April 15, 2022

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The $518,000 sale of the football from Tom Brady’s “last” touchdown pass has been voided and a settlement reached, according to The Action Network. The ball — which was never actually paid for — was won at auction on March 12. A few hours later, Brady unretired.

Ricketts’ Group Withdraws Bid For Chelsea FC

Chelsea FC

There are only three bidders left for Chelsea FC. The Ricketts family, owners of the Chicago Cubs, announced its group didn’t submit a final bid on Thursday, the deadline given for the remaining groups of bidders.

Ken Griffin, the founder, CEO, and majority owner of Citadel, and Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, were part of the consortium.

While the exact reasons weren’t disclosed, the group addressed [[link removed]] its decision in a statement, noting “unusual dynamics around the sales process.”

The decision to pull out from the running reportedly had nothing to do with the controversy that surfaced for the Ricketts family.

Racist emails from the Ricketts’ patriarch, Joe, resurfaced with the first reports of the family’s interest in Chelsea.Fans had staged a protest of the family at Stamford Bridge and started a #NoToRicketts Twitter campaign.

The looming sale comes after current Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the U.K. government for his ties to Vladimir Putin.

Who’s Left?

Todd Boehly, an owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, Dodgers, and Sparks, is rumored to be the frontrunner. Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss and property developer Jonathan Goldstein are part of the group [[link removed]].

A group led by Sir Martin Broughton includes Dave Blitzer and Josh Harris.

Steve Pagliuca, part-owner of the Boston Celtics and Italian club Atalanta, is heading the group that includes NBA chairman Larry Tanenbaum.

A preferred bidder is expected [[link removed]] early next week.

Apollo Explores IPO for Largest Golfing Chain in U.S.

ClubCorp

Private equity firm Apollo Global Management is considering an initial public offering for ClubCorp that could value the private golf club and resort operator at $4.5 billion, according to Bloomberg.

ClubCorp was taken private in 2017 after Apollo purchased the company from KSL Capital Partners in a deal valued [[link removed]] at around $1.1 billion. The Dallas-based company is the largest golfing chain in the U.S. with more than 200 golf clubs, resorts, country clubs, and athletic clubs — including more than 430,000 members, according [[link removed]] to its website.

Apollo adds to a growing list of companies embracing golf’s popularity amid the global pandemic.

South Korea-based private equity firm Centroid Investment Partners acquired [[link removed]] TaylorMade Golf in May 2021 for $1.7 billion. SoftBank’s Fortress Investment Group agreed [[link removed]] to acquire course operator Accordia Golf for $3.5 billion last November. Earlier this month, Tonal launched [[link removed]] its first golf workouts with pro golfer and investor Michelle Wie West.

ClubCorp could go public for the second time as early as this year. Apollo is currently working with advisers on the potential IPO process, but no final decision has been made.

Promising Growth

Apollo, which has roughly $498 billion of assets under management, generated [[link removed]] $1.2 billion in revenue in Q4 2021, down from $1.3 billion in revenue for the same period the year prior.

Full-year revenue reached $6 billion in FY2021, compared to $2.4 billion in revenue in FY2020.

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CD Projekt Looks to New Releases for Bounceback After Rough 2021

Harrison Hill-USA TODAY

CD Projekt endured a brutal 2021 but has room for optimism with major releases on the horizon.

The Polish gaming studio, best known for “Cyberpunk 2077” and the “Witcher” series, saw revenues plunge 58% year-over-year in 2021 to $209.7 million.

Net income dropped 82% year-over-year to $49.3 million. The results still beat expectations, and the company’s stock was up around 1% on Friday.

The year was marked by a disastrous December 2020 release of “Cyberpunk 2077,” which was so riddled with bugs and glitches that Sony temporarily removed it from the PlayStation store.CD Projekt, which spent [[link removed]] $280 million on the game, released an updated version for next-generation consoles earlier this year. Which Quarter for Witcher?

CD Projekt pushed back [[link removed]] its planned second-quarter release for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt,” but maintained that the release would not face lengthy delays.

