Morning Buzz

The manufacturer of popular candy brands such as Nerds, Trolli, SweetTarts and Laffy Taffy has signed on as a sponsor of U.S. Soccer ahead of next summer’s FIFA World Cup in North America. The deal with Chicago-based Ferrara, a subsidiary of Italian food conglomerate Ferrero Group, is the latest in a selling spree for U.S. Soccer that now brings the governing body’s sponsorship roster to 22 companies.

Specific terms of the multiyear deal were not disclosed, but U.S. Soccer SVP/Partnership Development & Strategy Dan Gaiman confirmed Ferrara will be on board for the 2026 World Cup, 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil and 2028 Olympic Games in L.A. Global marketing agency Dentsu represented Ferrara in its negotiations with U.S. Soccer’s commercial team, which has inked 14 new deals since taking its rights in house in 2023. Gaiman said even with the rapid addition of sponsors ahead of the World Cup, the federation has been selective in partner selection and is “politely saying no more than we’re saying yes.”

“The bigger thing is working with the right brands that are in it for the right reasons, and we’ve got several important category renewals coming up that have become a really big priority as well,” Gaiman said.

Two of those major renewal efforts are in the beer and telecom categories, where U.S. Soccer has long been partnered with Anheuser-Busch and AT&T, respectively. Gaiman declined to disclose exactly when those deals expire. The announcement of AT&T’s most recent renewal in 2023 stated the deal runs through the 2026 World Cup, but Anheuser-Busch’s 2022 renewal announcement did not specify.

Florida Citrus Sports has hired Wasserman and its Rights Sales division to find a new naming-rights deal for Camping World Stadium. Wasserman’s involvement comes about two months after Florida Citrus Sports said it was looking for a 10-year deal for the stadium to take it through its upcoming $400M in upgrades after Florida Citrus Sports and Camping World mutually agreed to let their active deal expire.

Renovations to the stadium and its campus include increasing capacity, adding an enclosed multipurpose events center close to the stadium, enhancing ADA accessibility, replacing the upper bowl with more comfortable chairback seating, and upgrading and adding premium spaces throughout the venue. The project is set to be completed by 2027.

Wasserman and Florida Citrus Sports declined to share how much they expect to earn from a naming-rights deal and if other agencies tried to land the work. DLR Group is the architecture firm behind the project.

“I think they [Camping World] will be the first to tell you this partnership overdelivered on what they invested in,” said Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan. “When you look at that and what we do with our partner organization, Lift Orlando, everybody that started to hear of this opportunity becoming available started to light up when they think about the deliverables.”

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The Terence Crawford-Canelo Alvarez superfight on Netflix this past Saturday scored an estimated average minute audience (AMA) of 36.6 million live+SD viewers from opening to closing bell, per VideoAmp and Netflix. Viewing continued into the weekend, bringing an estimated AMA total of 41.4 million viewers (Live+1) -- making it the most-viewed men’s championship boxing match this century. In the U.S., an estimated AMA of 20.3 million viewers tuned in live+SD to the main event. The fight peaked at over 24 million concurrent streams and was No. 1 on Netflix in 30 countries. Joe Hand Promotions estimates 500,000 viewers watched the fight from over 2,700 bars and restaurants in U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico (Netflix). Canelo-Crawford “didn’t eclipse the 108 million viewers who watched” Jake Paul’s fight with Mike Tyson last November -- but it was “easily the most-viewed men’s championship boxing match of the century” (ESPN.com, 9/15).

Former NFLer Tom Brady, Fanatics, Fox Sports and OBB Media are teaming up for a flag football event on March 21 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “The Fanatics Flag Football Classic” will feature three teams of eight facing off in a round-robin tournament with the top two teams advancing to a championship. Teams will include current and former pro football players and other athletes. Confirmed players include Brady, Eagles RB Saquon Barkley, Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb, 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey, Jets CB Sauce Gardner, Browns DE Myles Garrett, Raiders TE Brock Bowers and DE Maxx Crosby, Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill, free agent WR Odell Beckham Jr. and former NFLer Rob Gronkowski. The teams will be led by Raiders coach Pete Carroll, Broncos coach Sean Payton and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan. The event, produced by OBB Media and Fanatics in association with Shadow Lion, will air live on Fox Sports and Tubi with Kevin Hart serving as host. The games will follow Olympic-style flag football rules, played on a 50-yard field with two 10-yard end zones, a 5-on-5 format and two 20-minute halves (Fox Sports).

