Closing Bell

A 10-person jury has "ruled unanimously in favor" of the U.S. Soccer Federation and MLS in a $500M antitrust lawsuit filed by the North American Soccer League. The verdict came at the end of a three-week trial held in the Eastern District of New York. NASL lead attorney Jeffrey Kessler said that the league "was planning on appealing." The NASL alleged that U.S. Soccer and MLS "conspire to keep upstart leagues from competing with MLS," and after the NASL folded in 2018, it was "seeking more than" $500M in damages in the lawsuit (PRO SOCCER WIRE, 2/3).

The NFL and the Department of Homeland Security unveiled their plan to make Caesars Superdome the "safest place to be" on Sunday night for the Super Bowl, with NFL Chief Security Officer Cathy Lanier saying she is "confident the safest place this weekend will be under the security umbrella we have in place." Lanier's plan for "ensuring a safe Super Bowl" in New Orleans, the ninth on her watch, is "two years in the making," and "radical adjustments" were made to the original plan, including opening gates to fans at 1:30pm CT for a 6pm scheduled kickoff. The FBI has 450 personnel in New Orleans "to investigate threats and crimes this week," and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said a "blueprint for communication during major events is a significant change set in motion" after the New Year's attack prior to the Sugar Bowl (REUTERS, 2/3). 

In this week's SBJ Facilities newsletter, Bret McCormick profiles Legends/ASM Global President of North American Venues Doug Thornton -- who has run operations at the Superdome for 28 years -- and looks at the monumental task ahead when it comes to securing the arena and its surroundings for the Big Game.

Commanders owner Josh Harris said that the team plans to "stick with their name" and is "not considering another rebrand." Harris: "It’s now being embraced by our team, by our culture, by our coaching staff. We’re going with that.” Harris today during a news conference said that the franchise was "focused on improving the team for next season, securing a new stadium and 'fixing up' headquarters in Ashburn." Harris seemed to suggest that, instead of a full rebrand, the team would "incorporate more callbacks to the franchise’s past in its marketing campaigns, such as the 'Raise Hail' slogan it pushed this year." The team also "began including the old logo on gear honoring what it calls its 'Washington Legends.'" The Commanders this season became "one of the most exciting teams in the NFL" and made the NFC Championship game for the first time since the 1991 season (WASHINGTON POST, 2/3).

The Jaguars have named Pro Football HOFer Tony Boselli the team's EVP/Football Operations. Boselli has worked as a member of the Jaguars' game-day radio broadcast crew since 2013 and has been a team ambassador since his retirement in 2003. Boselli "will report directly to" Jaguars owner Shad Khan, as will new coach Liam Coen. The team will search for a new GM "who will also report to Khan once that hire has been made." Boselli "has been instrumental" in Jacksonville's search for a coach and GM, "stepping in during the second round of interviews" for the team's coach. In addition to his role in football leadership, Boselli will be responsible for "player engagement, football technology, football travel and logistics, equipment, sports performance, team security and football communications." Boselli will also "serve as the liaison between football operations and the business side of the Jaguars." Boselli is the team's first EVP/Football Operations since Tom Coughlin manned the position from 2017-19 (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 2/3).

The Luka Doncic- Anthony Davis trade is already generating marked revenue, after Vivid Seats claimed Monday that the average ticket price for the Lakers-Mavericks matchup in Dallas on April 9 has increased to $257, an 8% rise since the deal was consummated.

According to Vivid Seats, that is the second highest sale price of any Mavericks game this season. In addition, the average ticket price for the only remaining Lakers-Mavericks game in L.A. on Feb. 25 is $309, while the overall listed prices now range between $298 and $3,996, an 111% increase since the trade.

The interest in both games is not limited to the local markets. Fans who have already purchased tickets for that April game are traveling an average of 373 miles to American Airlines Center, while fans are traveling an average of 532 miles to Crypto.com Arena for the Feb. 25 game.

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Nielsen and Paramount have struck a new deal that will "reinstate access to the measurement giant’s audience ratings" for the media conglomerate’s properties. The pact ends a "months-long feud during which Paramount utilized other audience tabulations in a bid to point out Nielsen’s perceived shortcomings." Paramount had claimed Nielsen’s fees were "too high in an era when TV audiences have fragmented across dozens of screens and different kinds of viewing behaviors." Nielsen was recently approved to provide new audience measures that "rely on its panel as well as the interactions of viewers with smart TVs and other modern devices (VARIETY, 2/3).

