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NCAA House Settlement Handed to Judge as Reviews, Challenges Loom
Attorneys for the NCAA, power conferences and athletes represented by the House, Carter and Hubbard antitrust litigations filed a motion Friday for preliminary approval of a settlement agreement that would morph the upper echelon of college sports into pro sports.House v. NCAA Settlement: Plaintiffs Refine Their Complaint The motion follows the parties agreeing to a term sheet in May that intends to resolve the three antitrust lawsuits and comes on the heels of a recent delay in finalizing the terms. If it withstands judicial scrutiny, the agreement will obligate the NCAA and member schools to pay athletes about $2.8 billion over the next 10 years...
Sportico Transactions: Moves and Mergers Roundup for July 26
Welcome to Sportico’s transactions wire, a weekly rundown of personnel, partnerships and products across the sports business industry.Sportico Transactions: Moves and Mergers Roundup for July 19 PERSONNEL New York Red Bulls Name Scott Epstein Head of Corporate Partnerships The New York Red Bulls have named Scott Epstein the head of corporate partnerships for the Major League Soccer club. In his role, Epstein will oversee all partnership opportunities for both the club and Red Bull Arena. This encompasses identifying new partnership opportunities including brand partners for venue naming rights, maximizing existing partnerships and business development opportunities. Prior to joining the Red Bulls, Epstein served...
TBS, Warner Bros. Discovery Sue NBA Over Loss of TV Deal
In a court filing at a New York trial court Thursday, TBS and Warner Bros. Discovery sued the NBA, NBA Media Ventures and NBA Properties.Charles Barkley: NBA Chose Amazon's Money Over Fans “You are hereby summoned to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer,” a summons written attorney David Yohai read. Yohai, a senior partner in the litigation department of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, is representing TBS and WBD. The complaint for the lawsuit was filed as a sealed document, though Sportico has obtained a redacted version. The plaintiffs contend WBD lawfully invoked a matching clause to match...
Charles Barkley: NBA Chose Amazon’s Money Over Fans
As you’d expect, Charles Barkley had something to say about the end of the nearly four-decade relationship between Turner Sports and the NBA.NBA Blocking TNT's Media Rights Shot Could Force Legal Jump Ball The longtime TNT analyst and Basketball Hall of Famer issued a statement, lamenting that the league chose the money from tech titan Amazon over the fans. “Clearly, the NBA has wanted to break up with us from the beginning,” Barkley said in the statement, which was shared by TNT’s corporate sibling Bleacher Report. “I’m not sure TNT ever had a chance. TNT matched the money but the league knows...
Ninjas in Pyjamas’ $20M IPO Is Latest Test of Esports Biz in Public Markets
Prominent esports franchise Ninjas in Pyjamas began public trading on Friday, the latest financial litmus test for an industry—and business model—still reeling from an investment boom and bust cycle.CVC IPO Offers Glimpse Into Private Equity Giant's Sports Strategy NIP Group, which owns Ninjas in Pyjamas, Chinese gaming org eStar and Chinese representation agency ESVF, is hoping to raise about $20.25 million from its IPO, according to SEC filings from this week. That’s 2.25 million shares at an IPO price of $9, at the bottom of the $9-$11 range listed in an F-1 filing earlier in the month. It will list on...
House v. NCAA Settlement: Plaintiffs Refine Their Complaint
Ahead of the expected court submission of a settlement agreement for In Re: College Athlete NIL Litigation, the plaintiffs’ attorneys on Friday afternoon filed—with the defendants’ consent— a second consolidated amended complaint that sought to formalize their challenge of both NIL restrictions and limits on “pay-for-play.” As a practical matter, the new filing is just a step in the legal process to submit the settlement for preliminary approval later Friday.UFC and Fighters Want $335M Settlement, but Judge Might Slam It The new version of the complaint brings together the various claims made against the NCAA and its conferences in the House,...