Several NFL owners are “also expected to attend.” The event is the league’s “first step toward potentially entering the Saudi market” as it continues “expanding across the globe at an increasing pace.” The NFL is “evaluating new markets” like the United Arab Emirates, Japan and other countries with little connection to football. It “will not play a regular season game in these places unless football is played locally -- it is a niche sport in Saudi Arabia -- and there are significant commercial opportunities like media and sponsorship deals” (N.Y. TIMES, 9/15).

In L.A., Steve Henson wrote the event is “a business plan disguised as a promotional stunt.” The NFL “makes no secret that it is going global,” and Saudi Arabia “makes no secret about broadening its sports holdings.” Fanatics, which is an exclusive licensed retailer of NFL online merchandise, will sponsor the flag football event as a business venture as well. The Saudi PIF and the Qatari sovereign wealth fund have invested in Fanatics (L.A. TIMES, 9/15).

The return of college football late in August and a return to school helped drive increases in share for broadcast and cable TV viewing -- which had been sliding during the summer months –- while all major streaming platforms except Prime Video saw declines from July, per new data from the Nielsen Gauge. Cable viewing represented 22.5% of TV watch time last month, with cable sports in particular up 30% compared from July. Sports actually represented over 9% of all cable viewership in August. Meanwhile, broadcast notched its largest share of TV since May.

The drop among streaming properties was almost directly correlated to the start of the school year for kids. Time spent watching TV was down 2% overall in August vs. July, but viewing among kids and teens (ages 6-17) was down 9%. Prime Video bucked the trend with the help of an NFL preseason game and other programs.

Molly Qerim, the host of ESPN’s “First Take” since 2015, is leaving the network at the end of the year. Sources tell SBJ that Qerim will not be on “First Take” going forward. She first started at ESPN in 2006 working on digital/mobile efforts before moving over to the news team in 2008. Sources tell SBJ that ESPN offered Qerim a contract, but she chose to move on. SBJ last year named “First Take” one of the 25 best current sports studio shows.

Qerim confirmed her departure in a story on Instagram Tuesday morning, writing in part, “After much reflection, I’ve decided it’s time to close this incredible chapter and step away from First Take. Hosting this show has been one of the greatest honors of my career. Every morning, I had the privilege of sharing the desk with some of the most brilliant, passionate, and entertaining voices in sports -- and with all of you, the best fans in the world.”

ESPN President of Content Burke Magnus in a statement to SBJ said of Qerim’s planned departure, “Molly has been an integral part of ESPN since 2006 and a key driver of First Take’s success since joining as host a decade ago. She elevated the show with her poise, skill and professionalism, while supporting others as a kind and encouraging teammate. We respect Molly’s decision, wish her the best in the future, and thank her for her extraordinary daily commitment to sports fans and ESPN.”

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TNT Sports has agreed to a multiyear contract renewal with longtime MLB color analyst Ron Darling. Darling is repped by Steve Rosner at 16W Marketing. MLB’s national deal with Turner runs through the 2028 season. All of MLB’s national rights are up in three years. Darling, 65, has been the MLB on TBS lead game analyst for both regular and postseason games since 2008. He joined TBS in 2007 as a guest studio analyst during the playoffs. Darling remembers sitting in a Manhattan restaurant when he signed his initial deal.

“I was just like I can’t believe it. I’m going to do national games,” Darling told SBJ. “I was so excited and wonderfully naïve about having a chance to be a national broadcaster. I feel like I’m a caretaker for these amazing athletes to chronicle what they do in October, and it’s a blessing for sure.”

Darling says the TNT Sports broadcast, production and behind-the-scenes crews all feel like family. His favorite moment on the field was Dodgers 3B Justin Turner’s walk-off homer in Game 2 of the 2017 NLCS, which came on the 29th anniversary of Kirk Gibson’s legendary walk-off homer in the 1988 World Series.

TBS had 24 Tuesday night games during the 2025 regular season, and will have exclusive coverage of the 2025 NLDS and ALCS in October. Darling also celebrated 20 years at SNY alongside beloved Mets broadcast partners Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez. Darling said that while regular season games can be more of a fun shtick for the broadcast crew, there is a “responsibility for the postseason to make sure that you not only get it right. Because you want to make sure at the end of the day when someone throws a shutout or gets a big out or like Turner hits a home run, that we capture it in such a way that their family, when the player is older and their grandkids are sitting on their lap and asking ‘Grandpa, how good were you as a player? Well, this is what happened.’ And they’re able to play that back and we got it right. That’s a responsibility that I don’t take lightly, but I enjoy having the chance to do.”

