December 22, 2022

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The wearable tech space is on fire right now, and even with competition from giants like Apple and Google, Whoop — best known for its fitness tracker — has carved out a sizeable share of the market.

We caught up with founder and CEO Will Ahmed to discuss his company’s rise, behind-the-scenes stories with Patrick Mahomes and LeBron James, what he learned from playing varsity squash at Harvard, and much more.

Listen or watch now on Apple [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], and YouTube [[link removed]].

Media Hey Google, Turn On ‘NFL Sunday Ticket’ on YouTube TV [[link removed]]

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL has confirmed Google as the next distributor of “NFL Sunday Ticket.”

As part of the agreement [[link removed]], YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels have exclusive rights to distribute “NFL Sunday Ticket” in the U.S. starting with the 2023 season. The deal is reportedly [[link removed]] worth an average $2 billion annually for seven seasons.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the price of the deal could increase if certain benchmarks are reached. The league will also reportedly look to license the commercial rights in restaurants and bars for another $200 million. The deal could be worth more — as much as $3 billion annually — including the revenue-sharing agreement it has with YouTube for meeting certain subscriber levels and if the NFL sells its non-residential rights, according [[link removed]] to one report.

DirecTV, which has had exclusive rights since 1994, currently pays an average [[link removed]] $1.5 billion per season for “NFL Sunday Ticket” residential and commercial rights. It could still retain [[link removed]] the latter.

“Sunday Ticket” will be available on YouTube TV as an add-on package on two of YouTube’s subscription businesses — YouTube TV costs $64.99 per month before add-ons. “Sunday Ticket” will also be available separately on YouTube Primetime Channels.

Streaming Sundays

YouTube is now the presenting partner of “NFL Kickoff Weekend” and “Back Together Saturday.” As part of the agreement, the NFL and Google will offer exclusive access to “official content and attendance opportunities for select YouTube Creators” at NFL events.

World Salt Lake City Emerges As Winter Olympics Host Favorite [[link removed]]

Angie Walton-USA TODAY Sports

The U.S. could host the 2030 Winter Olympics by default after another bid was called into question.

Japan is pausing [[link removed]] its promotion of Sapporo’s bid while it reevaluates its stance on hosting.

A bribery scandal related to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which were held in 2021 due to the pandemic, is causing Japan to question its appetite for hosting the Winter Games. In August, a former member of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics board, Haruyuki Takahashi, was arrested on suspicion of receiving bribes from Olympic sponsors. Last month, Japanese police raided the offices of multiple advertising agencies as part of the investigation.

Japan may survey [[link removed]] residents of Sapporo’s prefecture Hokkaido and possibly the entire country. A poll of Hokkaido residents from March found support for hosting between 52.2% and 65.5%, depending on how people were asked.

Pass the Salt Lake

With Japan’s bid in doubt, Salt Lake City could end up as the last potential host standing. Vancouver was also looking to host, but its status is in doubt after its province, British Columbia, pulled [[link removed]] its support for the bid.

Salt Lake City would prefer to host the Winter Olympics in 2034, to create more separation from the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, but could host in 2030.

The International Olympic Committee postponed the decision to 2024 to consider a number of factors, including how climate change impacts the hosting viability of certain locations and the possibility of having cities host on a rotating basis.

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Gen Z Critical to Future of Live Sports

More than $55 billion will be spent on global sports media rights next year, but for the most part, Gen Z won’t be watching live games. That’s a huge problem for leagues and their media partners, who need younger audiences to drive ratings growth going forward.

“Gen Z fans expect interactivity and community to be part of their entertainment consumption, but that’s largely missing from today’s live sports viewing experience,” said John Ganschow, StreamLayer [[link removed]] CEO.

“Our powerful solution gives clients the ability to immediately transform their streaming offerings to attract and engage these younger audiences using highly-monetizable tools such as gamification, sports betting, ecommerce and watch party capabilities, among others.”

To learn more [[link removed]] about StreamLayer and how they can help you, contact COO Andrew Fleming [mailto:[email protected]].

Sports Betting Only Super Bowl LVI Had More Bets Than World Cup [[link removed]]

Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports

The electric World Cup final between Argentina and France on Dec. 18 was one of the most wagered-on sporting events in the U.S. this year.

Argentina’s victory over France on penalty kicks to capture its first World Cup since 1986 generated 7.9 million geolocation transactions, according [[link removed]] to fraud and geolocation specialist GeoComply.

The World Cup was the second most wagered-on final behind Super Bowl LVI, which had 23.5 million geolocation checks in the Los Angeles Rams’ 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. The men’s NCAA tournament championship, which saw Kansas edge North Carolina 72-69 — had 4.8 million geolocation transactions. The final game of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors had 5.1 million geolocation checks.

The desire for sports fans to wager on the World Cup final came amid record viewership.

The match drew [[link removed]] 16.8 million viewers for the telecast on FOX — the most watched men’s World Cup game on English-language American television ever.

Spanish-language coverage on Telemundo reportedly drew an additional 5.5 million viewers.

Big Expectations

The 2022 World Cup was projected [[link removed]] to see $35 billion in wagers globally over the month-long tournament — a 65% increase compared to four years ago, according to Barclays analysts.

During the 2018 World Cup — which the USMNT didn’t qualify for — sports betting was legal for roughly 10 million Americans while this year’s tournament was legal for 132 million people.

Conversation Starters In The Leadoff, FIFA’s president reportedly wants a triennial World Cup, the Tennessee Titans proposed news stadium gets a key vote, the MSG Sphere becomes the most expensive sports venue in Las Vegas, and Andretti Autosport is one step closer to entering Formula 1. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. Front Office Sports is pleased to announce the 2022 Best Employers in Sports. The award 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]]. TV series “Sports Science” is making a return [[link removed]] but the show won’t be on ESPN, according to host John Brenkus.

SPONSORED BY META

Preparing for the Metaverse

The metaverse is coming, but a big question remains: how do athletes and sports organizations prepare today?

To answer this question and many more, Front Office Sports has partnered with Meta to bring you Metaverse Essentials: Building the Future, our latest free course [[link removed]] covering the next evolution of technological innovation in sports.

The course includes a lesson on How to Prepare Today [[link removed]], where Meta sports strategic partner managers discuss how athletes and organizations of all sizes can use Reels to create compelling, timely, and original content while building highly engaged audiences in the process.

Upon completion of the course, you’ll earn a verified digital certification badge to display across all social profiles.

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What to Watch

The Jacksonville Jaguars (6-8) face the New York Jets (7-7) on “Thursday Night Football” at MetLife Stadium.

How to Watch: 8:15 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video

Betting Odds: Jets -2.5 || ML -135 || O/U 36.5

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