$2 Billion Football

Fox is willing to spend up to $2 billion to maintain its rights to NFL Sunday action. This would nearly double the $1.08 billion per year Fox currently pays for the NFC slate of games.

The conference includes teams from all three major media markets: New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. But now featuring Tom Brady alongside other ratings powerhouses like the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, other broadcasters are reportedly looking to get a piece of the NFC action.

NFL rights deals start expiring at the end of next season with “Monday Night Football,” while the rest are up at the conclusion of 2022. As FOS reported last month, Disney is also making a strong push to bring ABC back to the NFL TV lineup.

Current Rights Deals:

• “Monday Night Football” — $1.90 billion per year, ESPN
• AFC Sunday Package — $1.09 billion per year, CBS
• NFC Sunday Package — $1.08 billion per year, Fox
• “Sunday Night Football” — $960 million per year, NBC
• “Thursday Night Football” — $660 million per year, Fox

The launch of the next generation of Xbox got even more interesting with Microsoft acquiring gaming giant Bethesda Softworks in a $7.5 billion deal yesterday. The deal with ZeniMax Media — the parent company of Bethesda — is Microsoft’s biggest ever in the gaming sector, triple that of its 2014 purchase of “Minecraft” maker Mojang.

Early plans suggest Microsoft will add Bethesda’s portfolio of games to Xbox Game Pass, the cloud-based service with more than 15 million subscribers. This will include top games like “Fallout,” “The Elder Scrolls,” and “Doom.”

Despite fewer gaming deals than 2019, 2020 has already surpassed last year in video game merger and acquisition value.

Video Game Mergers and Acquisitions:

• 2020: 91 deals worth $11 billion
• 2019: 160 deals worth $9.3 billion
• 2018: 150 deals worth $10.6 billion

Personal care brand Art of Sport has raised an additional $6 million in capital in a round that included Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. The round was led by CircleUp Growth Partners.

The late Kobe Bryant co-founded the company, which produces skin care products like soaps and lotions for athletes, in 2018. Several athletes have equity in the company, including U.S. women’s national team and NWSL player Abby Dahlkemper, NBA player James Harden, MLB player Javier Baez, motocross rider Ken Roczen, NFL player JuJu Smith-Schuster, skateboarder Ryan Sheckler, and NBA player Wilson Chandler.

With the new round of funding, Art of Sport will look to further expand its retail footprint, develop new products and drive brand awareness. The men’s personal care sector is projected to grow to $166 billion globally by 2022, according to Allied Market Research.

Art of Sports Fast Facts:

• Introduced 14 products into 1,600 Target stores this year.
• Quadrupled its annual revenue in its second year.
• Expects to expand retail footprint 600% by end of 2021.

A month prior to laying off or furloughing almost half its staff, the Pac-12 paid out performance bonuses, according to The Mercury News. Approximately 50 employees — including Commissioner Larry Scott — reportedly received bonuses that were in the “four- to lower-five-figure range,” totaling a potential $4 million.

Employees from both the Pac-12 Network and the conference received the bonuses in July, rather than the usual September or October dates. An accelerated date was reportedly to help “support the retention of key employees,” in anticipation of salary reductions and staff cuts.

In August, the Pac-12 laid off or furloughed 94 of 196 employees.

Pac-12’s Financial Woes:

• Revenue reductions across the 2020 and 2021 fiscal years. 
• Approved FY21 budget has a 9% reduction in operating expenses at headquarters — or approximately $3.6 million.
• Scott took a 20% salary cut in early April, and will take a 12% cut for the 2020-21 academic year. Senior staff took 10% cuts.