EA Sports acquired TRACAB Technologies today, a move geared at boosting the publisher’s capabilities for ball- and player-tracking for use in the development of video games such as EA Sports FC, along with its goals for the EA Sports app. Terms were not disclosed, and no agencies or advisory firms were part of this transaction.

TRACAB Technologies (which was part of the Chyron brand in Sweden) works with sports entities such as FIFA, which use its Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) and other AI tools for ball- and player-tracking in matches, Liga MX and horse racing in Norway. It touts its technology as a way to “unlock the DNA of sport.” As part of the acquisition, TRACAB will continue its work with their existing partners and remain at its office in Stockholm.

WHY BUY?EA Sports President Cam Weber explained why the sports-publishing giant saw an opportunity in adding TRACAB’s tech, and talks on the acquisition began over the last year. It “combines skeleton data with all the players on the pitch or the field. They capture the center of mass. They track the ball. They take all of this data, and then they have these extraordinary processing capabilities that take that data and make it usable for companies like ours. And so, we can then take the data that they process, and we can combine it with our simulation engines, and it just makes them more real in terms of delivering what players do, the tendencies of teams, the things they’re doing on the pitch. And it allows us to create new animation content. It allows us to create more realistic AI and team behaviors. And so ultimately, it makes our games more realistic, and then it adds so much data that it allows us to take that and update the game. Ultimately, our goal is to update them in real time in the future so that our vision of these living, breathing simulations of sport can come real. And so that’s what this acquisition is about.”

EA Sports plans to not just use TRACAB for game development but for its EA Sports app and other entertainment opportunities as the publisher looks to expand its properties beyond consoles, PCs and smartphones, such as recent efforts like the MaddenCast alternative broadcast for an NFL game.

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February 3, 1989  -- Baseball’s NL announces broadcaster Bill White will become its first African American president and the first player to become NL president in more than 70 years. The presidency of the NL became vacant when Bart Giamatti, who had served since 1986, was named MLB Commissioner, replacing Peter Ueberroth. In 1968, White became the first African American to announce an NHL game when he called games for the Flyers. White then began calling games for the Yankees, where he became the first African American to do play-by-play, working both television and radio with Phil Rizzuto and Frank Messer. White became highly respected in his position with the Yankees, a job he held for 18 seasons until he was elected NL president.

Also happening this week: 

• February 4, 1968 -- Baseball announces a special HOF wing for Black players.
  

• February 5, 1921 -- The Yankees purchase 20 acres in the Bronx for Yankee Stadium.
  

• February 6, 1970 -- The NBA expands to 18 teams with Buffalo, Cleveland, Houston and Portland.
  

• February 7, 1958 -- The Brooklyn Dodgers officially move to L.A.

TGL's L.A. Golf Club has added Good Good Golf as its newest investor (TMRW Sports).

The Women’s Sports Network will be broadcasting live all remaining home meets this season for Oregon State gymnastics, which features Gold Medal-winning U.S. gymnast Jade Carey (The Women’s Sports Network).

The Team Combat League, a team-based boxing property, today is announcing that its events will air on Merit TV, with nine hours of programming per weekend. Former Tennis Channel CEO Ken Solomon is serving as director and senior advisor to Merit TV, which the TV personality Dr. Phil McGraw launched last year (Adam Stern, SBJ).

Gillette and the UEFA Champions League have signed a new global licensing partnership, with the multiyear deal designating the brand as the Official Licensed Shaving Product Partner of the event (Gillette).

Sanjiv Goenka's RPSG group became the "first investor to own a majority stake in a Hundred franchise," buying 70% of Manchester Originals on Monday in a deal valuing the cricket franchise at £110M (US$136.5M). RPSG, an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Calcutta, paid "about" £75M (US$93M) to acquire the ECB's 49% stake and 21% of the host venue's, Lancashire (London TIMES, 2/3).

 

 

 

 

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Jordan Brand released a reimagined version of its iconic Banned Air Jordan commercial, showing what it would’ve been like if they never paid Michael Jordan’s NBA fines.

$52.52M  -- A Mercedes streamliner once driven by F1 greats Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss "made history" this weekend when it was sold at auction for a record $52.52M, becoming the most expensive grand prix car ever sold. The sale surpassed the previous record for a grand prix car of $29.6M, paid in 2013 for a 1954 Mercedes W196 R that Fangio also drove (THE ATHLETIC, 2/3).