July 8, 2022

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The movement for equal pay in women’s soccer is growing [[link removed]], but it hasn’t reached Germany yet. The country’s federation will give $61,000 to each member of the women’s national team for winning their Euro 2022 tournament — whereas each men’s player would get a whopping $407,000 for their edition.

Disney Reportedly Hanging On to ESPN in Sports Push [[link removed]]

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Disney reportedly considered spinning off ESPN, but now the Mouse is abandoning the idea.

Puck, which reported [[link removed]] the potential split in October, reported Thursday that Disney’s decision to hold on to ESPN is an effort to compete with companies like Amazon and Apple, which have both recently picked up streaming rights.

After revealing [[link removed]] its “Friday Night Baseball” deal with MLB, Apple announced [[link removed]] a 10-year broadcasting deal with MLS.Amazon recently won [[link removed]] rights to stream European Champions League soccer matches to its U.K. subscribers. Last year, it purchased [[link removed]] exclusive rights to the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” for $1 billion per season.

CNBC released [[link removed]] its own report in October that refuted Puck’s claims, adding that the company “aims to pursue further value through ESPN+ and sports betting.”

In May, Chapek said [[link removed]] Disney is nearing the launch of a full-featured ESPN streaming service. The company is also reportedly [[link removed]] looking to license its name to a sportsbook in a deal worth at least $3 billion.

Problems+

The company’s direct-to-consumer business posted [[link removed]] a second-quarter operating loss of $900 million due to higher losses at Disney+ and ESPN+. Disney also said ESPN+’s lower results were partially attributed to a decrease in income from UFC pay-per-view events.

ESPN+ last reported 22.3 million subscribers.

Goodell Gives Fall Deadline for NFL Sunday Ticket Decision [[link removed]]

Gary Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday that the league will secure a deal for its NFL Sunday Ticket package with a streaming service by the fall — after more than 25 years on DirecTV.

Amazon, Apple, and Disney are poised to contend for Sunday Ticket, which allows subscribers to watch every NFL game on Sundays regardless of their home market.

The NFL is seeking [[link removed]] $2.5 billion to $3 billion annually for rights.DirecTV has held rights to the package since 1994 — its current deal ends after 2022.DirecTV will pay $1.5 billion for the 2022 season.

The NFL is also looking to bundle Sunday Ticket with a stake in NFL Media, which includes the NFL Network, NFL RedZone, and NFL.com.

America’s most popular professional sports league continues to be a hot commodity. In March 2021, the NFL finalized [[link removed]] its media rights deals with CBS, NBC, FOX, and Amazon.

The deals — which begin in 2023 — are believed to be worth $113 billion over 11 seasons.

Amazon will pay $1 billion per year for exclusive rights to “Thursday Night Football,” while Disney-owned ESPN will pay $2.7 billion annually to broadcast “Monday Night Football.”

Committed to Live Sports

Apple would diversify its portfolio of sports-related investments with a deal with the NFL.

In March, the tech giant made its first foray into live sports when it secured [[link removed]] media rights to stream MLB in a deal worth $85 million annually.

Last month, it agreed to a deal [[link removed]] worth at least $2.5 billion to stream MLS matches.

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USC, UCLA Ticket Prices Could Spike in Big Ten [[link removed]]

Joshua A. Bickel/Dispatch

In joining the Big Ten, USC and UCLA will enjoy a major boost in revenue from media rights — but their football ticket prices could also climb significantly.

Their average ticket price could increase 25-30% in 2024, when the Bruins and Trojans officially become Big Ten members, TickPick brand manager Kyle Zorn told Front Office Sports.Trojans ticket prices currently range from $23 to $70 for most games, with a few marquee matchups topping $100 on ticket platform TickPick. Bruins prices range from $29 to $75, with a couple more expensive games.

While the jump may not be quite as high for Big Ten schools, they’ll benefit from higher price averages too, Zorn said.

Reasons for the Jump

Matchups against marquee Big Ten programs like Ohio State and Michigan will drive up prices significantly — even if those against schools like Rutgers or Maryland are less popular, Zorn said.

In addition, “football fans tend to travel more than any other sport,” Zorn said. Big Ten fans will make a “destination” out of going to games in Los Angeles, while USC and UCLA fans will be interested in traveling to top football markets like Ann Arbor or Columbus.

“These schools are trying to figure out how we drive the most hype and the most demand — with not only the ticket prices, but the overall economic impact of a better schedule,” Zorn said.

Conversation Starters In The Leadoff, Apple could unveil an extreme sports watch, Amazon pushes for “Thursday Night Football” on Prime Day, MLS secures a deal with a sports betting service, and Konvoy Ventures launches a $150 million investment fund. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. Puma and WNBA star Breanna Stewart have partnered to release [[link removed]] the first WNBA signature sneaker in a decade — The Stewie 1 Quiet Fire. NorthRock Partners, a wealth advisory firm, is launching a firm exclusively dedicated [[link removed]] to athletes and entertainment — NorthRock X. After Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal, Nick Kyrgios advanced [[link removed]] to the Wimbledon men’s final, his first in a Grand Slam, and could pocket $2.5 million for a win against Novak Djokovic.

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WTA to Get Private Equity Funding

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:

Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), an operator of a women’s tennis association based in St. Petersburg, Florida, is set to sell a 20% stake to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners for $150 million. Konvoy Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in Esports, infrastructure technology, tools, platforms, and video gaming, raised a $150 million new venture fund focused on pre-seed, seed, and Series A funding for those companies creating assets across multiple industries with a focus on Web3 and gaming. Fitmint, a developer of a move-to-earn application allowing users to earn rewards in the form of crypto or NFTs just by walking, running, or working out, raised $1.6 million of seed funding in a deal led by General Catalyst. WagerWire, an operator of a sports gaming marketplace connecting bettors and legal sportsbooks, raised $3m in seed funding led by Roger Ehrenberg and was joined by Cardinal Sports Capital, 305 Ventures, Full Moon Sports Solutions, Sports Meta, George Rover, and Cooley. Strive, a provider of a platform optimizing muscle performance for elite athletes and teams, raised $6 million of Series A venture funding in a deal led by Future Communities Capital. Oasys, a gaming blockchain developer with offices in Japan and Singapore, raised $20 million via a token sale led by Republic Capital.

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

Market Movers

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

MANU [[link removed]]

Manchester United Plc.

[[link removed]]

$10.76

[[link removed]]

+0.19%

[[link removed]] VFC [[link removed]]

VF Corp.

[[link removed]]

$45.92

[[link removed]]

+0.20%

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

Planet Fitness Inc

[[link removed]]

$72.91

[[link removed]]

+0.34%

[[link removed]] CMCSA [[link removed]]

Comcast Corp

[[link removed]]

$40.01

[[link removed]]

+0.57%

[[link removed]] DKS [[link removed]]

Dicks Sporting Goods, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$84.18

[[link removed]]

+0.73%

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

Under Armour Inc

[[link removed]]

$7.95

[[link removed]]

+1.53%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 7/8/22) What to Watch

Watch a collection of some of the world’s best women’s basketball players compete on the same floor.

Catch the AT&T WNBA All-Star Game on Sunday night — as Breanna Stewart leads Team Stewart against A’ja Wilson and Team Wilson.

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

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Written by Abigail Gentrup [[link removed]], Justin Byers [[link removed]], Amanda Christovich [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Brian Krikorian [[link removed]]

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The Leadoff [[link removed]] - Daily business of sports podcast

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