The Reign announced on Monday that their game against Racing Louisville, which was suspended at halftime Sunday evening when Louisville MF Savannah DeMelo collapsed, “will be made up Tuesday at Lumen Field.” The game, which was tied 0-0, will resume at 5pm PT “but will be played behind closed doors.” The game “will be broadcast on NWSL+.” The Reign said they’d “send an email to ticket holders about attending a future match” instead (SEATTLE TIMES, 9/15). DeMelo is “stable and alert” after collapsing on the field just before halftime on Sunday, the team announced (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 9/15).

Pure Insurance has extended its title sponsorship of the PGA Tour Champions tournament at Pebble Beach through 2029. The company started sponsoring the Pure Insurance Championship in 2017. Financials were not disclosed; the sides negotiated the deal without agency assistance. The tournament is unique in that it benefits the First Tee, which has junior players competing in the main tournament alongside players at both Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill. “Seeing the kids arrive at this iconic golf course and actually be able to play in the tournament, to see the bond that happens between the pros and the juniors, that’s it,” Pure CEO Martin Leitch said.

Many PGA Tour Champions events are looking ahead to Tiger Woods turning 50 in only three months. And while that was in the back of his mind, Leitch said it wasn’t a deciding factor in renewing the sponsorship.

“For the kids, it would be phenomenal if the kids come in and Tiger is here,” Leitch said. “But Tiger would just be a plus. It’s not the reason why we do this.”

Currently, 70% of the tour’s schedule is contracted through 2028 -- 60% through 2029. Charles Schwab, which has an umbrella deal that includes sponsoring the Charles Schwab Cup, is signed on through 2033. This year’s Pure Championship begins Friday.

This episode of On Stage takes us deeper into the SBJ archives than ever before, revisiting a keynote interview from the 2016 Intercollegiate Athletics Forum with Paul Tagliabue, the longtime former commissioner of the NFL.

Tagliabue, who led the NFL from 1989 to 2006, oversaw one of the league’s most transformative eras: four expansion franchises, high-profile franchise relocations, and landmark decisions that reflected the NFL’s influence on culture and society -- from postponing games after 9/11 to moving a Super Bowl over Arizona’s refusal to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020, his impact continues to shape the sports landscape today.

In conversation with SBJ’s Publisher & Executive Editor Abe Madkour, Tagliabue reflects on leadership, governance, social responsibility and the business of sports during his time at the helm. Listening now, nearly a decade later, provides unique perspective: a reminder of how far the industry has come and how timeless lessons in integrity, vision, and adaptability remain.

This is the beauty of On Stage: giving important conversations from SBJ’s archives new life, showing how they continue to inform the issues and debates of today.

The 2025 AXS DRIVE conference kicked off Monday night with a welcome reception at Crypto.com Arena, just hours after the L.A. Live complex in downtown played host to the Emmys. AEG President & CEO Dan Beckerman got things going, chatting with SBJ’s Abe Madkour in front of attendees in the Yaamava’ Club by San Manuel about what his company is up to within franchise management, facility operations, ticketing and more.

Beckerman, whose company owns and operates the home arena for the Lakers, NHL’s Kings and WNBA’s Sparks, noted the venue is finishing up the fourth phase of a massive, multiyear renovation -- with only the locker rooms left to be completed.

He also discussed the recent completion of a project outside the arena connecting the Peacock Place outdoor gathering space with the venue, allowing for a more complete campus feel at L.A. Live. And it was no easy task, as AEG had to work with the city to buy a portion of 11th street in downtown L.A. and permanently close it to traffic to make the effort work. That campus feel will come in handy for fans in 2028, when Crypto.com Arena plays host to the gymnastics competition and boxing finals during the Summer Olympics.

In terms of franchise management (AEG also is majority owned of the Kings), Beckerman said season-ticket sales just aren’t what they used to be. In fact, he noted half of NHL teams now have fewer than 9,000 season-ticket holders. But that means, as Beckerman said, that AEG -- whether it’s sports or music -- is now in the “individual ticket business.”

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Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is up first as the first full day begins at SBJ’s AXS DRIVE in L.A. Ballmer is scheduled to speak with SBJ Publisher & Executive Editor Abe Madkour at noon ET/9am PT amid an NBA investigation into whether the Clippers tried to circumvent the NBA salary cap in a deal with Kawhi Leonard. The Clippers also will mark the end of the day as attendees will tour the Intuit Dome and hear discussions of the operations and massive Halo board along with several partners involved in the venue.

Throughout the day, high-level executives from the ticketing, venue, mixed-use, premium experiences, BI and other portions of the sports business world will offer their views on the top issues facing their portions of the landscape.

You can view the full agenda here (SBJ).

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