July 29, 2022

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According to court records obtained by Front Office Sports, former San Diego city attorney Michael Aguirre’s lawsuit against the Chargers and the NFL over the team’s relocation to Los Angeles is expected to be dismissed [[link removed]] at a hearing Friday. In her tentative ruling, Judge Carolyn Caietti claimed there are so many defects in the case that can’t be fixed with an amended complaint.

Seven of 10 Highest-Paid Golfers Joined LIV Golf [[link removed]]

Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Many golfers who joined LIV Golf have suffered hits to their reputations and playing opportunities. Their pocketbooks, however, are doing just fine.

Since May, the 10 highest-paid golfers took [[link removed]] in around $370 million from the Saudi-backed PGA Tour rival, per Forbes.

Phil Mickelson topped the list of the year’s best-paid golfers with a $132 million haul. Lefty reportedly accepted a $200 million signing bonus, with Forbes estimating he received half up front.Mickelson was followed by three other LIV-ers: Dustin Johnson ($97 million), Bryson DeChambeau ($86 million), and Brooks Koepka ($69 million).Tiger Woods dropped to fifth with $68 million, nearly all of which came from endorsement deals. LIV CEO Greg Norman said that Woods turned down an offer in the “high nine digits” from LIV.

The back half of the list contains two holdouts who have stuck with the PGA Tour, Rory McIlroy ($43 million) and Jordan Spieth ($39 million), plus three who joined LIV Golf: Sergio Garcia ($42 million), Patrick Reed ($37 million), and Charl Schwartzel ($34 million).

One high-profile name not joining LIV: Charles Barkley. The NBA legend-turned broadcaster and commentator committed [[link removed]] to TNT after considering entreaties from LIV.

Washington’s Role

The PGA Tour has lobbied members of Congress, some of whom have expressed [[link removed]] concerns about LIV, and officials in the Biden Administration regarding the rival tour.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is investigating the PGA Tour over antitrust concerns, as it prohibits members from playing in sanctioned events — namely LIV’s tournaments.

Sue Bird, Eli Manning Bring Gotham FC to $40M Valuation [[link removed]]

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Gotham FC has reportedly set a new record for the NWSL by hitting a $40 million valuation.

Sue Bird and Eli Manning have joined [[link removed]] USWNT legend Carli Lloyd, Kevin Durant’s Thirty Five Ventures, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and wife Tammy Murphy as investors.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Bird’s deal reportedly requires her to serve as an advisor to the NJ/NY team.

Bird, who will retire from the WNBA at the end of the season after playing 19 seasons for the Seattle Storm, is a New York native.Manning retired following the NFL’s 2019 season after 16 seasons as a New York Giants quarterback. He rejoined the team last June with a role in business operations and fan engagement.

Gotham FC isn’t Bird’s first investment. The five-time gold medalist has a stake in fitness equipment maker Tonal — which reached a $1.6 billion valuation [[link removed]] last year — and co-owns media production company Togethxr with Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim, and Simone Manuel.

Manning is a partner of private equity firm Brand Velocity Group.

League Love

Other NWSL teams also have high-profile athlete investors. Angel City FC’s ownership group includes [[link removed]] Abby Wambach, Mia Hamm, and Serena Williams, while Naomi Osaka is an investor in the North Carolina Courage.

The NWSL has rights deals with Amazon and CBS until 2024, reportedly [[link removed]] worth $2.5 million. The league’s first collective bargaining agreement was struck earlier this year, which calls for a $100 million investment by team owners.

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F45 Training Shares Tumble as CEO Quits, Wahlberg Sells [[link removed]]

F45

Australian fitness class company F45 Training saw shares plummet more than 60% this week following the departure of chief executive and co-founder Adam Gilchrist.

Gilchrist relinquishing his role as CEO comes amid a strategic [[link removed]] reorganization by F45 to adhere to “changing macroeconomic and business conditions.” The reorganization also cut 110 jobs at the Austin, Texas-based company — about 45% of its workforce.

Shares of F45 opened at $16 during its initial public offering, but are now at $1.75.The company has 1,866 studios across 69 countries as of March 31, 2022.It expects 350 to 450 studios to open [[link removed]] in FY2022, down from an estimated 1,000.

F45 — which reported [[link removed]] $50 million in revenue in Q1 2022, a 175% increase year-over-year — has also slashed its full-year revenue outlook.

The company projects to generate between $120 million and $130 million in revenue in FY2022, down from a previous estimation between $255 million and $275 million.

F45 hit the public market in July 2021 after a $325 million IPO that saw the company sell more than 20 million shares for a market value of $1.46 billion.

Wahlberg Starts Selling

F45’s downward spiral has caused one of its marquee investors to offload his shares. Actor Mark Wahlberg, who invested in F45 in 2019 through a private investment company he partially owns, sold [[link removed]] nearly 1 million shares of F45 stock between March 17 and April 26.

Wahlberg still holds 1.61 million shares of F45.

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Market Movers

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

PENN [[link removed]]

Penn National Gaming, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$34.54

[[link removed]]

+0.88%

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

Walt Disney Co (The)

[[link removed]]

$106.27

[[link removed]]

+1.18%

[[link removed]] CZR [[link removed]]

Caesars Entertainment Inc

[[link removed]]

$45.75

[[link removed]]

+1.89%

[[link removed]] BATRK [[link removed]]

Liberty Media Corp.

[[link removed]]

$27.74

[[link removed]]

+1.99%

[[link removed]] BC [[link removed]]

Brunswick Corp.

[[link removed]]

$80.31

[[link removed]]

+2.96%

[[link removed]] MANU [[link removed]]

Manchester United Plc.

[[link removed]]

$11.13

[[link removed]]

-0.04%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 7/29/22) What to Watch

The New York Liberty (10-17) face the Chicago Sky (21-7) on Friday night at Wintrust Arena.

How to Watch: 8 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network

Betting Odds: Sky -10 || ML -540 || O/U 166

Pick: Expect the Liberty to compete for all four quarters. Take New York to cover.

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Written by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]], Abigail Gentrup [[link removed]], Justin Byers [[link removed]] Edited by Brian Krikorian [[link removed]]

MORE FROM FRONT OFFICE SPORTS:

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

Front Office Sports Pro [[link removed]] - The most promising opportunities where sports meets industry

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