August 16, 2021

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USWNT legend and 2015 FIFA Player of the Year Carli Lloyd is retiring after two World Cup wins, two Gold medals, and 128 international goals. What a career.

Jay-Z Teams Up with Fanatics for NY Sports Betting Bid

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports/Design: Alex Brooks

Fanatics is bringing in star power as it looks to get in on the New York State sports betting market.

Jay-Z has joined the board of Fanatics Betting and Gaming as vice chairman as the merchandising company expands into sports betting.

New York’s mobile sports betting market will open up at the start of next year and is set to be incredibly lucrative.

  • New York, which currently only allows sports betting at four non-tribal casinos, had an estimated sports betting handle of $231.1 million from July 2019 through April 2021.
  • Neighboring New Jersey, which allows mobile sports betting, leads among all U.S. states with a lifetime handle of $16.7 billion.
  • The New York State Gaming Commission received bids this month from a handful of companies to operate mobile sportsbooks, including FanDuel, DraftKings, Bally’s, BetMGM, and Caesars Sportsbook.

Jay-Z and Roc Nation each invested in Fanatics’ recent $325 million funding round that valued the company at $18 billion, nearly triple its valuation from one year ago. Along with sports betting, Fanatics will use the funds to expand into ticketing and media.

Roc Nation and Fanatics chairman Michael Rubin both recently invested in Certified Collectibles Group, as well. That round valued CCG at more than $500 million.

Honus Wagner Card Sets Record with $6.6M Sale

Robert Edward Auctions/Design: Alex Brooks

A T206 Honus Wagner baseball card sold for $6.6 million on Monday, making it the most expensive sports trading card ever.  

Bids for the card opened on July 23 at $1 million and closed at $5.5 million, with a 20% buyer’s premium tacked onto the final sale price. 

The record-breaking card surpassed Alt Fund II’s purchase of a 51% stake in a 2009 Stephen Curry autographed National Treasures rookie card at a $5.9 million valuation last month.  

The sale also beat out a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card that sold for $5.2 million in January. A 2003-04 Upper Deck LeBron James autographed rookie card fetched the same price in April. 

The highly coveted Wagner card’s condition was the driving force behind its price tag. 

“There’s only about 60 of these,” Brian Dwyer, president of Robert Edward Auctions told ESPN. “Most are rated poor, authentic, or good, at best. It’s one of the best examples available.” 

The rapidly growing sports trading card market is projected to reach $98.75 billion by 2027. 

  • Topps, a producer of sports cards, went public in April via merger with Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corp II, a blank-check company, at a $1.3 billion valuation. 
  • Goldin Auctions is being sold to Collectors Holdings — owned by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen — for an undisclosed sum. Goldin generated more than $100 million in revenue in 2020. 

Both the seller and buyer of the T206 Honus Wagner card prefer to remain anonymous.

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Capitalizing on Women's Sports

Since the start of the Tokyo games, U.S. women have earned more medals than their male counterparts. 

While major international events spark interest, research has found that ‘supply-side’ issues such as media coverage, lack of marketing, and information are the main factors deterring consumers from engaging in women’s sport.

This presents a tremendous opportunity for  broadcast networks, teams, leagues, and brands to unlock the potential of women’s sport. 

In our latest webinar, Stephanie Connolly (Front Office Sports) and Georgie Webb (YouGov) sit down with Leah Royer (Monumental Sports & Entertainment) and Adrienne Barber (Major League Soccer) to discuss how to partner with women’s sport in a way that serves your organization and women’s sport as a whole.

Join us tomorrow, Tuesday, August 17 at 1 p.m. ET. Grab your spot now!

Pac 12, ACC, Big Ten Discuss Alliance

Mickey Welsh, Montgomery Advertiser/Design: Alex Brooks

The Pac 12, ACC, and Big Ten are discussing an alliance that would see the three NCAA conferences coordinate on scheduling — and potentially playoff alignment, as well as NCAA governance.

The news comes in the wake of the SEC beefing up its ranks with Texas and Oklahoma, which will join the conference from the Big 12 in 2025.

Talks have been ongoing for several weeks between the Pac 12, ACC, and Big Ten’s commissioners as they seek to consolidate their power and counteract the SEC’s clout. 

The three conferences and the SEC will meet in September to discuss the specifics of an expanded College Football Playoff.

  • ESPN currently holds the media rights for the College Football Playoff on a $5.6 billion deal that runs from 2014 to 2025, paying $470 million to $475 million annually.
  • The Big Ten distributes an annual $54 million to each of its members from media rights deals, the highest among all college conferences.
  • The Pac 12, ACC, and Big Ten collectively wield 41 votes to the expanded SEC’s 16 in upcoming governance negotiations.

The Big 12 is not believed to be part of the new alliance discussions. 

The conference, which will be down to eight teams when Texas and Oklahoma depart, may still seek to expand or to ally with another conference. The Big 12 and Pac 12 had discussed teaming up, according to previous reports.

Conversation Starters

Conversation Starters

  • Michael Jordan’s Black Cat Ventures closed a funding round for V1 Sports, a golf-focused game improvement app. Terms weren’t disclosed.
  • Bally’s acquired Telescope to provide digital polling, contests, live streaming, and content management across Bally’s iGaming and sports betting platforms. 
  • FC Barcelona’s debt stands at $1.59 billion as of March 21, club president Joan Laporta announced.
  • Manchester City set a British transfer fee record when they signed Jack Grealish earlier this month. Now, the defending Premier League champs are pressing on in their quest to pry away one of the world’s top strikers from Tottenham — reportedly putting together a transfer proposal of $176.7 million for Harry Kane. Get more stories like this in Sports Section, a free daily newsletter. Click here to subscribe.

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Download the latest Satisfi Labs white paper to see how technology, flexibility, and communication will be critical for college sports in 2021 and beyond.

Market Movers

Market Movers

U.S. stocks were mixed on Monday amid growth concerns. Here’s a look at how sports-related stocks performed:

Up:

DICK’S Sporting Goods, Inc. (NYSE: DKS) gained 2.44%

Genesco Inc. (NYSE: GCO) gained 2.34%

Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY) gained 1.47%

Down:

Gravity Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRVY) dropped 4.89%

fuboTV Inc. (NYSE: FUBO) dropped 4.52%

Penn National Gaming, Inc. (NASDAQ: PENN) dropped 4.21%

(Note: All as of market close on 8/16/21)

What to Watch

What to Watch

The Chicago White Sox (68-50) host the Oakland Athletics (68-50) tonight at Guaranteed Rate Field. 

How to Watch: 8 p.m. ET on ESPN 

Betting Odds: Athletics -1.5 || ML -115 || O/U 9*

Pick: The White Sox look to rebound after back-to-back losses. Take Chicago to cover. 

Who ya got? Reply to this newsletter with your prediction for the Athletics-White Sox winner, final score, and home run hitter(s).

*Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

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