Premier League All-Stars: America’s next big import?

It was another important week for tennis. Just a few days after the sport said it goodbye arrive Serena WilliamsAnother great is gone. Roger Federer To be Climb up his racquet following a stellar career spanning more than 1,500 matches and 20 Grand Slam titles.

“I wish this day would never come. It’s a sad day for me personally and for sports around the world,” said Rafael NadalFederer’s great rival on the court and his best friend. Carlos AlcarazRising star and newly crowned US Open champion, just tweet a broken heart emoji.

We’ve been writing for a while at Scoreboard about generational change in tennis, but things are really happening at a rapid pace. We’ll be watching to see if big commercial deals start to apply to young guns – a sign that the sports world is really moving forward.

This week, we’re taking a look at the latest blue sky thoughts from Chelsea FCowner’s new title owner. Plus, we explain how the European energy crisis is starting to wear down the gears in Formula 1. Read on – Josh Noble, sports editor

Imagine for a moment, you could assemble a team as diverse as Machine Gun Kelly, Tiffany Haddish and Olympic high jump champion Gianmarco Tamberi, among others, take them into an arena in Ohio and watch them play. basketball on international television.

If that sounds odd, the scene above actually took place in real life this past February as part of National Basketball AssociationThe annual All-Star Weekend, a circus of celebrity stunts, gimmicks and a friendly basketball game between the league’s top stars.

The two-day event grossed $249 million in total economic impact to the greater Cleveland area, which includes more than 100,000 tourists from 45 US states and two dozen countries.

The concept of the All-Star Game – and indeed, the All-Star weekend – is a key element in every core US professional sports league, part of the pinnacle Americana for the alchemy of celebrities, celebrities and travel are overshadowed by the fleeting experience of watching the top players of a sport like Steph curry or Shohei Ohtani line up once a year in a friendly match with average slots.

It is with this idea that the new owner of Chelsea FC Todd Boehly floating this week as a suggestion for English Premier League, speaking at the Salt financial conference in New York. In a nutshell, Boehly hosted a “North and South” soccer match featuring the league’s best players and a tournament between the bottom four teams, using the proceeds to help support smaller clubs.

Boehly says from experience: Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team organized Major League Baseball This summer’s All-Star weekend, an epic two-day home run that raked in $200 million, by his account.

It is not yet clear how serious any discussion of the Premier League’s All-Star schedule is – it seems more suited to a video game than to the real world, where fixture congestion has been a major concern. Reactions in football so far have ranged from the diplomatic “that’s an interesting idea” to the more brazen “is this guy real?”

But let’s look at the underlying economic and media impact of such a festival.

The thing is, anyone wondering about the athlete composition – why stars from rival clubs like Arsenal and Tottenham fit together? – financial incentives available. The terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the U.S. federations and their respective players’ associations specify the prize money awarded to athletes selected to compete in the All-Star Games (for the All-Star Games). basketball players, up to $50,000), not to mention background awards that often translate to better endorsements and chances. Selection for such games is usually a composite of votes from fans, members of the media and other players.

U.S. domestic TV ratings for the 2022 All-Star games and events drew viewership from about 1 million to nearly 8 million per broadcast, according to SportsMediaWatch. In the case of the MLB All-Star Game, the highest rated of all leagues, viewership is at an all-time low this year, although it follows with an overall drop in ratings. TV.

Taking such an event in a European context could be counterintuitive given the vast disparity between American and British sports culture. Could the league host its own celebrity show – perhaps a friendly match between the Love Island and Made in Chelsea casts? Are football fans interested? If nothing else, the brainstorming component of the English All-Star festival is entertainment.

Formula 1: Rising costs put teams under pressure

For several years, Formula one have a cost problem. Teams like Ferrari can afford to spend big in the fight for the championship. Mercedes and Red Bull was able to keep up. But others, such as McLarenburned cash and struggled to close the performance gap.

