Amazon continues to bulk up its sports documentary presence, even as it remains firmly on the hunt for more live rights. … The departure of the key broker of the proposed PGA Tour–LIV Golf union raises more questions about an already-uncertain deal. … Bill Simmons has a bold assessment of the NBA media-rights negotiations. … Plus: More on the A’s, Arsenal, Formula One’s Haas team, and Roku.
Meanwhile, Front Office Sports is headed to Cannes, with a special event of networking and conversation at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. If you’d like more information, please read on below.
—Eric Fisher and David Rumsey
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Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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Amazon is making no secret about its intent to expand its presence in live sports, with NASCAR rights starting in 2025 adding to a U.S. portfolio that already includes the NFL, WNBA, NWSL, MLB’s Yankees, the NHL’s Kraken, and potentially the NBA. But documentaries, a key early foothold in Amazon’s overall sports strategy, is still a critical priority.
The online retail and streaming giant made sports documentaries a prominent part of its 2024 upfront presentation to advertisers, held early Tuesday in New York and marking the company’s first such event. Amazon’s numerous upcoming projects include:
- A renewal of the Coach Prime series, featuring Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders (above), for a third season. Despite the team’s 4–8 record last year, Sanders remains one of the most-watched figures in all of college sports
- A film chronicling the history of Madden NFL, the EA Sports video game that has been one of the most popular titles in the industry for more than three decades
- Another film on the late Dale Earnhardt Sr., one of NASCAR’s most successful and charismatic figures ever. His son, fellow racing legend Dale Earnhardt Jr., recently joined Amazon as an analyst for the upcoming NASCAR coverage and will also work with TNT Sports
- A five-part anthology series on Game 7s across sports, including the Cubs’ win in the 2016 World Series and the NHL Rangers’ triumph in the 1994 Stanley Cup Final
- A look at Xaviar Babudar, the infamous “ChiefsAholic” superfan who was arrested in 2022 for a string of bank robberies
- A feature-length documentary on the last stretch of the fabled career of tennis icon Roger Federer. The 20-time Grand Slam winner appeared onstage Tuesday to help herald the project, Federer: Twelve Final Days, that will debut June 20
Splashy NFL Openers
Amazon, meanwhile, also announced its first Thursday Night Football game of the 2024 NFL season, a Bills-Dolphins contest Sept. 12 from Miami. The early disclosure of the streamer’s first game was part of a coordinated set of releases that is turning the league’s schedule unveiling into a three-day event. Among the other initial games that NFL media partners have announced this week:
- CBS: Bengals-Chiefs on Sept. 15. The late-afternoon national game will follow a similarly high-profile matchup between the Ravens and Chiefs on Sept. 5, also at Arrowhead Stadium and shown on NBC Sports
- Fox: Cowboys-Browns on Sept. 8. The game, also a late-afternoon national slotting, will be the first Week 1 contest on Fox in five years involving the Cowboys—a team that is perennially one of the NFL’s top draws among viewers. The game is scheduled to be the highly anticipated broadcasting debut of new Fox NFL analyst Tom Brady
- ESPN: Jets-49ers on Sept. 9. The Disney-owned network will turn to the Aaron Rodgers–led Jets for the second consecutive year to start its Monday Night Football schedule. This time, though, ESPN is certainly hoping for Rodgers to last for more than four plays
This featured placement of popular teams and marquee matchups in the early going of the NFL season has a deliberate and strategic purpose: to help provide an early shot of momentum to viewership totals as the league attempts to repeat the across-the-board sweep of ratings increases seen in the 2023 season.
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Last summer, confidants of PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan secretly negotiated a bombshell deal with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. Nearly one year since that framework agreement with the financial backers of LIV Golf was announced, there’s no timeline for a final deal, and the man who led talks for the PGA Tour just stepped away from his duties.
On Monday, PGA Tour policy board member Jimmy Dunne (above) submitted a letter of resignation, indicating his presence was no longer needed. Dunne, a Wall Street investor and member of Augusta National, joined the board in January 2023, and quickly crafted the controversial deal after meetings with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan. In the aftermath of the deal’s announcement, Dunne served as a voice for the PGA Tour, looking to explain the rationale.
