November 21, 2022

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LPGA prize money is hitting nine figures [[link removed]] for the first time. The organization announced that the 2023 tour will award more than $100 million in total prize money — a record high, and twice the amount offered just a decade ago.

Disney Just Surprised Everyone and Made Bob Iger CEO Again [[link removed]]

MasterClass

Guess who’s back, back again? Iger’s back. Tell a friend.

That’s right, Bob Iger is back in charge of Disney now, a Sunday night revelation that seemingly came out of nowhere, though it follows a disappointing [[link removed]] earnings report less than two weeks ago.

Disney’s board of directors confirmed in a statement [[link removed]] that Iger, who was CEO from 2005 to 2020, is getting his Tom Brady on “with a mandate from the Board to set the strategic direction for renewed growth.”

The unretired Iger will face key decisions, including how aggressively to pursue NFL Sunday Ticket and upcoming rights negotiations with the NBA.

Bob Chapek, who replaced Iger in February 2020, has stepped down.

Iger led the transition toward direct-to-consumer streaming services ESPN+ and Disney+ amid falling cable subscriber numbers.ESPN landed the exclusive rights to stream [[link removed]] UFC — including pay-per-view events — just months after ESPN+ launched in 2018.With 24.3 million subscribers as of Oct. 1, ESPN+ has become a bright spot for Disney as theme parks and other media properties lag.

Disney’s stock tumbled 41.4% from the start of the year to market close on Friday.

The ESPN Question

Iger resisted spinning off ESPN in the latter years of his prior run as CEO. Chapek talked up the value of live sports, although Puck reported [[link removed]] he spoke with some other Disney execs about selling off ESPN.

Activist investor Dan Loeb, CEO of Third Point Capital, pushed for Disney to spin off ESPN, but softened his stance in September, shortly after Chapek said he had big plans for the network.

Red Bull, Verstappen Finish as F1 Champions, But Challenges Loom [[link removed]]

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Red Bull and Max Verstappen capped off the Formula 1 season as the dominant forces in the sport, but it’s unclear how long they’ll be able to hold that position.

The team and Verstappen secured the constructor’s and driver’s championships long before Verstappen’s victory at the season’s final race on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.

With two consecutive driver’s championships, Verstappen is making good on his massive contract, which pays him a reported $55 million annually through 2028.His $48 million in earnings over the 12 months ending May 1, made him the 26th-highest-paid athlete in the world, second among drivers to Lewis Hamilton’s $65 million, according [[link removed]] to Forbes.In May, Red Bull signed his teammate Sergio Perez to a two-year extension through 2024. Perez fell to third in the driver’s championship to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who finished second in Abu Dhabi.

While Red Bull ended Mercedes’ streak of eight consecutive constructor’s championships, it will face new challenges in building its own streak.

Tightening Competition

The cost cap, introduced last year, will drop to $135 million for the 2023-25 seasons, creating parity among teams’ financial power. Red Bull will be docked 10% of its wind tunnel testing time and $7 million for exceeding last year’s cost cap.

Teams are also looking at new engine and fuel regulations beginning in 2026.

“By ’26, we will be four years into the cost cap, and the teams will have had more time to balance, and the racing will be even more exciting,” Williams Racing principal Jost Capito told Front Office Sports.

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World Cup Brings Together Highest-Paid Soccer Players [[link removed]]

FFF

Four of the world’s five highest-paid soccer players are competing in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The 64-match tournament [[link removed]] kicked off Sunday with Ecuador’s 2-0 win over Qatar.

France’s Kylian Mbappé is the World Cup’s — and the world’s — highest-paid soccer player. The 23-year-old made $128 million in the past year, with $110 million from playing, according to Forbes.

Mbappé won three of the last four Ligue 1 Player of the Year Awards.Four years ago, he led France to its first World Cup title since 1998.France plays its first game on Tuesday vs. Australia.

Second on both lists is Argentina’s Lionel Messi, who made $120 million this year, with $55 million off the pitch. That figure could reportedly [[link removed]] grow as much as 20% if Argentina, whose first game is on Tuesday, wins the World Cup — in what may be the last attempt of Messi’s career.

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo sits at third, with $100 million in annual earnings. He is the world’s highest-paid player in off-field earnings at $60 million. Brazil’s Neymar Jr. is fourth with $87 million in earnings. Portugal and Brazil’s first games are on Thursday.

Final Fifth

The world’s fifth- and sixth-highest-paid soccer players — Mohamed Salah ($53 million) and Erling Haaland ($39 million) — aren’t playing in the tournament, which puts Poland’s Robert Lewandowski next up in the tournament’s rankings.

Lewandowski makes $35 million, with $27 million in on-field earnings. Poland first takes the pitch on Tuesday against Mexico.

NFL Sunday Ticket Is Still Up for Grabs [[link removed]]

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The race is still on to acquire NFL Sunday Ticket rights in a record-breaking deal.

Sunday Ticket — which has been on DirecTV since 1994 and allows subscribers to watch every NFL game on Sundays regardless of their home market — will be up for grabs after this season.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in July that a decision on who will acquire Sunday Ticket would be made by this fall, but the league has yet to receive [[link removed]] a bid it deems reasonable.

DirecTV is paying $1.5 billion this season for rights to Sunday Ticket.The NFL has vowed to sell Sunday Ticket rights to a streaming service.Apple, Disney, Amazon, and Google are all in contention [[link removed]] to acquire Sunday Ticket.A deal could cost [[link removed]] up to $3 billion annually.

Sunday Ticket could potentially be sold in a package deal with NFL Media. The NFL is looking to offload a stake in the media arm, which includes NFL Network, NFL RedZone, and NFL.com.

DirecTV Issues

Earlier in the NFL season, DirecTV experienced outages [[link removed]] on its Sunday Ticket broadcasts for two consecutive weeks. Week 2 of the NFL season saw Sunday Ticket unavailable for nearly 90 minutes, which caused DirecTV to issue prorated refunds to customers.

Sunday Ticket on DirecTV costs close to $300 for the 2022 NFL season; a Sunday Ticket Max option that includes NFL RedZone goes for near $400.

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The UEFA Champions League on Paramount+

The World Cup is finally underway and the biggest players look to make their mark as they represent their country.

When you need more of the brightest stars after they shine on their national teams, don’t stop watching top-tier soccer live on Paramount+ [[link removed]]! Be sure to keep up with soccer’s best like Messi, Pulisic and Benzema as they compete for their clubs in the UEFA Champions League.

Score world-class coverage of world-class soccer and stream every Champions League match live, every year on Paramount+.

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Conversation Starters NASCAR will be seeking a 10% to 15% increase in rights fees for its next long-term media deal, sources told [[link removed]] Front Office Sports. Soccer has been on the rise [[link removed]] in the U.S. for decades and a deep run in the World Cup by this squad — the second-youngest in the tournament by average age — wouldn’t just validate years of financial and emotional investment, but would inspire confidence that it could last. A cheating scandal that rocked [[link removed]] the chess world in September has revealed deeper issues within the game, which is seeing a huge boom in participation. FOS is on the lookout [[link removed]] for the Best Employers in Sports. Let us know if your company deserves a shot at the coveted award. Today's Action

NFL

08:15 PM

49ers (-380) at Cardinals (+310)

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NHL

08:00 PM

Ducks (+185) at Blues (-215)

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NHL

08:30 PM

Avalanche (-110) at Stars (-110)

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*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 or does someone you know own a small business?

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Friday’s Answer

60% of respondents prefer Gatorade, 12% prefer Powerade; 28% prefer another sports drink.

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