August 8, 2022

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The MLB is crossing the pond. The league announced that the Cardinals and Cubs will play [[link removed]] a two-game series at a baseball-configured London Stadium on June 24-25. The two teams were supposed to play in the U.K. in 2020, but the pandemic canceled plans. 🇬🇧

Premier League Dominates Soccer in Revenue [[link removed]]

Premier League

The Premier League brings in far more revenue than any other European soccer league — and the gap may widen even further soon.

The top-flight English league’s combined revenues climbed to a record $6.2 billion in the 2021-22 season, nearly as much as the next two leagues combined.

La Liga came in second among European leagues, with a total haul of $3.5 billion for the season.Bundesliga followed with $3.1 billion.Serie A made $2.3 billion, and Ligue 1 earned $1.7 billion.

The Premier League kicked off its 31st season on Friday.

Media Matters

With a new slate of media deals kicking in this season, the Premier League is set to soar even higher.

While teams scored [[link removed]] a combined $1.7 billion in sponsorship deals and matchday revenue rebounded to $712 million from just $15.3 million in the pandemic-altered 2020-21 season, the bulk of the league’s revenue comes from media deals.

The league notched $3.2 billion from broadcast deals in the 2021-22 season. This season begins a new three-year cycle of rights deals, where the league will earn $12.1 billion — an average of $4 billion per season.

It will be the first time that international deals, which total $6.1 billion, will eclipse domestic ones, due in part to NBC’s six-year, $2.7 billion deal for U.S. rights.

New Era Cap Raises $700M; NFL, NBA, MLB Invest [[link removed]]

Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Hold onto your hats: New Era Cap just raised a huge sum while adding the three biggest sports leagues in the U.S. as minority owners.

The hat maker took [[link removed]] in around $700 million, with private equity firm ACON Investments closing a fund for the company.

The NFL, NBA, and MLB all became minority investors in New Era.ACON increased its stake in the company. The firm sold part of its stake in New Era from a separate fund.The fund also brought in existing ACON investors, as well as new contributors Apollo, GCM Grosvenor, Hamilton Lane, and Neuberger Berman.

ACON founding partner Ken Brotman called New Era “one of our best performing portfolio investments in [investment fund] ACON Equity Partners IV.”

New Era CEO Chris Koch added that the cash injection will “allow us to consider potential North American and global acquisitions.”

Top Three

The investment represents a rare union between the NFL, NBA, and MLB.

“Having our three largest league partners aligned with us through a strategic equity position further solidifies our already strong partnerships,” said Jim Grundtisch, New Era’s chief revenue officer.

Fanatics has sold stakes to the NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS, and the NBA holds stakes in the company’s trading card business and Fanatics China.

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Women’s Sports Merchandise Flying Off Shelves [[link removed]]

UEFA Euro 2022

The women’s European Championship that ended on July 31 set attendance and viewership records for women’s soccer — but those aren’t the only historic figures the game produced.

Fanatics, which sold official merchandise for the tournament and operates the official online England Store, reported [[link removed]] that weekly sales of women’s soccer gear tripled since the start of the women’s Euros, and online sales of women’s merchandise spiked 640% in the four hours after England’s victory in last week’s final.

“More women’s merchandise was sold in just four hours following the final whistle than in the seven days leading up to the final,” Jack Boyle, Fanatics’ global co-head of direct-to-consumer sales, told Reuters.

Global sales of Fanatics’ women’s sports merchandise was up 28% last year. In 2018, the women’s sports apparel market was valued at $26.8 billion, per Euromonitor International, and the total sports apparel market was $80.1 billion.

Tuning In

Merchandise sales weren’t the game’s only indicator of growing interest in women’s sports.

England’s 2-1 final victory drew [[link removed]] more than 17.4 million viewers on the BBC and was the most-watched women’s soccer match ever in the U.K.The final had the highest attendance ever for any men’s or women’s European national team tournament game with 87,192 fans.

UEFA expects [[link removed]] to raise $60.9 million in sponsorship money from the women’s Euro tournament, with even more projected in the future.

Revered Honus Wagner Card Sells for Record-Breaking $7.25M [[link removed]]

PSA

In 1908, Honus Wagner became the first baseball player to make a $10,000 salary. Now his card is breaking another record — at a slightly higher amount.

A T206 Wagner card, perhaps the most revered among all sports cards, sold for a record $7.25 million through a private sale run by Goldin.

The sale breaks the previous record for an individual trading card of $6.6 million, also for a T206 Wagner card.There are fewer than 50 authenticated T206 Wagner cards in existence, according to Goldin.

“The vintage card market remains incredibly strong and is continuing to grow,” Goldin founder and executive chairman Ken Goldin told Front Office Sports. “This is because supply of these iconic cards are so rare and because they are a part of not only American sports but American history.”

The record may not last long. A mint condition 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card, purchased [[link removed]] in 1991 for $50,000 is currently up for auction at Heritage Auctions. The bidding was up to $6.1 million as of Friday. The auction, which ends on Aug. 27, is expected by many to top $10 million.

Collecting Cash

A report last month from Market Decipher estimated the total sports memorabilia market at $26.1 billion in 2021, with trading cards accounting for around $12.5 billion of that sum.

Ken Goldin told [[link removed]] FOS in January that he expected to host $500 million in transactions on his platform this year, compared to $330 million last year and $100 million in 2020.

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Conversation Starters Davis Love III warns [[link removed]] that PGA Tour stars are talking about a ‘doomsday scenario’ where Tour members boycott events that invite rival LIV golfers. Boise State’s Athletic Master Village — the school’s main football complex — is slated [[link removed]] to receive $300 million in refurbishments, and the school’s basketball arena will receive $19.4 million in renovations. The Premier League has grown [[link removed]] to become a juggernaut in the global sports landscape. Thanks to its profitability and global dominance, foreign investment has become a key theme in its more recent history. Former Minnesota Vikings QB Christian Ponder is all-in on helping athletes recognize business opportunities after their playing days are over. Check out the new episode of our My Other Passion podcast on Apple [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], or YouTube [[link removed]], and hear Ponder and FOS editor-in-chief Ernest Baker talk business and behind-the-scenes NFL stories. Today's Action

MLB

07:05 PM

Blue Jays (-145) at Orioles (+125)

Bet Now [[link removed]]

MLB

09:40 PM

Angels (+105) at Athletics (-125)

Bet Now [[link removed]]

MLB

09:40 PM

Giants (+140) at Padres (-165)

Bet Now [[link removed]]

*All times are EST unless otherwise noted.

*Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See [[link removed]] for details.

Question Of The Day

Do you collect baseball cards?

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

Friday’s Answer

34% of respondents have a Paramount+ subscription.

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

Written by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]], Abigail Gentrup [[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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