April 29, 2022

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Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson is staying in-state after the Detroit Lions picked him No. 2 overall in the NFL Draft. The 21-year-old former Michigan star has already signed endorsement deals with nine companies, including Bose, Chipotle, and Dr. Pepper.

Boehly Emerges As Winner of Chelsea Ownership Saga

Patrick T. Fallon-AFP

After a months-long battle of billionaire sports owners, a new owner for Chelsea FC is emerging: The group led by Todd Boehly will reportedly enter exclusive talks to purchase the club.

The final reported price will exceed [[link removed]] $4.4 billion, setting a record for a professional sports team sale – one that may be broken later this year by a buyer for the Denver Broncos. Boehly also submitted [[link removed]] a bid for the NFL team.

The bid from the American investor and co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Lakers, and Sparks includes private equity firm Clearlake Capital. Rival bidders, led by British businessman Sir Martin Broughton and Boston Celtics owner Stephen Pagliuca, have been informed they will not be selected.Should Boehly’s bid fall through, those two bids would [[link removed]] reportedly be next in line.

Boehly, Chelsea, and Raine Group, the bank handling the sale, have not confirmed the news. The U.K. government is working to ensure that former owner Roman Abramovich does not profit from the sale after he was sanctioned for his ties to Vladimir Putin.

Last-Minute Drama

A late bid from majority owner of chemicals company Ineos Group — and one of Britain’s richest men — Sir Jim Ratcliffe of up to $5.4 billion presented a wild card, but it is believed the move came too late to impact the process.

Raine Group tagged groups led by Boehly, Broughton, Pagliuca, and the Ricketts family as finalists in March. The Ricketts, who own the Chicago Cubs, dropped out later in the process.

Inter Miami Scores Key Stadium Vote

Inter Miami CF

Inter Miami CF is on its way to a new downtown stadium after a key Miami City Commission vote.

The commission approved a 99-year lease for the land currently occupied by the Melreese golf course in a 4-1 vote — clearing the path for the MLS club owned by Jorge Mas and David Beckham to build a 25,000-seat stadium and a new development area, Miami Freedom Park.

The development will include a 58-acre public park, public soccer fields, a 31.4-acre retail area, office space, and 750 hotel rooms.

Mas said the team aims to complete the project by March 2025, in time for that year’s MLS season.Thursday’s negotiations raised the rent floor for the land to $4.3 million annually from $3.57 million. The city will order two additional land-value appraisals that could push the rent higher.The two sides agreed on a provision that provides the city 5-6% of the area’s gross revenue, with the exact figure determined by how that figure compares to the rent floor.

Miami Freedom Park still has to pass certain procedural hurdles, such as rezoning the golf course land, and may face lawsuits.

Hurricane Watch

On the suggestion of city commission member Joe Carollo, the team will also look into making the new stadium home to the University of Miami’s football team.

The Hurricanes are under contract to play at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, home to the Miami Dolphins and next week’s Formula 1 race, through 2033.

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Football Endorsements at an All-Time High

The NFL Draft is officially underway, which means a new group of footballers have a chance to cash in on endorsement deals.

In 2021 there was no shortage of players and brands teaming up, and that’s due in large part to their prominence on social media:

Top 10 most followed players combine for over 100M followers 12 players averaged over 1M total engagements – all offensive players Quarterbacks are the most widely followed position across all social media, except TikTok

If your brand is considering the value of an NFL endorsement deal on social, look no further than SponsorUnited’s SPRED Report [[link removed]] to inform your decision.

This free report ranks the social performance of all player endorsement deals from the 2021 season through today, so you can get ahead of the competition.

Download [[link removed]] the report and request a demo [[link removed]] today.

Columbia Posts Record $762M Quarter

Shutterstock

Columbia Sportswear Company announced record revenue in Q1 2022, but saw its stock take a dip in the company’s latest earnings report.

The sportswear and outdoor apparel retailer generated [[link removed]] $762 million in revenue in Q1 2022, a 22% increase compared to the same period a year prior. Columbia attributed the record results to growth across all of its brands, led by Sorel footwear, which grew 37% compared to Q1 2021.

Columbia projects to pocket between $3.6 billion and $3.7 billion in revenue in FY2022.In 2022, operating income is expected to range between $477 million and $502 million.

