December 8, 2021

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Another sign the WNBA is soaring in popularity: U.S.-based searches for ‘WNBA jerseys’ doubled in 2021, according to Google’s Year in Search.

Endeavor To Acquire 9 Minor League Baseball Teams

Bryon Houlgrave, The Register/Design: Alex Brooks

UFC parent Endeavor announced on Wednesday plans to acquire nine minor league baseball teams through the creation of a new organization, Diamond Baseball Holdings.

The announcement comes after reports [[link removed]] in October that Endeavor and Silver Lake were interested in acquiring a group of minor league teams — despite each team losing an estimated [[link removed]] $5 million last year.

Endeavor is a good company to step in: The WME parent recorded [[link removed]] $1.4 billion in third-quarter revenue last month, increasing its full-year revenue guidance to between $4.89 billion and $4.95 billion.

The Teams in Question

The minor league teams Endeavor plans [[link removed]] to acquire include Triple-A, High-A, and Single-A affiliates: the Iowa Cubs (Chicago Cubs), Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders and Hudson Valley Renegades (New York Yankees), San Jose Giants (San Francisco Giants), and the Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis Cardinals).

Peter B. Freund, minority owner of the Yankees and majority owner of the Redbirds, will oversee the unit with Endeavor advisor Pat Battle.MLB cut the number of minor league teams by 25% [[link removed]] earlier this year.

Subject to approval, four minor league affiliates of the Atlanta Braves will be included. The company says it’s in negotiations with other franchises, too. Terms were not disclosed.

Diamond Baseball Holdings will support ticket sales, naming rights, food operations, broadcasting rights, and sponsorships for the teams.

Super League Allocated Millions Before Failed Launch

Real Madrid/Design: Alex Brooks

A group of international law firms and agencies were paid more than $4.5 million prior to the launch of the now-defunct Super League, according to [[link removed]] Bloomberg.

The $4 billion Super League endeavor — which rose and fell in 48 hours back in April — initially launched with 12 teams and had financial backing from JPMorgan in the form of pledged loans.

Following its launch, the international soccer community, politicians, and governing bodies voiced disdain for the Super League and its repercussions for global soccer.

Short-Lived and Expensive

The reported six months of time and millions of dollars spent prior to the Super League’s launch is an indication of its lengthy development and projected potential, despite how quickly it dissolved.

London-based law firm Clifford Chance LLP received $2.2 million for legal work.New York-based Latham & Watkins LLP pocketed $1.4 million in fees.Six public relations agencies and two media companies received almost $907,000.Two credit rating agencies split a total of $391,000.

The six English teams that joined the Super League — Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham — agreed [[link removed]] to a $31.1 million settlement in June with the Premier League.

Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona, along with Italian club Juventus, filed [[link removed]] a legal claim in October against UEFA and FIFA, alleging that the two organizations violate European competition law by acting as both regulators and participants that profit from their oversight.

All three continue to advocate for a Super League-style concept.

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Roku, YouTube TV Resolve Impasse Before Deadline

Roku/Design: Alex Brooks

Roku has reached a deal with Google to keep YouTube TV available through its devices.

The multiyear agreement means [[link removed]] YouTube and YouTube TV will remain available to Roku’s 56.4 million subscribers.

Both sides had sought to pressure the other by issuing public statements, with Google saying it would pull the YouTube TV app from Roku on Dec. 9 if no deal was reached.

Roku claimed that Google was making anti-competitive demands, such as preferential placement for its apps and insisting Roku use certain chips.Google countered [[link removed]] that Roku’s claims were “baseless” and were focused on “ensuring a high quality and consistent experience for viewers.”YouTube TV had over 3 million subscribers last year, and is believed to have over 4 million now, making it the likely top online live TV streaming provider. Disney’s Hulu + Live TV offering had 4 million as of Oct. 2. Impact on Sports Viewers

YouTube TV carries a wide variety of sports programming across ESPN, TNT, the four major U.S. TV networks, as well as niche and PPV options.

The service dropped Bally’s 21 regional sports networks in September 2020. Hulu did the same the following month. YouTube TV also dropped the sports network NESN in January.

YouTube became a refuge for sports fans during the pandemic: Sports viewing on the platform increased [[link removed]] 65% in July 2020 compared to the previous year.

Conversation Starters In The Leadoff, AT&T’s CEO defends the $43 billion WarnerMedia and Discovery merger, DraftKings and the NFLPA team up to produce NFTs, Strava records 1.8 billion uploads amid the connected fitness boom, and how the $12 billion IoT market could help sports and fitness grow. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. The Mercedes F1 racing team and Kingspan have ended [[link removed]] their partnership deal following protests by families impacted by the Grenfell Tower fire in London. Kingspan products were found in the 2017 blaze that was caused by flammable materials used during renovations. Earlier this week, the Biden administration declared a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in a response to alleged human rights violations in China. On Wednesday, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom announced [[link removed]] they will join the boycott. After missing the playoffs three of the last four years, the Rangers are one of this NHL season’s biggest [[link removed]] surprises. New York beat the Blackhawks 6-2, its seventh win in a row, continuing the hottest start in franchise history. Subscribe to Sports Section [[link removed]] for more on the historic run. In the sports and live audience industry, it’s more important than ever before to choose the right data warehouse. Download [[link removed]] our latest white paper to learn the top three factors to consider, and what make’s StellarAlgo’s data warehouse the best of the bunch.*

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With a commitment to team, diversity and cause, Next League is proud to lean into its positioning as a talent and culture-driven organization. In celebration of last week’s launch, Next League donated $7,500 to Women in Sports Tech [[link removed]], a non-profit founded to drive growth opportunities for women throughout the sports tech industry.

The world is changing and the NEXT version of digital is here. Learn more today [[link removed]].

Market Movers

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

ATVI [[link removed]]

Activision Blizzard Inc

[[link removed]]

$59.19

[[link removed]]

+0.66%

[[link removed]] ARMK [[link removed]]

Aramark

[[link removed]]

$35.86

[[link removed]]

+1.79%

[[link removed]] PTON [[link removed]]

Peloton Interactive Inc

[[link removed]]

$45.86

[[link removed]]

+9.24%

[[link removed]] MSGS [[link removed]]

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp

[[link removed]]

$173.09

[[link removed]]

-0.83%

[[link removed]] GCO [[link removed]]

Genesco Inc.

[[link removed]]

$64.51

[[link removed]]

-1.30%

[[link removed]] CMCSA [[link removed]]

Comcast Corp

[[link removed]]

$48.91

[[link removed]]

-1.35%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 12/8/21) What to Watch

The Milwaukee Bucks (16-9) face the Miami Heat (14-11) tonight at FTX Arena.

How to Watch: 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN

Betting Odds: Bucks -6.5 || ML -265 || O/U 216.5*

Pick: Expect the Heat to struggle without Jimmy Butler. Take Milwaukee to cover.

Who ya got? Reply to this newsletter with your prediction for the Bucks-Heat winner and final score.

Shoutout: Congrats FOS reader Christopher Wagner for correctly predicting the Lakers’ win over the Celtics.

*Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook [[link removed]] for details.

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

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