Morning Buzz

Celtics Alternate Governor Aditya Mittal and minority owner & CEO Wyc Grousbeck are “making a bid to purchase” the Seahawks, according to sources cited by the BOSTON GLOBE. Sources said that “if the group secures the winning bid,” Mittal “would be positioned to become the controlling owner, holding at minimum” the 30% stake required by the NFL. Grousbeck “would assume a smaller share.” Sources said that the roles Mittal and Grousbeck hold with the Celtics “would remain unchanged, and both remain committed to the franchise.” Mittal, the CEO of global steel giant ArcelorMittal, last year committed $1B to Bill Chisholm’s investment group that purchased the Celtics for $6.1B. Mittal is based in London and Grousbeck lives in Boston. A source said that “if their bid for the Seahawks is successful, both also will have part-time residences in the Seattle area.” Sportico was first to report the bid (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/7).

Additionally, billionaire Vinod Khosla, who is a minority owner of the 49ers, is also “prepping a bid” to buy the Seahawks -- recently submitting “a letter of intent as part of the process.” Khosla and his family acquired a 3.1% stake in the 49ers in May 2025, joining with two other local families in acquiring non-controlling minority interests in the team (SEATTLE TIMES, 5/7).

The NFL and Netflix are “close to a deal for at least five NFL games next season,” including the two Christmas games already under contract, according to sources cited by PUCK. The additional games are “likely to include” the league’s Week 1 game in Australia, a new Thanksgiving Eve game and “a Saturday game on the final week of the season, which would lead into ESPN’s doubleheader.” Sources said this development is “slightly different” from earlier reports that these “orphaned games will be distributed between Netflix and YouTube.” In fact, it is “possible that YouTube -- which was once favored to pick up a new five-game package -- will wind up with nothing.” Additionally, sources said that the league “has started shopping two extra games, which would have been part of that package, to its broadcast partners: CBS, NBC, ESPN, and Fox.” Negotiations “are ongoing, the deals aren’t signed, and YouTube has more capital than anyone else.” But it is a “stunning result for a hyperscaled streamer that seemed to be in pole position for a package.” The NFL is “ready for any regulatory blowback that results from doing a deal with Netflix,” especially since “some of the games are coming from linear TV channels -- namely, ESPN and NFL Network” (PUCK, 5/7).

The Sabres have signed a five-year deal making Buffalo-based Stark Tech their first-ever jersey patch sponsor, capitalizing on renewed fan and commercial momentum amid the franchise’s first playoff appearance in 14 years. The building solutions firm’s logo will appear on the Sabres’ road jerseys beginning next season.

While Stark Tech is a new sponsor of the Sabres, the firm already has ties to the Pegula-owned sports properties. The company has sponsored the Bills and provided venue services for both franchises, including the Sabres’ ice management system at KeyBank Center and audio-visual solutions for the Bills’ new Highmark Stadium.

A source with knowledge of the agreement said Stark Tech will pay the Sabres more than $2M annually for the road jersey patch placement. This is roughly in line with other NHL teams, who typically generate total revenue in the mid-seven figures for their home and road jersey patches.

Sabres CCO Jake Vernon said the team expects to also have a new home jersey patch partner in place for the 2026-27 season, with an announcement possible in the next few weeks. Excel Sports Management’s properties division has been advising the Sabres on commercial strategy, including the valuation and sale of both jersey patches.

SBJ's Jersey and Helmet Sponsor Directory

Explore the landscape of uniform sponsorships across major U.S. sports leagues with SBJ’s comprehensive jersey and helmet sponsorship directory.

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Longtime GMR Marketing exec Todd Fischer is moving to fellow Omnicom sports/experiential agency Optimum Sports as chief strategy and property officer -- a new position. He’ll start June 1, be based in Optimum’s Chicago offices, and report to Optimum Sports President Jeremy Carey.

“The idea is helping to write the next chapter for Optimum, and being a strong number two to Jeremy directing commercial strategy, with him leaning in on media and myself on properties, but certainly, there will be crossover,” said Fischer. “And there will be some crossover duty (GMR/Optimum) as we make the transition.”

Fischer, a 2016 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree, has been at GMR since 2013, where he was named EVP/Client Consulting in 2022. An earlier stint at GMR saw him serve as supervisor, sports and entertainment marketing from 2005 to 2008. Fischer’s successor at GMR is TBD.

The politics surrounding this will be scrutinized by those looking to connect the dots within the sports/experiential agencies under the Omnicom umbrella, which now include GMR, Momentum, Octagon, and The Marketing Arm, as well as Optimum, following Omnicom’s IPG acquisition last year. Fischer’s appointment comes less than four months after Carey was named president of Optimum Sports, replacing Tom McGovern.

