UEFA and the European Club Association announced the start of a media rights tender process for U.S. rights to the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League until Aug. 15.

The rights to the Champions League — which is expanding from 32 to 36 teams — are expected to go for “north of double” their current price, a source familiar with the deal told Front Office Sports.

For the first time, companies can bid on the rights for up to six years, and the deal could fetch more than $2 billion.

• In the Champions League’s current agreement, Paramount and Univision roughly pay an annual $145 million combined for the current rights, with the former paying more.
• This year’s Champions League Final brought in 5.36 million viewers — making it the most-watched title game in U.S. history.
• UEFA’s push to reach American audiences aligns with the 2026 World Cup, which will take place across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

Along with Univision and Paramount Global’s CBS, NBC, ESPN, Amazon, Apple, Fox, Warner Bros., and DAZN have all reportedly held preliminary discussions with UEFA regarding the rights.

Relevant’s Promise

Relevant Sports Group is running the bidding process. Co-founded by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross, Relevant beat out Octagon and Endeavor’s IMG to broker UEFA’s U.S. media deals by promising to fetch at least $250 million annually. 

The company recently sold La Liga’s media rights to ESPN in an eight-year, $1.4 billion deal.

The PGA Tour is being investigated by the Department of Justice over anticompetitive behavior as it competes with the LIV Golf Invitational Series, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

LIV Golf — an upstart backed by the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund — has emerged as direct competition to the PGA Tour after several top-ranked golfers defected to the series, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Brooks Koepka. 

• Players’ agents have received inquiries from the DOJ’s antitrust division.
• At issue are regulations regarding player participation in non-PGA events.
• The PGA Tour’s disciplinary measures are also under the DOJ’s probe. 

The PGA Tour has a history of being under federal investigation. 

In 1994, the Federal Trade Commission issued a similar probe into the Tour regarding player participation in non-PGA events and television appearances on golf-related programs. 

The FTC eventually cut its investigation short, and the PGA Tour expects a similar outcome this time around. 

The tour faces an uphill battle: A stay was issued last week in favor of LIV golfers after the DP World Tour — the European counterpart to the Tour — suspended them from partaking in the Scottish Open.

In The Rough

In addition to an investigation by the DOJ, the PGA Tour could face an antitrust suit in the U.S. brought on by LIV Golf or its players who defected from the Tour. As a result, the DOJ could submit a statement of interest in support of the suit or keep its current probe alive.

Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob revealed that he’s had a longstanding offer to buy the Oakland A’s — and even had a $180 million deal in place in 2005.

“I’ve had a standing offer to buy the A’s from John Fisher for I don’t even know how long. Over a decade,” Lacob told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Instead of giving the team to Lacob — who bought the Warriors for $450 million in 2010 — then-owner Stephen Scott sold it to Lew Wolff and John Fisher. Fisher has since bought Wolff’s shares.

Lacob added that Fisher could have been his partner and owned part of the Warriors. “I would have done a ratio deal,” he said.

• Since 2008, the A’s haven’t been higher than 23rd on an Opening Day payroll.
• The Warriors had a $184 million payroll for the 2021-22 season and generated the highest basketball-related revenue in the NBA last year at $474 million. 
• Forbes last valued the Warriors at $4.6 billion, second in the NBA, and the A’s at $1.18 billion, No. 27 in MLB.

Stadium Sorrows

The A’s aren’t up for sale, but the team is struggling to get a new stadium built. Lacob claims he would’ve had it done already.

“I’d pay for it all privately like I did with the Warriors,” he said.

Instead, the A’s are considering moving to Las Vegas if their proposed $12 billion waterfront development in the Bay Area doesn’t work out.