December 20, 2022
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Sunday’s epic World Cup final — which saw Lionel Messi’s Argentina win a tense penalty-kick shootout over Kylian Mbappe’s France — delivered record [[link removed]] numbers for Fox Sports. The network’s telecast drew 16.8 million viewers, making it the most watched men’s World Cup match ever on English-language American television.
Deals Phoenix Suns, Mercury Reportedly Selling to Mat Ishbia for $4 Billion [[link removed]]
Junfu Han-Imagn
The Phoenix Suns appear to have a buyer.
Billionaire Mat Ishbia is reportedly finalizing [[link removed]] a deal to buy the NBA team. At 42, he’ll be the league’s second-youngest owner.
The United Wholesale Mortgage CEO will pay around $4 billion, easily beating the record for an NBA team set by Joseph Tsai’s 2019 purchase of the Brooklyn Nets for $2.3 billion. The WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury are also included in the deal. Ishbia’s brother Justin, a founding partner of Shore Capital, will be joining [[link removed]] as an investor and alternate governor of the team.
The deal has been agreed to in principle and is expected to be completed soon.
The team is being sold by Robert Sarver after an investigation detailed repeated acts of misogyny and racism by the owner. An additional report found [[link removed]] that Suns CEO Jason Rowley was also complicit in the team’s toxic culture but has faced few consequences to date.
Ishbia, a college walk-on, won an NCAA championship as a basketball player at Michigan State.
More Sales Coming
There are at least eight additional major teams [[link removed]] for sale.
MLB’s Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels, the Premier League’s Liverpool FC and Manchester United, and the NHL’s Ottawa Senators are all on the market.
Like the Phoenix teams, the NFL’s Washington Commanders and NWSL’s Portland Thorns and Chicago Red Stars are at least exploring sales due to similar scandals related to their owners.
Dan and Tanya Snyder could sell all, some, or possibly none of the Commanders, with first-round bidding reportedly [[link removed]] closing this week.
Media Analyst: ESPN Spinoff ‘Probable’ in 2023 [[link removed]]
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Disney’s executive switch-up could indicate a future ESPN spinoff.
The company announced [[link removed]] last month that Bob Iger, who was Disney CEO from 2005 to 2020, will replace his hand-picked successor, Bob Chapek.
Iger resisted an ESPN spinoff in the last years of his prior run as Disney CEO, but Wells Fargo analyst Steve Cahall said he could see a spinoff happening soon.
“We think Bob Iger is returning to [Disney] ready to make big changes,” he said [[link removed]], adding that a spinoff would make the Mouse “an attractive pureplay IP company.”
ESPN isn’t considered an intellectual property, but Cahall said Disney has become a “franchise IP leader with global scale” through other acquisitions. “With linear and sports trends diverging from core IP, we think severing the company is increasingly logical,” he said.
“Investors can build their own portfolios, and we think ESPN inside of [Disney] is a portfolio with less and less logical connection as time goes by,” Cahall said. “As such, to us it’s a reasonably probable event for late 2023.”
In the fiscal year ending Oct. 1, 2022, ESPN lost [[link removed]] 2 million subscribers.
ESPN Opinions
Activist investor Dan Loeb previously pushed for a spinoff but backed off after he gained [[link removed]] “a better understanding of ESPN’s potential as a standalone business.”
In September, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy said [[link removed]] Disney sees “ESPN as being part of our overall portfolio.”
“We’re very much against spinning off ESPN … that’s the dumbest thing ever,” Jason Bazinet, managing director at Citi, said [[link removed]] last month.
SPONSORED BY GLOBANT
Reinventing Fan Engagement
As technology evolves, so do the ways fans interact with their favorite players and teams. Especially the younger generations who value experiences over material goods.
Few companies understand this shift better than Globant [[link removed]].
Globant has spent the last decade designing a sports solution ecosystem with a single goal in mind: Extending the fan journey before, during, and after the games through immersive digital and physical experiences.
Now, they’re partnering [[link removed]] with the world’s top leagues and organizations like FIFA, La Liga, and the LA Clippers to delight fans and bring these visions to life.
Read the full story here [[link removed]].
Athletes Ronaldo’s $638M Offer Includes Promoting Saudi World Cup Bid [[link removed]]
Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports
Saudi Arabia has made a huge offer to Cristiano Ronaldo — but he’ll have to do more than just play soccer.
The country wants one of the world’s most popular athletes to boost [[link removed]] its pitch for the 2030 World Cup.
Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr offered Ronaldo a reported three-year contract worth an annual $212.9 million after he and Manchester United mutually agreed to part ways. The star is currently in Dubai with plans to travel to Saudi Arabia to sign the deal, according [[link removed]] to Spanish publication Marca. The deal includes a provision that Ronaldo would play an ambassador role for Saudi Arabia in its World Cup bid. Well, This is Awkward
Should Ronaldo accept the offer, it would put him in the awkward position of working to thwart his home country: Portugal is teaming up with Spain and Ukraine on a 2030 World Cup bid.
Argentinian legend Lionel Messi has supported his country’s joint 2030 bid with Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile, but also promotes tourism to Saudi Arabia in a deal believed [[link removed]] to be worth around $30 million per year.
The two soccer stars are the respective highest- and third-highest-paid athletes in the world this year, per Forbes, with Messi pocketing [[link removed]]$130 million and Ronaldo $115 million. Both earn an estimated $55 million above their playing contracts.
Conversation Starters Front Office Sports is pleased to announce the 2022 Best Employers in Sports. Now in its fourth year, the Best Employers in Sports recognizes organizations across the sports industry that are doing the best for their employees. The companies on this year’s list represent the top 15% of those who participated. Check out the entire list here [[link removed]]. In The Leadoff, FTX is accused of illegally financing a Super Bowl ad, LIV Golf’s COO leaves, an expanded CFP could reportedly generate at least $450 million in revenue, and La Liga is considering legal action against FIFA. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. Florida State is set to build [[link removed]] a $100 million football facility, which will feature an altitude room, VR area, cryotherapy chamber, recruit lounge, and pools.
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Discover Wine Investing
Vinovest [[link removed]] works with clients to identify the best time to sell the wines in their portfolio and maximize their returns.
Two primary factors drive returns in the fine wine market: maturity and scarcity. Most investment-grade wine takes 10 to 15 years to mature. There’s also a finite supply of investment-grade wine. Once a vintage is bottled, that’s it. No more can be made. As other people drink the wine, the remaining bottles become rarer and more expensive.
Most clients decide to hold their wines for 3-5 years or more. When you set up your profile, Vinovest asks you how long you plan to hold your investment and then purchase wines that will peak within that range. Vinovest then sells your wine to its extensive network [[link removed]] of wine traders and merchants worldwide.
Learn more [[link removed]] about Vinovest.
What to Watch
The Memphis Grizzlies (19-10) face the Denver Nuggets (18-11) on Tuesday night at Ball Arena.
How to Watch: 10 p.m. ET on TNT
Betting Odds: Grizzlies -2 || ML -125 || O/U 235.5
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