#11 '24: Sports Illustrated, NWSL, Der Schock!... and more.

TOP-3 HIGHLIGHTS

#1 WELCOME, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED!

With coverage of all major trade, sports and news outlets in the US and many globally, Minute Media proudly welcomed Sports Illustrated to its portfolio of brands.?Check it out on ?The New York Times,?The Washington Post,?Wall Street Journal,?AP News,?Boston Globe,?The Observer,?The Athletic,?Sportico,?Variety,?Axios,?Sports Business Journal,?Front Office Sports,?CNN, etc...

#2 NWSL ON FIRE?

With the kickoff of the new season, the business news about the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) are booming. Check out a quick summary:?

• The?San Diego Wave?were?sold?to the Levine Leichtman family in a record ‘US$120m’ deal -- former owner Rob Burkle had paid US$2m for expansion team in 2021.?
• A group led by private equity giant?Carlyle Group?and the MLS'?Seattle Sounders?have reached an?agreement?to purchase the?NWSL’s Seattle Reign FC?in a deal that values the NWSL club at $58 million.?
• Angel City?was said to be?exploring?the sale of a controlling stake in the club, which?is considered the league’s most valuable team at US$180m.
• The league?unveiled?a multi-year, multi-faceted expansion of its partnership with retail giant?Amazon, which is now the exclusive retail sponsor of the league.?
• The?NWSL?also?announced?a summer tournament where each team will play against select sides from the?Liga MX Femenil. The tournament will start on July 19. Each team’s three group-stage games happen in late July, as the semifinal round will be the week of Aug. 4. However, the Final will not happen for some time. The Championship match for this competition is the weekend of Oct. 25 to 27.

#3 DER SCHOCK!

US sportswear giant 耐克 ?has?celebrated?a shock deal with the?German Football Federation?(DFB), which will end an over 70-year partnership with?Adidas. No financial details were given but German business newspaper Handelsblatt, citing industry sources, said Nike will pay the cash-strapped DFB more than €100 million ($108 million) per year between 2027 and 2034. Bild reported that the current Adidas deal is worth €50 million a year.

Other relevant Global Football and US Soccer business news?

US

The?Liverpool-City?game in the?Premier League?last week was the?most-watched?Premier League game on cable in American history. Likewise, it was the most-watched Premier League game on Spanish-language TV in the United States.?NBC announced that USA Network had a total audience delivery of 1.23 million viewers. On Telemundo, the total audience delivery was 566,000 viewers.

J.P. 摩根 ?is?forming?a specialist sports investment banking team?to offer advisory and financial solutions for clients looking to invest in sports franchises.

Stella Artois'? global ‘Worth More’ campaign from Gut Miami features David Beckham and will ‘go big’ in the U.S., AB InBev exec?says.?

Ryan Reynolds’?Wrexham AFC?will tour the United States this summer with Ally Financial Inc. as their?sponsor.

Check out this?special report?on the?MLS' growth, published by sports marketing agency Sports Value ?in collaboration with La Pizarra Del DT . According to the report, Major League Soccer went from a combined revenue of US$ 1.6 billion in 2022 to more than US$ 2 billion in 2023 and left Brazil’s Serie A far behind. It will soon overtake France’s Ligue 1, becoming the fifth league in revenues in world football.

UK?

Newcastle United?and?Quidd, the digital collectibles and NFT marketplace and subsidiary of Hong Kong-based game publisher Animoca Brands, have?announced?a new multi-year partnership. The deal makes Quidd the club's first official digital collectible partner, allowing fans to build and trade collections of officially licensed digital trading cards, digital video moments, and digital memorabilia on Quidd. The series will feature over 200 player cards. The club's co-owner?Amanda Staveley?is also reportedly?interested?in a multi-club model.?

GERMANY

Bundesliga?and second-tier?Bundesliga 2?generated?revenue of over €5 billion ($5.4 billion) for the first time in the 2022-23 season, beating pre-pandemic levels. The top two divisions generated total revenue of €5.24 billion, a 9% increase from the previous record of €4.8 billion set in the 2018-19 season and a rise of 17% from last year (€4.48 billion).

Amazon Web Services?has agreed an?extension?to its sponsorship agreement with the?German Football League (DFL)?that places a new emphasis on the company’s artificial intelligence technology.

BRAZIL?

Globo has?secured?rights to the home games of nine teams from the country’s top-tier Serie A football league between 2025 and the conclusion of the 2029 campaign.

UEFA?

Uefa has launched a process?inviting?bids from prospective sponsors in the crypto exchange category to fill its Champions League sponsorship portfolio and has already received one offer from the sector.