Coca-Cola is still trying to figure out how to get its big sports drink acquisition to mesh with its homegrown star.

The company has been working to integrate BodyArmor — which Coca-Cola fully controls following a $5.6 billion deal in 2021 — with its Powerade brand.  

• The company’s sports drinks segment grew 1% over the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to the same period the year prior. 
• Overall, company revenues hit $10.1 billion in the quarter, up 7% year-over-year.
• Operating income rose 24% to $2.1 billion.

The company’s stock has been essentially flat from the start of the week, rising slightly before Tuesday’s earnings release and then giving back those gains. 

Double Team

“We need to get that double act working well,” Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey told the Wall Street Journal, referring to Powerade and BodyArmor. “We had some hiccups in ’22 as we brought those two things together, so we need to do better.”

The two brands have been brought under the same wing within the company, and each is planning a major marketing push.

“It’s not atypical that when you buy a smaller company and bring it over that there’s some disruption in the short term,” Quincey said. “There was certainly more than we would have liked or expected. And now we have to kind of reset ourselves.”

Just days before NASCAR’s season-opening Daytona 500, the racing series announced a complete sellout of Sunday’s race.

Monday’s sellout announcement included Daytona’s fan zone and hospitality slots. Tickets for the race — which will again be broadcast by Fox — on the secondary market started at $150 as of Tuesday.

With the strong showing at the venue, the Daytona 500 hopes the trend of broadcast eyeballs continues to improve. After significant drops in viewership in 2020 and 2021 due to delays and shortened races, 2022 saw a rise of 8.9 million viewers after seeing 4.8 million in 2021.

The eighth consecutive sellout for NASCAR’s marquee race comes nearly a month after Daytona International Speedway president Frank Kelleher said all the grandstand seats and camping spots had been sold. 

It’s a bit easier to sell out at the famed 2.5-mile oval these days. 

• Before 2013’s “Daytona Rising” renovation, which was completed before the 2016 race, seating capacity was 147,000. 
• About 46,000 backstretch grandstand seats were removed as part of recent downsizing efforts (Atlanta, 17,000 seats removed; Charlotte, 41,000). 
• Daytona currently has 101,500 permanent seats — a 31% reduction compared to 2013.

Johnson Returns

The Daytona 500 has kicked off the NASCAR Cup Series schedule since 1982, although the racing schedule has had a soft launch since 2022 with the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the latest edition being held on Sunday. 

Seven-time Cup Series champion and two-time Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson, who retired from stock car racing in 2020, will return to action. He’ll be one of 42 driver/car combinations competing for 40 slots at Thursday’s Bluegreen Vacations Duel races, which will set the field for Daytona.

The Milwaukee Brewers’ stadium could become a political football.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers proposed devoting $290 million of the state’s $7 billion surplus toward renovations and repairs for American Family Field.

• In exchange, the Brewers would commit to the city through 2043.
• The district that manages and finances the stadium was previously funded through a 0.1% sales tax across five counties that expired in March 2020. 
• The Brewers are seeking fixes including repairs to the stadium’s retractable roof, which boasts the ability to open and close in 10 minutes.

Stadium district chair Tim Sheehy praised the Evers’ proposal as a “forward-looking investment to keep professional baseball in Wisconsin for the next generation, along with its economic impact.”

Stadium Not a Done Deal

The budget item still has to make it through Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled congress before it can be signed by Evers, a Democrat.

State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos critiqued the governor’s approach, saying “Governor Evers drops this bomb in the budget, never mentioning or attempting to collaborate with the Legislature in any way.”

Vos added that he looks “forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure that the Brewers stay in Wisconsin.”

Evers has argued that the upfront payment would save $200 million compared to a long-term bond and bring an estimated $400 million in revenue over 20 years.

The Pro Volleyball Federation now has a second market: Omaha, Nebraska.

Recording artist Jason Derulo and City+Ventures founder Danny White are launching a team in the city during the league’s inaugural season, which begins in February 2024.

Nebraska doesn’t currently have any major league sports teams, but volleyball has become an attraction in the state.

• Since 2013, the University of Nebraska’s women’s volleyball team has led the nation in attendance. 
• Omaha set the NCAA record for the largest crowd for a regular-season match when Nebraska took on Creighton last season.
• The city also hosted the 2022 NCAA Division I Volleyball Championships. 

Omaha is also home to the AAA’s Omaha Storm Chasers and the USL League One’s Union Omaha, among other professional sports teams.

PVF revealed on Tuesday it will “make additional announcements in the coming days regarding inaugural-season team markets.”

Star-Studded Sport

In December, Joe Burrow and his parents, Jimmy and Robin, were announced as founding partners of the league. Former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer — who has three daughters who play volleyball — is also a founding partner. 

PVF previously announced DP Fox Sports & Entertainment and its chairman Dan DeVos — whose family owns the NBA’s Orlando Magic and the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins — would be the league’s first ownership group with a team in Grand Rapids, Michigan.