September 30, 2022

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Today’s Leadoff is a real rollercoaster: concerns over the Pac-12’s sustainability are growing, Porsche goes public, Athletes Unlimited raises its first outside capital, and Vail Resorts posts strong earnings. Click here to listen. [[link removed]]

Human Rights Group Calls on FIFA to Boot Iran from World Cup [[link removed]]

FIFA

In a damning open letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, a human rights group is calling on Iran to be banned from the 2022 World Cup.

The World Cup kicks off on Nov. 20 in Qatar, with Iran scheduled to have its first match, against England, the following day.

“For over four decades, Iranian women have been denied their most basic liberties. We have been banned from enjoying sports, watching games in stadiums, and cheering for our favorite football teams,” wrote [[link removed]] Open Stadiums, a group that advocates for Iranian women’s rights.

“Over the past few days, we have seen sports journalists and photographers arrested and left in solitary confinement with no charges brought against them,” the group wrote.They added that FIFA has been notified of the arrest of “one of nine female journalists” at the 2018 AFC Champions League final in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, which Infantino attended, per Open Stadiums.The letter also discussed Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman whose death in Iranian police custody on Sept. 16 has sparked [[link removed]] protests across the country, including by Iran’s national soccer team.

“You repeatedly made a public commitment that FIFA would solve these gross human rights violations,” wrote Open Stadiums, addressing Infantino, “but we have, sadly, come to the conclusion that these were all empty words and promises.”

Qatar Under Question

FIFA’s choice of location for the World Cup, Qatar, continues to be scrutinized.

In addition to logistical concerns involved in bringing an estimated 1.2 million fans to a nation of around 3 million people, the country has reportedly conscripted [[link removed]] civilians and diplomats to work security at stadiums and hotels against their will.

Denmark’s jerseys will protest [[link removed]] Qatar’s human rights record.

Nike Shares Fall As Inventory Levels Skyrocket [[link removed]]

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Nike reported a 4% increase in first-quarter revenue to $12.69 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of $12.27 billion.

But Nike’s net income dropped [[link removed]] 22% year-over-year to $1.5 billion, and the company’s stock was down more than 12% as of market close Friday. Before the report, shares had declined [[link removed]] around 40% on the year.

Nike CFO Matthew Friend said the quick improvement of transit shipping time, which was previously affected by supply chain issues, led to increased inventories.

The Swoosh reported a 44% year-over-year jump in inventories to $9.7 billion.Compared to one year ago, inventories in North America are up 65%.Inventory in transit rose 85% since last year.

“We are taking decisive action to clear excess inventory,” Friend said, adding that the increased inventory levels are due in part to late arrivals.

Nike will mark down more goods, especially apparel, to reduce inventory and work with its wholesale partners. In the second quarter, Nike expects inventory levels to normalize and revenue to increase 10%.

North American sales increased 13% to $5.5 billion, sales in Greater China declined 16% to around $1.7 billion, sales in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa increased 1% to $3.3 billion, and sales in Asia Pacific and Latin America increased 5% to $1.5 billion.

New Deal

On Friday, Nike announced [[link removed]] JD Sports and Zalando as the first European companies to be part of its Connected Partnership loyalty program, which launched in November with Dick’s Sporting Goods in the U.S.

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Lululemon Wins Peloton Lawsuit Dismissal [[link removed]]

Shutterstock

Peloton has filed another loss — this time in the courtroom.

Lululemon won [[link removed]] dismissal of a Peloton lawsuit that sought to protect a new athletic wear line from the former’s trademark complaints.

In November, Lululemon wrote in a cease-and-desist letter that the connected fitness company infringed on patents for apparel design. The judge stated that the letter informed “Peloton of the intention to file suit in federal court” and “specified the causes of actions Lululemon would pursue.”

Lululemon provided a deadline of Nov. 19, 2021, “by which Peloton needed to comply with its demands before Lululemon brought its claims to court.” The letter directed [[link removed]] Peloton to stop selling specific apparel products.

Thirteen days after the letter was sent, Peloton sued Lululemon, requesting the court claim there were no trademark violations.

Peloton said it had been selling apparel since 2014 and only started its clothing line after an “amicable” termination of the companies’ co-branding relationship last year.Lululemon sued in a California court five days later for infringement of six design patents, but the case was paused in March due to the New York case.

The federal court claimed Peloton’s lawsuit “is clearly an anticipatory action that warrants dismissal.”

Court Callings

Earlier this month, a U.S. International Trade Commission judge sided [[link removed]] with DISH Network in a case that alleged Lululemon and Peloton infringed on streaming technology patents.

Lululemon reported [[link removed]] $1.87 billion in Q2 revenue, and Peloton posted [[link removed]] $678.7 million in Q4 revenue.

Conversation Starters Brett Favre’s longtime attorney Bud Holmes told [[link removed]] Front Office Sports on Thursday that he was no longer representing Favre in relation to his ties to the Mississippi welfare scandal. Since the NFL regular season began on Sept. 8, New Yorkers have reportedly [[link removed]] bet close to $1 billion, with Week 3 alone seeing more than $301 million in bets. The NCAA and its search firm TurnkeyZRG are creating a list of potential hires for the soon-to-be vacant NCAA president position and targeting [[link removed]] an announcement by the NCAA convent in January 2023.

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Market Movers

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

MGM [[link removed]]

MGM Resorts International

[[link removed]]

$29.72

[[link removed]]

+0.41%

[[link removed]] ARMK [[link removed]]

Aramark

[[link removed]]

$31.20

[[link removed]]

+0.42%

[[link removed]] LYV [[link removed]]

Live Nation Entertainment Inc

[[link removed]]

$76.91

[[link removed]]

+2.79%

[[link removed]] NKE [[link removed]]

Nike, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$82.99

[[link removed]]

-0.29%

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

AT&T, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$15.36

[[link removed]]

-1.29%

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

Walt Disney Co (The)

[[link removed]]

$94.66

[[link removed]]

-3.19%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 9/30/22) What to Watch

No. 14 Mississippi (4-0) hosts No. 7 Kentucky (4-0) on Saturday in an SEC showdown.

How to Watch: 12 p.m. ET on ESPN

Betting Odds: Ole Miss -7 || ML -260 || O/U 54.5

Pick: Expect the Rebels to win at home. Take Ole Miss to cover.

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

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