March 17, 2022

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Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin is putting together a bid to purchase Chelsea FC. Griffin, the 49th-richest person in the world and worth more than $30 billion, recently bought a copy of the U.S. Constitution at Sotheby’s for $43.2 million.

Saudi-Backed Golf League Seeks $500M Rights Deal

Caitlyn Jordan-Naples Daily News/Design: John Regula

Greg Norman’s LIV Golf Invitational Series is ready to start negotiations with potential streaming and broadcast partners.

The ambitious aim, sources told Front Office Sports, is to score up to $500 million for global media rights.

The Saudi-backed golf startup may seek a global deal or divide its rights on a country-by-country basis. But streaming giants [[link removed]] like DAZN make sense for an international series that will tee it up in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

“Streaming platforms, particularly the Netflixes, the Amazons, the Apples, are truly global. That’s one path we could pursue,” said Sean Bratches, a former ESPN executive and LIV’s chief commercial officer.

Bratches acknowledged the other path, a bidding process for each country, claiming there is “interest across the board.”

LIV already has a “short list” of potential announcers, including three “interesting names.”No players have signed with the new rival to the PGA Tour yet.

In March, the PGA Tour agreed [[link removed]] to nine-year extensions with CBS, NBC, and ESPN worth $7 billion from 2022 through 2030.

Plenty of Purse Money

Launching in June, the league will feature an eight-tournament schedule that will offer $25 million purses and only 48 competitors per event. Sites include New Jersey, Portland, Boston, Chicago, London, Bangkok, and Saudi Arabia.

La Liga Joins Proposal for Brazilian Breakaway League

Lucas Figueiredo-CBF/Design: John Regula

A consortium that includes Spain’s La Liga has presented a proposal to Brazil’s elite soccer clubs to create a new league that would operate independently of the Brazilian Football Confederation.

The proposal — backed by financial services firm XP and management consultancy firm Alvarez & Marsal — is an effort to provide clubs with a greater say in how Brazilian soccer is operated.

The new league could start competition as early as this year or 2023.Investors have pledged [[link removed]] between $750 million and $1 billion toward the league.

Unlike other top-flight soccer leagues across the world, Brazil’s professional clubs and national teams are controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation.

The consortium’s proposal marks an ongoing effort to provide financial stability and business development for clubs without oversight from the confederation. In July 2021, clubs in Brazil’s top-flight Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A also submitted proposals to create a breakaway league.

La Liga’s Reach

Last November, La Liga secured [[link removed]] an eight-year broadcasting extension with Televisa in a deal reportedly worth $560 million. The same month, La Liga signed a $1.4 billion deal with ESPN for U.S broadcasting rights — the richest U.S. broadcasting deal for a European league.

Broadcasters pay roughly $115 million each year for rights to La Liga in North Africa and the Middle East, and around $100 million per year for rights in China.

SPONSORED BY NIKE

How Nike is Moving Sport Forward With a Purpose

For 50 years, NIKE, Inc. has been moving sport forward with a purpose. And since 2002, the company has publicly shared its social and environmental impact.

Committed to bold and ambitious targets as a company, Nike believes in transparency and holding itself accountable to ensure progress.

In our next event [[link removed]], Moving Sport Forward With Purpose: Nike’s Impact on People, Planet, Play, Front Office Sports Editor-in-Chief, Ernest Baker speaks with Vanessa Garcia-Brito, VP of North America Communications at NIKE, Inc., to discuss the company’s FY21 Impact Report and hear how Nike is tracking against its 2025 targets focused on People, Planet and Play.

Sign up [[link removed]] for an email reminder before we go live on LinkedIn.

Oakland A’s Ballpark Plan Hits Snag, Vegas Pursuit Continues

Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports/Design: John Regula

The Oakland A’s remain in limbo, as a local committee slowed momentum toward a new stadium in their home city and the team takes additional steps toward Las Vegas.

The team has established a $12 billion plan to develop a ballpark, apartment buildings, business areas, and parks at the waterfront Howard Terminal area in Oakland. However, that requires the local government to remove the terminal’s “port use” designation.

On Wednesday, the Seaport Planning Advisory Committee voted 5-4 with one abstention to maintain the area’s “port use” status.

The vote is a nonbinding recommendation to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.The commission must issue [[link removed]] its decision by July 7.

A key point of debate was whether the Port of Oakland should expect enough growth to require its full capacity, including Howard Terminal, to operate. City staff presented several growth trajectories, only one of which would necessitate Howard Terminal to operate as a port.

Public comment was mixed, with groups associated with the port speaking in favor of maintaining the current designation and many organized labor groups in other trades supporting the ballpark project.

What Happens in Vegas …

Team president Dave Kaval called the vote a “serious setback” and continues to explore a ballpark on Las Vegas on “parallel paths” with the Oakland negotiations.

Kaval said [[link removed]] the team recently made a bid on a fifth site in the Las Vegas area but declined to offer specifics, citing nondisclosure agreements with the land owners.

Conversation Starters In The Leadoff, UFC reports its best financial year to date, sanctions and the risk of relegation put a squeeze on Everton FC, Arctos Sports Partners grows its MLB portfolio to six teams, and over 200 parties have expressed interest in buying Chelsea FC. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. Los Angeles Dodgers part owner Todd Boehly has hired [[link removed]] a celebrity PR executive and a former U.K. government adviser to facilitate his bid for Chelsea FC. If Boehly’s bid is successful, he will appoint them as non-executive board directors of the Premier League club. WNBA star Brittney Griner will remain [[link removed]] in custody until at least May 19 after a Moscow court extended her arrest. Griner has been detained in Russia since Feb. 17 after authorities said a search of her luggage at a Moscow airport revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis. The Los Angeles Dodgers just made one of the biggest splashes of MLB free agency — and are undeniably the team to beat [[link removed]] this season. On Wednesday, the club signed 2020 National League MVP and 2021 World Series Champion Freddie Freeman to a six-year, $162 million deal. Subscribe to Scoreboard for more [[link removed]] on Freeman and the star-studded Dodgers.

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Market Movers

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

RCI [[link removed]]

Rogers Communications Inc.

[[link removed]]

$53.86

[[link removed]]

+0.47%

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

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$58.93

[[link removed]]

+0.87%

[[link removed]] EA [[link removed]]

Electronic Arts, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$125.00

[[link removed]]

+1.37%

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

VF Corp.

[[link removed]]

$57.30

[[link removed]]

+2.32%

[[link removed]] LVS [[link removed]]

Las Vegas Sands Corp

[[link removed]]

$37.26

[[link removed]]

+3.50%

[[link removed]] LYV [[link removed]]

Live Nation Entertainment Inc

[[link removed]]

$111.14

[[link removed]]

-0.24%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 3/17/22) What to Watch

The Vermont Catamounts (28-5) face the Arkansas Razorbacks (25-8) on Thursday at KeyBank Center.

How to Watch: 9:20 p.m. ET on TNT

Betting Odds: Arkansas -5 || ML -200 || O/U 139* ( Bet on DraftKings [[link removed]])

Pick: Expect the Catamounts to keep things close. Take Vermont to cover.

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

Written by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]], Justin Byers [[link removed]], Owen Poindexter [[link removed]]

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

Front Office Sports Scoreboard [[link removed]] - The biggest stories in sports and the numbers behind them

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