U.S. Open increases suite inventory, still sells out....Mexico City to host first regular-season MLB games in 2023....PGA Tour tables plans for new global series
The U.S. Open sold out of luxury suites in June, earlier than it ever has, with more inventory. This is a testament to help received from Elevate Sports Ventures, but more broadly, to the huge demand for premium seating at the Grand Slam. Some suite prices have topped $100,000 for select sessions in Arthur Ashe Stadium. "If we had significantly more for the second week, we would be able to sell all of them,” said USTA Chief Commercial Officer Kirsten Corio. "It’s incredible the demand we have." To answer that demand, the USTA and Elevate have again expanded premium offerings for this year’s tournament by taking existing inventory and packaging it with access to exclusive spaces, creating new inventory (including a new front row last year that added 44 premium seats) and by sprinkling in custom and unique experiences, like player or legend meet-and-greets, in tandem with premium seats.
Tournament organizers expanded the footprint of the 1968 Room, an impermanent all-inclusive F&B space. Access to the 1968 Room is paired with courtside tickets; it sold out this year. Also sold out is the 70-person, all-inclusive American Express Center Court Club. Corio said that having year-round help from Elevate, whose team flexes a bit throughout the year but is right now four people, has increased the US Open’s premium sales bandwidth, especially helpful in maintaining one-on-one relationships with clients.
Other premium offering changes include 20-plus courtside seats being sold on a per-session basis, more than ever before. Corio said this increase was a response to customer demand, especially from buyers who wanted to attend the tournament but didn’t want to buy seats for 25 sessions spread over two weeks. Another new offering combines front-row courtside seats with 1968 Room access, plus a private pre-match space for groups of roughly 30 people; 95% of the purchasers for that package are corporate buyers.
Arthur Ashe Stadium’s premium offerings have not been significantly overhauled in the venue’s 25-year existence, and the stadium’s 2016 renovation largely focused on the addition of a retractable roof. Recent incremental adjustments to the Open’s premium program may hint at larger changes coming down the line. “We’re all taking a collective look at what’s our future 10-year growth strategy, what do our fans want, how do we deliver a next generation experience in a stadium that’s celebrating its 25th birthday,” said Corio.
The 1968 Room is an impermanent all-inclusive F&B space
Access to the 1968 Room is paired with courtside tickets and sold out this year
Other premium offering changes include 20-plus suites being sold on a per-session basis
The Padres and Giants will play in the "first regular-season" MLB games in Mexico City next year, a two-game series at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú Béisbol set for April 29-30. The Padres "will be the home team in both games" at the 20,000-capacity ballpark. This comes three seasons after the first scheduled matchup in Mexico City, which had been set for April 2020 between the Padres and D-backs, was "canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic." Spring training games have been played in Mexico City in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2016. The Padres made three regular-season trips to Monterrey, Mexico in 1996, 1999 and 2018. These will be the Giants’ first games outside the U.S. and Canada (AP, 8/31).
The PGA Tour is "tabling its plans to stage a global series of three events that would have included its top players competing for purses" worth as much as $25M, according to sources. The PGA Tour announced Aug. 1 that the top 50 players in the FedExCup standings, as "well as top performers from an undetermined number of fall events, would compete in three international tournaments that would include limited fields and no cuts." But a source said that the Tour will instead "focus its efforts on 13 tournaments with elevated purses for top players" that were announced last week. The source said that the global series "might be staged at some point in the future, likely taking place as limited-field, no-cut, non-points events" (ESPN.com, 8/31).
NBA League Pass is "cutting prices dramatically for the 2022-23 season." The out-of-market package's premium tier, which "allows fans to watch on multiple devices at the same time and does not include commercials," came with a $280 price tag for the 2021-22 season. But for 2022-23, it will only cost $129.99. These moves follow League Pass "dropping its standard price to just $49.99 in January." Despite seeing a 30% increase in subscriptions last season, League Pass is "seemingly lowering its price in order to stay more in line with other streaming services," thereby "keeping itself competitive in an increasingly crowded streaming sports market" (THESTREAMABLE.com, 8/31).