“There have been a lot of insinuations that we’re going to launch June of next year. That’s completely not the case,” said a representative for CD Projekt Red, the division that produces the Witcher series.

Russian studio Saber Interactive was leading the project, but CD Projekt announced — without mentioning Russia’s attack on Ukraine — that they will instead finish the game in-house.

The “Witcher” series has sold over 65 million copies, over 40 million of which are from “Wild Hunt,” which came out in 2015.

CD Projekt Red is partnering with Epic Games and its Unreal Engine on an upcoming project.

Conversation Starters In The Leadoff, Ted Leonsis could add to his Washington, D.C., sports empire, Peloton cuts hardware prices but raises its subscription fee, the Buffalo Bills received interest from San Diego and Toronto, and an energy drink company raises $29 million from star athletes. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. The USFL will launch [[link removed]] as scheduled after a federal judge blocked a request for an injunction from former team owners. However, the judge believes the former owners could win their trademark infringement claim, which is based on the USFL’s name and logos. Kyler Murray has apparently had enough [[link removed]] of watching other quarterbacks get big contracts in this offseason’s explosive market. The 2019 No. 1 pick is entering the fourth season of his rookie deal, which pays $5.5 million. On Thursday, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that Murray’s agent pulled his initial proposal to the Arizona Cardinals, who still haven’t made an offer. Subscribe to Scoreboard for more [[link removed]]. Renee Montgomery’s basketball career was just a precursor to her second act, which includes titles such as podcast host, sports broadcaster, Vice President and Co-Owner of multiple professional sports teams. Learn more [[link removed]] about Renee’s inspiring story of empowerment and representation.*

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Epic Games Scores $2B in Funding

Find out exactly what’s happening in the private markets every week with highlights from our Front Office Sports Insights Deal Tracker.

We carefully monitor both public and private market data for a snapshot of the sports landscape.

This week’s Insights Deal Tracker [[link removed]] highlights:

Epic Games, developer of gaming software and applications designed for gamers and game developers to play and publish immersive games, raised $2 billion of venture funding from Sony and KIRKB. Kooora, publisher of online sports news and data in the Middle East, was acquired by Footballco for $25 million. ReKTGlobal, provider of esports infrastructure services, reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by Infinite Reality for $470 million. Viral Nation, provider of digital marketing services intended to create social media influencer campaigns for brands, received $198 million of development capital from Maverix Private Equity and Eldridge Industries. A SHOC, maker of energy drinks offering nearly all-natural ingredients, raised $29 million of Series B funding from athletes including baseball stars Aaron Judge and Freddie Freeman, golfers Lexi Thompson and Brooks Koepka, NFL defensive lineman Chase Young, NASCAR driver Chase Elliot, and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan. Trace, a sports video technology company that records players’ activities on the field, raised $47 million of Series C venture funding in a deal led by Pelion Venture Partners.

Try out the full Deal Tracker. [[link removed]]

Market Movers

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

WYNN [[link removed]]

Wynn Resorts Ltd.

[[link removed]]

$73.94

[[link removed]]

+0.37%

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

AT&T, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$19.51

[[link removed]]

+0.62%

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

Las Vegas Sands Corp

[[link removed]]

$37.09

[[link removed]]

+1.78%

[[link removed]] PLNT [[link removed]]

Planet Fitness Inc

[[link removed]]

$86.24

[[link removed]]

-0.17%

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

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$86.63

[[link removed]]

-0.23%

[[link removed]] LULU [[link removed]]

Lululemon Athletica inc.

[[link removed]]

$391.90

[[link removed]]

-1.06%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 4/15/22) What to Watch

The Atlanta Hawks (43-39) face the Cleveland Cavaliers (44-38) on Friday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

How to Watch: 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN

Betting Odds: Hawks -2 || ML -135 || O/U 223

Pick: Expect the Cavaliers to bounce back from Tuesday’s loss. Take Cleveland to cover.

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