I had a great time in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals last night in Brooklyn. It was a tough loss for Liberty, but it was an electric atmosphere, with a sold-out crowd and lots of families. It’s a shame the Liberty violated league policy on access to the media.
The first owners’ meeting of the post-Dan Snyder era was most notable for what it lacked: high-stakes tension. This is not to say that the meeting had no consequences: is there anything more important than a commissioner contract? — but there was a certain lightness around the Intercontinental Hotel, where joyful subjects like international growth and the solidity of the property’s finances dominated.
It was especially noticeable given what happened the last time the owners met there in 2021when former employees of the Commanders crashed in the hall to demand accountability for Snyder. Something else seemed very different: Patriots owner Robert Kraft was operating with a lower profile as his team struggled, while the Ben Volin of the Boston Globe detailed in this article noting Kraft’s desire to avoid the media at the hotel. Kraft isn’t necessarily always talkative at these events, but you can usually reach him if you try.
Colts owner Jim Irsay doesn’t appear to have any plans to stop being the most accessible owner, even though his role as anti-Snyder agitator is no longer necessary. He gave surprising details about why the owners don’t want to approve Tom Brady’s low-cost purchase of a share of the Raiders, and he also made the case for higher debt limits. Don’t overlook Irsay’s point about the fairness of the rules when it comes to debt – a long-simmering issue among some homeowners who feel like the rules aren’t always the same when it comes to request exemptions from debt ceilings. “I too like fairness for all. I would prefer to see a higher debt limit in general,” Irsay said.
Expect to hear a lot more about debt limits soon, as owners consider ways to make the team’s stock market more liquid. As for the Brady situation, it’s hard to see what could change the naysayers’ minds, short of a complete overhaul of finances or assurances that Brady would not join the Fox broadcast booth or wouldn’t work for Davis.
The Chiefs have signed three other sponsorships in Germany: Bison, a cryptocurrency trading app; Crave premium pet food; and Ring, Amazon’s home security camera brand. This follows three previously announced deals: Burger King Germany, Engelbert Strauss workwear and RTL, the Chiefs’ German media distributor for pre-season games and shoulder content.
These are all six-figure deals, Chiefs president Mark Donovan said (see my Chiefs/Germany coverage last week). The Chiefs are second among the 21 teams in the Global Markets program in monetizing international rights, Donovan said, citing secret NFL data. (We don’t know who No. 1 is, but the Cowboys are a likely suspect.)
“It’s not about signing six contracts in year three,” Donovan said. “It’s about having an international fan base in 30 years, through things like playing games in Frankfurt and adding in-market partners that those fans are familiar with.”
The chiefs relied heavily on an advisory board made up of six German business leaders. They give bosses and their agencies informal knowledge of the market and culture, essential to closing deals. “The time, headache and money they saved us, just with the ‘that’s not how it works here’ kind of conversation, it’s a lot,” Donovan said.
The advisory board:
- Jana Bernhard, CEO of S20
- Holger Blask, Managing Director/Marketing and Sales of DFB
- Andreas Jung, member of the management of FC Bayern
- Marco Klewenhagen, Managing Director of SPONSORS
- Wolfram Kons, Head of Charity/VP of the RTL Foundation
- Karsten Petry, Director of Marketing and Sales at Deutsche Sporthilfe
The Chiefs also have a full roster of agencies: Sportfive (sales), Sweep (digital/social); Sidelines (RP); Brands & Emotions (activation/strategy) and Gold Rabbit Sports (strategy/partner management).
During the offseason, the Bengals named former BSE Global executive Lacy Ekert their first director of partnerships and put her to work in sales, armed with one of the most exciting on-field products in sports. I met with Ekert earlier this week for an update on the portfolio.
This week, the Bengals signed Western & Southern as their new wealth management sponsor – moving the financial giant (best known for its title sponsorship of the nearby ATP/WTA stop) from a suite holder to a deal IP with camera-visible signage at Paycor. Stadium. Also new: a rare three-brand deal with Diageo, including Guinness, Ciroc vodka and Crown Royal, the latter putting its name on a bar next to the “Ruler of the Jungle” stage.