Despite the strong Q1 results, shares of Columbia were down [[link removed]] 6% on Friday as the company reported that its cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments reached $610 million as of March 31, 2022, compared to $875 million last year.

Columbia also expects supply chain and inflationary challenges, as well as a shutdown of distribution in Russia, to hinder the company’s outlook for the rest of the fiscal year.

The Oregon-based company repurchased $217 million in shares in Q1 2022, and its board of directors recently approved a $500 million increase to the company’s buyback authorization.

Lowered Expectations

In December 2021, investment bank and market analyst Stifel downgraded [[link removed]] Columbia. Analyst Jim Duffy lowered the brand from “buy” to “hold” due to concerns that a combination of unexpected warm weather and late-season snowfalls could impact the company’s sales.

Conversation Starters In The Leadoff, not all contracts for NFL first-round draftees are the same despite guarantees, Amazon gets off to a slow start as it eyes more live sports, Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta plans to develop a high-end casino in Las Vegas, and Frankie Muniz goes from TV to NASCAR. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. The Utah Jazz have built a perennial contender on paper, but they once again have little to show for it since drafting Donovan Mitchell in 2017. On Thursday, they were eliminated [[link removed]] by a Dallas Mavericks team that played three games in the series without its three-time NBA All Star Luka Doncic. During the first round of the NFL Draft, the Tennessee Titans traded [[link removed]] wide receiver A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for the 18th and 101st overall picks. The Titans used that first-round selection on Arkansas WR Treylon Burks. Boxer Amanda Serrano is far more comfortable in the ring than she is talking to the media about what is being billed as the biggest fight in women’s boxing history. The 33-year-old sat down with Front Office Sports [[link removed]] to discuss the historic bout and the growth of women’s boxing. Subscribe to Scoreboard for more on Serrano [[link removed]].

SPONSORED BY SAILGP

Reinventing Crypto-Led Fan Engagement

SailGP [[link removed]] will explore the sale of a new team to a DAO launched on the NEAR Protocol – a first-of-its-kind community engagement and activation platform in professional sports. The partnership [[link removed]] will enable fans and cryptocurrency enthusiasts to engage and access their favorite teams, athletes and events like never before.

The DAO community members may determine athlete selection, team management, commercialization options, operations and team strategy.

The DAO team is scheduled to join the SailGP starting line-up as early as Season 4 in 2023, with the DAO community members determining athlete selection, team management, commercialization options, operations and team strategy. Learn more [[link removed]] about SailGP x NEAR.

OneFootball’s $300M Round

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:

OneFootball, a football media platform providing live streaming and news updates about professional football from around the world, raised $300 million to expand its presence into Web3, led by blockchain fund Liberty City Ventures. Kinexon, developer of specialized IoT technologies designed to connect and automate operations for industries, sports, and entertainment entities, raised $130 million of Series A venture funding led by Thomas H. Lee Partners. LudisAnalytics, developer of a data science platform intended to accelerate analytics across organizations, raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding from SeventySix Capital, Raptor Group, and Translink Investment. JohnnieO, designer and manufacturer of lifestyle athleisure apparel focused on fusing Southern California vibes with East Coast tradition, received $108 million of development capital from Wasatch Global Investors and Ares Management. AccelByte, developer of a digital publishing and gaming platform designed to create and distribute customized games, raised $50 million of venture funding from undisclosed investors.

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:

MSGS [[link removed]]

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp

[[link removed]]

$162.26

[[link removed]]

-1.41%

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

Planet Fitness Inc

[[link removed]]

$80.08

[[link removed]]

-1.52%

[[link removed]] ELY [[link removed]]

Callaway Golf Co.

[[link removed]]

$21.86

[[link removed]]

-2.82%

[[link removed]] GCO [[link removed]]

Genesco Inc.

[[link removed]]

$62.02

[[link removed]]

-3.18%

[[link removed]] PTON [[link removed]]

Peloton Interactive Inc

[[link removed]]

$17.58

[[link removed]]

-4.51%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 4/29/22) What to Watch

Don’t miss Rounds 2-3 of the 2022 NFL Draft in Las Vegas. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are currently on the clock with pick No. 33. On Thursday, the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Georgia defensive lineman Travon Walker with the first overall pick. A record of five defensive players from Georgia were selected in the first round. Day 3 will begin Saturday at noon ET.

When to Watch: 7 p.m. ET

How to Watch: ESPN & NFL Network

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