Cosm and Fox Sports have deal to bring 40 FIFA World Cup matches to Cosm’s three shared-reality facilities in L.A., Dallas and Atlanta, which opens the day before the World Cup starts. That will include 11 group stage matches -- including all three USMNT matches and two of three Mexico matches -- as well as the majority of initial knockout matches, followed by the full slate of remaining matches in the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and final.

Like it’s done for a number of Fox Sports telecasts in football, NASCAR and other sports, Cosm will capture and produce the World Cup at various host venues and distribute live matches back to its 87-foot-diameter, 12K+ LED domes, while also offering Fox a feed to use on TV.

“We see this space exploding right now,” said Michael Bucklin, Fox Sports’ SVP/Digital. “This is quite literally the best seat in the house at any event you ever want to go to. ... We want to make big events feel bigger. We want to give fans access, and this is a great combination of both of those things.”

Fox last summer struck a multiyear deal to bring games from college football, MLB, the NFL and the Daytona 500 into Cosm facilities, and an area that has proven particularly fruitful for Fox as part of the deal is content from watch parties. Cosm facilities can fit around 1,200 fans, with 350 in the reserved dome areas in Dallas and L.A., while Atlanta’s reserved area is expected to hold closer to 500.

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The Sounders announced that the Belgian men’s national soccer team will “use the Sounders’ Renton headquarters as its temporary home” during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Belgium’s first match is June 15 against Egypt in Seattle, followed by a June 21 match in Vancouver and a June 26 match in Inglewood, Calif. Spokane’s Gonzaga Univ. is the “other potential base camp in Washington” and is “still listed as available on FIFA’s website,” though it is reported to have been claimed by Egypt’s national team (PUGET SOUND BUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/7).

All 10 San Antonio City Council members on Thursday voted to spend $6.3M to “hire two companies to oversee aspects” of a sports and entertainment district, which will include a Spurs arena. Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones “cast the lone vote against” awarding the pair of contracts to move the project forward -- the “next steps in stitching together the complex and controversial undertaking.” Council members voted to award Accenture Infrastructure and Capital Projects LLC a $6M contract to “act as the district’s czar, managing construction and infrastructure upgrades for the assortment of projects.” They also approved spending $350,000 to hire MuniCap Inc. to “study the cost of providing traffic, security and emergency services for the district and estimate how much money the city could make” from it. The city expects to finalize its $31M purchase of “several properties in the Hemisfair area from the federal government this summer.” Spurs Sports & Entertainment is “contributing that funding for the sites, which is where the organization would build development that’s tied to financing” for the $1.3B arena (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 5/7).

DraftKings saw “strong engagement from a growing roster of customers in the past year,” and on Thursday reported a profit of $21.1M compared with a loss of $33.9M in the same quarter a year earlier. Total quarterly revenue surged 17% to $1.65B, topping forecasts for $1.63B, per FactSet. The company’s sportsbook registered a 24% jump in revenue and a stronger margin. DraftKings also “backed” its 2026 revenue guidance of $6.5B to $6.9B (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 5/7).

The company noted that adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 64% to $168M compared to analysts’ projections for $153M. Monthly unique players fell 4% to 4.2 million after “exiting the Texas lottery market” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 5/7).

As new opportunities continue to explode in DTC, global markets and team-owned platforms, media execs must understand how to stay relevant. ZRG Partners’ Rick Alessandri joins SBJ’s Austin Karp to explain what’s becoming the most valuable skill in sports media leadership. Alessandri also explains how these shifts in media strategy are impacting executive roles at the team level.

The NFL is looking for an Associate/International DTC Strategy. The N.Y.-based position is responsible for coordination across content operations, ad operations and stakeholder communications to ensure a high-quality fan experience and delivery against global DTC and League objectives (NFL).

The Lions are looking for a Dir/Community Impact. The Detroit-based position is responsible for creating and implementing community activations that give back to the community and elevate the civic profile of the team and its players (Lions).

The Pac-12 is looking for a VP/Men’s Basketball. The remote-based position is responsible for all aspects of the conference’s men’s basketball initiatives, programs and operations, including but not limited to scheduling, officiating, strategy and championship execution (Pac-12).

The Nationals are looking for a Senior Manager/Business Intelligence & Data Engineering. The D.C.-based position is responsible for architecting, building and scaling the Nationals’ end-to-end data ecosystem to support strategic decision-making across the organization (Nationals).

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“The first version of a 1960s play by this man had a slightly different title, ending with ‘Meet King Lear.’”