The Rockets unveiled their Nike Classic Edition uniforms and are "throwing it all the way back to before the team was even in Houston" with a "tribute to the franchise’s origin as the San Diego Rockets." The alternate jerseys for the upcoming season are "white with green and gold -- gold lettering and numbers outlined in green, along with green and yellow stripes across the top of the shorts." The Rockets wore the green and gold for their first four seasons beginning in 1967 before moving to Houston ahead of the 1971–72 season. The team will debut the uniforms in a home game against the Pacers on Nov. 18, at which they also will "retire [Elvin] Hayes' number" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/31).
Our Hardwood Classic uniforms represent the beginning of a journey to greatness. 🎙 @TobeNwigwe pic.twitter.com/VoOXlCQURQ
Meanwhile, the Heat formally released the Classic Edition jerseys they will wear this coming season, a predominantly white look the franchise "initially wore" from the franchise’s 1988 inception through 1999. The Heat also "brought the jersey style back for the 2015-16 season" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 8/31).
Debuted in 1988. Returning in 2023. Our Classic jersey is back for the 35th season of HEAT Basketball. pic.twitter.com/BOXAOGOfR1
Streaming outlet FloSports landed deals for the exclusive U.S. media rights of three international rugby union properties: European Professional Club Rugby, Top 14 Rugby and United Rugby Championship. Across all three properties, FloSports will stream nearly 450 matches representing over 600 hours of live coverage annually. The three-year partnership begins Saturday with the start of the Top 14 season and will run through the 2024-25 season. FloSports previously secured rights to the Autumn Nations Series, Women's Six Nations Championships and Men's U-20 Six Nations Championships. FloSports will also exclusively carry Rugby Europe programming in North America through 2023 (FloSports).
Meanwhile, SportTechie goes with, "Inside FloSports’ Streaming Strategy as They Continue to Acquire Rights to College Sports."
The latest episode of L.A. Times’s “The Times” discussed the greatness (or rather GOAT-ness) of Serena Williams and her legacy on and off the court. Sports journalist Cari Champion said Williams was "always penalized for being a woman and having a very unapologetic attitude about who she was," but she "never compromised herself."
CONSISTENT STANDARDS: The Athletic’s Tim Graham joined “The Buffalo Beat” to talk about the release of Bills P Matt Araiza amid sexual assault allegations while he was attending San Diego State. Graham said in recent years, the “fan base had gotten to a very, very comfortable and confident place regarding the Bills culture, the front office, what their belief system is, as to thinking that something like this would not happen.”
DEAL MAKERS: The hosts of “Mitch Unfiltered” talked about the Mariners signing Julio Rodriguez to a $210M contract extension, with co-host Mitch Levy noting “this is a club-friendly contract.” MLB Network Radio’s Steve Phillips: “It was a deal that made some sense to me in that the young man gets extraordinary, lifetime generational security for himself and his family.”
Know of a podcast we should keep tabs on? Send an email to pbounds@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Also, check out SBJ's podcast home.
Raiders TE Darren Waller has signed with Rosenhaus Sports, with agents Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey repping him. Waller, who is seeking a new playing contract, had been represented by Klutch Sports, but left that agency last Thursday. Asked when he planned to begin negotiating with the Raiders, Rosenhaus told SBJ “today” (Liz Mullen, SBJ).
Former NFLer Brian Westbrook Sr. joined the XFL as Dir of Player Engagement. He will oversee team matters related to player experience, player/coach relations, off-field player development and player marketing, reporting to EVP/Football Operations Marc Ross (XFL).
ESPN has signed former NFLer Darius Butler to appear on "NFL Matchup," joining long-time host Sal Paolantonio and analyst Greg Cosell starting Saturday, Sept. 10, at 8:30am ET on ESPN2 (ESPN).
