March 7, 2022

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The MLB Players Association announced it’s launching a $1 million fund to help workers affected by the lockout. With spring training and several games canceled, the MLBPA and the AFL-CIO fund will help concession crews, groundskeepers, ushers, security, and other essential workers.

Apple Seeks NFL Assets in Major Bundled Deal

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY SPORTS/Design: Alex Brooks

Apple is contemplating scooping up the NFL’s available media rights along with a stake in NFL Media in a single multibillion-dollar deal, sources tell Front Office Sports.

The NFL is currently fielding offers for three assets: an equity stake in NFL Media, the “NFL Sunday Ticket” package for out-of-market games, and livestreaming games on mobile devices.

Apple wants to bundle them all into one deal, said sources.

It would send a shot across the bow of rival Amazon, the frontrunner [[link removed]] to buy up to 49% of NFL Media (which includes NFL Network, NFL RedZone [[link removed]], and NFL.com) — as well as create must-see content for Apple TV+.

Apple posted record revenue of $365.8 billion in fiscal 2021 and has a market capitalization of nearly $2.7 trillion. The tech giant has more than $200 billion [[link removed]] in cash and marketable securities on hand for possible deals — double the cash and marketable securities of Amazon.

Apple’s Sporting Moves

Investment firm Wedbush wrote Apple has begun an “ aggressive hunt [[link removed]]” for sports rights.

Apple has talked to MLB about carrying a package of baseball games [[link removed]] in 2023. In the coming years, analyst Dan Ives predicted Apple will spend billions on pro sports rights.Apple bought the rights to “ The Dynasty [[link removed]],” a 10-part documentary about the New England Patriots and is also planning a four-part documentary on Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson [[link removed]], “They Call Me Magic.”

Multiple messages left with Apple were not returned. The NFL declined comment for this story.

Biennial World Cup Soon to Be ‘Off The Table’

FIFA/Design: Alex Brooks

UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin is confident that FIFA’s proposal for a biennial World Cup will be “off the table” soon.

While speaking at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit on Thursday, Čeferin highlighted [[link removed]] the European soccer body’s close relationship with FIFA. “With FIFA we discuss regularly, and the biennial World Cup is a no-go for everyone in football,” he said.

Čeferin said UEFA is still in discussions with FIFA president Gianni Infantino but is “sure” they’ll come to a solution soon.

Čeferin said he could see the Copa America champions face the European champions annually.On March 2, FIFA vice president Victor Montagliani suggested a revamped Confederations Cup or global Nations League to have teams in different confederations play each other.

“We cannot say football on other continents cannot be developed, but we should be aligned, and it should not hurt European and South American Federations,” Čeferin continued [[link removed]].

FIFA’s Finances

Soccer’s governing body earned [[link removed]] $6.4 billion between 2017 and 2020, with more than 70% coming from 2018 — the year of the last World Cup. A study commissioned by domestic leagues found that a World Cup every two years would cost UEFA and domestic leagues a total of $9 billion.

FIFA reported [[link removed]] a 187% year-over-year revenue increase to $766.5 million in 2021.

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Sports Betting was the largest expanding category in terms of sponsorship and media deals for the second year in a row (+83%), and Crypto was the most-searched category by NFL executives.

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WNBA Commissioner Doubles Down on No-Charter Flight Policy

Brad Mills-USA TODAY/Design: Alex Brooks

The lack of access to charter flights for WNBA players has long been a league controversy. Players from Liz Cambage to Sabrina Ionescu have voiced [[link removed]] frustration about squeezing in cramped seats and facing delays and cancellations during tight game schedules.

Last week, the controversy reached a crescendo when a bombshell Sports Illustrated report [[link removed]] revealed that the WNBA fined the New York Liberty $500,000 for providing charter flights to players — and considered shutting down the team.

In an interview with ESPN [[link removed]], commissioner Cathy Engelbert doubled down on the league’s stance, saying it could not afford to fund charter flights:

“It would be more than $20 million a year to fund charter flights for an entire WNBA season,” Engelbert said.The only way the league could afford charter flights now is if “sponsors or supporters” agreed to fund them.

When the league announced a $75 million capital raise last month, Engelbert similarly told [[link removed]] reporters the money wouldn’t fund charter flights.

Liberty’s Flights Grounded

The league sanctioned the Liberty because it technically violated the WNBA’s CBA by providing flights, per SI.

Liberty owner Joe Tsai allegedly presented a proposal to get charter flights for all teams, though the WNBA denied [[link removed]] the proposal had ever been made.

Premier League Reviewing Russian Media Deals

Premier League/Design: Alex Brooks

The Premier League is considering terminating its media rights deal in Russia as companies continue to pull out of the country over its assault on Ukraine.

League CEO Richard Masters said [[link removed]] that its deals were “clearly under review.”

The Premier League’s current deal, which runs to the end of this season, is with Rambler Media, a subsidiary of state-owned Sberbank. Sberbank is under sanction in the U.K. and U.S. following the invasion of Ukraine.The deal, which brings games to streaming platform Okko Sport, is worth a reported $7.7 million annually.The Premier League has a six-year deal beginning in the 2022-23 season with Match TV, owned by Gazprombank, which is also under sanction in the U.K. and U.S.That deal is reportedly worth around $54.7 million in total. International Draw

The Premier League has enviable international appeal: Its foreign broadcast rights deals will total more than its domestic ones for the first time in the 2022-25 cycle.

Its six-year U.S. rights deal with Comcast, reportedly worth $2.7 billion, helped bump the league’s international set to $7.2 billion, compared to $6.9 billion in domestic rights.

The league is also auctioning [[link removed]] off its NFT licenses for around $600 million.

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Conversation Starters Manchester City announced [[link removed]] a multiyear deal with cryptocurrency exchange OKX. Take-Two Interactive has been sued [[link removed]] over the alleged deceptive sale of loot boxes to minors in NBA 2K. The WNBA will see 25 regular-season games and the entire postseason aired [[link removed]] across ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. Chris Brickley seems to dedicate all hours of the day to his business. Brickley sat down with Front Office Sports [[link removed]] to talk about the keys to building his brand, his partnership with Bodyarmor, the reason people want to train with him, and his music. Subscribe to Scoreboard [[link removed]] for more. Today's Action

NHL

09:38 PM

Oilers (+155) at Flames (-190)

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NBA

07:10 PM

Bulls (+225) at 76ers (-280)

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NHL

07:08 PM

Maple Leafs (-240) at Blue Jackets (+190)

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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

Do you think sponsors should cover the cost of chartered flights for WNBA teams?

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

Friday’s Answer

69% of respondents plan on watching the men’s or women’s March Madness tournaments this year.

Written by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]], A.J. Perez [[link removed]], Abigail Gentrup [[link removed]], Amanda Christovich [[link removed]], Owen Poindexter [[link removed]]

MORE FROM FOS:

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