Sports Business Journal

THE NEW NEIGHBOR

DURING A QUIET TWILIGHT with several inches of snow illuminating the darkening sky, the Family Circle plaza was the perfect spot from which to ponder the Buffalo Bills’ stadium past and the future. On one side of Abbott Road sat old Highmark Stadium,...

SPORTS FOR ALL

DAVID EVANGELISTA views his role as the new CEO of the Special Olympics as a huge honor, but he is more attuned to the huge opportunity in front of him. That opportunity, he said, is “to cement permanent change as to how the world looks at...

Podcasts On Point

ACHANCE MEETING on an Australian winetasting tour during the 2023 Women’s World Cup helped lead to Sarah Spain’s women’s sports podcast, “Good Game.” Vox Media’s Nishat Kurwa was so impressed with Megan Rapinoe at South by Southwest that she got the...

Case Closed

The 14-month legal dispute between NASCAR and two teams — 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports — came to an end last week, with the parties settling for an undisclosed amount. The antitrust trial, which stemmed from a bitter dispute over negotiations...

Phil Anschutz

While keeping a very low public profile, few have made as much of a global impact as Phil Anschutz. One could argue he single-handedly saved MLS from collapse and has been a key driver and investor in the league’s success, so much so that the...

GAME,SET,MATCH PAGES 12-17

STACEY ALLASTER REMEMBERS the day she met Steve Simon. This was three decades ago, before Allaster had run the U.S. Open as its first female tournament director, or preceded Simon as chairman and CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association. In the mid1990s,...

Best Places to Work in Sports

This week, Sports Business Journal recognizes its third annual class of Best Places to Work in Sports. The honorees represent industry segments covering the spectrum of sports, from major league teams to behind-the-scenes companies, with workforces...

Breaking down the debate and candidates in line for commissioner’s chairs

IN THE FALL OF 1920, Major League Baseball was reeling. One season removed from the disastrous “Black Sox” scandal, owners were losing a fight against widespread public perception that their sport was crooked. Many looked for some new form of...

One step closer in San Antonio

A proposed arena in downtown San Antonio for the Spurs moved beyond the drawing board, as Bexar County voters approved a public funding plan that clears the way to use $311 million in hotel and rental-car tax dollars to help fund the $1.3 billion...

Cheers to a Champion

World Series: Could a Dodgers repeat really ruin baseball?

THE LOS ANGELES DODGERS have built a business behemoth around Japanese two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani and are attempting to become the first team in a quarter-century to repeat as World Series champions. Simultaneously, several competitors have...

POLITICAL FOOTBALL

HOW THREE MAYORS ARE USING SPORTS AS THE CENTERPIECE OF COMMUNITY BUILDING,

STARTING LINEUPS

HEY SAID their goodbyes on what they called Marv Albert’s “12thstraight 49th birthday” — June 12, 2002 — and they’re saying hello again just after his 35th-straight 49th birthday (do the math). In other words, an entire generation — which has no clue...

Quiet, Please!

This year’s Ryder Cup was marred by belligerent American fans, who hurled abuse at European players throughout the tournament at New York’s Bethpage Black. PGA of America CEO Derek Sprague said “There’s no place for that at the Ryder Cup,” though his...

Flagging A Media Play

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told CNBC that the league could be eyeing a renegotiation of its media rights deals as early as next year. The league would need its current media partners, which include Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount Skydance, Amazon...

AUTOMATION ODYSSEY

DISCREETLY AFFIXED TO THE UNDERSIDE of the Thomas & Mack Center’s center-hung scoreboard were 12 custombuilt antennas. Two more were attached underneath the baskets. They collected transmissions from a one-gram sensor embedded in the air valve of...

They Like It, They Love It

THERE IS AN OVERARCHING THEME to the fan-facing aspects of the $425 million SAP Center renovation that the San Jose Sharks recently announced. “Guests that come into your building, they don’t want to be boxed in, they want to choose,” said Sharks...

Philly Special

JEFFREY LURIE IS NOT A TALKER. Yet on May 21, the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles found himself in a hotel outside Minneapolis, holding court at an NFL meeting for nearly an hour in defense of his team’s brutally efficient “Tush Push” short-yardage...

BLUE SKY AMBITIONS

DESTINY IS ALL LET US BEGIN WITH JAMES K. POLK. “It is confidently believed that our system may be safely extended to the utmost bounds of our territorial limits,” proclaimed the newly inaugurated 11th president of the United States in March 1845....

allie gerry

Global Sports & Fitness Partnerships Stanley 1913

Truth Teller

THERE’S NO “I” IN GENE. File that one away. You aren’t on the Mount Rushmore of collegiate athletic directors if it’s all about you, and it’s never been all about Gene — or he wouldn’t have spent his career toggling between Tommy Bahama shirts and...

