When the Philadelphia Phillies take the field in the first game of the World Series against the Houston Astros on Friday, they’ll have a lot more than glory at stake.

The Phillies’ attendance has fluctuated wildly since their last World Series win in 2008 — and so has their on-field performance.

• The four seasons following their championship were the Phillies’ best attended, drawing 3.6 million to 3.8 million in each.
• The team posted a losing record every season from 2013 to 2018, which corresponded to an attendance drop of more than 500,000 fans each season from 2013 to 2015.
• Attendance lingered below 2 million from 2015 to 2017. The team drew 2.3 million fans this season.

Despite the wobbles in performance, the team’s value rose steadily each year from 2017 ($1.65 billion) to the present ($2.3 billion).

The Phillies set a record for merchandise sales among pennant winners in the 24 hours following the team’s pennant win.

Steady ’Stros

The Astros hit a 13-year attendance peak following their 2017 World Series win, when the team drew just under 3 million fans. They also reached the World Series in 2019 and 2021.

The Astros’ 2017 win was called into question after they were found to be cheating. MLB fined them $5 million, removed draft picks, and suspended executives.

Houston’s value saw a similarly steady climb since 2017 ($1.45 billion) to this year’s $1.98 billion, with the largest leap coming after its World Series win.

The largest public company in the world has kept up its momentum despite uncertainty in the tech industry and a large investment in sports. 

Apple reported record fourth-quarter revenue of $90.1 billion — an 8% increase year-over-year — for the period ending Sept. 24. The tech giant’s wearables segment, which includes its fitness watches, posted $9.6 billion in revenue compared to Wall Street estimates of $8.8 billion. 

The California-based company — whose market cap is $2.32 trillion — continued to build its sports offerings and workforce in Q4.  

• Apple TV+ aired MLB games via its “Friday Night Baseball” package this season.
• In August, Apple had 60 jobs with the word “sports” in the title or description. 

In June, Apple agreed to a landmark deal worth at least $2.5 billion with MLS, which will see Apple exclusively stream every match for 10 years starting in 2023. 

As part of the deal, Apple will also stream League Cup matches, select MLS Next Pro and MLS Next matches, and a weekly live-match whiparound show. 

Boost from The Big Game

In September, Apple Music secured a multiyear deal to sponsor the NFL’s new Super Bowl halftime show for an undisclosed amount. 

NBC’s broadcast of the Super Bowl LVI halftime show drew 120 million viewers. 

Apple replaced Pepsi, which had held rights to the halftime show for the last 10 Super Bowls.

The company has also expressed interest in acquiring a minority stake in NFL Media, which includes NFL RedZone, NFL Network, and NFL.com.

Amazon posted its first profitable quarter of 2022, but its stock took a serious hit on a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter projection.

The tech and retail giant saw its total sales climb to $127.1 billion in the third quarter, a 14.7% increase year-over-year. Net income dropped 9% to $2.87 billion. Amazon’s stock dropped 18% in early after-hours trading.

Amazon leaned into sports to draw users to its Prime subscription program.

• The quarter marked the first one in which Amazon was the exclusive broadcaster of “Thursday Night Football.” The company boasted more than 15 million viewers for the program’s first game.
• The company also broadcast the UEFA Champions League in Germany and Italy, Ligue 1 in France, and the U.S. Open in the United Kingdom.
• The company installed retail technology that allows customers to purchase items without the checkout process and pay with their palms in several stadiums, including Crypto.com Arena and Lumen Field.

The company expects operating income between break-even and $4 billion in the fourth quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.05 billion. 

Stacked Friday

Next year, the company will merge one of its biggest media and retail days after winning exclusive broadcast rights to the NFL’s first Black Friday game following Thanksgiving.

The company reportedly bid between $70 million and $100 million for the game, on top of the $1 billion it pays per season for “TNF.”

Saturday’s NWSL championship match between the Kansas City Current and Portland Thorns, which takes place in Washington, D.C., arrives at a time of peak growth and investment in the league.

For the first time ever, the title game at Audi Field will air at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. Originally scheduled for noon, the match was pushed into primetime thanks to the support of Ally Financial, one of the NWSL’s corporate sponsors.

The NWSL title game will put a cap on a wildly successful season.

• In May, the NWSL reported that its opening weekend was the most attended in league history, and the San Diego Wave set the record for the best-attended regular-season NWSL game in September.
• The league’s quarterfinal games earlier this month broke attendance records twice in one day.
• The NWSL’s regular season drew more than 1 million fans — also a record.

Angel City FC lead investor Alexis Ohanian told Reuters this month the league has “ammo” for negotiations when its $4.5 million TV deal expires.

High-Speed Current

The young league’s resilience has been formidable — for example, the Thorns are thriving despite being at the center of an NWSL misconduct investigation — but the rocketing return on investment is especially evident in the Current’s resurgence.

They’re competing for a title after finishing their inaugural season in 2021 with a 3-7-14 record. Since then, the team’s owners finalized plans for the first purpose-built NWSL stadium ($117 million) and opened an $18 million training facility.