Other renewals or new deals include: AB InBev, for the naming rights to the big new Bud Light City Bar at Paycor; Cocktails on stand, with a dedicated bar inside the newly sponsored title CareSource Club; Honda, newly added in automobiles; an improved renewal with Kia; and brands Pepsi, Bold Penguin, Grant Thornton, EJ Gallo, Procter & Gamble’s Tide and Gillette and Kroger. Cincinnati-based Kroger will place several branded “Grab and Go”s throughout the stadium, Ekert said.
The Bengals invested $20 million in Paycor during the offseason, adding amenities designed to improve the fan experience and attract sponsors. The Bud Light City Bar is one example, and several stadium assets are still for sale, including the West Club, an upgraded D Gate (the most popular entry gate), and the Jungle Bar (Ekert is seeking a sponsor for the bourbon, whiskey or tequila). ). It is also pursuing contracts in the field of luxury cars.
The Ford Center at the Star, home of the Cowboys, will host the championship game of the inaugural season of the American Flag Football League on June 22, the league announced today. (Full program here.) Its other venues include Cashman Field in Las Vegas, where the league begins April 27; Veterans Memorial Stadium in Boston, Vanderbilt Soccer-Lacrosse Complex in Nashville; and Southern Methodist U.’s Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas.
Four teams – Dallas, Nashville, Boston and Las Vegas – will all play at the same venue every weekend for eight straight weeks leading up to the title game in June. Each team will play two matches per day, for a total of four matches per week at each venue, in a 7v7 format.
The AFFL was founded by Jeff Lewis, a financial entrepreneur, and the league has undisclosed individual investors backing each team, as well as prior crowdfunding support.
- The NFL agreed to a contract extension with Commissioner Roger Goodell that runs through March 2027. The deal will take Goodell into his third decade atop the world’s most lucrative sports league. Goodell said his next three-year term would focus on continued growth, particularly overseas. My boss, Abe Madkour, also gave his thoughts on Goodell’s extension today. Morning Buzzcast.
- NFL owners approved measure allowing franchises to take on an additional $100 million in debt, increasing the team debt ceiling to $700 million, double the level allowed just five years ago. Many financial industry experts believe the banking industry would happily lend much more to teams, which enjoy extraordinary revenue and cost certainty thanks to media rights deals and the salary cap agreed to with the NFLPA.
- The NFL will decide before the Super Bowl whether to schedule a match in Spain or Brazil in 2024, said Peter O’Reilly, executive vice president/club affairs, international and league events. O’Reilly said Tuesday that a decision on whether those countries are ready could be made by “December or January,” and if the league selects one of those countries, the game would take place there at venue for a second match in Germany.
- NFL wants active players to participate in the flag football competition at the 2028 Los Angeles Games approved Monday by the IOC, but a senior league executive acknowledged it would require changes to current rules regarding players and external competitions.
- In this week Sports Media PodcastSBJ’s John Ourand and NY Post’s Andrew Marchand discuss what Pat McAfee paying QB Aaron Rodgers more than $1 million to appear on his show means for ESPN, its hosts and reporters.
- NFL+ offers its subscribers two alternative streams, produced by Genius Sports with Next Gen statistics from Second Spectrum, for all of its live games, starting this weekend, reports SBJ’s Joe Lemire: NFL+ Vision Stream, which will apply AI logic to display advanced metrics; and the NFL+ Stats Stream, which will identify talented players and list their scoring statistics.
- Otro Capital, part of the consortium that purchased a quarter of BWT Alpine F1 Team this summer, has signed several A-list stars to be part of its ownership group, including Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and TE Travis Kelce, writes SBJ’s Adam Stern.
- The NFL is focused on applying advanced data to combat the sixth annual Big Data Bowl, the crowdsourced competition supported by Amazon Web Services, writes Lemire of SBJ.