France Aims for Record Medal Haul Thanks to de Gaulle’s Disgust
At its home Olympic Games, France could collect the most medals in over a century, thanks largely to an athlete development system born from disgrace.Team USA Spends $230 Million in Pursuit of Untapped Gold In 1960, France returned from Rome with only five medals (25th overall among participating countries) and no golds for just the second time in the history of the modern Olympics. With postwar political instability at home and decolonization taking place overseas, French president (and former military officer) Charles de Gaulle determined the country couldn’t continue suffering defeats on playing fields as well. After all, Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin had...
Team USA Spends $230 Million in Pursuit of Untapped Gold
By most measures, the U.S. sport climbing team had a successful showing at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. There were four Americans in the competition—no nation had more—and Team USA brought home one of the six medals awarded, a silver won by Nathaniel Coleman in the men’s combined event. IOC Hotel Staff Strikes as Labor Pains Plague Paris Olympics This year in Paris, however, expectations are higher. The U.S. was the only nation to fill all eight qualifying slots, and many of those climbers are ranked in the global top 10 in their disciplines. There are also double the medal opportunities—instead...
Sports Media’s Merciless Evolution Leaves Cable TV Model Adrift
With apologies to Jon Landau, I have seen the future of cable television, and it is a suicidal penguin.NFL Sunday Ticket Lawsuit Could Change How Sports Are Streamed The flightless dandy in question waddles into the frame in the closing quarter of Werner Herzog’s 2007 documentary Encounters at the End of the World, which was filmed at an American research station in Antarctica. While the rest of the colony moseys over to a nearby feeding ground, the “deranged” penguin turns his back on his pals and treks straight for the interior of the continent. “With 5,000 kilometers ahead of him, he’s...
UFC and Fighters Want $335M Settlement, but Judge Might Slam It
“And the reality is the claim has little value. They should take—they’d be better off both taking the money, getting the injunctive relief … The world where that doesn’t happen is not in that fighter’s interests because I would tell that fighter if they were in my office, ‘You’re likely to lose. You’re likely to get nothing.’”Houston Christian May Call Legal Audible After Loss to NCAA – Eric Cramer, attorney for UFC fighters, bluntly urging U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware on July 12 to approve the $335 million settlement. When UFC and fighters in two class action lawsuits, Cung Le et al. v. Zuffa and Kajan...
NIL Collective Group Looks to Raise Dues, Members and DC Influence
The Collective Association, a trade group representing 42 NIL collectives (and counting), is planning to raise fees for many of its members early next year, with the hope of increasing its already-significant lobbying effort in Washington.Florida Man Seeks Dismissal of Jaden Rashada's NIL Lawsuit TCA spent $80,000 on Congressional lobbying expenditures in the second quarter of 2024, according to disclosures recently filed with the House and Senate. That matches what the organization spent in Q1. By comparison, the Big Ten Conference spent $50,000 in the most recent quarter. Asked about his organization’s future influence-peddling plans, White said: “I don’t think it goes...
IOC Hotel Staff Strikes as Labor Pains Plague Paris Olympics
International Olympic Committee leaders got a proper introduction to France Thursday, as staff members at their Hôtel du Collectionneur reportedly protested for two hours, disrupting breakfast service, a day before the 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony.Team USA Spends $230 Million in Pursuit of Untapped Gold According to the Union Départementale CGT Paris trade group, employees are pushing for their first raises since 2017 amid negotiations with hotel management. “We can’t wait for the workers of the world to discover our French way of striking,” UD CGT Paris posted online while saying that the IOC is paying €22 million to stay at the five-star hotel about...
Vince Vaughn Buys Pickleball Club Coachella Valley Scorpions
Vince Vaughn is switching sports: He’s going from dodgeball to pickleball.Northwestern's Ex-AD Earned $1.2M After Fraught 9-Day Stint The award-winning Hollywood actor, who starred in 2004 comedy Dodgeball, has acquired a majority stake in the Coachella Valley Scorpions, one of 12 teams in the National Pickleball League. Vaughn is teaming up with Scorpions co-owner and NPL player Kim Jagd, who will remain as a minority owner once the transaction is complete. Vaughn joins an ownership group that also includes team CEO Rob Zwemmer, Ruth Ann Poppa and Don Zuker. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.MLP, PPA Pickleball Tours Complete Merger...
