February 9, 2022

Read in Browser [[link removed]]

POWERED BY

UConn star Paige Bueckers is now a member of Cash App’s athlete roster, joining Aaron Rodgers, Klay Thompson, and Odell Beckham Jr. The reigning Naismith College Player of the Year is also launching her own foundation, and Cash App will endow an initial $100,000 Bitcoin donation.

Red Bull Racing Adds Oracle To Name In $500M Deal

Red Bull Racing/Design: Alex Brooks

Formula 1’s Red Bull Racing team has formally reintroduced itself as Oracle Red Bull Racing in a reported five-year, $500 million title sponsorship deal with the technology firm.

Oracle Red Bull Racing also unveiled [[link removed]] its new car, the RB18, with Max Verstappen behind the wheel once again.

Teams introduced for the upcoming season have a cost cap [[link removed]] of $145 million. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told The Associated Press that the deal will help the team force efficiency despite the new financial regulations.

The 2021 World Championship-winning team used Oracle Cloud Infrastructure last year, but the entities are enhancing [[link removed]] their relationship to “further improve race strategy, engine development, and projects within Red Bull Advanced Technologies.”

The team ran 1,000 times more race simulations in 2021 than the previous year using OCI, helping improve accuracy.Simulation speed jumped by 10 times, assisting race strategists in making quick decisions.OCI also reduced costs of simulations. Red Bull Gives Oracle Wings

There were a few other initiatives included in the team’s announcement.

The companies launched The Red Bull Racing Paddock last year, a loyalty platform powered by OCI for fans that allows a direct line of communication with the team. More features will be unveiled this year, including the ability to create content.

Oracle is also working with Red Bull Powertrains to develop F1 engines set to debut in 2026, and partnering with Red Bull Advanced Technologies to “develop the next generation of world-class drivers.”

Indian Premier League Rights Likely to Top $5B

IPL/Design: Alex Brooks

The media rights for one of the most popular sports leagues in the world are coming up for sale, and the bidding is attracting media giants.

The Indian Premier League’s five-year broadcasting deal with Disney-owned Star India is expiring [[link removed]] this year, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India is preparing to solicit bids.

The next deal is likely to garner more than double the $2.5 billion gained from the previous pact, which included both linear and streaming rights.

Disney would like to retain the rights after buying Star India and its streaming service Hotstar in 2019 as part of a $71 billion deal with 21st Century Fox.

Sony, which is merging its India segment with Zee Entertainment to create a major media conglomerate in the country, is reportedly eyeing the cricket league rights.Viacom18, a venture of ViacomCBS and Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries (market cap: $220 billion), is also reportedly likely to explore a bid. Amazon and Netflix have also been speculated [[link removed]] as potential bidders, though Netflix has never acquired live sports rights. Cricket Fever

The cricket league may be the most-watched sports product in the world: Its 2021 season brought in [[link removed]] 380 million viewers as of September, despite a four-month suspension due to the pandemic. That figure was higher than any of the last three seasons.

SPONSORED BY TUBI

Streaming Sports and Entertainment Audiences in 2022

Ad-Supported Video On-Demand (AVOD) has maintained a sustained level of growth leading into 2022 amongst audiences streaming sports, news and entertainment.

Amid an array of consumer choices and behaviors, it’s paramount for brands to understand the latest trends. Tubi’s annual report, THE STREAM: 2022 ACTIONABLE AUDIENCE INSIGHTS FOR BRANDS, [[link removed]] details the audience preferences and investment strategies that matter most for marketers.

While subscription video-on demand viewers grew 8% in 2021, growth on AVOD doubled The majority of streaming audiences don’t subscribe to cable: 71% of Tubi streamers are cable-free AVOD is no longer only appealing to cost conscious consumers – Tubi streamers who earn $150K+ increased by 83% last year

For these insights and more, download Tubis’ latest report [[link removed]].

NFL Ad Revenue Boosts Fox Q2 Earnings

FOX/Design: Alex Brooks

Fox Corp. exceeded expectations in its fiscal second quarter with $4.44 billion in revenue thanks to the growth of its streaming platform Tubi and advertising revenue driven by the NFL.

The mass-media company surpassed Wall Street estimates of $4.25 billion in revenue for fiscal Q2 2022 but reported [[link removed]] a net loss of $73 million during the quarter, primarily due to the change in fair value of its investment in Dublin-based sports betting company Flutter Entertainment.