Re-Vitale-ized

WHEN THEY MADE JIM VALVANO, they didn’t throw away the mold. They handed it to Dick Vitale. Jimmy V and Dickie V: Paisans, Linguini Brothers, a pair of real-life bobbleheads. One played at Rutgers, the other coached at Rutgers. One was New York, the...

Along for the ride with Sankey and Finebaum at SEC’s Radio Row

IT’S EASY FOR ONE’S EYES to dance atop the steps opening up to the second floor rotunda in the lower level of the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. A glass case protects a uniform and helmet worn by Colorado Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter....

The stats behind MLB’s sizzling summer, and the milestone in sight

LONG BEFORE a single firework had burst, baseball was putting on quite a show on the Fourth of July. In its continuing bid to make that day a tentpole for the sport, MLB had all 30 teams in action, and the league was rewarded with a daylong celebration...

Turnaround Artists

THERE’S A HARMONY echoing over the Smoky Mountains these days. On September Saturdays, the orchestral sounds of “Rocky Top” encapsulate this East Tennessee bliss. The song serves as something that’s equal parts battle cry and ballad. It’s a connector...

The Man Who Saved The Games

Everything’s Marketable

FROM THE BACK PORCH in the North Jersey neighborhood where his family has lived for 120 years; two minutes from the field where he and his two brothers played high school football, and one coached for 22 years; three from the barbershop where he’s been...

So Much To Do, So Little Time

Remaking A Relic

IF MARK SHAPIRO AND MARNIE STARKMAN ever take on another renovation as daunting as the $400 million Canadian (approximately $289.5 million) project they just completed at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, they might forgo the internal TV channel monitoring...

‘In a really good place’

BY THEIR NATURE, the Sports Business Awards recognize excellence. But this year’s honorees were notable not just for their successes, but for being risk-takers and creative thinkers who made a substantial impact. From the NHL and its players...

FRESH LOOK

■ Five athletes describe their fit ■ The designer who made uniform history

NBA’s Next Billion Dollar Baby?

WHETHER HE ENDS UP the Face of the League or the Face of Prada (or Adidas and Sprite), nobody knows. But Anthony Edwards is emulating LeBron James in more ways than one. On the basketball court, Edwards and the Timberwolves just bid adieu to LeBron,...

Commanding Effort

The NFL is one step closer to a return to the nation’s capital. Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the city and team had reached a $3.7 billion deal on a new 65,000-seat...

Feverish Following

Inside Indiana’s plans to use the stardom of Caitlin Clark and the rest of its roster to develop lifelong fans

CONTENDING WITH UNCERTAINTY

Sparking Innovation

BOBBY HILLERICH is a fifth-generation batmaker who has led manufacturing of Louisville Sluggers for the past quarter-century, but he was not prepared for the email that arrived in his brother’s inbox in November 2023. Attached to the message sent to...

Pillars for building the most expensive college football stadium

THERE IS A BOOK on Pat Ryan’s desk called “THE STADIUM. A TREATISE ON THE DESIGN OF STADIUMS AND THEIR EQUIPMENT.” The book was published in 1930 by the American Institute of Steel Construction and describes the way stadiums were designed a hundred...

COMMISSIONER PHELPS

IN A HIGH-PROFILE MOVE that will draw attention around sports, NASCAR owners Jim France and Lesa France Kennedy have promoted President Steve Phelps to the newly created position of commissioner, making him the first person in company history to hold...

Meet The New Boss

ON THE EVENING of Dec. 8, 2024, with the Juan Soto free agency sweepstakes set to reach a dramatic conclusion, Jake Bye, Mets senior vice president of ticketing and premium, was sitting on the sofa with family when his phone buzzed. Bye picked up his...

Sports Business Awards: Introducing the nominees in 16 categories

THE FOLLOWING LISTS the 93 nominees for the 18th annual Sports Business Awards, recognizing excellence over the past year. The winners in 14 categories will be determined by a group of industry executives. Award winners in two categories — Athletic...

On The Ball

DAN GAVITT TOOK A BRIEF RESPITE from the bustle of January’s NCAA Convention on the outskirts of Nashville, flashing the look of a man who had slept little and spoken plenty. Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball, is booked sunrise to...

A detailed analysis of executive compensation in the Olympic movement

THE REMIT FOR CEOS in the Olympic and Paralympic movement calls upon a broad range of skills: Manage a wide array of stakeholders from youth to elite international athletes, coaches, officials, parents, club owners and more. Sign sponsorships to...

Stars & Gripes

■ The NHL looks to build on the success of its first 4 Nations Face-Off ■ The NBA is still searching for a solution to its All-Star Game format

MILESTONE SEASON

30TH TEAM: The historic partnership that birthed San Diego FC 30 PEOPLE: Those who have helped build the league 30 YEARS: The only MLS employee who has seen everything

SHAQ S BUSINESS ATTACK

BETWEEN TOOL SHAQ (Home Depot), Shaq-A-Licious (Hershey’s), Shaqtin’ A Fool (TNT) and Shaquille O’Deal (Klarna) — and that’s just the tip of the Shaq-berg — the most visible brand in the NBA is 7-foot-1 and 14 years into retirement. Shaquille O’Neal...