Dan Gilbert’s REG, Gray Media Form Rock Entertainment Sports Net
The over-the-air renaissance continues in sports media as Dan Gilbert’s Rock Entertainment Group (REG), the holding company for the Cleveland Cavaliers and other properties, is launching a sports platform with Gray Media called the Rock Entertainment Sports Network.Team USA Spends $230 Million in Pursuit of Untapped Gold The new venture will broadcast live games for several other teams under the REG umbrella—the Cleveland Charge (the Cavs’ NBA G League affiliate), the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, the Lake Erie Crushers of the Frontier League—as well as high school varsity sports. Games will be shown on Gray’s local affiliate stations in Cleveland (WUAB, WOIO)...
Valkyries Set Season Ticket Deposit Record for U.S. Women’s Sports
The Golden State Valkyries, one of the WNBA’s two new expansion teams, have taken more than 15,000 season ticket deposits, the most for a U.S. women’s sports franchise before its first season.Angel Reese to Join Unrivaled 3-on-3 Hoops League Jess Smith, the Valkyries’ president, said the NWSL’s San Diego Wave held the prior record at “close to 5,000,” when the team launched in 2021. Season ticket deposits cost $25 per seat, according to the Valkyries’ website, which—after 15,000 deposits—yields $375,000. The team, which will start play in the 2025 season, previously said it eclipsed 12,000 on May 29. Home games will be...
Former NFL, WWE Execs Join Grand Slam Track Leadership Team
Breakaway Data and Gains Group co-founder Steve Gera has been named the president and chief operating officer of Grand Slam Track (GST), the track league founded by four-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson that launches next April.Gabby Thomas Hopes Paris Olympics Can Push Track to Lucrative Future GST has already signed top track stars in Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Josh Kerr, with ambitious plans to create a platform that delivers the best head-to-head matchups in the sport. Gera, a former officer in the United States Marines Corps, joins GST after coaching and leading innovation and analytics programs for the Los Angeles Chargers...
Dale! Texas Spent $2.3 Million on SEC Entry Fest With Rapper Pitbull
The University of Texas spent $2.3 million on an on-campus party to celebrate its entrance into the SEC, including a performance fee for musical artist Pitbull.Power Progeny: Delany's Son Joins Fellow Commish Kids in the Family Biz Those costs include $889,000 paid directly by the school’s athletics department, plus another $339,000 for advertising, according to a budget document obtained by Sportico via an open records request. The other $1.07 million was paid by the Longhorns “via Learfield,” the school’s multimedia rights partner. The Learfield tranche includes $610,000 paid in talent fees for Pitbull and another artist, according to the document. The Longhorns...
NBA Blocking TNT’s Media Rights Shot Could Force Legal Jump Ball
Wednesday was a dramatic day in sports broadcasting—the NBA announced that Warner Bros. Discovery “did not match the terms” of Amazon’s offer to broadcast games from 2025-26 through 20235-36 while, conversely, WBD announced it had “matched the Amazon offer.”Highest-Paid Paris Olympics Athletes: Top 20 Earn $1.35B Both statements can’t be right. It might take a judge to referee. Or maybe not. As Sportico’s media expert Anthony Crupi detailed, the NBA has officially recognized Amazon Prime Video, Disney’s ABC/ESPN and NBC/Peacock as the league’s next media partners, and they’ll pay $76.9 billion over the course of the deals. Meanwhile, WBD’s TNT will be out after the...
Business Beyond the Game: Stephon Marbury on Business in China
It’s common for NBA players to launch and design their own line of shoes.Business Beyond the Game: Austin Ekeler on Investing in Tech But former New York Knicks star Stephon Marbury was one of the first to experiment with such a venture that gave special focus to affordable footwear. In 2006, the two-time NBA All-Star launched the famous Starbury One, an inexpensive line that also doubled as a social movement. Despite pricing his Chinese-made signature shoe at $15, its success on the market was short-lived, as former retail partner Steve & Barry’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008. The Brooklyn native,...
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