The regulatory pushback adds to a turbulent financial year for Sportsman’s Warehouse, which has a market value [[link removed]] of $743 million.

The Utah-based company reported $361.8 million in sales in fiscal Q2 2021, down $19.2 million compared to the same period last year.The company saw same-store sales decrease 9.9% during the fiscal second quarter compared to fiscal Q2 2020.It attributed the lackluster performance in fiscal Q2 2021 to lower demand across its fishing, camping, hunting, and shooting categories.

A privately held company, Great Outdoors generated $7.1 billion in revenue in the 12 months ended Sept. 26, 2020, according to investor service Moody’s. Great Outdoors merged with Cabela’s in 2017 in a deal valued at $4 billion.

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Hibbett’s Net Sales Jump to $381.7M

Hibbett Sports/Design: Alex Brooks

Hibbett, Inc. posted a 15.2% year-over-year increase in third-quarter net sales to $381.7 million — up 38.6% from 2019.

Net income for the quarter reached $25.2 million, a slight decrease from the $25.3 million recorded during the same period last year.

The athletic apparel retailer attributed its growth in sales to increased market share, product availability, and improved customer engagement.

Brick-and-mortar sales increased 11.6%. The company opened seven new stores and closed one during the quarter.Ecommerce sales jumped 22.3%, accounting for 14% of total net sales.President and CEO Mike Longo said [[link removed]] the company saw “a higher average ticket, and a greater number of items purchased per transaction.”

Despite supply chain challenges, Hibbett recorded $258.8 million in inventory at the end of the quarter, up 22.8% from the same period last year. The retailer also ended the quarter with $29.7 million in cash and cash equivalents.

During the three months ending Oct. 30, Hibbett repurchased 1.4 million shares of common stock for a total of $117.8 million. The company plans to invest around $70 million of capital in growth opportunities during fiscal year 2022.

Hibbett’s net sales have jumped 25.4% to $1.31 billion year-to-date, up from $1.04 billion last year.

Conversation Starters In The Leadoff, Amazon joins the $5.4 billion collectibles boom, Nashville paves a way for NASCAR’s return, Zee Entertainment strikes a 10-year rights deal with the UAE T20 League, and a Skechers investor proposes an aggressive share buyback program. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. Fox Sports is set to beak into Triple Crown racing by making a $12 million bid for the Belmont Stakes, sources tell Front Office Sports [[link removed]]. The NHL’s Arizona Coyotes have denied [[link removed]] a report from Forbes that stated that the franchise was up for sale and could eventually move to Houston, Texas. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman also stated that the report of a sale is “completely false.” Timberwolves center Naz Reid went undrafted out of LSU in 2019 but has become an integral backup to Karl-Anthony Towns amid the Wolves’ best start since 2018. Reid sat down with Sports Section [[link removed]] to discuss what kept him going after he went undrafted, his long-standing relationship with Towns, and three-point shooting. Click here to subscribe [[link removed]].

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Changing the Game of College Recruiting

Nielsen Sports [[link removed]], the leading source of sports sponsorship measurement and analytics around the world, is taking its expertise to college athletics.

Following the NCAA’s landmark ruling this year allowing college athletes to benefit from their own name, image, and likeness, Nielsen launched a new solution to help universities recruit student-athletes — the Nielsen Impact Score (NIS) [[link removed]].

The NIS database shows the marketing value of each athletic program by comparing them across three key inputs: National Exposure, Local Market Impact, and Social Media Engagement.

Coaches can pull their program’s rankings at the local or national level to help recruiting efforts and showcase strengths in their own programs, as well as advantages over other programs.

Read more about Nielsen’s latest marketing solution here [[link removed]].

NBA Stars Invest In WatchBox At $1B Valuation

Find out exactly what’s happening in the private markets every week with highlights from our Front Office Sports Insights Deal Tracker.

We carefully monitor both public and private market data to capture a picture of what the sports landscape looks like.

Insights Deal Tracker Highlights This Week [[link removed]]:

100 Thieves, the operator and manager of professional esports teams intended to compete in different gaming competitions, raised $60 million in a Series C round from Green Bay Ventures at $460 million post-money valuation. Flashbulb Games, the developer of online games based in Copenhagen, Denmark, was acquired by Nordisk Games for $62 million. Mainframe, the developer of a gaming studio designed to build multiplayer online games through cloud gaming, raised $23 million in a Series B round led by Andreesen Horowitz. The Game Day, the operator of a multi-channel platform dedicated to creating engaging sports content related to sports betting, raised a $4.5 million Series A round from Optimizer Invest. WatchBox, a platform allows users to buy, sell, and trade luxury watches with client advisors to manage users’ watch portfolios, raised $165 million in Development capital from Michael Jordan, Giannis Antetekuompo, and CMIA Capital Partners at a $1 billion valuation.

Try out the full Deal Tracker here [[link removed]].

Market Movers

U.S. stocks experienced declines across all three major indexes on Friday. Here’s a look at how sports-related stocks performed:

T [[link removed]]

AT&T, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$23.46

[[link removed]]

+1.38%

[[link removed]] PLNT [[link removed]]

Planet Fitness Inc

[[link removed]]

$80.52

[[link removed]]

-0.10%

[[link removed]] CWH [[link removed]]

Camping World Holdings Inc

[[link removed]]

$41.43

[[link removed]]

-0.12%

[[link removed]] WWE [[link removed]]

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$49.45

[[link removed]]

-0.16%

[[link removed]] DIS [[link removed]]

Walt Disney Co (The)

[[link removed]]

$145.8

[[link removed]]

-1.07%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 12/3/21) What to Watch

The AFC playoff race is heating up and both the Chargers and Bengals are looking to solidify their playoff positions.

The Bengals are coming off a big win against division rival Pittsburgh in which Joe Mixon ripped off 165 yards and two scores. The Chargers come off a loss against the Broncos and need a win to stay competitive with the Chiefs atop the division.

How to Watch: 1 p.m. ET on CBS / Stream your local NFL on CBS game live on Paramount+ [[link removed]]*

Who ya got? Reply to this newsletter with your prediction for the Chargers-Bengals winner and final score. Check out this matchup to see if the Bengals can extend their winning streak to three games!

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Written by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]], Justin Byers [[link removed]], Abigail Gentrup [[link removed]]

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Sports Section [[link removed]] - Daily Sports Newsletter

The Leadoff [[link removed]] - Daily Business of Sports Podcast

Front Office Sports Insights [[link removed]] - The most promising opportunities where sports meets industry

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