A lot of money has been lost. And competition is also affected. You have to go back to 2009 for a season where Mercedes or Red Bull didn’t win the constructors championship. Brawn GP, ​​acquired by Mercedes, won that year and Ferrari won in 2008.

US Investment Group Liberty Media, which bought F1 in an $8 billion deal nearly six years ago, has noticed the problem. It convinced the teams to agree to a budget cap after tough negotiations. The pandemic and the threat it poses to the sport has helped to focus the mind.

The cap goes into effect in 2021 and drops to $140 million this year. It is meant to drop to $135 million next season. That’s attractive to investors who want a cost cap and help grow the team sustainably.

Only, there is one obstacle. Previously agreed limit double digit inflation and energy supplies are dwindling. In July, International Federation de l’Automobile, has allowed the limit to be increased to 3.1% this year. Next year’s restrictions have also been relaxed.

Some teams say that’s not enough. Ferrari, which once threatened to pull out of F1 because of cost caps, now tells the FT that the budget cap is still too low. Research groups are worried about the consequences of rising energy prices affecting the cost of auto parts and raw materials, and ultimately wages. Teams that already have big budgets, like Ferrari, are more likely to run against the cap.

Aston Martin F1 Chief Financial Officer Robert Yeowart told the FT that inflationary pressures are an early “test” to the budget cap. A little flexibility now can help avoid the embarrassment of many non-compliant teams.

That said, other teams have started with a much lower-than-limited cost base. Several senior executives in the sport say the big teams won’t stop there to regain their spending edge. And if the limit is relaxed too far, F1’s long-term competitive balance will be at risk.

Invitation

Ours Business of Sport Summit takes place in New York on October 24. Marc Lasry and Josh Harris will be among those there to share their insights. As a Scoreboard subscriber, you can claim your free digital card using promo code Premium22 and purchase access to our VIP live discussions and beverage reception . Register your card today.

. . . and a recommendation:

Our FT colleagues including financial technology and banking just launched an improved weekly fintech newsletter, The future of money. Scoreboard readers may be interested in an upcoming issue this Monday, which will include a new platform for student-athlete asset management. Check it out and subscribe here.

Highlights

• PayPal yesterday said it would no longer sponsored the Phoenix Suns if the owner Robert Sarver remains part of the basketball franchise when his one-year suspension ends. National Basketball Association this week prohibit Sarver, who also owns the Phoenix Mercury team in the Women’s National Basketball Association, after an independent investigation found he used “racially insensitive language”, mistreating female staff and stocking Dance for an office culture that includes bullying at times.

• Axel Springer’s CEO, Mathias Döpfner, used his best-selling tabloid, Bild, to Demonstration AdidasDeciding to stop paying rent during the pandemic. He did not disclose that he was the owner of the German sportswear manufacturer.

• Activist investor Dan Loeb seems to pull back without prompting Disney for sale or revolving ESPN sports television network. The entertainment conglomerate’s CEO Bob Chapek said he plans to revive ESPN’s growth.

• US private equity group Silver Lake appeared is the second largest shareholder in the parent company of Manchester City Football Club after acquiring more preferred equity in the group controlled by Abu Dhabi.

• Fosun International, owner of English football club Wolverhampton WanderersTo be signs of stress, according to FT’s Lex Column. Shares of Chinese corporations lost nearly a fifth of their value this month.

Transfer market

• Global sporting goods and collectibles platform Fanatics has selected Jason White as the new chief marketing officer for its betting and gaming division. White joins Paramount’s MTV Entertainment, where he also served as chief marketing officer and previously worked on advertising campaigns for Nike at Widen + Kennedy.

The end whistle

You can’t do this in the UK pic.twitter.com/tCG2qu5oWz

– Bright skin block of Saturn (@Java_jigga) September 15, 2022

On the subject of bringing American ethos into European sport, perhaps no slice is more iconic in American affection for sports than 2001. Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving game break program. Just a few months after the September 11 attacks, rock group Creed put on an engrossing performance of their hits including “Higher,” complete with cheers, aerobatics, and fireworks. and release pigeons. maybe this replicated in the UK?