June 10, 2021

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It appears the Olympics are heading Down Under, as Brisbane is set to be named the host city for 2032.

DAZN Refuses $1.8B Bid to Share Soccer Rights

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports/Design: Alex Brooks

Less than a year after laying off a number of employees and refusing to pay rights fees for suspended sporting events, DAZN seems to be back on its feet financially.

The streaming company has reportedly declined a $1.83 billion offer from Comcast’s Sky Sports to share Serie A broadcasting rights for the next three years — about $609 million per year. DAZN outbid Sky to land a $2.96 billion deal for the rights in March.

Sky was the exclusive streaming partner of Serie A for nearly 20 years. Its 10-figure offer to DAZN required keeping the DAZN app on its set-top box and satellite service.

DAZN has successfully shifted its business strategy to a more global approach.

  • Last week, DAZN announced a five-year, $100 million deal with British boxing producer Matchroom. Sky had previously owned the rights for 27 years.
  • In November, it began a partnership with BetMGM for 12 fights over 12 months.
  • In August, DAZN agreed to a sub-licensing deal with Discovery to broadcast Bundesliga matches.

While DAZN has taken some of Sky’s rights, the English broadcaster has had a few wins of its own.

  • Earlier this week, it announced a four-year deal with Top Rank Boxing, per The Athletic.
  • Sky — with the BBC — signed a broadcast deal in March worth more than $11 million with the Football Association’s Women’s Super League to air on free network TV for the first time in history.

DAZN is reportedly interested in Premier League rights and taking the company public.

Dak Prescott Leaves adidas for Jordan Brand

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports/Design: Alex Brooks

Dak Prescott had a horrific 2020 but that didn’t dissuade one of the top athlete brands in the world from signing him.

The Cowboys’ star quarterback has left adidas and inked a contract with Jordan Brand in what’s reportedly a five-year deal. 

He becomes the brand’s only quarterback, its highest-paid NFL player, and only Dallas Cowboy — the Cowboys are the most valuable team in the world, per Forbes, worth $5.7 billion.

Prescott is no stranger to making money. 

  • His four-year $160 million deal extension with the Cowboys, which included a $67 million signing bonus, broke the record for guaranteed money with $127 million. 
  • His $107.5 million haul from the year ending May 1 put him fourth among all athletes and the top NFL player.
  • His other endorsements, which netted Prescott around $10 million in the last year, include Anheuser-Busch InBev, Sleep Number, 7/11, and DirecTV. 

The deal is the latest victory for Prescott after he lost brother last year, dealt with depression during the early days of the pandemic, and saw his season end in the fifth week when he fractured his ankle in an Oct. 11 game against the New York Giants. 

He said on Wednesday that he’s “buried the injury” and is ready to start fresh in the upcoming season.

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Spotify Owner Could Make Bigger Offer for Arsenal

Bukayo Saka/Design: Alex Brooks

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is getting back up and trying again. 

Last month, the 38-year-old billionaire made an offer to acquire Arsenal FC from Stan Kroenke for $2.55 billion but was told that the latter doesn’t need the money. Ek put the bid together with team legends Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, and Dennis Bergkamp. 

Now, the Spotify co-founder worth $4 billion is reportedly set to increase his bid to $2.83 billion, according to Sky Sports. 

Kroenke is the world’s 14th-richest sports team owner with an estimated net worth of $8.2 billion. 

Through his holding company Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, the 73-year-old real estate mogul also owns the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, and the Colorado Rapids of MLS.

KSE has had full control of Arsenal since 2018. 

Ek attempted to take advantage of the Super League fallout by appealing to fans who called for the club’s current ownership to resign, but Kroenke refused to budge.  

However, the attempt to join the breakaway league has cost Arsenal. 

  • Agreed to a settlement with the Premier League along with Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham. 
  • Total settlement cost reached $31.1 million ($5.2 million per squad).
  • Funds will go to grassroots and community soccer programs, among other initiatives. 

Ek faces an uphill battle with a Kroenke family that is “100 percent committed to Arsenal,” according to a statement in April. 

Arsenal is valued at $2.8 billion and generated $430 million in revenue for the 2019-20 season, per Forbes. 

Conversation Starters

Conversation Starters

  • Sports cards collecting app Loupe raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Forerunner Ventures.
  • After serious injuries from a car crash in February, Tiger Woods turned down an invitation from NBC Sports to commentate during the U.S. Open broadcast.
  • NFT games startup Mythical Games raised $75 million in Series B funding led by WestCap. It has raised a total of $120 million.
  • We won’t know whether a gender pay gap will appear in college sports like it has in the pros. But if it does, experts have a few ideas about how to mitigate it. For more on that story, check out Front Office Sports College, a free weekly newsletter. Click here to subscribe.

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Market Movers

Market Movers

U.S. stocks experienced gains across all three major indexes on Thursday. Here’s a look at how sports-related stocks performed:

Up:

Gravity Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRVY) gained 3.21%

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) gained 1.20%

The Liberty Braves Group (NASDAQ: BATRA) gained 1.00%

Down:

GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) dropped 27.06%

Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation (NASDAQ: BGFV) dropped 8.19%

Genesco Inc. (NYSE: GCO) dropped 4.67%

(Note: All as of market close on 6/10/21)

What to Watch

What to Watch

The Utah Jazz host the Los Angeles Clippers tonight in the second game of their second-round playoff series. The Jazz won 112-109 on Tuesday.

How to Watch:
10 p.m. ET on ESPN

Betting Odds:
Jazz -3 || ML -150 || O/U 222.5

Pick: The Jazz have yet to lose against the Clippers at home this season. Take Utah to cover and lean over.

Who ya got? Reply to this newsletter with your prediction for the Clippers-Jazz winner, final score, and high scorer. Nail it, and you get a mention in Friday’s FOS PM. Don’t forget to include your Twitter handle.

Shoutout: On Wednesday, we asked readers to make predictions for Nuggets-Suns. The Suns beat the Nuggets 123-98 despite Nikola Jokic’s game-high 24 points. FOS reader Jeff Golner (@GolnerJeff) had a near-perfect 122-98 guess. Impressive.

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