The NFL’s media rights deal with Fox fueled growth for the company during the quarter.

Its television division posted $2.7 billion in revenue, an 8% increase year-over-year.Ad revenue reached $2.4 billion compared to $2.2 billion in fiscal Q2 2021.The company pocketed $1.7 billion in affiliate fee revenue, an 11% increase year-over-year.

In April 2020, Fox acquired Tubi for $440 million, the latter having 25 million monthly active users [[link removed]] at the time of the deal. Currently, the platform has 51 million monthly active users [[link removed]] who streamed 3.6 billion hours of content in fiscal Q2 2022, a 40% increase year-over-year.

Running it Back

Last March, the NFL finalized its media rights deals with CBS, NBC, Disney, Amazon, and Fox with contracts worth $113 billion over 11 seasons, beginning with the 2023 season.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said [[link removed]] the league will work with broadcasters to incorporate legal sports betting into the deals.

Conversation Starters In The Leadoff, gamblers are expected to wager a record $7.6 billion on Super Bowl LVI, Softbank and Nvidia call off a $40 billion chip technology deal, Nobull expands into performance running, and San Diego State University becomes the latest school to face a Title IX lawsuit. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. BeIN Sports has acquired [[link removed]] media rights to the ATP Tour in nine markets across Southeast Asia. The four-year deal runs from 2022 through 2025 and includes Singapore, Laos, and Thailand. On Tuesday, a presentation by activist inventor Blackwells Capital was released regarding concerns over Peloton’s management. Hours later, CEO John Foley stepped down. FOS Senior Analyst Liam Killingstad breaks down the presentation here [[link removed]]. The NWSL’s Washington Spirit have been sold [[link removed]] to Y. Michele Kang in a deal valued at $35 million. Kang beat out Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly and retail executive Jennifer Tepper Mackesy after contentious negotiations.

SPONSORED BY GRIN

Teaming Up on Influencer Marketing

Trifecta’s goal in working with GRIN [[link removed]] was to eliminate the need for dedicated bandwidth to manage their influencer programs. In addition, the company wanted to harness the power of its marketing relationships, easily curate user-generated content, and scale their influencer marketing program.

GRIN generated the reports [[link removed]] and workflow that allowed Trifecta’s leadership to take a birds-eye-view of the influencer marketing program’s performance.

Trifecta was able to engage in more direct social media interaction because of the employee time saved by GRIN. The company’s full-time Instagram manager is now free to nurture relationships on the platform, giving a human voice to the brand with engagement.

See how [[link removed]] GRIN’s software gave the Trifecta team the ability to manage authentic relationships [[link removed]]at scale and track the detailed metrics they needed.

Market Movers

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

WWW [[link removed]]

Wolverine World Wide, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$27.05

[[link removed]]

+1.12%

[[link removed]] VFC [[link removed]]

VF Corp.

[[link removed]]

$64.55

[[link removed]]

+1.54%

[[link removed]] CHDN [[link removed]]

Churchill Downs, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$221.19

[[link removed]]

+2.15%

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

Peloton Interactive Inc

[[link removed]]

$38.35

[[link removed]]

+2.54%

[[link removed]] DKNG [[link removed]]

DraftKings Inc

[[link removed]]

$23.34

[[link removed]]

+4.03%

[[link removed]] NLS [[link removed]]

Nautilus Inc

[[link removed]]

$5.85

[[link removed]]

+6.36%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 2/9/22) What to Watch

The Waste Management Phoenix Open brings the best golfers in the world to TPC Scottsdale.

Last year, Brooks Koepka won the tournament by one stroke, taking home $1.3 million. Now, players will compete for a $8.2 million purse this week in Arizona.

How to Watch: 12 p.m. ET on ESPN+ / Stream all of the Farmers Insurance Open on ESPN+ [[link removed]]*

*Sponsored content. Game Availabilities Differ By Market, Check Your Local Listing.

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

MORE FROM FOS:

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

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

Copyright © 2022 Front Office Sports. All rights reserved.

80 Pine Street Suite 3202 New York, NY 10005

If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here [[link removed]].

Advertise [[link removed]] / Update your preferences [link removed] / Unsubscribe [link removed]