SBJ Unpacks: Larry Jones, an under-the-radar power broker

Larry Jones helped get Fox Sports off the ground in 1994. He has kept his public profile small. John Ourand profiles Jones this week as one of SBJ’s Champions of Sports Business.

The CAA World Congress of Sports kicks off tomorrow at The Times Center in Manhattan. The two-day event remains the largest and most prestigious sports business conference in North America. In a typical year, the event draws more than 700 attendees.

Larry Jones is an under-the-radar power broker. Dodge is in talks about re-entering NASCAR. Mercury adds Clemson to roster of schools with digital collectibles.

Larry Jones has been with Fox Sports since 1994. He started as an entrepreneur and helped create Fox. Now he is executive vice president of business. For the past 28 years, he has worked to keep his public profile as small as possible. He is also Fox's point person with the leagues. NFL has had a contract with him since the 1994 and MLB since 1996.

Dodge's talks with NASCAR about re-entering the racing series as a manufacturer have stalled, according to sources. Dodge has had multiple stints in NASCAR, most recently from 2001-12. It left after winning a championship with Team Penske and Brad Keselowski. The brand is a supplier in the NHRA drag racing and is now aligned with Tony Stewart.

Mercury has launched clemsontigers.io, a custom site that will provide inside access to Clemson sports teams and digital collectibles. Clemsonigers will post team updates, stage chat forums and host virtual fan interactions with athletes. Mercury has similar partnerships with Kansas, Kentucky and UCF. In the coming weeks, Mercury will launch similar platforms for Oklahoma and Villanova.

Endeavor Streaming chief commercial officer Pete Bellamy argues sports federations can do much more to offer OTT content to fans. Ott platforms provide tools for commercialization flexibility, predictive analytics, churn mitigation and significant revenue opportunities through advertising, live commerce, lead generation and more.

NHL fans less likely to let inflation get in the way of attending an NHL game than fans of MLB, NFL and NBA. 55% of NBA fans in August said that the economy will likely change their live attendance plans this season.

Dallas Fuel and Houston Outlaws played a regular-season game at the "Battle for Texas" this weekend. Over 600 tickets were sold and 44,417 people watched on YouTube. It was the first time the game was played on the full version of the new Overwatch 2. The game's media rights deal with YouTube is set to expire next year. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is happy with the Wild Card format. The Bills signed a corporate sponsorship with Fieldsheer. There are eight teams left in the MLB Postseason. A Houston-Phillies World Series would give Aramark control of concessions.

There are eight teams left in the MLB Postseason. A Houston-Phillies World Series would give Aramark control of concessions for both participants. Legends (Yankees), Levy (Dodgers) and Sodexo Live (Mariners) each have one ballpark left. Delaware North Sportservice is pulling for Guardians-Padres/Braves.

Rob Manfred is happy with the way baseball played the Wild Card game. He thinks a best-of-three format is a more fair test than an individual knockout game and encourages fans to hang with them as they move into the division series.

The Bills signed a corporate sponsorship with Fieldsheer. FieldSheer is a maker of temperature-controlled clothing.