Tonight in Unpackings: Game 1 of the World Series had the lowest audience ever for a Fall Classic opener, even though the Rangers-D-backs game provided an additional extra-inning thriller, Austin reports Karp from SBJ.
- Manfred expresses support for MLB playoff format
- Dave Checketts: taking on a new role
- NBA Unveils Custom Courts for In-Season Tournament
- Opinion article: Is gate mania justified in DI men’s basketball?
Listen to SBJ’s most popular podcast, Morning Buzzcastwhere Abe Madkour opens the week with the big CAA win, Wimbledon expansion plans, thoughts on the World Series and more.
The Rangers’ extra-innings victory over the D-backs on Friday night marked the least-watched World Series opener on record, SBJ’s Austin Karp reports.
Fox drew 9.17 million viewers for the Fall Classic opener. The previous low was set during the pandemic World Series in 2020, when the Dodgers-Rays Game 1 drew 9.27 million on Tuesday night.
Game 1 is down 20% from last year’s Astros-Phillies (11.48 million, also a Friday night). Two years ago, the Braves-Astros opener on a Tuesday night drew 10.81 million on Fox.
The World Series decline comes after MLB had its most-watched LCS round since 2018. Fox, FS1, TBS and truTV averaged 5.2 million viewers for the 14-game D-backs-Phillies series and Rangers-Astros, up 15%. from last year (only nine games) and the best since 12 games averaged 5.27 million in 2018.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has expressed support for the league’s playoff format despite a wave of criticism he encountered after the top three players in the MLB regular season – the Braves, Orioles and Dodgers – all fell in the Division Series as two wild-card teams, the D-backs and Rangers, qualified for the world series, reports SBJ’s Erik Bacharach.
Manfred touched on a number of topics during his speech, such as the vote to move the A’s to Vegas, the declining value of starting pitchers and an update on the automated ball-strike system.
Few, if any, sports business executives have a resume comparable to that of Dave Checketts. In a career that spanned more than four decades, Checketts was president of two NBA teams, chairman and CEO of Madison Square Garden, owner of the Blues and Real Salt Lake, and chairman and CEO from the hospitality giant Legends.
He knows a thing or two about running a business. Yet when Checketts learned about 10 years ago that two of his sons and a son-in-law were planning to start a clothing line, he had some doubts about the viability of the venture.
Nate and Ben Checketts and their brother-in-law Carras Holmstead launched men’s sportswear brand Rhone in 2014. The business has flourished in the years since, and not only has Checketts gotten into the business for a long time, but he is also an investor, a member of the board of directors of Rhône and instrumental in the formation of a group of new shareholders, including David Blitzer, who owns stakes in the 76ers and the Devils, among others ; Hornets co-president Gabe Plotkin; and the family office of late Jazz owner Larry Miller, who last year bought private equity firm L Catterton and reasserted control of what he says will be a Checketts family business for years to come .
In this week’s magazine, SBJ’s Chris Smith writes about how Checketts achieved the only goal he still had for his long and successful career: working with his sons.
The NBA unveiled the designs of its 30 playing courts for in-season tournaments, reports SBJ’s Tom Friendwith a mandatory league-wide aesthetic that includes fully painted floors, a superimposed image of the NBA Cup trophy at midcourt, and contrasting color runs from foul line to foul line.
The idea is that the fields will serve as a visual marker for tournament games versus regular season affairs. Each team enriched their tournament court with City Edition colors and logos, and the notable result is that the Celtics will play their first-ever home game without a parquet floor (wood grain details have been banned). As part of a three-and-a-half-month initiative led by the league’s creative services group and other executives, each team had to rent, remove or renovate a field in time for the tournament’s Nov. 3 opening .
A look at the 30 alternate courts used by NBA teams during the in-season tournament
Speedway Motorsports has filled its Official Motorhome Partner category with a new sponsor, as publicly traded Thor Industries will promote its various brands at the promoter’s NASCAR tracks across America, reports SBJ’s Adam Stern.
The deal shows how Speedway Motorsports leverages the massive number of people who camp on their grounds each year during event weeks, with 25,000 campsites at its facilities. It includes marketing rights to all 10 SM circuits as well as the Circuit of the Americas (SM promotes NASCAR races there but does not own them). Indiana-based Thor owns 20 RV manufacturer brands like Airstream, Starcraft and Highland Ridge.
Tonight’s opinion piece is written by three students at MIT’s Sloan School of Management – Sam Weyen, Peter Holt and Brian Kelly (with contributions from Aseem Goel and Glenn Borok) – on the effects of the portal transfer to DI men’s college basketball after its launch. first five years.
“The act of transferring in men’s college basketball is sensationalized as a fast track to greater success, but the reality is that players and programs seeking transfers rarely experience significant improvement. Without compelling qualitative incentives, this is often not in the best interest of players or programs to read the portal.”
Read full submission here.
- Levy is taking advantage of what he calls a “sports equinox” Monday night, noting it’s the first sports hospitality company to serve more than 300,000 fans in five major professional leagues on the same night in North America : the World Series at Chase Field, with the D-backs hosting the Rangers; “Monday Night Football” with the Lions vs. the Raiders, the MLS Cup playoffs at Lumen Field with the Sounders hosting FC Dallas; NBA venues Spectrum Center, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, State Farm Arena, FedExForum, Fiserv Forum, Paycom Center and Crypto.com Arena; and NHL venues T-Mobile Arena and American Airlines Center.
- Dodgers RF Mookie Betts will serve as World Series correspondent for MLB during Game 3 in Phoenix, where he will provide content and behind-the-scenes access across various league platforms, writes SBJ’s Erik Bacharach.
- SKIMS has become the premier underwear partner of the NBA, WNBA and USA Basketball in a multi-year deal that also gives the NBA an equity stake in Kim Kardashian’s company. notes Tom Friend from SBJ.
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