SBJ Unpacks: Leagues, sportsbooks work on problem gambling issues

Tonight in Unpacks: With sports gambling as easy as pulling out your smartphone, leagues and sportsbooks are working to prevent fans from becoming gambling addicts. But is anyone listening to the warnings and using the tools available to stave off addiction, asks SBJ's Bill King in an Early Access look at next week's magazine.

Also tonight:

• Mystics seek 'room to grow' with Capital One Arena proposal
• New 2K Sports effort could boost market for tennis video games
• Wild Card round has best audience in nearly a decade
• Two Berlin AEG venues ink rights deal with Uber

Listen to SBJ's most popular podcast, Morning Buzzcast, where SBJ's Abe Madkour closes the week with predictions from sports insiders for 2024, WBD’s TNT Sports rebranding, big business changes in the desert for the Cardinals and more.

The perils of mobile betting and problem gambling for fans

The modern, tricked-out sportsbook apps that now live on the mobile screens of more than 20 million U.S. adults not only allow for a dizzying array of bets but also come equipped with a level-headed menu of controls meant to keep recreation from spiraling into addiction.

In spite of recommendations to “Set Limits” that are laid out in every public service campaign, fewer than 5% of bettors use those tools.

In next week's magazine, SBJ's Bill King goes in-depth on the risk of addiction rising with the advent of mobile betting -- and how leagues and sportsbooks are working to educate fans and develop tools to identify problem gambling. Get an Early Access look at the piece here.

Mystics seek 'room to grow' with Capital One Arena proposal

While the news last month around Monumental Sports & Entertainment’s framework agreement to relocate the Wizards and Capitals to Potomac Yard drove most of the initial conversation, the announcement also included a proposal to relocate the WNBA’s Mystics from the Entertainment & Sports Arena in D.C. to a “right-sized” Capital One Arena that would give the team more room to grow, notes SBJ’s Wes Sanderson.

“We’ve had a steadily increasing number of sellouts,” said Monica Dixon, MSE president of external affairs and chief administrative officer. “One thing we've been really wrestling with is that in order for the team to grow into its fan base, we don't have space to increase seats.”

The ESA has a capacity of 4,200 -- the smallest among WNBA venues -- and Dixon said the team could play in a 5,000-6,000-seat arena comfortably. Given the rise of women’s sports, MSE is concerned the team soon won’t be able to accommodate the fan demand. That led MSE to propose relocating the Mystics to Capital One Arena, which would be renovated into a more flexible building that could be reconfigured for capacities of anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000.

Dixon said the goal would be a curated fan experience, such as a larger retail presence and more premium ticket options. MSE has plenty of time to figure it out, since the Potomac Yard proposal could take several years to complete. “We’re looking forward to the fact that we’re going to have four or five years to really plan this,” Dixon said. “It is something we don’t usually get in sports.”

MSE signed a lease with DC Events in 2019 for the Mystics’ current home that runs through 2037. Dixon said that despite paying for the lease upfront, relocating the Mystics to Capital One Arena would require approval from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. D.C. also would have to allow MSE to continue operating Capital One Arena. To help ease concerns around ESA’s capability to make its bond payments without the revenue from Mystics games, Dixon said that MSE has offered to help it book the arena with other events.

Sports media figures react to SI layoffs

Scores of reporters and editors shared their reactions to The Arena Group laying off much of the Sports Illustrated staff today. Here's a sampling:

• NY Daily News’ Antwan V. Staley: “Before the internet, publications like Sports Illustrated would provide unique stories to people who didn’t necessarily live in those areas. SI was the holy grail of sports journalism. It really is a sad day for the industry.”

• CBS Sports' Matt Norlander: “Digital/print media have been caught in an inescapable hell cycle for a long time, but I've got to say that the mismanagement that sanctioned the downfall of Sports Illustrated is especially infuriating. The sports + journalism industries are way worse off because of it.”

New 2K Sports effort could boost market for tennis video games

Earlier this week, 2K Sports announced the return of Top Spin, the tennis video game series that’s been on the shelf since 2011. This brings a genre heavyweight back into a sports sim market in which tennis ranks ninth in lifetime sales, behind snowboarding but ahead of fishing, Circana Executive Director/Video Games Mat Piscatella tells SBJ’s Jason Wilson.

Top Spin had four games between 2003 and 2011. The best-selling entry remains 2003’s Top Spin for Xbox (it came to PlayStation 2 in 2005). “The original Top Spin is also the best-selling non-Mario tennis game in the U.S. all-time,” Piscatella said.

Piscatella also noted that Top Spin 2 (2006) and Top Spin 3 (2008) both sold better on Xbox platforms than PlayStation. 2011’s Top Spin 4 sold better on PlayStation 3.

Top Spin 2K25 doesn’t have a release date, but expect the game developed by 2K’s Hangar 13 studio (the makers of Mafia III) to get more teasers around Grand Slam events (this week’s announcement was timed for the Australian Open). It will enter a market against games from smaller developers: Matchpoint: Tennis Championships (PS5/Xbox Series X|S and PC) and Tennis On-Court for PlayStation VR2.

Wild Card round has best audience in nearly a decade

The NFL this year had its best Wild Card weekend audience since 2016 -- even with one game moving to Peacock and another moving from Sunday to Monday, reports SBJ's Austin Karp. The six games averaged 31.4 million viewers, up 9% from last year and the best since four games averaged 32.6 million in 2016.

In this week's SBJ Football newsletter, Ben Fischer also covers: 

• A second look at ownership situations in Indy, Houston
• J.J. Watt leads attack on Pro Football Focus

Can new commish fix League of Legends in North America?

Riot Games' North American League Championship Series (LCS) returns for its 12th season this weekend, and at the helm is a new commissioner in former coach, team analyst and content creator Mark Zimmerman. He's tasked with getting a massive esports league back on its feet after what many considered a disappointing 2023. SBJ's Kevin Hitt spoke to Zimmerman on Riot Games' L.A. campus late last week and pressed him on just how he is going to get this done.

Also in this week's SBJ Esports newsletter, Hitt also reports why Kia sought a new multiyear sponsorship deal with the LCS as other automakers have soured on esports. 

• Uber and AEG have new deal that sees the rideshare and food delivery platform take the naming rights for AEG’s two Berlin venues, which are now known as Uber Arena (formerly Mercedes-Benz Arena) and Uber Eats Music Hall (formerly Verti Music Hall), reports SBJ's Bret McCormick.

• USWNT star Sam Mewis, who announced her retirement from soccer this morning due to ongoing knee injury issues, is joining the Men in Blazers as editor-in-chief of its new vertical focused on women’s soccer, “The Women’s Game,” writes SBJ's Alex Silverman.

• The Titans are in the market with Nissan Stadium's food and beverage program, one of the most important fan experience decisions they’ll make ahead of their inaugural season in the new venue in 2027, notes McCormick.