Rob Walton’s $4.65 billion purchase of the Denver Broncos is changing the math on NFL team valuations.

Forbes determined that the average NFL team value should increase 12%, based on what Walton could have paid to secure the team.

• The next-highest bid for the Broncos was reportedly around $4 billion. 
• Walton presumably could have secured the team for $4.2 billion but wanted an expedited process — with an estimated net worth of $56.5 billion, he had cash to spare.
• That $4.2 billion figure is 12% above Forbes’ 2021 estimate of the team’s value of $3.75 billion.

By that calculation, the average team value would rise from $3.5 billion to $3.9 billion.

The Broncos had $500 million in estimated revenue in 2021. Walton paid 9.3 times that sum.

Re-Up in Canada

The NFL expanded its relationship with Bell Media on Monday, which will continue to have exclusive linear rights to the league in Canada. 

The multiyear deal will have NFL games broadcast across one French and three English channels. Bell will gain access to “RedZone” (previously exclusive to DAZN), the International Series, and new Monday night games.

DAZN’s digital rights in Canada expire before the start of the coming NFL season.

Due to Canadian broadcast regulations and a December 2019 court ruling, the Super Bowl ads seen in the U.S. are not shown during the Big Game in Canada.

After a 30-year hiatus, Formula 1 may be returning to Africa soon.

The global racing series is on the cusp of adding a race at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Midrand, South Africa. 

• F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali flew to South Africa following Sunday’s race in Baku, Azerbaijan, to continue negotiations.
• Kyalami would most likely join the calendar in 2024, but 2023 remains a possibility. 
• F1 raced at Kyalami from 1967 to 1985, then again in 1992 and 1993.

F1 is already slated to add races in Las Vegas, Qatar, and Shanghai next year, meaning at least two Grands Prix would have to drop off the calendar to stay within the contractual limit of 24.

The races in France, Belgium, and Mexico are all in their final year under contract, with the French Grand Prix seemingly the most likely to fall off the calendar, regardless of whether South Africa joins the schedule.

A rotating schedule has been proposed to allow all the current European race sites to host Grands Prix in some years.

Global Growth

F1’s 2021 season brought in 445 million unique viewers, up 3% from 2020. China was the top country, with 70.8 million fans watching at least one race, up 13% year-over-year. Spain’s audience saw massive year-over-year growth of 272%, as did Russia (129%) and the U.S. (53%).

Formula 1 brought in $360 million in first-quarter revenue, exactly doubling its haul from Q1 2021.

Twenty-two cities in North America are awaiting an announcement that will have a major impact on sports and their respective economies.

FIFA will announce which cities have been selected to host the 2026 World Cup on Thursday. 

Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey are widely presumed to be selected. In Canada, Vancouver and Toronto are reportedly in, as well. Edmonton was also vying to host but may be out of the running. 

That leaves 16 U.S. cities competing for 10 or 11 spots for the 48-team tournament.

• Los Angeles, leveraging its $5.5 billion SoFi Stadium, is expected to be selected, as is the joint bid between New York and New Jersey centered on MetLife Stadium. 
• Five hosts of the 1994 tournament, Boston, Dallas, San Francisco, Orlando, and Washington, D.C. (bidding with Baltimore for 2026) are hoping for an encore.
• The other contenders are Houston, Nashville, Miami, Seattle, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Cincinnati, and Orlando.

Deep Impact

A 2018 study estimated that the World Cup would bring $5 billion in short-term economic impact to North America, or $3 billion to $4 billion after factoring in investments involved in hosting the tournament. 

The study also claimed that the World Cup would create 40,000 jobs, more than $1 billion in added worker earnings, and that individual host cities would see between $160 million and $620 million in incremental economic activity.

Russian organizers estimated that the games added $14 billion to the country’s economy in 2018.

DraftKings and mixed martial arts organization UFC are teaming up to launch gamified digital collectibles as part of a deal worth more than $100 million over five years. 

The gamified digital collectibles — expected to go live later this year — will arrive just as the UFC has pinned down its first official deal with a sportsbook in March 2021, entering a pact with DraftKings that encompasses a $250 million commitment to promote DraftKings’ UFC products. 

Boston-based daily fantasy sports and betting company DraftKings and UFC will release NFTs that allow fans to build collections of fighters to compete against other users for prizes.

• DraftKings has access to more than 500 UFC athletes.
• Collectors will be able to earn both digital and physical rewards. 

Doing business with crypto-and-NFT-based products means taking risks, as the crypto market saw more than $200 billion in value wiped away over the weekend and into the start of this week. On Monday, the market tumbled below $1 trillion for the first time since February 2021. 

UFC has displayed a commitment to crypto and the blockchain despite the uncertainty. Last week, the organization secured a five-year, $100 million deal with blockchain platform VeChain. 

Hot and Cold

DraftKings generated $417 million in revenue in Q1 2022, but the company faces an uphill battle to reach profitability. It posted a net loss of $468 million during the quarter, compared to $346 million in Q1 2021.

Endeavor, the parent company of UFC, reported $1.5 billion in Q4 totaling $5.1 billion in 2021.