August 18, 2022

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LeBron James is staying [[link removed]] with the Lakers — for a whole lot of money. The 37-year-old’s two-year, $97.1 million extension will guarantee him career earnings of $532 million, which officially makes him the highest-earning player in NBA history.

Man U Reportedly Exploring Stake Sale, Ratcliffe Interested [[link removed]]

Manchester United

A stake in Manchester United may be sold — but probably not to a certain eccentric billionaire.

The Glazer family — Man United’s owner — is considering offloading a minority stake in the team, according [[link removed]] to Bloomberg.

The family, which also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is not ready to cede control of the team, which could be valued at $6 billion.Britain’s richest man, Jim Ratcliffe, who made a late bid for Chelsea, confirmed [[link removed]] Wednesday his interest in purchasing a stake in Man United and eventually owning the team.Former team director Michael Knighton is preparing [[link removed]] an unsolicited bid for the team, saying “we have an inept and quite frankly useless ownership.”

On Tuesday, Tesla founder Elon Musk tweeted [[link removed]] “I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome.” Shares in the team spiked 7.6% on Wednesday before partly settling down.

Musk — the world’s richest man with a net worth of $269.2 billion, per Forbes — clarified about four hours later that the tweet was meant to be a joke.

Fan Fury

The Glazers have faced regular protests from fan groups, who are planning [[link removed]] another one prior to the team’s match against Liverpool on Monday.

Fans have cited a lack of investment in the team and its Old Trafford Stadium, as well as misguided management.

Last in the Premier League after an 0-2 start, Man United is reportedly pursuing [[link removed]] Chelsea and USMNT forward Christian Pulisic.

Penn To Acquire Rest of Barstool Sports [[link removed]]

Paul Kuehnel via Imagn

Penn Entertainment has exercised its rights to purchase the chunk of Barstool Sports that it didn’t already own, according to an SEC filing [[link removed]] on Wednesday.

The company formerly known as Penn National Gaming closed a deal to purchase a 36% stake in Barstool at a $450 million valuation in February 2020 — with an option to take a bigger stake in the company over the next three years.

Bloomberg [[link removed]] reported that Penn will pay $387 million to purchase the rest of Barstool.

The acquisition of Barstool’s outstanding shares is expected to be completed in February, according to Penn’s SEC filing.

Game-Changing Acquisitions

Penn is coming off a record quarter [[link removed]] where it generated $1.6 billion.

Its interactive segment — which includes Barstool Sportsbook, theScore Bet and slot machines — had $142 million in revenue in the quarter, a 40% bump. Penn acquired Score Media and Gaming in October 2021 for $2 billion, giving the gaming company a foothold in Canada. Barstool branding is utilized in Penn’s sports betting efforts at its casinos (where it’s launched Barstool Sportsbook locations) and with a betting app available in 11 states.

Penn remained bullish on Barstool even as founder Dave Portnoy was accused of sexual misconduct in an Insider report. Portnoy sued the news outlet [[link removed]] and denied wrongdoing.

The allegations, however, led gambling regulators in Nevada and Indiana [[link removed]] to investigate Penn and Barstool in March.

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Implementing NFTs With The Chicago Bulls

One of the most well-known use cases of blockchain technology [[link removed]] as it relates to sports are NFTs. Online marketplaces such as NBA Top Shot – where you can own and trade officially licensed NBA and WNBA NFTs – have gained popularity in the last two years.

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Germany Considers Hosting Olympics After 50-Year Hiatus [[link removed]]

IOC

The host country of the 1972 Summer Olympics is considering bidding to become a host once again.

“We are thinking about [the] Olympic Games in Germany — winter or summer,” German Olympic Committee president Thomas Weikert said [[link removed]], adding that the committee will first talk to its members.

Weikert is “convinced” the members will be on board, but past attempts to bring the Games back to the country have failed.

Previous bids or plans for Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich, and the Rhein-Ruhr region to host have all drawn opposition.Costs, local benefits, and the IOC’s refusal to pay taxes have all been reasons for the resistance. Beijing reportedly [[link removed]] spent roughly $8.8 billion on the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Germany hosts the European Championships from Aug. 11 to Aug. 21. The event includes nine sports, including Olympic sports like cycling, gymnastics, and rowing.

Weikert said the Olympic committee would be able to “build on” the European Championships, though specific cities will not be proposed — instead, a plan will “need to be followed in order for one candidate to eventually emerge from this domestic process.”

Olympic Agenda

It’s unclear when Germany would want to host any Olympics games.

The winter games have hosts set for 2026 (Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy) and the summer games are filled until 2032 (Paris, Los Angeles, Brisbane). Japan’s Sapporo is the reported favorite for the 2030 Winter Olympics.

“We will issue a timeframe at the next general assembly in December,” Weikert said.

Sportradar Hits $180M in Q2, Eyes Growth in U.S. and Metaverse [[link removed]]

Sportradar

Sportradar banked a strong second quarter as it looks to the U.S. and immersive technologies for future growth.

The sports data and technology giant saw revenue rise 23% year-over-year to $180.2 million.

U.S. revenue leapt 66% to $29.6 million, but the company still took a $5.6 million loss in the country.Sportradar’s gambling-related revenue in the rest of the world remained its core revenue driver, growing 21% year-over-year to $95.5 million.

“The U.S. is getting more and more important,” said Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl. “We don’t see the growth slowing down.” Koerl added that the company’s U.S. losses have been steadily shrinking as the sports betting market grows.

“I think it’s very obvious that this is a scalability exercise,” he said.

Koerl noted that U.S. sports fans have a “deep understanding of how data is consumed,” which he noticed regularly when he lived in New York.

“I would walk to Times Square, and I saw so much data for baseball or football. We don’t have that in Europe.”

Going Meta

It may take until the second half of this decade, but Koerl sees metaverse and VR technologies eventually being integral to the sport-consuming experience and Sportradar’s business.

“I think sports and betting is perfect for virtual reality and the metaverse,” he said. “All the big producers of gaming consoles are very interested.”

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Conversation Starters From the first pitch to the soccer pitch, Atmosphere Sports is bringing sports back to the center with scores, highlights, and more. Find out what they’re all about. [[link removed]]* The Los Angeles Chargers reportedly [[link removed]] signed Derwin James to a four-year extension worth $19.1 million per season with $42 million guaranteed — both records for an NFL safety. EA Sports was mistakenly offering [[link removed]] pre-purchases of “FIFA 23” Ultimate Edition for 4.8 Indian rupees — the equivalent of about 6 cents in the U.S. — on India’s Epic Games Store. Former NFL safety Will Blackmon — who won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants in 2012 — is really into wine these days. He’s traveled the world exploring different vineyards and has a lot to say about how football informed his POV on the space. Check out the full conversation on the latest episode of My Other Passion — streaming on Apple [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], and YouTube [[link removed]]! Today's Action

MLB

01:15 PM

Rockies (+185) at Cardinals (-215)

Bet Now [[link removed]]

NBA

07:30 PM

76ers (+190) at Celtics (-225)

Bet Now [[link removed]]

MLB

09:40 PM

Nationals (+290) at Padres (-350)

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 think NFTs are here to stay or just a fad?

Here to stay [[link removed]] Just a fad [[link removed]]

Wednesday’s Answer

49% of respondents watch women’s soccer.

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Written by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]], A.J. Perez [[link removed]], Abigail Gentrup [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Brian Krikorian [[link removed]]

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