August 17, 2021

Read in Browser

Front Office Sports

POWERED BY

NBA fans, mark your calendars: We’re getting Warriors-Lakers and Nets-Bucks on opening night October 19. 🍿

Endeavor Revenue Hits $1.1B in Second Quarter

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports/Design: Alex Brooks

Endeavor generated $1.1 billion in revenue in Q2 2021 — a $650 million increase compared to the same period a year ago. 

The results were driven by the return of live events and audiences, which led to the biggest first half of the year in UFC history.

Endeavor’s events, experiences, and rights segment saw revenue reach $528.7 million — $408.8 million more than in Q2 2020. It’s been a busy year for the company all-around.

  • UFC inked a 10-year, $175 million deal with Crypto.com in July.
  • Endeavor China acquired sports digital agency Mailman Group in July for roughly $60 million.
  • Its On Location Experiences property became the exclusive global hospitality partner of the 2024, 2026, and 2028 Olympics in June in a deal worth at least $1.3 billion. 

Endeavor raised $511 million in its initial public offering in April. The company also held a private placement that brought the total raised to $1.8 billion and made New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and AC Milan owner Paul Singer stakeholders in Endeavor.

Billionaires Michael Dell and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison acquired some of the 74.5 million shares sold during the IPO, as well.

Endeavor’s full-year revenue is expected to range between $4.8 and $4.85 billion.

Allbirds Launches Sustainable Activewear

Allbirds/Design: Alex Brooks

Allbirds fans can now complement their sustainable shoes with sustainable clothing.

On Tuesday, the brand announced its own activewear collection with apparel made from eucalyptus tree fiber and merino wool. The company has committed to cutting its per-product carbon footprint in half by 2025.

Allbirds joins a growing list of brands getting into activewear, a category that accounted for 40% of all online sales in 2020.

  • Denim brand Levi Strauss entered an agreement in August to acquire Beyond Yoga. Levi expects the activewear brand to contribute more than $100 million in revenue in its next fiscal year.
  • Footwear company Wolverine Worldwide acquired women’s activewear brand Sweaty Betty in August in an all-cash deal valued at roughly $410 million.
  • Dick’s Sporting Goods launched men’s activewear brand VRST in March, shortly after Target revealed that its All In Motion brand generated over $1 billion in annual sales in its first year.

Allbirds received a $1.7 billion valuation last year after a $100 million funding round and has plans to go public later this year.

Bloomberg reported that an IPO could happen as soon as next month.

SPONSORED BY FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS

Get the dirt you need on every NFL player this season

Football Outsiders, home of the Godfather of NFL analytics and DVOA are gearing up for football season.

Get ready to win with proprietary stats and analysis accessible only through an FO+ subscription!

FO+ includes: 

  • Proprietary Statistics from the Godfather of NFL analytics 
  • Football Outsiders Almanac 2021 (digital)
  • KUBIAK Preseason Fantasy Projections
  • Premium content challenging conventional wisdom 

Subscribe today for JUST $1/week!

NCAA Sticks Conferences with 90% of Alston Bill

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports/Design: Alex Brooks

The NCAA accrued hefty legal fees in its attempt to block new compensation laws from going into effect, but it’s distributing 90% of the costs to the conferences it oversees.

Of the $37.9 million it racked up in the landmark Alston case, the NCAA will pay $3.8 million. Conferences that were codefendents in the case will cover $24.4 million (64.2%), and the remaining conferences are on the hook for $9.8 million (25.8%).

The conferences with the biggest tabs are:

  • Atlantic Coast: $2.7 million
  • Big Ten: $2.5 million
  • Conference USA: $2.5 million
  • Southeastern: $2.5 million

The NCAA’s total legal fees during the 2019-2020 season were $67.7 million, compared to $33 million the previous season.

In Alston, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the NCAA could not limit the education-related benefits offered to Division I football and basketball players.

The NCAA made $868 million in marketing and media rights revenue in 2019, the bulk of which came from broadcasting deals with CBS and Turner. Revenue from those deals fell to $113.1 million last year — from an expected $827 million — due to event cancellations.

Conversation Starters

Conversation Starters

  • The Paralympics, which begin Aug. 24 in Tokyo, announced it will not allow spectators as the city battles a COVID-19 surge. 
  • Genius Sports has entered an agreement to acquire creative performance platform Spirable. Terms were not disclosed.
  • Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban revealed that he personally owns only $494 worth of Dogecoin, but remains an avid supporter of the cryptocurrency.
  • Joel Embiid is the latest NBA superstar to go the supermax route to lock in his long-term future, signing a four-year, $196 million extension with the Philadelphia 76ers. Get more stories like this in Sports Section, a free daily newsletter. Click here to subscribe.

SPONSORED BY WENDY'S

Grab a $1.99 Breakfast Croissant

No, it’s not a typo, and no, you’re not dreaming. A better breakfast awaits you at Wendy’s, any and every morning. Fresh-cracked eggs. A hot flaky, buttery croissant. And your choice of oven-baked bacon or grilled sausage.

Right now, you can get a Sausage or Bacon, Egg & Swiss Croissant at Wendy’s for $1.99. All that fresh deliciousness for just $1.99. Now that’s a wake-up call we should all want to answer.

Choose wisely. Choose Wendy’s breakfast.

Market Movers

Market Movers

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

Up:

Peloton Interactive, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON) gained 2.95%

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) gained 1.95%

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SBGI) gained 1.57%

Down:

Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) dropped 6.38%

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAY) dropped 5.48%

Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation (NASDAQ: BGFV) dropped 5.33%

(Note: All as of market close on 8/17/21)

What to Watch

What to Watch

The Sacramento Kings (4-0) face the Boston Celtics (4-0) in the NBA Summer League final at UNLV. 

How to Watch: 9 p.m. ET on ESPN 

Betting Odds: Celtics -5.5 || ML -150 || O/U 173*

Pick: The Celtics have dominated their opponents. Take Boston to cover. 

Who ya got? Reply to this newsletter with your predictions for the Kings-Celtics winner, final score, and high scorer.

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

Win a Full-Size NFL Replica Helmet

Win a Full-Size NFL Replica Helmet

Want to win a full-size NFL replica helmet? Refer your friends and colleagues to Front Office Sports and you could! One referral = one entry.

It’s easy to spread the word. Copy and paste your unique link below and share it in an email or on your timeline.

Your custom referral link: [RH_REFLINK]

Or use these one-tap sharing methods:

Email // Twitter // Facebook

Advertise Awards Learning Events Video Shows
Written by Justin Byers, Abigail Gentrup, Owen Poindexter

If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here.

Update your preferences / Unsubscribe

Copyright © 2021 Front Office Sports. All rights reserved.
460 Park Avenue South, 7th Floor, New York NY, 10016

Subscribe To Our Daily Newsletters

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.