On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including Caitlin Clark‘s much-anticipated WNBA debut. The Indiana Fever rookie had the bad kind of double-double, with 20 points and 10 turnovers, in a loss to the Connecticut Sun.
The hosts discuss the many ways in which the 22-year-old Clark has already altered the WNBA‘s business landscape. Bolstered by increased revenue, league owners agreed this year to fly players via chartered airplanes, a service that will cost around $25 million per year. That concession happened outside of collective bargaining, an interesting wrinkle that underscores just how much pressure was being put on the league. Tickets sales have set records, and many teams are moving to bigger venues for their home games against the Fever or Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky.
Next they discuss the latest in the NFL. The league’s 32 teams each released their 2024 schedules on Wednesday night, a coordinated drop that represents a Super Bowl of sorts for anyone who works in NFL ticket sales or social media. It’s yet another example of the league taking a once-mundane offseason milestone–like the draft or the combine–and growing it into a huge commercial opportunity. They also talk about the NFL’s new Netflix deal, which will see four games played on Christmas Day across the next three seasons.
The hosts then talk about the looming NBA media deals, and more specifically, what happens with Turner’s popular Inside the NBA show if WBD loses its NBA rights. They debate whether Shaq, Charles Barkley and the rest of the gang could keep their relevance if the network loses its rights to broadcast the games themselves.
Lastly, they tell a few stories from Sportico‘s “Invest in Sports” event in Los Angeles last week. Speakers included Alexis Ohanian, Julie Uhrman, Todd Boehly and Kevin Demoff, with topics ranging from private equity and team ownership to league operations and marketing strategy.
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