SBJ Unpacks: Game Changers flip the script on women's sports
Tonight in Unpacks, SBJ's Game Changers event highlights the importance and sound business rationale of investing in women's sports.
St. Louis City SC is losing its stadium naming deal. Fanatics is expanding its Mitchell & Ness footprint. There is a college basketball exhibition game coming to PPV this week.
K.C. is looking for investment in women's sports. PepsiCo is interested in WNBA sponsorship. MSP Sports takes over majority ownership of X Games. Betr will promote extensively around founder Jake Paul's upcoming fight.
The Kansas City Current will play in the NWSL title game this Saturday. The team's co-owners Angie and Chris Long have invested a lot in their team since they bought it in 2020. They have built a $15 million training facility and a stadium for women's sports at a cost of $117 million. They believe their presence in a professional sport has helped them to attract corporate partners. It also created a winning culture among the players. "The best athletes in this world just want to get better and they want the win. We're creating that environment," Angies says.
PepsiCo and its brands will focus on WNBA and A'ja Wilson. They will continue to sponsor the three-point contest and have deeper integrations into WNBA Live. A’ja is the face of the league. She got her first endorsement deal with Mountain Dew in 2018. The Ruffles brand gave her her very first chip deal. They also collaborated with her on her own custom hoodie and launched a sweepstakes.
MSP Sports Capital has bought majority stake in the X Games. ESPN Productions will retain a minority stake. X games will be led by CEO Steve Flisler, who joins from Twitch. Tony Hawk has also joined in an advisory capacity. Over a dozen ESPN staffers will move over to the new XGames property. The near-term commercial strategy will focus on integrating existing Xgames event sponsors.
Jake Paul is taking on Anderson Silva in a boxing match on ShowtimePPV on Saturday night. Paul's sports betting startup Betr will promote its brand heavily around the event. BetR is a free-to-play game operator that intends to roll into real-money microbetting.
The Hawks signed a multiyear extension of their sponsorship deal with JPMorgan Chase. The brand will remain the official bank, credit card, wealth management and investment banking sponsor of the NBA team and State Farm Arena. Chase will also become presenting sponsor for Project Rebound, a community platform that works with Good Sports.
Sports Media Podcast features Fox Sports' Joe Davis, who is about to call his first World Series game. Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discuss Jim Nantz's departure from the NCAA and CBS's replacement with Ian Eagle. They also discuss the NBA's decision to mandate RSN announcers travel to every game this season.
Playfly founder and CEO Michael Schreiber talks about the growth of the agency and the focus on the fan experience. He believes local fans are the key element to the sports industry. Schrieber also discusses the changing media strategy for teams and college sports.
Schrieber's company serves the local fan. No one's a fan of the playoffs or the championship.
Local media is changing and teams are getting closer to their fans.
College sports is the second largest sport in the country. It is expected to become the number one category in future.
SBJ College looks at the latest edition of the magazine.
FanDuel will become the first sportsbook to receive the NBA's live tracking data. NBC Sports Chicago is launching the BetCast production around Bulls games this season. Ezekiel Elliott, Brice Butler and Mike Malaska have been named brand ambassadors for TruGolf. The Six Invitational for Rainbow Six: Siege will return to Montreal after two years in Quebec. Xavier Hunter is running in the TCS N.Y. Marathon on November 6. He needs to send a photo and a note about the experience to Sports Business Journal.
FanDuel's contract with Sportradar extends until June 2031. SportTechie reports FanDue will be the first sportsbook to receive the NBA's live tracking data.
Red Bull is sponsoring the T1 esports team during the League of Legends World Championships currently going on in the U.S. The Red Bull High Performance Center in Santa Monica, California has been serving as a de facto HQ for T 1 during this tournament.
NBC Sports Chicago is launching its first of four "BetCast" productions around Bulls games this season. The alternate telecasts are a collaboration between the RSN and PointsBet.
Ezekiel Elliott, Brice Butler and Mike Malaska have been named brand ambassadors for TruGolf. Today marks the rollout of a new launch monitor from Trugolf, dubbed Apogee.
The Six Invitational for Rainbow Six: Siege will return to Montreal after two years in Europe due to pandemic restrictions in Quebec.