“I have not been asked to take part in negotiations with the PIF since June 2023,” Dunne wrote. “During my testimony at the Senate hearing, I said it was my intention to cast my vote alongside the Player Directors if a final agreement was reached with the PIF. Since the players now outnumber the Independent Directors on the Board, and no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with the PIF, I feel like my vote and my role is utterly superfluous.”
As Dunne referenced, players—after being left in the dark during original PIF negotiations—flipped control by taking a majority of the seats on the policy board and, even more important, on the board of PGA Tour Enterprises, the for-profit entity formed after a $1.5 billion investment from Strategic Sports Group.
The Latest on Negotiations
On Tuesday at the PGA Championship, Tiger Woods said there had been progress in talks with the PIF, calling them fluid and changing day-to-day. “It may not be giant steps, but we’re making steps,” he said. Woods is part of a newly formed transaction committee, which the PGA Tour said has been engaging directly with the PIF. Monahan and Rory McIlroy are among other members of that group.
Max Homa said the developments must be “exhausting” for casual golf fans. “I don’t know why you would want to hear about the business side of this game,” he said. “As a fan of other sports, I do not care about the business side of what the Lakers and Dodgers are doing.” Without being asked about Dunne, Homa added, “The fans of golf should not know who is on the board.”
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“It’s a wrap. NBC’s getting it.”
—The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, on the status of the NBA’s media-rights negotiations. Disney and Amazon are widely believed to have handshake agreements for contracts, with NBC and Warner Bros. Discovery said to be fighting for a third package of games. Speaking on the most recent episode of his eponymous podcast this week, the longtime sports media personality said, “One of the funniest things ever is that we’re all pretending that the TV deal wasn’t done like a week and a half ago. I think it’s done. I think Warner already lost it. And I don’t know why we’re waiting until after the playoffs; maybe that’s how they have to do it.”
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A’s stadium funding opposition ⬇ The Nevada Supreme Court struck down a proposed ballot measure that would allow voters to decide on whether to repeal $380 million in public funding for the planned ballpark for the club in Las Vegas. Education advocates have pushed for months to bring the funding in front of voters, but the court ruling was decisive, with five judges upholding a lower-court ruling that struck down the proposed referendum, one dissenting, and another issuing a split opinion. The Schools Over Stadiums political action committee is now aiming to revive the ballot measure for 2026.
Arsenal ⬆ The Women’s Super League club announced it will play the majority of its home matches next season at Emirates Stadium, the 60,000-seat venue that houses its male counterpart in the English Premier League.
Haas F1 ⬇ Former team principal Guenther Steiner is suing the team in which he was let go after last season, seeking unpaid wages. Meanwhile, Haas Automation, which sponsors the Formula One team, is suing Steiner for trademark infringement.
Roku ⬆ MLB’s package of exclusive early Sunday game broadcasts will officially move to the streamer this weekend, when the Cardinals visit the Red Sox. Roku will carry one game each Sunday for most of the remainder of the season, through Sept. 15. Peacock had the Sunday games in previous seasons.
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- The Seattle Storm recently unveiled a new $61 million performance center, featuring 50,000 square feet of space. The center boasts two side-by-side courts, a new locker room, a nutrition center, and a Hall of Champions showcasing court floors from the 2004, ’10, and ’18 teams. Check it out.
- The WNBA has been busy growing off the court as well. The league recently announced several new deals, including ones with Skims and CarMax. It has also launched its Dick’s Sporting Goods girls apparel collection, marking the first collaboration between the two brands.
- Did you know Brad Pitt is making a Formula One movie? It has reportedly reached $300 million in production costs—making it one of the most expensive movies ever.
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 | Houston’s a perfect fit for expansion. The league isn’t considering it yet. |
 | The league announced a week ago it would start chartering flights for the 2024 season. |
 | They are the league’s 13th team and first expansion franchise since 2008. |
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