They say that in negotiations, the side that can walk away has the advantage. The Oakland A’s are flexing that power with a fresh threat to relocate if the team cannot secure a new ballpark. 

The team said on Tuesday that they were directed by Major League Baseball to explore other cities, and that the 55- year-old Coliseum site is not a viable option for the team going forward. The A’s have designs on a new Oakland stadium in the Howard Terminal waterfront area.

MLB released a statement citing concerns about the “rate of progress” on the team’s ballpark and said any effort to rebuild at the current Coliseum site, where the A’s lease expires in 2024, “is not a viable option for the future vision of baseball.” The league wants the team at a downtown waterfront stadium or in a new city.

Citing the glacial negotiations with city government, team president Dave Kaval wrote to fans that “it is unclear to us and MLB whether there is a path to success for the A’s in Oakland.”

The NFL’s Raiders left the city for Las Vegas in January 2020, just four months after the NBA’s Warriors moved across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco. Vegas is a possible relocation target for the A’s, per ESPN.

Keeping the A’s in Oaktown may hinge on the city approving the $12 billion development plan laid out by the team. The plan includes: 

• $1 billion for the stadium 
• 3,000 units of housing 
• 1.5 million square feet of office space

The A’s also included a non-relocation agreement if the term sheet, submitted in April, is approved by the city. The city council is expected to vote on the proposal this summer.

FuboTV hit a record with its Q1 earnings. The question now is whether those figures represent a trajectory or a peak.

The streaming platform grew revenue 135% year-over-year to $119.7 million in the quarter — but also sustained an 80% increase in operating expenses, leading to an overall loss of $70.2 million.

Launched in 2015, the company’s 590,430 subscribers are dwarfed by legacy companies with huge portfolios of original content and streaming rights.

• Peacock, with 33 million subscribers, includes the NBC Sports network of shows and broadcasts.
• ViacomCBS reached 36 million subscribers across its various streaming services, namely Paramount+, which was buoyed by the Super Bowl and NCAA tournament.
• Disney+ reached 100 million subscribers in March. Some subscribers bundle with ESPN+, which has 12 million subscribers and is solely focused on sports broadcasting and original content. 

Though some see reason to be bearish on fuboTV — like the Q1 addition of only 43,000 net subscribers despite $22.1 million spent on sales and marketing — the broader reaction to its earnings was positive.

FuboTV’s stock shot up nearly 30% from Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning before settling down to a 23% increase by midday Wednesday, on a day that was otherwise a bloodbath for the market.

The leading reason to be bullish on fuboTV? Fubo Sportsbook, which launches in Q4 2021 and already has licenses to operate in Indiana, Iowa, and New Jersey. The company acknowledged growing competition in the space but said its ability to “combine streaming and gaming” into one experience will set it apart.

DraftKings could emerge as a rival. The company already integrates its sportsbook with Dish and its OTT subsidiary Sling in a limited capacity, but there’s speculation that it wants build its own OTT service from the ground up.

Roughly 4% of sports coverage is dedicated to women’s sports, but Bleacher Report found that 84% of sports fans are interested in them. A recent report from Deloitte expects TV and sponsorship revenue for women’s sports to soon eclipse $1 billion globally.

“We saw the numbers and thought, why wouldn’t we invest in this?” Ann Lutzenkirchen, senior producer of Turner Sports/Bleacher Report told Front Office Sports.

Turner — which includes WNBA champion Candace Parker among its talent — will broadcast a weekly show with Atlanta Dream owner Renee Montgomery on NBA TV and collaborate with Nike on merch celebrating the season. In Nike’s final earnings report of 2020, the company said its women’s category was growing faster than the its overall business.

Media investments in women’s sports are on the rise.

• Amazon just secured exclusive global streaming rights to 16 WNBA games each season in a multiyear deal, strengthening Prime Video’s push into live sports.
• ESPN and the WNBA are releasing an ESPN Films and “30 for 30” documentary about the WNBA’s 2020 season, executive produced by L.A. Sparks player Chiney Ogwumike.
• Kevin Durant recently backed a $3.5 million funding round for multimedia company Just Women’s Sports.
• Olympians Sue Bird, Alex Morgan, Simone Manuel, and Chloe Kim launched women-focused media and e-commerce destination TOGETHXR in March.

The 2021 WNBA season officially tips off with four games Friday, starting with Indiana Fever at New York Liberty. Last year’s No. 1 draft pick Sabrina Ionescu — who has a Nike deal of her own — is expected to return for NY after missing most of her rookie season with an ankle injury.

Average viewership of WNBA games was up 68 percent in 2020 thanks in part to more broadcasts across ESPN, CBS, Twitter, and Facebook.

One high-profile NIL complication has flown under the radar.

More than 20,000 athletes come from abroad each year to play in the NCAA — but it’s possible that athletes on student visas won’t be able to make money off their name, image, and likeness.

Top college athletes have the potential to earn more than $100,000, according to estimates from companies like AthleticDirectorU.

• So far, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and New Mexico have passed NIL laws that will take effect July 1. 
• This week, NCAA President Mark Emmert traveled to Washington to lobby for a federal NIL law to pass by July 1, he told USA Today.

The main issue is that students with F visas can only “do limited on-campus employment here and there,” Robert Seiger, an immigration lawyer and partner of Archer & Greiner P.C.’s sports law practice, told Front Office Sports.

So, if international athletes sign endorsements or work at sports clinics, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services could revoke their student visas, Seiger said.

The way the government “ultimately perceives” NIL deals will help determine if international students can benefit. If not, it may take advocacy and lobbying to push for new laws.

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