April 4, 2022

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Texas furniture entrepreneur Jim McIngvale, known as “Mattress Mack,” has placed two bets on Kansas to win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on Monday night — one for $3.3 million and the other for $2.2 million, according to Forbes. If McIngvale wins, he’ll collect $10.5 million.

Audi Raises McLaren Offer to $718M to Enter Formula 1

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Audi has reportedly raised its offer to buy a stake in McLaren’s Formula 1 unit from $495 million to $718 million, according to a report by Germany’s Automobilwoche.

McLaren and Audi are expected to sign [[link removed]] a letter of intent, while a supervisory board will meet to discuss details of the deal later this month.

Audi’s parent company Volkswagen AG expressed interest in acquiring McLaren last year as a way to tap into the booming Formula 1 business. Formula 1 reported $787 million in revenue in Q4 2021, a 62% increase year-over-year, with viewership reaching 1.55 billion last season.

McLaren later called off a potential deal, deeming Volkswagen’s initial offer as too low.

Volkswagen could separately acquire a stake [[link removed]] in McLaren’s road car division, McLaren Automotive.Porsche, one of Volkswagen’s 12 car companies and brands, is pursuing a partnership with Formula 1 team Red Bull Racing.

Volkswagen’s interest comes on the heels of a joint development project between McLaren and German carmaker BMW. McLaren and BMW signed a memorandum of understanding on March 24 that will see the two brands develop an architecture for electric sports cars.

The agreement isn’t binding and could be voided with a deal between McLaren and Audi.

Pick and Choose

Volkswagen made a major subtraction from its portfolio last July. The company announced plans [[link removed]] to offload its high-end Bugatti brand to Porsche and electric carmaker Rimac.

Porsche will own 45% of the company, while Rimac will own 55%.

Oakland A’s Hit with Lawsuit Over $12B Ballpark Plans

Oakland A's

The Oakland A’s have hit yet another roadblock to getting their new stadium plans approved.

On Friday, several local organizations filed a lawsuit [[link removed]] against the team for its plans to build a ballpark on the Howard Terminal waterfront. The complaint alleges the ballpark’s plans don’t properly meet environmental standards — specifically, the California Environmental Quality Act.

The plaintiffs included truckers, port workers, and cargo operators.

In response, Oakland A’s team president Dave Kaval called the lawsuit “absolutely crazy.”“It’s an odd way to use an environmental law to prevent the environmental review from being completed,” Kaval reportedly said.

If approved, the $12 billion project [[link removed]] would include not only a new baseball stadium, but also recreational parks, commercial buildings, and apartment buildings.

If the city doesn’t approve the new stadium, it might lose the team. The A’s have reportedly [[link removed]] made bids on five Las Vegas sites.

Previous Setback

The news comes just two weeks after local officials used [[link removed]] a bureaucratic technicality to slow the project.

In order for the stadium plans to go ahead, Oakland’s Howard Terminal waterfront area must not be designated for “port use.” However, the Seaport Planning Advisory Committee voted 5-4 (with one abstention) to maintain the area’s “port use” status.

A final decision is expected July 7.

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Ricketts’ Chelsea FC Ownership Plan Excludes Super League

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Chelsea FC has narrowed its potential new owner down to four preferred bidders, and a week after it was revealed that Todd Boehly had started discussions about Stamford Bridge’s redevelopment, the Ricketts family has made their own plans public.

The owners of the Chicago Cubs made [[link removed]] an eight-point list of promises should they acquire the iconic club, including zero involvement in a European Super League, maintaining diversity, stadium redevelopment, and keeping the team’s branding.

The promises come on the heels of resurfaced racist emails from TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts.Fans gathered in protest of the family’s takeover, despite Joe Ricketts reportedly not being involved in the bid. The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust said 77% of its members do not support it.

The Ricketts are still seen as one of the leading [[link removed]] contenders to take over the club from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. The bid would reportedly be an all-equity offer.

Additional Investors

The Ricketts’ consortium, which includes [[link removed]] Citadel founder Ken Griffin, reportedly added Rock Entertainment Group, which is backed by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, as an investor. Gilbert is one of the richest people in America, worth [[link removed]] roughly $22.7 billion, and has invested more than $400 million into the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

The consortium has added [[link removed]] U.S. investment bank Jefferies as an advisor and listed specifications about what its advisory board would look like. The Ricketts added that they would ensure the women’s team will play matches at Stamford Bridge.

Conversation Starters In The Leadoff, Sacramento plans a $1 billion hub around a soccer stadium, the NCAA explores moving both Final Fours to the same city, the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs discuss a new stadium in Kansas state, and Collectors Holdings raises $100 million at a $4.3 billion valuation. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. North Carolina’s win over Duke on Saturday in the Final Four will likely be the second most-watched [[link removed]] college basketball game ever on cable TV. The TBS broadcasted game drew a preliminary audience of 16.3 million viewers. That figure is expected to increase by roughly 10% when out-of-home viewership is released on Tuesday. Engage, a talent booking platform co-founded by former USC kicker and the first entirely blind NCAA Division 1 college football player Matt Olson, has raised [[link removed]] $1 million. The seed funding round values the platform at $30 million. On Sunday night, Dawn Staley ascended to the top of the women’s college basketball coaching pyramid — and proved she’s more than worthy [[link removed]]of her recent massive contract extension. Staley led South Carolina to a 64-49 win over the UConn NCAA title game, delivering the program’s second national championship. Subscribe to Scoreboard for more [[link removed]] on Staley and the Gamecocks. Want to know what your favorite athletes have been up to since they retired? Check out Second Acts [[link removed]] — a new interview series from Front Office Sports, presented by Fidelity, where former athletes discuss the journey that led to their second act and how they are thriving beyond the game.*

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Market Movers

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

FL [[link removed]]

Foot Locker Inc

[[link removed]]

$29.82

[[link removed]]

+0.34%

[[link removed]] UA [[link removed]]

Under Armour Inc

[[link removed]]

$15.50

[[link removed]]

+0.85%

[[link removed]] MGM [[link removed]]

MGM Resorts International

[[link removed]]

$42.46

[[link removed]]

+1.10%

[[link removed]] DIS [[link removed]]

Walt Disney Co (The)

[[link removed]]

$138.37

[[link removed]]

+1.57%

[[link removed]] MTN [[link removed]]

Vail Resorts Inc.

[[link removed]]

$257.35

[[link removed]]

-0.14%

[[link removed]] CWH [[link removed]]

Camping World Holdings Inc

[[link removed]]

$28.03

[[link removed]]

-0.18%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 4/4/22) What to Watch

The North Carolina Tar Heels (29-9) face the Kansas Jayhawks (33-6) on Monday at Caesars Superdome for the National Championship.

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

Betting Odds: Kansas -4 || ML -190 || O/U 151.5

Pick: Expect the Tar Heels to build on their win over Duke. Take North Carolina to cover.

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Written by Justin Byers [[link removed]], Amanda Christovich [[link removed]], Abigail Gentrup [[link removed]]

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