Phoenix is preparing to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars when the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium on Feb. 12 — but still not as much as the Super Bowl did eight years ago.

While Super Bowl XLIX in 2015 attracted more than 121,000 visitors to the Phoenix area and brought in around $720 million in economic impact to Arizona, Visit Phoenix — a nonprofit marketing organization — only expects around $600 million for the 2023 edition.

• Anthony Evans, senior researcher at Arizona State’s Seidman Research Institute, expects that 80% to 90% of around 100,000 people who attend Super Bowl events will be from out of town.
• The research doesn’t account for what local residents spend.

One distinction from the 2015 edition is the Pro Bowl. This year, the game will be held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, whereas it was also held in Phoenix with the Super Bowl in 2015.

Game Day Decisions

The Phoenix City Council amended its “clean zone” ordinance, which required businesses, property owners, and residents to get approval from the Super Bowl Host Committee and the NFL to post temporary signs before and after the game.

The city council removed the league and the committee from the decision-making process after a lawsuit from Bramley Paulin argued that the ordinance violated free speech.

A New York-based financial services company is looking to bolster the media arm of Italy’s top soccer league.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has reportedly expressed “preliminary interest” in financing Serie A’s media business with between $761 million and $1.1 billion in bank financing. Italy’s top domestic league is preparing to sell domestic and international media rights in 2024.

JPMorgan’s potential investment follows a plan by Serie A to spin off an upcoming media unit to boost revenue after the league failed to sell a 10% stake worth $2 billion to three investors in 2021. In October 2022, Serie A began the formal process of creating the media unit. 

• Private equity firm Searchlight Capital has expressed interest in the media business. 
• Apollo Global Management has also considered an investment. 
• On Feb. 24, all of Serie A’s 20 clubs will meet to evaluate JPMorgan’s proposal. 

In 2022, Serie A announced plans to triple its international media rights revenue by 2030. The league is set to pocket $658 million from international media rights between 2021 and 2024.

Serie A generated $2.4 billion in total revenue during the 2020-21 season, per Deloitte. 

Under Fire

Two Serie A clubs have recently been shrouded in controversy.

Earlier this month, Italy’s soccer federation penalized Juventus with a 15-point reduction for fixing balance sheets with false gains from player transfers, while AC Milan is being investigated for alleged embezzlement following the $1.3 billion sale of the club to RedBird Capital Partners.

Formula 1 has struck a new media rights deal to grow its reach across Asia.

The global racing series is linking up with BeIN Sports to broadcast every F1 race across 10 territories. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• The deal begins this year and runs through 2025.
• It covers Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Philippines, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.
• BeIN’s television channels and streaming network, BeIN SPORTS CONNECT are included. 

The deal unifies F1’s coverage under one broadcaster. Fox Sports Asia previously held rights in many of the territories covered by the deal with BeIN, but the Fox subsidiary closed in 2021.

Andretti Ready

The joint bid from Andretti Global and Cadillac is the only one to formally express interest in joining F1 to date, per FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

The group has secured financial backing from Guggenheim Partners to cover the $200 million entry fee and help construct a racing facility in Indiana.

Of the 10 F1 teams, only McLaren and Alpine support adding an additional team.

Oracle Red Bull principal Christian Horner told RACER that Andretti and Cadillac are “two phenomenal brands to have in the sport,” but how they will impact other teams’ finances is a point of contention.

“It ultimately boils down to, ‘Well, who’s going to pay for it?’ And you can assume that the teams, if they’re perceived to be the ones who are paying for it … of course it’s not going to sit that well.”

A group of European officials no longer want FIFA’s money. 

Swiss officials are reportedly hesitant to borrow money from soccer’s international governing body after $2 billion worth of loans to capital city Bern drew criticism.

“The priority is to have low-risk and short-term investments to be able to fulfill our mandate, which is to develop football around the world,” said a FIFA spokesperson. 

FIFA’s financial practices have drawn criticism following the 2015 corruption scandal, which saw 14 people indicted for allegations of wire fraud, racketeering, and money laundering. 

Officials in Switzerland have proposed a motion that would require Bern to create and implement governance rules regarding borrowing practices. 

• FIFA lent Swiss local authorities $2 million in 2016. 
• A year later, FIFA increased lending and the loans jumped to $447.2 million.
• The loans from FIFA are profits from media rights and sponsorship deals. 

The Zurich-based organization has invested $5.3 billion in soccer over the last four-year cycle. 

Growing Business 

FIFA expects to earn $11 billion for the 2023-26 commercial cycle — with nearly a 50% raise in income — thanks primarily to sponsorships and media deals for the men’s World Cup.

In 2026, FIFA will expand the World Cup from 32 teams to 48.

FIFA generated $7.5 billion in revenue for the 2019-22 cycle — $1 billion more than it budgeted.