Soda brand Ale-8-One has signed Univ. of Kentucky QB Will Levis to an NIL deal (Ale-8-One).
USA Fencing partnered with RealResponse to offer 320-ENGARDE, a new texting hotline that allows members of the fencing community to safely report suspected abuse, issues or other potential violations of USA Fencing policies (USA Fencing).
"That’s just Season 1. If they continue to Season 2 or 3 or 4 or whatever, they will come after my character" -- Lakers President Jeanie Buss, on her character receiving a relatively positive portrayal in the HBO series "Winning Time" (VARIETY.com, 8/31).
“There are massive brands that are going to get the headlines and probably the biggest TV ratings. But man, there are some compelling games” -- ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt, on the college football matchups for Week 1 this weekend (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 8/31).
"I just think it's a little bit unfair" -- Cam Smith, on LIV Golf not receiving Official World Golf Ranking points (SBJ).
#CurryFor3 Stephen Curry will be honored by @DavidsonCollege today as a graduate, as a Davidson Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, and with his No. 30 college jersey being retired. pic.twitter.com/BzqSmEcUj9
🎙️ New Special Guest Announcers will be in #NBA2K23 Making his NBA 2K broadcast booth debut is @Rjeff24 (1/3) pic.twitter.com/pfjckUxWdO
Black and red is BACK. 😤 Our third jersey drops this November.
Utah will honor Aaron Lowe & Ty Jordan w/custom hand-painted helmets. The players both wore No. 22 & passed away in the past 2 years. Utah's #22forever helmet will debut Oct. 15 when the Utes host USC pic.twitter.com/IObzJxd2IQ
Cam Smith confirmed he sat down with Jay Monahan recently and took a couple phone calls from other players. Rory McIlroy said he was one of them. Despite all that, he thinks golf "needs to be stood up a little bit."
SportTechie offers daily updates and analysis on all the latest happenings that cross over between the sports and technology industries. Here are some of today's top headlines:
Asics's new ad, part of its Live Uplifted campaign, focuses on running and highlights brand ambassadors Lance Woods, Judge Craig Mitchell, Major Kim “Rooster” Rossiter, Lupita Hernandez and Tenia Fisher.
$10,172,500 -- Total in salary and bonuses that UCLA’s football coaches will make this year, "a 3.2% increase over the previous year." More than half of the "new total is consumed" by coach Chip Kelly’s $5.6M salary that includes a $1M retention bonus payable Dec. 15 (L.A. TIMES, 8/31).
When we added the two that we added, it made sense. It had a lot of momentum behind it. I've not yet heard anything that would get me at Iowa -- I'm just speaking for Iowa -- excited to say, 'Let's continue to expand more.'
The U.S. Open's massive opening week; the Bears set... Read More
The U.S. Open's massive opening week; the Bears set to pull curtain back on Arlington Heights and the Braves continue to roll on the business side
SBJ's Bret McCormick and longtime Charlotte journalist Erik Spanberg... Read More
SBJ's Bret McCormick and longtime Charlotte journalist Erik Spanberg dig into the collapse of the Carolina Panthers headquarters project and look at what may come next for Tepper Sports. Spanberg: “There are a lot of bruised feelings, a lot of hurt egos, now that this thing is coming unraveled. The local parlor game is trying to figure out how this failure impacts negotiations going forward.”
With opening week quickly approaching, Ben Fischer, Reggie Walker,... Read More
With opening week quickly approaching, Ben Fischer, Reggie Walker, and Xavier Hunter were joined by Jabari Young of Forbes to preview the upcoming NFL season. Topics discussed included the Deshaun Watson suspension, Denver Broncos ownership, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, and the league’s advancements in media.
SBJ's Bret McCormick and longtime Charlotte journalist Erik Spanberg dig into the collapse of the Carolina Panthers headquarters project and look at what may come next for Tepper Sports.
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