July 20, 2022

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Get ready, Chicago: NASCAR is coming. The racing promotion reached a minimum three-year deal [[link removed]] to hold a race in the city starting in 2023. Cars on the 2.2-mile downtown circuit will pass by famous Chicago landmarks like Soldier Field, Grant Park, and Buckingham Fountain.

Tesla Shifts on Gaming, Incorporating Steam into Vehicles [[link removed]]

Tesla

Tesla is accelerating toward a world where their vehicles are gaming systems on wheels.

On Friday, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk tweeted [[link removed]] that the company is “making progress toward Steam integration. Demo probably next month.”

Tesla currently offers a select number of built-in games in the Tesla Arcade feature in its Model S and X cars, including “Cuphead,” “Stardew Valley,” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 1.”Adding the Steam platform would potentially open up the gaming options to a huge library of titles. Steam reached [[link removed]] 50,000 games on its platform last year.Further details on whether Tesla would allow full access to the Steam library and other nuances have not emerged.

In December, Tesla modified the gaming system to be disabled while its cars are in motion, following intervention from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Game Changer

The auto manufacturer and clean energy company has a team [[link removed]] of software engineers in Seattle focused on gaming and is building a similar group in Austin. The company has been porting over popular titles to Tesla Arcade.

Tesla said last year it would bring “The Witcher” and “Cyberpunk 2077” onto the platform, but both titles have been delayed.

Musk acknowledged some technical challenges related to that project in December: “Lot of internal debate as to whether we should be putting effort towards generalized gaming emulation vs. making individual games work well.”

NFTs Biggest Winners Among Athletes, Companies in NIL’s First Year [[link removed]]

Jalen Suggs/OpenSea

NFTs became one of the most popular vehicles in the first year of name, image, and likeness.

Athletes and companies flocked to the industry. Brands poured more cash into NFTs and trading cards than any other segment of NIL activity, comprising more than 17% of the NIL market, according [[link removed]] to data from Opendorse.

What makes them so popular? They’re lucrative, convenient for athletes with busy schedules, and can help athletes launch their brands, company founders told [[link removed]] Front Office Sports.

While compensation varies greatly, athletes can make a decent amount of cash without putting in much effort.

Stuart Bush, CEO and co-founder of the Legacy League, said athletes can make anywhere from as little as $300 to $500 to as much as $10,000 to $20,000. On his platform, athletes receive 75% of sales.Keith Marshall, co-founder of and CEO of The Players’ Lounge, noted that when NFTs are sold on the blockchain, athletes can receive profits from secondary market sales, too. Growing Controversy

The recent “crypto crash” has called into question their long-term value — and whether the NFT industry is a sound investment.

From focusing on in-person events to selling NFTs with credit cards, company founders believe they’ve found ways around the crash.

Kuntal Shah, founding partner of Katana Capital, is optimistic that the market will rebound. “There’s a lot of stuff in the news that says, ‘NFTs are dead,’” he said. “NFTs are really only 2 years old.”

Editor’s note: For more on this story, click here [[link removed]].

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Premier League Set to Ban Gambling Sponsors on Shirts [[link removed]]

Premier League

Premier League clubs are expected to agree to a voluntary ban on new gambling shirt sponsorship deals, according to the Times.

Earlier this month, the top-flight soccer league asked [[link removed]] its clubs to voluntarily ban new gambling shirt sponsor deals in an effort to circumvent [[link removed]] potential legislation. In order for the ban to be approved, 14 of the league’s 20 clubs will need to vote in favor of the potential change.

Last season, 10 clubs had gambling company shirt sponsors.The ban could see those clubs miss [[link removed]] out on between $6 million to $12 million per year.It would not include shirt-sleeve deals, only front-of-shirt pacts.

The potential ban will be a topic of discussion at a Premier League shareholder’s meeting next week, where certain conditions and a transition process will be discussed. Under the Premier League’s current proposal, clubs would end any existing shirt deals within three years.

No Worries

Liverpool FC won’t have to worry about a potential ban on new gambling shirt deals after it renewed [[link removed]] its sponsorship pact with British bank Standard Chartered last week.

The four-season renewal is worth more than $236.8 million, or $59.2 million annually.

Standard Chartered first secured shirt sponsorship rights to Liverpool in 2010, taking over for Danish brewery group Carlsberg. The bank’s current deal — which ends after the 2022-23 season — is worth an estimated $25 million per year.

FTC Could Approve Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Acquisition Soon [[link removed]]

Shutterstock

The biggest gaming acquisition in history could gain FTC approval as soon as next month.

Microsoft submitted [[link removed]] “Second Request” documents to the government agency regarding its $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard, which may include details on earnings, sales, and specific games.

Once Microsoft and Activision have completed Second Request filings, the FTC has 30 days to respond.The agency can opt not to object, ask the parties to alter the deal, or issue a court order seeking to block the deal. The FTC can also extend the evaluation period to seek more information.The deal is also under scrutiny by the E.U. and U.K. Sony’s Stakes

Activision Blizzard, the creator of certain hugely popular titles, including “Call of Duty,” presents a set of choices for Microsoft, should the acquisition go through.

PlayStation-maker Sony could lose $500 million per year if Microsoft makes “Call of Duty” an Xbox-only title, according to an analysis [[link removed]] by TweakTown. That move may also cost Microsoft $1 billion in sales, though it could presumably also drive console sales.

Microsoft has said it plans [[link removed]] to keep “Call of Duty” on PlayStation and expand it to more platforms, including Nintendo Switch.

Activision earned $1.5 billion each from Apple and Google in 2021 through taking a cut of sales on their platforms, as well as $1.3 billion from Sony and $880 million from Microsoft.

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Conversation Starters Front Office Sports presents The C-Suite, a weekly LinkedIn Live interview series where Chief Content Officer Lisa Granatstein sits down with sports leaders who are driving global business and changing culture. Tune in on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. ET.* Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has suggested [[link removed]] a potential solution to the complaint that NIL has created an unfair advantage for schools in football recruiting. Charles Barkley might be unable [[link removed]] to continue at Turner Sports’ TNT if he joins LIV Golf as a commentator, according to speculation on the “Pat McAfee Show.”

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Question Of The Day

Are you more likely to purchase from purpose-driven and/or sustainable brands?

Yes [[link removed]] No [[link removed]]

Tuesday’s Answer

61% of respondents watched The British Open.

If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here [[link removed]].

Written by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]], Amanda Christovich [[link removed]], Justin Byers [[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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