Are $560M in Superdome renovations enough to keep the NFL’s Big Game coming back to the Big Easy?

Fifty years after it opened — and on the heels of a major renovation — the Superdome will welcome the Super Bowl for a record eighth time. With newer venues in bigger markets taking turns as host, can New Orleans remain a regular part of the...

THE DUO THAT NEVER STOPS

IT IS THE DAY of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final in Sydney, and Billie Jean King is on the move. Down under with her wife and longtime business partner, Ilana Kloss, as guests of FIFA, King spent extended time on the Stadium Australia pitch...

DIAMOND KINGS

IN LATE 2020, not long after Major League Baseball announced its takeover and reorganization of Minor League Baseball, Pat Battle was in Nashville when he read about the backlash to the decision in the Wall Street Journal and was struck by an...

In-Depth: A sea change for golf media leaves sport at a crossroads

THE CHANGE of the golf calendar to 2025 brought with it a sea change across the sport’s media landscape that leaves it at a crossroads. The PGA Tour opened its 165,000-square-foot PGA Tour Studios, while rival LIV Golf is expected to begin its new...

Cynt Marshall Looks Back

Here comes the flood … of money

The influence of the institutional investment in sports was undeniable in 2024. Across multiple leagues and nearly two dozen teams, these investments provided an infusion of cash that has been building for years and became a tidal wave this year. It...

AT ATTENTION

FRANCESCO LAGUTAINE STROLLED through the Buffalo airport at 5:30 a.m., an Army Black Knights cap perched atop his head and the sky still dark. Lagutaine, who was hired as USAA’s chief marketing officer in March, had purchased the hat during a recent...

POWER PLAYERS: WOMEN’S SPORTS

“EVERYONE WATCHES WOMEN’S SPORTS.” In 2022, Sports Business Journal debuted the first women’s sports edition of Power Players. In the two years since, women’s sports exploded more rapidly than most predicted. Women’s sports will bring in more than $1...

WEST SIDE UPSIDE PAGES 13-15

FOR MONTHS, the team developing the 1901 Project — a proposed $7 billion, 55-acre mixed-use neighborhood that would replace parking lots surrounding Chicago’s United Center — debated how much park space to include in the development. In the real estate...

ABOVE AND BEYOND

THE HORN SOUNDS AT INTUIT DOME and a timeout begins. The lights in the new venue’s seating bowl darken and a golden orb named The Mentalist appears on the Halo Board, the largest double-sided video board ever hung in an arena. The Mentalist challenges...

Start To Finnish

The sixth edition of the NHL’s Global Series made its third trip to Finland and its second to Nokia Arena, the 15,000-seat venue that was sold out for two games between the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers. The reigning Stanley Cup champion Panthers...

Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard on the vision for his World Series film

ICONIC FILMMAKER RON HOWARD had spoken with Major League Baseball starting in 2022 about potentially doing a documentary film about a threegame series within the regular season, an homage of sorts to his fandom of Buzz Bissinger’s 2005 book, “Three...

The issues driving engagement for leagues and players this election season

THREE WEEKS before Election Day, Maya Moore, a four-time WNBA champion and six-time WNBA All-Star, worked the phone banks and recorded a public service announcement for a Georgia advocacy group, reminding women that early voting had begun in the...

THE MAINE EVENT

IN A NEW ENGLAND PORT TOWN known by outsiders for its lighthouses and shipyards, great beer and lobster, flannels and L.L. Bean boots, Portland, Maine, has evolved into a quintessential minor league sports town. “Dirigo,” the Latin word for “I lead,”...

It’s Just Personal

THE LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP between 2 Penn Plaza (the Knicks) and 645 Fifth Avenue (the NBA) is palpable, curious and —insert James Dolan rubbing his thumb and forefinger together — lucrative. The more talent the Knicks accumulate (and every other month...

IS A SUPER LEAGUE COMI TO COLLEGE FOOTBALL?

THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL ECOSYSTEM is fundamentally fractured. Expansion plays by the Big Ten and SEC have thrust the sport into three years of ceaseless realignment. The College Football Playoff’s new 12-team format has barely been dusted off, yet there...

Behind the scenes in college football’s new world

Chasing Gridiron Glory

Celebrating the trio of class acts who make up our first group of academic all-stars

Bill sutton lisa Pike Masteralexis Charles Higgins

Star of Stars

A few hours before he took the field for the start of his ninth NFL season, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott signed a four-year, $240 million contract extension. The deal includes $231 million guaranteed, an $80 million signing bonus and an...

The evolution of facilities: Goodbye stadiums, hello entertainment venues