February 15, 2022

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The Indian Premier League’s mega-auction took place over the weekend, and India’s wicketkeeper/batter Ishan Kishan became the fourth-highest earner in the auction’s history — receiving over $2 million.

U.S. Deal Vaults Premier League Int’l Rights Over Domestic Rights

Premier League/Design: Alex Brooks

The Premier League remains immensely popular in the U.K., but its global clout is ascendant: The league’s international media rights now total more than its domestic haul.

The league is set to rake in $7.2 billion in foreign TV rights from 2022-2025, while its domestic rights total $6.9 billion in that period.

International rights grew 30% from the previous three-year cycle.U.S. rights accounted for much of the increase, with Comcast re-upping its contract [[link removed]] on a six-year deal reportedly worth over $2.7 billion. Its previous six-year pact cost $1.1 billion. In May 2021, the Premier League renewed its existing domestic rights deals with Amazon, BT, and Sky, forgoing a traditional auction while the league was still recovering from the pandemic.

The bump in international rights will help boost payments delivered to teams. The 2022-2023 season champions will see their bonus rise to $238 million from $207 million, and the bottom-placing team will pocket $143.4 million, up from $131.2 million.

Enter DAZN

DAZN hoped to get in on the previous round of negotiations but was unable to participate without an open auction.

Instead, the streaming service appears close to acquiring [[link removed]] BT Sport for $800 million. The company spent $1.7 billion on sports rights in 2019.

NFL Lobbied SEC on Crypto Issues

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports/Design: Alex Brooks

Whatever the NFL’s plans are for cryptocurrencies, they would apparently benefit from government intervention.

The NFL lobbied [[link removed]] the Securities and Exchange Commission on “issues related to blockchain technology,” which could include cryptocurrencies and NFTs, in the second half of last year. The SEC is currently figuring out how it will regulate cryptocurrencies.

The league spent over $600,000 lobbying both houses of Congress, and various federal agencies, including the SEC.The NFL also lobbied the White House, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Commerce on a range of issues including sports betting.

The league is reportedly seeking to determine if cryptocurrency can become a key part of the NFL’s business.

Crypto Accepted

After initially barring teams from crypto- and NFT-related sponsorships, the NFL struck a partnership with NBA Top Shot producer Dapper Labs that saw both the league and its players association take a stake in the NFT company.

The New York Giants struck a partnership with crypto asset manager Grayscale Investments in May 2021, which the league approved even though the crypto company ban was still in place.

Crypto companies, including Coinbase, FTX, and Crypto.com, spent heavily on Super Bowl ads. The sudden increase in traffic to Coinbase briefly caused its site to crash.

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Microsoft Will Let Activision Continue Making ‘Call of Duty’ for PlayStation

Activision/Design: Alex Brooks

When Microsoft recently purchased Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, the deal raised questions over the fate of “Call of Duty.”

Last Wednesday, the software giant announced [[link removed]] it would allow Activision to continue making the game for PlayStation even after its current contract expires, several outlets reported.

The decision is part of Microsoft’s broader attempt to make the acquisition more palatable to regulators, who will likely give a “tough review” to the proposed deal, according [[link removed]] to The New York Times

“We’re more focused on adapting to regulation than fighting against it,” Microsoft president and vice chair Brad Smith told reporters. The deal is expected to close in 2023.

Embattled Reputation

Activision Blizzard has drawn the ire of several regulators for alleged gender-based misconduct and toxic workplace culture allegations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission launched [[link removed]] an investigation in 2021.The company paid [[link removed]] an $18 million settlement to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission following an investigation.The California Department of Fair Housing and Employment filed [[link removed]] a lawsuit.

The company has reportedly [[link removed]] been working to clean up the alleged problems.

Tom Brady’s Religion of Sports Seeks $50M

Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports/Design: Alex Brooks

Tom Brady’s production company, Religion of Sports, is reportedly looking to raise $50 million, which would value the company at $100 million, according to The Information.

Religion of Sports was founded four years ago and has already produced the Brady documentary “Man in the Arena,” along with the Simone Biles doc “Simone vs. Herself.”

The company, co-founded by the recently retired Brady, former NFL player Michael Strahan, and filmmaker Gotham Chopra, has raised $16 million to date. Last year, its revenue reached [[link removed]] roughly $35 million.

Last year, Brady also formed 199 Productions — a multiplatform content company focused on films, documentaries, and TV shows.Religion of Sports is more zeroed in [[link removed]] on sports and the passions behind it, whereas 199 Productions has more wide-ranging projects. Brady’s Brands

Brady is at the helm of several other businesses, and the seven-time Super Bowl champion has reportedly [[link removed]] made $293 million just from playing contracts in the NFL over his 22-year career.

He’s a co-founder of NFT platform Autograph and nutrition company TB12, and he unveiled BRADY, his own apparel line, earlier this year.

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NFL Stars On The Field, Superheroes In The Community

When they’re not using their athletic powers on the field, NFL players are finding unique ways to serve as superheroes in their communities. For this year’s NFLPA Community MVP Program, HEARTLENT Group [[link removed]] brought the theme to life by illustrating each winner as a superhero action figure [[link removed]].

The NFLPA recognized 18 active NFL players who are committed to making a positive impact and made a $10,000 donation to each player’s charity of choice. Five finalists were selected for the Alan Page Community Award and Rodney McLeod was selected as the 2022 winner. An additional $100,000 will be contributed to his Change Our Future foundation. To celebrate, HEARTLENT Group created a one-of-a-kind superhero action figure in his likeness.

In total, $2.2 million was donated on behalf of these real-life superheroes. Learn more [[link removed]] about the NFLPA Community MVPs.

Conversation Starters The 2022 Hero Indian Open has been canceled [[link removed]] for the third year in a row due to COVID-19. Paul Conway and the SPAC he set up with a number of partners are looking to purchase [[link removed]] a minority stake in a European football club with an enterprise value of $250 million to $500 million. John Ruiz’s LifeWallet, a product of MSP Recovery, is dedicating [[link removed]] $10 million to NIL deals. So far, the company has signed $1.5 million in deals. Ubisoft, the company that publishes “Assassin’s Creed,” sent a message to staff about plans to use blockchain technology. The message received [[link removed]] hundreds of negative comments from employees. Free, ad-supported video on-demand is set to outpace subscription-based counterparts. According to Tubi’s latest report [[link removed]], in 2021, AVOD viewership grew twice as fast as SVOD.*

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Today's Action

NHL

07:08 PM

Islanders (-180) at Sabres (+155)

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NBA

07:40 PM

Mavericks (+135) at Heat (-155)

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NHL

07:08 PM

Lightning (-265) at Devils (+210)

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*All times are EST unless otherwise noted.

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

Question Of The Day

Have you watched a Premier League match this season?

Yes [[link removed]] No [[link removed]]

Monday’s Answer

52% of respondents were happy with this year’s Super Bowl outcome.

Written by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]], Amanda Christovich [[link removed]], Abigail Gentrup [[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

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