April 13, 2021

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Speaking of the Masters, Tiger Woods won his first green jacket exactly 24 years ago today — by a record 12 strokes.

Masters Least-Watched In Almost 30 Years

Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports/Design: Alex Brooks

With few stars on the leaderboard, Sunday’s final round of the Masters was the least-watched in nearly 30 years.

Hideki Matsuyama’s one-stroke win averaged around 9.5 million viewers on CBS Sports. 

It was the least-watched final round for a spring Masters since German star Bernhard Langer’s second win in 1993. Still, the audience was up 70% from 2020’s final round, which was moved to November due to the pandemic. 

Matsuyama made history as the first male Japanese golfer to capture a major, but this year’s coverage was missing three key factors that drive ratings:

  • No familiar names: Matsuyama’s green jacket is sure to spark a frenzy in golf-loving Japan, but he was previously unknown to casual viewers. Defending Masters champion Dustin Johnson didn’t make it to the weekend. Other big names missing the cut included: Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, and Brooks Koepka. Plus, five-time Masters champ Tiger Woods didn’t play because of injuries sustained in a car accident.
  • No drama: Masters ratings soar when the lead changes hands or stars face off in a sudden-death playoff. Sunday had little drama. Matsuyama teed off with a 4-shot lead, then made the turn into the back nine with a 5-shot lead. Even though he came back to the pack at the end, the win never seemed in doubt. 
  • Few roars: Unlike November, Augusta National Golf Club admitted patrons, but a crowd estimated at 20% of capacity sounded more like 10%, according to Golf Digest. 

The tournament fell flat for viewers — in person and on TV. As Mike Greenberg noted on ESPN’s “Get Up,” Sunday’s finale was more of a “coronation than a competition.”

Epic Games Valued at Nearly $29B

Fortnite/Design: Alex Brooks

Epic Games has completed a $1 billion funding round, giving the “Fortnite” maker a $28.7 billion valuation. The round includes a $200 million investment from Sony. Additional investors include Luxor Capital, Franklin Templeton, and Fidelity Investments Inc. 

“Their investment will help accelerate our work around building connected social experiences in ‘Fortnite,’ ‘Rocket League,’ and ‘Fall Guys’ while empowering game developers and creators with Unreal Engine, Epic Online Services, and the Epic Games Store,” said Epic founder and CEO Tim Sweeney in a statement. 

Epic previously secured $1.78 billion in funding in August, which included $250 million from Sony, amounting to a 1.4% stake in Epic. Following that round, Epic was worth $17.3 billion.

Now, Epic is poised for more growth, despite a legal battle with Apple and Google over “anticompetitive behavior.” In March, the company acquired London-based video game developer and publisher Tonic Games Group, the parent company of Mediatonic.

Mediatonic is the developer behind battle royale hit “Fall Guys,” which has eclipsed more than 11 million downloads since August on PC game distribution service Steam. 

“Epic continues to deliver revolutionary experiences through their array of cutting-edge technologies that support creators in gaming and across the digital entertainment industry,” Sony President, CEO, and Chairman Kenichiro Yoshida said.

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USWNT Continues Fight For Equal Pay

Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports/Design: Alex Brooks

The legal battle between the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) and the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) over equal pay appears headed for the Ninth Circuit.

The two sides came to an agreement on working conditions claims made by the USWNT covering charter flights, venue selection, the number of support staff, and hotel accommodations.

With U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner’s approval of the agreement on Monday, the women’s team is cleared to appeal his decision from May rejecting the team’s claim that they are underpaid. 

The two sides continued their battle in the press, releasing contradictory statements after the most recent ruling. 

The USSF wrote that “U.S. Soccer is 100% committed to equal pay,” adding that “We have offered the USWNT the identical compensation provided to our men’s players for all matches controlled by U.S. Soccer.” 

The USSF drew a distinction to FIFA, which gave out $400 million in prize money to the 32 men’s teams in the 2018 World Cup and only $30 million to the 24 women’s teams in the Women’s World Cup the following year. 

The USWNT shot back:

“In truth, USSF’s last settlement offer, which was over a year ago, offered far less than equal pay to the players. If USSF was ‘100% committed to equal pay,′ then USSF would have offered the players equal pay and equal working conditions.” 

The USWNT initially sued the USSF in 2019 over unequal pay and working conditions in comparison to the men’s team, seeking over $66 million in damages.

Conversation Starters

Conversation Starters

  • Cisco signed a multi-year deal with the NFL, making it the league’s official technology provider. The tech company already provides the technology behind the NFL’s replay control room in New York, where challenged plays are reviewed. Cisco also announced networking and cybersecurity partnerships for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics. Cisco has an existing partnership with the Tokyo Games.
  • Shane Bieber has tallied 12 strikeouts in each of his first two starts, but the 25-year-old has yet to record a win. That should change tonight. The White Sox got the series-opening win Monday, which is all the more reason to think the pendulum will swing back, with Cleveland (-112) winning a low-scoring game. Get daily picks like this from The Rundown. Click here to subscribe.
  • After announcing a deal to create collaborative Nerf and Monopoly products, shares of Roblox Corp. and Hasbro Inc. climbed on Tuesday. Roblox shares grew 8.2% to $81.13 on Tuesday, a record high, while Hasbro shares rose 3.5% to $100.47.
  • Zheijang Geely Holding Group Co., the automotive and racing company behind Lotus Cars, is considering raising around $1 billion to expand into the electric vehicle market in China. The funding round could value Lotus’s EV operations at $5 billion. Geely is also considering an IPO for Lotus Cars as soon as next year.

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Market Movers

Market Movers

U.S. stocks were mixed on Tuesday following concerns about Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s a look at how sports-related stocks performed:

Up:

Scientific Games Corporation (NASDAQ: SGMS) gained 3.38%

Peloton Interactive, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON) gained 2.85%

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG) gained 2.09%

Down:

Genesco Inc. (NYSE: GCO) dropped 4.52%

Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ: HIBB) dropped 3.76%

Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) dropped 3.39%

(Note: All as of market close on 4/13/21)

What to Watch

What to Watch

The Portland Trail Blazers host the Boston Celtics tonight at the Moda Center. The teams haven’t met since August, when the Celtics scraped a 128-124 victory. Portland stands at sixth in the Eastern Conference, while Boston is seventh in the East.

How to Watch:

10 p.m. ET on TNT

Betting Odds:

Trail Blazers -2 || ML -114 || O/U 229

Pick: The Celtics travel to Portland having won three-straight games, including a 105-87 win over the Nuggets on Sunday. The Trail Blazers have struggled of late, going 2-4 in their last six games while also failing to cover in four of those matchups. Facing a Celtics squad trending in the right direction, the Trail Blazers have their hands full tonight at the Moda Center. Take Boston to cover and lean under.

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

Shoutout: On Monday, we asked FOS readers to pick the winner, final score, and high scorer of the 76ers-Mavericks tilt. Philadelphia defeated Dallas 113-95 and Joel Embiid finished with a game-high 36 points. FOS reader David Nagelberg (@SportsGuruDave) was the only person to pick the 76ers over the Mavericks and Embiid as the top scorer.

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Written by Michael McCarthy, Justin Byers, Owen Poindexter

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