July 1, 2022

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Have you subscribed to Front Office Sports’ podcast The Leadoff? In Friday’s episode, we cover the Oakland A’s key vote on a waterfront stadium project, Canal+ scoring UEFA Champions League broadcast rights, the NHL’s Mitchell & Ness, and a merger of two major divisions of Endeavor. Give it a listen [[link removed]]. 🎙

Apple Reportedly A Big Factor in Big Ten Rights Talks [[link removed]]

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Major shifts in the college conference landscape have caught the attention of a rising player in sports streaming.

Apple has reportedly restarted [[link removed]] talks with the Big Ten following the news that USC and UCLA are joining the conference in 2024, per Sports Business Journal. The conference’s current six-year media deal, which pays around $440 million per year, expires in 2023.

Media rights for the Big Ten’s next deal are already mostly divvied up, but there are still games available.

Fox Sports already has a deal for at least half the Big Ten’s games. CBS is reportedly likely to secure a package including Saturday afternoon football games.Apple may now reenter the fray for a third package, along with Amazon, ESPN, and NBC.

The total package was thought [[link removed]] to have the potential to reach $1.1 billion before the two big-draw Los Angeles-area teams joined.

Apple TV+ has been developing its sports portfolio, which includes a package of Friday MLB games and a 10-year streaming deal with MLS.

Irish Independence

Notre Dame returned to football independence in 2021 while playing five ACC schools, but there are rumblings it could make the leap to the Big Ten as a full-time member.

The school has its own one-of-a-kind media deal with NBC, which runs through 2025 and pays a reported $15 million annually. Should it join the Big Ten, it, along with the other schools in the conference, could pocket $80 million to $100 million, per ESPN.

Utah Royals Likely Crowned As One of Two NWSL Expansion Teams [[link removed]]

Utah Royals FC

The National Women’s Soccer League will expand to 14 teams, likely by 2024, according to commissioner Jessica Berman.

The start date hasn’t been confirmed by the league, which is finalizing [[link removed]] a contract with an investment bank to handle the expansion process.

One of the two expansion teams is expected to be the Utah Royals FC, who moved to Kansas City at the end of 2020 to become the Kansas City Current.

“There are steps that need to be taken still in order to be in a position to be able to say, yes, in fact, that is happening,” Berman said [[link removed]] about the team’s return.

David Blitzer, co-founder of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, and Smith Ownership Group purchased [[link removed]'%20board%20of%20governors.] Real Salt Lake — the Royals’ MLS counterpart — earlier this year for a reported $400 million.

When the Royals moved, Real Salt Lake kept [[link removed]] the rights to the team name and branding.It could bring back the NWSL club in 2023 or 2024 for a predetermined fee.There’s no public frontrunner for a second expansion team, but more than 30 investment groups are reportedly interested in the league. Valuation Station

It’s unclear how much the return — or expansion — fee is. NWSL franchise valuations have reportedly increased tenfold over two years, and outlets are reporting [[link removed]] that Berman is working with RSL’s ownership for an updated fee.

“The market will tell us what the price should be,” Berman said. “Certainly, our teams raising capital have helped change the nature of the conversation of how much our franchises are worth.”

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OpenBet’s Price Tag Plummets $400M for Endeavor [[link removed]]

Endeavor

Endeavor Group entered an agreement in September 2021 to acquire sports betting company OpenBet for $1.2 billion — but that number fell significantly on Thursday.

The revised deal will be worth $800 million, according to an SEC filing, with a shift in the makeup of the deal. Light & Wonder, OpenBet’s current owner, will receive [[link removed]] $750 million in cash and $50 million in stock.

The original deal was worth [[link removed]] $1 billion in cash, with the rest in Endeavor shares.The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the year.

The filing did not provide [[link removed]] a reason for the price drop, but deteriorating market conditions and falling stocks have affected valuations. Light & Wonder has fallen 45% from the announcement of the deal. Endeavor has fallen 28%.

The deal will combine OpenBet with IMG Arena, Endeavor’s existing sports betting unit, which works with more than 470 sportsbook brands. The division provides live streaming and on-demand virtual sports products for clients including the PGA Tour, Ryder Cup, UFC, MLS, and Wimbledon.

OpenBet focuses on licensed customers and regulated gaming markets. In September, Endeavor CFO Jason Lublin said the combined entity would form a new, fourth reporting line starting with $340 million in annual revenue.

New Name

At the time of the acquisition news, Light & Wonder was called Scientific Games. After the Endeavor acquisition last year and the $6.05 billion sale [[link removed]] of its lottery business to Brookfield Business Partners, Light & Wonder rebranded [[link removed]] from Scientific Games earlier this year.

Conversation Starters Led by Nikola Jokic’s five-year, $264 million supermax extension with the Denver Nuggets, NBA teams have reportedly [[link removed]] handed out more than $2.6 billion in contracts so far during free agency. The first year of the NIL era reached [[link removed]] a total of $917 million and could hit $1.14 billion next year. Six months after buying The Athletic in a $550 million all-cash deal, The New York Times Co. is launching [[link removed]] a high-level shakeup of Athletic Management including removing “co-president” titles for Athletic co-founders Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann. USC and UCLA announced [[link removed]] their departure from the Pac-12 not long before negotiations for its media rights are set to start — potentially costing the conference hundreds of millions of dollars in rights fees.

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Retail: State of the Supply Chain

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NBA Invests in New Social App

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

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

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

Zigazoo, a developer of a learning and video-making game intended to make screen-time healthier and fun for kids, raised $17 million in Series A venture funding in a deal led by Liberty City Ventures and the NBA. Bykea, a Pakistan-based bike ride-sharing and on-demand delivery platform, raised $10 million from Prosus Ventures, MEVP, Sarmayacar, Tharros, and Ithaca Capital. Bit Odd, a developer of a mobile gaming platform providing gaming experiences, raised $5.19 million of seed funding in a deal led by Index Ventures. Soba’s Alpha, a developer of an open-game development and playing platform, raised $13.5 million in seed funding from Lightspeed Ventures, FTX Ventures, and Cherry Ventures. Yumi, a manufacturer of baby food products providing science-based early-childhood meals and vitamins for brain development, raised $67 million through the combination of debt, Series B-1, and Series B venture funding in a deal led by JAZZ Venture Partners, Diana Taurasi, Allyson Felix, and Brittney Griner. FC Barcelona has reportedly agreed to sell 10% of its media rights to Private Equity Firm Sixth Street in a deal worth up to $278 million. Market Movers

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

TTWO [[link removed]]

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$124.94

[[link removed]]

+1.45%

[[link removed]] ARMK [[link removed]]

Aramark

[[link removed]]

$30.91

[[link removed]]

+1.64%

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

AT&T, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$21.32

[[link removed]]

+1.77%

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

Walt Disney Co (The)

[[link removed]]

$96.18

[[link removed]]

+2.02%

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

Vail Resorts Inc.

[[link removed]]

$223.20

[[link removed]]

+3.02%

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

Las Vegas Sands Corp

[[link removed]]

$35.28

[[link removed]]

+5.63%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 7/1/22) What to Watch

The San Diego Padres (46-32) face the Los Angeles Dodgers (47-28) on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

How to Watch: 10:10 p.m. ET on FS1

Betting Odds: Dodgers -1.5 || ML -175 || O/U 7.5

Pick: Expect the Dodgers to build on last night’s win. Take Los Angeles on the moneyline.

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Written by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]], Abigail Gentrup [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Brian Krikorian [[link removed]]

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