April 14, 2022

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The final obstacle to the Denver Broncos’ sale by auction was cleared on Thursday when a settlement was reached between the trustees of the Pat Bowlen estate and surviving members of the Edgar Kaiser Jr. estate, followed by a motion to dismiss the Kaiser’s ROFR appeal. The team’s final sale is expected to land between $4.5 billion and $5.5 billion.

Boehly Reportedly Frontrunner As Chelsea Deadline Arrives

Chelsea FC

The deadline for Chelsea FC bidders to submit their final offers has arrived — and Todd Boehly’s group is thought to be the frontrunner, according to the BBC.

If Boehly wins [[link removed]], he would beat out a consortium led by Sir Martin Broughton, the Ricketts Family Investment Group, and Stephen Pagliuca’s group. The four bidders reportedly [[link removed]] agreed to make all-cash offers and will “not load debt onto the club.”

Boehly, who is an owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Lakers, and Sparks as well as Cloud9 and DraftKings, is estimated [[link removed]] to be worth $4.5 billion as of Thursday — the 661st-richest person in the world.

The club is estimated [[link removed]] to be worth $2.4 billion.

Deadline Decision

With recommendations from the Raine Group, current owner Roman Abramovich will make the final decision with the team’s board. The sale could fetch as much $3.61 billion, but it will not necessarily go to the highest bidder — Sports Business Journal reported that “the future guardianship of the club” will be prioritized.

Following Thursday’s reported [[link removed]] 5 p.m. ET deadline, the winner is expected to be confirmed next week with approval from the U.K. government, which recently sanctioned Abramovich for his ties to Vladimir Putin.

On Thursday, Chelsea’s director Eugene Tenenbaum was also sanctioned [[link removed]]. Last month, Reuters reported [[link removed]] that Abramovich handed Tenenbaum control of the club on the day of the Ukraine invasion.

Abramovich will not be able to make money off the sale despite purchasing the team for roughly $233 million [[link removed].] in 2003.

Lawsuit Seeks to Stop Formula 1’s Miami Race Before It Starts

Miami GP F1

Weeks before the scheduled debut of Formula 1’s Miami race, local residents are suing to stop the event from happening.

Miami Gardens residents filed a lawsuit to cancel the much-anticipated race on the grounds that noise from the May 6-8 event will “cause severe disruption and physical harm to Miami Gardens residents.”

The plaintiffs, led by former Miami-Dade County commissioner Betty Ferguson, drew on findings from an engineering firm that the race will produce noise levels up to 97 decibels, “similar to the sound levels produced by a chainsaw,” within a 2.5 mile radius.

Lawyers for both event venue Hard Rock Stadium and Miami Gardens said the judge should not rule before the city decides if it will issue a special event permit.Miami-Dade circuit court judge Alan Fine echoed that sentiment, saying “Numerous courts before me have resisted the temptation to jump into something that hasn’t been issued yet. Shouldn’t I wait to see if the city manager issues the special events permit?”

Calls to Miami Garden officials from Front Office Sports were not immediately returned.

More Noise Coming

F1 is under contract to race in Miami Gardens for 10 consecutive years. In March, F1 confirmed reports from FOS by announcing that the racing series would come to Las Vegas on Thanksgiving weekend of 2023.

The two new U.S. races come on the heels of F1’s surge in popularity with an assist from the Netflix docuseries “Drive to Survive.” F1 reported a cumulative 1.5 billion viewers in 2021.

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Hotel-Motel Tax Increase Could Help Finance Titans’ $2B Stadium

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

State lawmakers are exploring an additional funding plan that would help cover the costs of a new stadium for the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.

An amendment to a bill in the House finance subcommittee was submitted [[link removed]] on Wednesday that would see Nashville’s Metropolitan Council raise the city’s hotel-motel tax from 6% to 7%.

The 1% increase is likely to generate $10 million in additional revenue per year.Over a 20-year period, revenue from the increase would likely cover the $700 million Metro is spending.The city hopes to have an enclosed stadium by 2026, and costs [[link removed]] could reach $2 billion.

In January, the Titans planned [[link removed]] upgrades at Nissan Stadium that would have cost up to $600 million. A month later, the Titans pivoted to exploring the possibility of a new stadium amid rising costs associated with the upgrades.

In March, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee met with members of the state’s legislature to request $500 million in bonds [[link removed]] for the construction.

Playing the Long Game

The Titans’ current lease requires the city of Nashville to pay for maintenance, and the team is owed at least $25 million in completed repairs. Even though the Titans are expected to pay nearly double the estimated cost of the upgrades to build a new stadium, the move is considered a long-term financial decision.

Conversation Starters In The Leadoff, Nike leads a most valuable brands list, UEFA faces heat for a proposed Champions League change, Todd Boehly’s holding company invests in a sports-centric marketing firm, and a sports video technology company raises $47 million in a Series C funding round. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. Fenway Park is going cashless [[link removed]] for the 2022 season. The home of the Boston Red Sox will require fans to use credit cards or touchless forms of payment, including on purchases made in the concourses and stands. Fan influence app Socios.com has partnered [[link removed]] with 13 NFL teams after securing a deal with the New England Patriots last November. The partnerships will provide fans with the opportunity to access exclusive merchandise and events. On Wednesday, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. launched three home runs [[link removed]] — his second career three-HR game and first career four-hit game — in the Toronto Blue Jays’ 6-4 win over the Yankees. Vlad Jr. is the early favorite to win AL MVP. Should he stay this hot and manage to win the award, his value will spike even more. Subscribe to Scoreboard for more [[link removed]].

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Market Movers

U.S. stocks were mixed on Thursday. Here’s a look at how sports-related stocks performed:

MGM [[link removed]]

MGM Resorts International

[[link removed]]

$41.58

[[link removed]]

+0.02%

[[link removed]] T [[link removed]]

AT&T, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$19.54

[[link removed]]

+1.22%

[[link removed]] MCRI [[link removed]]

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$86.65

[[link removed]]

+1.48%

[[link removed]] SGMS [[link removed]]

Scientific Games Corporation

[[link removed]]

$59.69

[[link removed]]

-0.63%

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

DraftKings Inc

[[link removed]]

$16.48

[[link removed]]

-1.70%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 4/14/22) What to Watch

The Minnesota Wild (45-21-6) face the Dallas Stars (42-27-4) on Thursday at American Airlines Center.

How to Watch: 8 p.m. ET on ESPN

Betting Odds: Wild -1.5 || ML -125|| O/U 6

Pick: Expect the Stars to build on two consecutive wins. Take Dallas to cover.

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