September 23, 2022

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Today’s Leadoff starts out with a bombshell: Brett Favre has been tied to funds intended for Mississippi welfare recipients. Meanwhile, a number of well-known billionaires are considering a bid for the Phoenix Suns, Oakland is vying for a WNBA team, and more. Click here to listen [[link removed]].

Conferences Cagey Amid Report That UNC Officials Explored ACC Merger [[link removed]]

UNC Athletics

As the two super leagues of the SEC and Big Ten take shape, college sports administrators have reportedly discussed mergers of other Power 5 conferences.

UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham and university president Kevin Guskiewicz discussed the idea of a merger between the ACC and the Pac-12 or Big 12, according [[link removed]] to text messages obtained by The News and Observer.

“Should we explore a partnership with the Big 12 or Pac 12(?)” Cunningham texted.Guskiewicz replied: “We could have a super conference both athletically and academically. Probably would need to be called the Atlantic-Pacific Athletic Conference (APAC).”

In 2021, the ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 created an informal alliance — which is presumably dead now that the Big Ten has poached two prominent Pac-12 members, UCLA and USC.

The conferences remain tight-lipped about how far those new discussions have gone.

The ACC didn’t provide an additional comment in response to an FOS inquiry, instead referring to previous public comments made by commissioner Jim Phillips, who said the conference was evaluating options but wouldn’t elaborate.

The Pac-12 declined to comment on the discussions, and the Big 12 did not respond to a request for comment.

A Happy Marriage?

This summer, the Big Ten inked [[link removed]] a mid-$7 billion media deal. In 2020, the SEC signed a deal with Disney that will pay out $3 billion — only part of its full media rights package.

In order to compete, the three conferences need to garner much larger media rights packages, but they may need to beef up their inventories — by adding new members.

A merger could be one way to do so — as Guskiewicz noted in his texts.

Phoenix Suns Sale Could Top $2.5B [[link removed]]

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

A major deal is going to go down in the desert.

The Phoenix Suns are likely to fetch [[link removed]] at least $2.5 billion, according to sports bankers contacted by Forbes.

Suns managing partner and largest stakeholder Robert Sarver said he would sell the team following an NBA-commissioned report that detailed repeated acts of racism and misogyny. Sarver also plans to sell the Phoenix Mercury.

That projected figure would be around eight times the team’s 2021-22 revenue.It would be the second-highest NBA team sale in history. Joseph Tsai bought the Brooklyn Nets for $3.2 billion in 2019. The most recent NBA team sale, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore’s 2021 purchase of the Minnesota Timberwolves, banked $1.5 billion.

Sarver owns [[link removed]] around 35% of the Suns but reportedly has the authority to sell them in full as managing partner.

Two of the richest people in the world, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, have been mentioned as potential buyers, and former Disney CEO Bob Iger was reportedly interested in buying the team last year.

Media Matters

The NBA is seeking a massive increase in its next set of broadcast rights deals when its current agreements with ESPN and Turner Sports expire after the 2024-25 season.

The league could look for at least $8 billion annually over nine years, up from its current deals, which pay $2.6 billion per year.

Sources told Front Office Sports last year that sports betting giants including FanDuel, DraftKings, and Caesars are expected to bid for live game rights.

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How Cloud Tech Powers Wins for Partners

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Join [[link removed]] drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez as they experience the fastest race boats in the world with SailGP for the first time.

Watch “ From Track to Tack [[link removed]]” now, and catch SailGP on CBS this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. EST!

MLB Strikes Five-Year Broadcast Deal with the BBC [[link removed]]

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Major League Baseball is deepening its connections across the pond.

The league inked [[link removed]] a five-year broadcast deal with the BBC which will include regular-season games played on both continents. The arrangement bolsters a growing relationship between MLB and the U.K.

BBC Sport will live-broadcast Saturday’s tilt between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, as well as games played in London in future seasons.The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals will face off for a regular-season series in June 2023 at London Stadium, home to the Premier League’s West Ham United.MLB will play games there in 2024 and 2026, as well.

BBC Sport showed the first London Series in 2019, also between the Yankees and Red Sox. A planned series in 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic.

Big Name Broadcast

Saturday’s BBC broadcast will include retired Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, Baltimore Orioles and Apple TV+ MLB broadcaster Melanie Newman, and The Maccabees’ guitarist Felix White, who co-hosts a cricket podcast on BBC Sounds.

The deal could come just in time for U.K. residents to witness MLB history: Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is two home runs from breaking Roger Maris’ American League regular-season record of 61, set 61 years ago in 1961.

Conversation Starters Brian Mariotti bought sports and culture toymaker Funko in 2005 and played a huge role in turning it into the billion-dollar business it is today. On the latest episode of My Other Passion, we spoke to the chief creative officer about working with legends like Michael Jordan and Rafa Nadal on collectibles, how he landed licenses with all the major pro leagues, and why Funko wants to go even harder on sports in the future. Listen or watch now on Apple [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], and YouTube [[link removed]]. Fifteen Spanish women’s soccer stars are reportedly holding out [[link removed]] from national team duties amid allegations of a toxic culture. NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal paid [[link removed]] for 15 of his friends to receive their master’s degrees.

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Market Movers

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

MSGS [[link removed]]

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp

[[link removed]]

$143.08

[[link removed]]

+0.18%

[[link removed]] MGM [[link removed]]

MGM Resorts International

[[link removed]]

$29.96

[[link removed]]

-0.20%

[[link removed]] MTN [[link removed]]

Vail Resorts Inc.

[[link removed]]

$207.33

[[link removed]]

-0.45%

[[link removed]] VFC [[link removed]]

VF Corp.

[[link removed]]

$35.69

[[link removed]]

-0.61%

[[link removed]] T [[link removed]]

AT&T, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$15.98

[[link removed]]

-0.68%

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

Walt Disney Co (The)

[[link removed]]

$99.27

[[link removed]]

-0.84%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 9/23/22) What to Watch

The Virginia Cavaliers (2-1) face the Syracuse Orange (3-0) on Friday night at JMA Wireless Dome.

How to Watch: 7 p.m. ET on ESPN

Betting Odds: Syracuse -9.5 || ML -345 || O/U 54

Pick: Expect the Cavaliers to keep things close. Take Virginia to cover.

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Written by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]], Owen Poindexter [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Brian Krikorian [[link removed]]

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