December 22, 2021

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The omicron variant is turning college sports upside down. The College Football Playoff announced that teams in the CFP with outbreaks may have to forfeit, and a reported 40-plus men’s basketball teams are on pause due to protocols.

Tesla Under Investigation for Allowing Drivers to Play Video Games

Tesla/Design: Alex Brooks

Tesla is under investigation over claims that its latest models allow the driver to play video games while the car is moving.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is exploring [[link removed]] these claims from Tesla owners.“ This functionality, referred to as ‘Passenger Play,’ may distract the driver and increase the risk of a crash,” the agency wrote.

The electric automaker’s Passenger Play feature provides a suite of games through a touchscreen, including “The Witcher 3,” “The Battle of Polytopia,” and “Sky Force Reloaded.”

The investigation covers 580,000 vehicles across the company’s S, X, Y, and 3 models, and the stakes are high: Tesla could be forced to issue a recall, depending on its outcome.Tesla seems to have allowed the capability in question on purpose. A warning on the touchscreen states [[link removed]] that “Use of Touch Arcade while the vehicle is in motion is only for passengers.”Tesla CEO Elon Musk envisioned a future in which the driver could watch videos while the car drives itself. “When full self-driving is approved by regulators, we will enable video while moving,” he tweeted [[link removed]] in July 2019. A Gaming System on Wheels

The $1 trillion market cap company has amped up its vehicles’ gaming capabilities.

Tesla said [[link removed]] in January that its Plaid model comes with a 10-teraflop gaming computer, making it comparable to Sony’s PS5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X.

Arsenal Warned by U.K. Watchdog Over Fan Tokens

Arsenal/Design: Alex Brooks

Arsenal has been warned by Britain’s Advertising Standards Agency over its promotions [[link removed]] for fan tokens.

Fan tokens allow holders to vote on decisions related to sports clubs and have become a new source of revenue. The tokens are traded on exchanges like other cryptocurrencies.

The advertising watchdog believes that Arsenal failed to illustrate the risks of the investment and took advantage of consumers’ inexperience with crypto-related assets.

A handful of European soccer clubs have generated more than $200 million in revenue using Socios, an online marketplace for fan tokens, according [[link removed]] to the Telegraph.

Fan tokens have also garnered the attention of players.

In August, Lionel Messi signed a two-year, $41 million deal with PSG, and a portion of his contract is being paid in fan tokens. PSG did not disclose how many tokens Messi received but told [[link removed]] Reuters that the amount was “significant.” Other Sports Embrace Tokens

UFC announced a plan in May to issue a blockchain-based token in coordination with Socios and Chiliz, a sports-focused token exchange.

Chiliz is investing [[link removed]] $50 million to bring its unique sports team fan access system to the States and has secured partnerships with most major U.S. sports leagues, NASCAR, and esports teams.

The global fan token market cap has reached [[link removed]] $413 million as of Wednesday.

SPONSORED BY FEVO

2021 Best Employers in Sports Winners

Front Office Sports is pleased to announce the 2021 Best Employers in Sports Award winners!

Now in its third year, the Best Employers in Sports Award, presented by FEVO [[link removed]], recognizes organizations across the sports industry that are doing the best for their employees.

Awards are based on anonymous employee surveys. In collaboration with primary research partner Yrdstck [[link removed]], responses were evaluated using patented AI technology powered by Canvs, free from subjectivity and human bias.

This year’s survey centered around five key areas, including:

Leadership Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Professional Development and Advancement Philanthropic/Social Endeavors Employee Wellbeing

The winners represent the top 15% of all companies that participated. Check out the entire list, including two- and three-time winners here [[link removed]].

NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship Draws Record Ratings

ESPN/Design: Alex Brooks

Women’s college indoor volleyball continues to put up impressive numbers.

Sunday’s championship match between Wisconsin and Nebraska drew 1.19 million viewers — the most ever for college women’s volleyball on any ESPN network, up 71% from this past spring season and 119% from 2019.

The numbers support a thesis from the NCAA Gender Equity Review [[link removed]]: Women’s championship rights are likely worth much more than the $34 million ESPN pays annually for 29 tournaments.

The report found that the Division I women’s basketball championship alone could be worth between $81 million and $112 million annually.

Lucrative At All Levels

Both investors and sponsors have begun to notice the potential of women’s volleyball — in college and beyond.

The sport ranks in the top five [[link removed]] for NIL earnings on Opendorse’s platform.Athletes Unlimited’s inaugural pro women’s indoor volleyball season featured major sponsors like Nike and Gatorade and reached a global television audience.In February, CVC invested a reported [[link removed]] $300 million in the International Volleyball Federation.

In the spring, Athletes Unlimited CEO Jon Patricof told Front Office Sports [[link removed]] the sport was “like a sleeping giant.” Looks like it’s waking up.

Conversation Starters In The Leadoff, FIFA digs in on a biennial World Cup plan, the fitness apps market could be worth $120 billion by 2030, the PGA Tour changes its stance on the Saudi International, and Porsche makes another push into racing. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. New York governor Kathy Hochul said an agreement to build a new stadium for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills is close [[link removed]] to being finalized. The project will likely be in Orchard Park near the team’s current home, Highmark Stadium. MLB payrolls dropped [[link removed]] 4% in 2021 to a total of $4.05 billion, the lowest in a fully completed season since 2015. The Los Angeles Dodgers led the league with a $262 million payroll and also received a $32.65 million luxury tax bill in 2021. Rams QB Matthew Stafford was generating early MVP chatter with his torrid passing pace. Now, his favorite target is the talk of Tinseltown [[link removed]] — and a legitimate candidate in his own right. Cooper Kupp passed Isaac Bruce for the most single-season receptions in team history during Tuesday’s 20-10 win over Seattle. Subscribe to Sports Section for more [[link removed]] on Kupp’s season.

SPONSORED BY COINBASE

Give Crypto for a Holiday Slam Dunk

‘Tis the season of (crypto) giving.

Your friends and family deserve a gift that will set them up for the future, and Coinbase [[link removed]] is here to help.

Now you can send personalized crypto gifts [[link removed]] of any amount to anyone, and each gift also comes delivered in a digital card featuring unique artwork from an up-and-coming artist.

The future of gifting is here. Click here [[link removed]] to learn how to win the holidays now.

Market Movers

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

ZBRA [[link removed]]

Zebra Technologies Corp.

[[link removed]]

$580.09

[[link removed]]

+0.02%

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

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$47.68

[[link removed]]

+0.17%

[[link removed]] GOLF [[link removed]]

Acushnet Holdings Corp

[[link removed]]

$51.99

[[link removed]]

+0.42%

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

Aramark

[[link removed]]

$35.43

[[link removed]]

+0.80%

[[link removed]] NKE [[link removed]]

Nike, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$165.41

[[link removed]]

-0.83%

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

Peloton Interactive Inc

[[link removed]]

$37.71

[[link removed]]

-3.53%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 12/22/21) Sponsored by Learn More [[link removed]] Listing of securities is not a recommendation to trade. Sponsored by Learn More [[link removed]] Listing of securities is not a recommendation to trade. What to Watch

The Missouri Tigers (6-6) face the Army Black Knights (8-4) tonight at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

How to Watch: 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN

Betting Odds: Black Knights -6.5 || ML -235 || O/U 54*

Pick: Expect the Black Knights to get back on track. Take Army to cover.

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

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

Written by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]], Justin Byers [[link removed]], Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]

MORE FROM FOS:

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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