October 18, 2022

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Everything’s in flux in today’s Leadoff: Qatar is nearing its population in World Cup ticket sales, Comcast shutters G4 TV, Roblox reports favorable user growth, and the Tennessee Titans are one step closer to a $2.2 billion domed stadium. Click here to listen [[link removed]].

NFL Owners To Seek $571M from Rams Owner [[link removed]]

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke has a hefty legal bill coming his way.

During league meetings on Tuesday, NFL owners planned to charge Kroenke $571 million – the remainder of a settlement over the team’s relocation from St. Louis in 2016, sources confirmed to Front Office Sports. The league will raise the owner’s allowable debt limit to help him finance the charge.

The city of St. Louis sued over the Rams’ departure, seeking more than $1 billion.The two sides eventually agreed on a $790 million settlement. The NFL has reportedly [[link removed]] paid off $219 million to help cover the settlement.In May, the league deducted about $7 million from the 31 other teams’ revenue-sharing payment, according [[link removed]] to The Athletic.

Some owners expressed [[link removed]] anger over having to pay anything toward the Rams relocation – Kroenke had previously agreed to cover legal fees, but later argued that the settlement fell outside that commitment.

NFL Pluses and Minuses

League officials also discussed their new streaming service, NFL+. Overall, the league is pleased with the product, sources familiar with the matter told FOS.

Technical issues and unmet fan expectations [[link removed]] to watch out-of-market games marred its rollout. Users were able to watch preseason games, but are only able to listen to out-of-market regular-season radio broadcasts.

Also under discussion are the sales of a stake in NFL Media and NFL Sunday Ticket rights, the latter of which is complicated [[link removed]] by restrictions on the product negotiated into the league’s contracts with CBS and Fox.

NBA Begins New Season With Trio of $5B Franchises [[link removed]]

Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA will tip off a new season Tuesday night with three franchises worth more than $5 billion for the first time ever.

Forbes unveiled its list [[link removed]] of the most valuable NBA teams in 2022 — and the New York Knicks lead the pack with a $5.8 billion valuation, a 16% increase from last year.

The NBA’s 30 teams are now worth an average $2.48 billion — up 13% year-over-year.

Joe Lacob and Peter Guber’s Golden State Warriors are the second-most valuable in the NBA with a $5.6 billion valuation.The Los Angeles Lakers — owned by a group that includes the Buss Family Trusts, Mark Walter, and Todd Boehly — are the third-most valuable at $5.5 billion.Jerry Reinsdorf’s Chicago Bulls round out the top four with a $3.65 billion valuation, an 11% increase year-over-year.

Another first for the league: All five Christmas Day games will be shown on ABC. Viewers can watch them all on ESPN as well.

Big Deals

NBA owners also secured a record $1.46 billion in sponsorship deals for the 2021-22 season.

Introduced during the 2017-2018 season, jersey patch deals are projected to bring in more than $225 million this season for the NBA’s 30 teams.

[[link removed]] Deals [[link removed]] | by Abigail Gentrup [[link removed]] Lakers Ink 5-Year, $100M Jersey Patch Deal [[link removed]] Bibigo, the No. 1 food company in Korea, entered a 5-year deal… September 21, 2021

In September 2021, the Lakers secured [[link removed]] a five-year jersey patch deal worth more than $100 million with South Korean food line Bibigo, while the Brooklyn Nets landed [[link removed]] an agreement with brokerage platform Webull worth roughly $30 million per year last month.

SPONSORED BY KORE SOFTWARE

Technology is Changing the Game

Twitch. Snapchat. E-Sports.

A decade or two ago, terms like these would mean nothing to us… but now, they’re some of the biggest influences in the sports industry – as both engagement platforms, and areas ripe for sponsorship.

But with new opportunities come new challenges, and the sporting world is no exception. As sports sponsorship models have evolved over the years, so too have the tools that brands and rights holders use to manage them.

Join us on October 25 at 1 p.m. ET as Owen Poindexter, Editor at Front Office Sports, sits down with Marc Roots, Chief Product Officer at KORE, and Scott Tilton, Executive Vice President at KORE and Founder of HookIt, for a conversation about The Evolution of Technology in Sponsorship [[link removed]].

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FuboTV No Longer Betting On Sportsbooks [[link removed]]

fuboTV

Fubo Sportsbook is no more.

When FuboTV announced its preliminary third-quarter results on Monday, the sports-focused streaming platform revealed [[link removed]] it’s closing its Fubo Gaming subsidiary, as well as operations of its Fubo Sportsbook, effective immediately.

The announcement follows the company’s strategic review of the division.

FuboTV claimed that “while multiple parties expressed interest in the business, none of these opportunities would have allowed Fubo to lower its funding requirements and generate sufficient returns to shareholders.”

Fubo Sportsbook launched last year and, as recently as June, reportedly said [[link removed]] it still planned to launch live odds this year.In August, it announced [[link removed]] the expected launch of Fubo Sportsbook in two additional markets but revealed [[link removed]] it would no longer pursue independent wagering.

The company’s earnings call in November is expected to provide more details.

FuboTV’s Finances

While gambling may have proven unsuccessful, the rest of the company seems to be doing just fine.

FuboTV expects third-quarter revenue in North America to grow 34% year-over-year to at least $210 million, with Rest of World revenue — which includes Molotov, a French live TV streaming service that FuboTV acquired [[link removed].] in December for $190 million — reaching at least $5.5 million. The company’s previous North America revenue guidance was $200 million-$205 million.

The company expects its paid subscribers in North America to surpass 1.22 million, a more than 27% year-over-year increase, and ROW paid subscribers to reach around 350,000.

Conversation Starters Apple is all in on sports with major deals for the Super Bowl Halftime Show, MLS and MLB broadcasting rights, and a bid for NFL Sunday Ticket. On the latest episode of The Newsroom, the Front Office Sports team breaks down what Apple is up to, and how sports fit into the tech giant’s overall strategy. Listen and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], and YouTube [[link removed]]. Jack Easterby’s departure [[link removed]] as executive VP of football operations for the Houston Texans was made official Monday, ending a career where his handling of Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins drew broad criticism. The Golden State Warriors are set to pay [[link removed]] an NBA-record $286 million in luxury tax for the 2023-24 season for a total payment of $483 million, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

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Plus, if you enter their Grand Adventure Giveaway [[link removed]] before November 15, 2022, you have a chance to win $45,000 in epic prizes.

Market Movers

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

NLS [[link removed]]

Nautilus Inc

[[link removed]]

$1.70

[[link removed]]

+0.89%

[[link removed]] MCRI [[link removed]]

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$61.59

[[link removed]]

-1.41%

[[link removed]] PLNT [[link removed]]

Planet Fitness Inc

[[link removed]]

$60.66

[[link removed]]

-1.89%

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

VF Corp.

[[link removed]]

$29.60

[[link removed]]

-1.89%

[[link removed]] ZBRA [[link removed]]

Zebra Technologies Corp.

[[link removed]]

$263.93

[[link removed]]

-2.83%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 10/18/22) What to Watch

The Philadelphia Phillies face the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night at Petco Park in Game 1 of the NLCS.

How to Watch: 8:03 p.m. ET on FS1

Betting Odds: Padres -1.5 || ML -125 || O/U 6.5

Pick: Expect the Phillies to maintain their momentum. Take Philadelphia to cover.

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

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