February 14, 2023

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Sunday’s thrilling Super Bowl LVII translated into big ratings for Fox Sports. The Chiefs’ second Super Bowl title in four years had 113 million viewers [[link removed]] per the network. It is the most-watched Super Bowl in six years and the third-most-watched TV program on record.

Gaming Premier League Nearing $600M Extension with EA [[link removed]]

EA Sports

The Premier League and Electronic Arts are reportedly nearing an extension doubling the rights fees paid under the current deal.

The league’s 20 clubs were briefed last week on a six-year extension worth nearly $600 million, Sky News reported [[link removed]] on Friday. The Premier League will receive $97 million annually — nearly $5 million per team — over the course of the yet-to-be-announced deal.

“FIFA” has been part of the game’s branding since EA released its first console soccer game on the Sega Genesis in 1993, but announced [[link removed]] it was ending its exclusive deal with EA in May.

But despite FIFA’s withdrawal, EA has now made deals [[link removed]] with more than 300 partners spanning more than 700 teams and about 19,000 athletes.

EA and MLS — partners since 1999 — extended [[link removed]] their current deal in August. Also in August, La Liga and EA agreed to a five-year deal worth a reported [[link removed]] $30.5 million annually. In 2021, EA agreed to an extension [[link removed]] with UEFA that came with the exclusive rights to the UEFA Champions League.

The title, which will now be called “EA Sports FC,” has racked up [[link removed]] more than $20 billion in sales over the last 20 years.

Ongoing Partnership

EA clearly wants its commercial relationship with the Premier League — which dates back to 1998 — to endure.

“We’re proud to have a long-standing partnership with the Premier League and its clubs, and appreciate their support in our plans for ‘EA Sports FC’,” EA Sports said in a statement.

Leagues Andretti, Cadillac Have Competition for F1 Spot, Says League President [[link removed]]

Formula 1

Andretti Global and Cadillac may be facing competition as they try to become Formula 1’s 11th team.

F1 president Stefano Domenicali implied [[link removed]] that other teams are seeking to get into the global racing series — and that despite their public efforts, Andretti and Cadillac don’t have the inside track.

“There are others that are much less vocal that would like to come into Formula 1, so there is a process to respect, and we will make sure together with the FIA that the process will be respected,” Domenicali told Sky Sports. He added: “There are a lot of dimensions to consider, and we don’t have to overreact because someone is pushing the system.”

Andretti and Cadillac have faced resistance from most other F1 teams, which Andretti Global CEO Michael Andretti claimed [[link removed]] was “all about greed.”

Domenicali said the comment was “not smart.”

Ally Steps Back

One central figure who had supported Andretti’s bid has taken on a reduced role.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is retreating from F1’s day-to-day operations, but will remain in a strategic role.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner suggested that Andretti and Cadillac could buy their way into an existing team instead of diluting the available prize money by starting a new one. It isn’t clear if there are currently any F1 teams looking to sell a significant stake.

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Teams Canada Soccer Threatened to Sue Women’s Team Over Strike [[link removed]]

Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

Canada’s women’s national soccer team has called off a strike after Canada Soccer threatened to take legal action against the Canadian Soccer Players’ Association.

The team — which is currently in Orlando, Florida, preparing for this week’s SheBelieves Cup — said [[link removed]] Friday that its players would be taking job action due to budget cuts, equal pay disparities, and lack of support from Canada Soccer.

The players boycotted training Saturday. Veteran players Christine Sinclair [[link removed]] and Janine Beckie said they wouldn’t represent Canada Soccer until demands were met. The governing body, which claimed [[link removed]] on Friday that said negotiations had been in place for months, threatened to sue the CSPA and the players at camp.

“They told us that if we did not return to work… they would not only take legal action to force us back to the pitch but would consider taking steps to collect what could be millions of dollars in damages from our Players’ Association and from each of the individual players currently in camp,” the team said Saturday.

The CSPA said their players have yet to receive compensation for any of their 2022 work and “cannot afford the risks that personal action against us by Canada Soccer will create.”

Canada’s Competition

The team will play Thursday, but its off-field work isn’t done.

“We will continue to fight for everything we deserve and we will win. The SheBelieves Cup is being played in protest,” Sinclair tweeted.

Teams Haslam Sports Group Reportedly Considers Stake in Bucks [[link removed]]

PHIL MASTURZO / USA TODAY NETWORK

The owners of the Cleveland Browns could be set to expand their sports ownership beyond Ohio.

Dee and Jimmy Haslam are having conversations about buying a minority stake in the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, according [[link removed]]to multiple reports.

Business executive Marc Lasry and Fortress Investment Group co-founder Wes Edens currently own the team, which won an NBA championship in 2021.

Haslam Sports Group would purchase a quarter of the team from Lasry. Lasry previously considered selling his stake to Mat Ishbia before the latter bought the Suns [[link removed]]. But the overall process has been subject to some hesitation — The Athletic reported that Lasry has been mulling over the sale for multiple weeks.

Lasry and Edens originally bought the team in 2014 for around $550 million from former U.S. Senator Herb Kohl, but the Bucks are currently valued at $2.3 billion by Forbes [[link removed]], making them the 15th-most-valuable NBA franchise.

A Mixed Track Record

Haslam Sports Group has a so-so resume in the sports ownership space.

The group briefly held a stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers, but sold it in 2012 to buy the Browns for $11 million. The Browns have struggled mightily with the Haslams at the helm.

The group has had more success with its ownership stake in the MLS’ Columbus Crew, which won the MLS Cup in 2020, a year after the Haslams bought the team.

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Conversation Starters From the wildest passes and the biggest dunks to the final serve, Atmosphere Sports is streaming sports back to the center with live scores, highlights, and more. Learn more [[link removed]].* For the first time ever, the Super Bowl pregame flyover [[link removed]] was piloted by an all-female crew. The anime-inspired Super Bowl commercial for Limit Break included multiple QR codes that offered a “free digital collectible” — and when scanned [[link removed]], the code took people to the blockchain company CEO Gabriel Leydon’s personal Twitter page. Front Office Sports Today They Said What?

Syndication: The Courier-Journal

“Now we have these off-course golf experiences that are enhanced by developments in technology. They’re so realistic and so satisfying that we’ve seen people all of a sudden using that to replace on-course golf, and even supplement it when it’s not available to them.”

— Mason Jones, the vice president of marketing at TruGolf, on the booming popularity of off-course golfing experiences such as Topgolf or golfing simulators during the latest episode of Front Office Sports Today.

Listen and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Google [[link removed]], and Spotify [[link removed]].

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