Go to Source Author: David Rumsey The news that two spring football leagues, the XFL and USFL, are close to merging operations is just the latest instance of competing sports organizations opting to work together rather than battle separately. This particular deal would bring together the most recent iterations of the XFL — which was founded in 2001, rebooted in 2020, and then sold to a group including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — and the USFL, which is owned by Fox Sports and uses trademarks from the original league that played in the 1980s. One of the most interesting aspects of the merger: Fox will join forces with ESPN, which has the XFL’s media rights. NBC Sports also shows USFL games with Fox. The Year

Go to Source Author: Michael McCarthy With the actors/writer’s strike in Hollywood slowing new entertainment inventory to a trickle, legacy networks are turning to an old standby: live sports.  The Walt Disney Company’s ABC will simulcast 15 regular season game telecasts of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” this season. Before the season, the strategy was to simulcast five regular season games. If you count the two playoff games, the sister Disney networks will share 17-game telecasts. The goal is to provide viewers with as much original programming as possible during the ongoing work stoppage.  Tonight, ESPN will release its new Monday Night Football anthem.Chris Stapleton, Snoop Dogg, and Cindy Blackman Santana reimagine "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins: pic.twitter.com/qbVj4EzK1j— Front Office Sports (@FOS) September 18,

Go to Source Author: Andrew Cohen Spain’s Women’s World Cup-winning players announced Friday that they’re continuing their boycott of the National Team despite the resignation of federation president Luis Rubiales and dismissal of coach Jorge Vilda. The players sent a joint email to the Royal Spanish Football Federation explaining that they were not ready to return to play for the national team following their World Cup victory celebration stained by Rubiales’ unwanted kiss on the lips of player Jenni Hermoso. On Friday, a Spanish judge ordered a restraining order against Rubiales from coming within 200 meters of Hermoso.   A statement signed by 39 national team players was posted Friday on X, calling for continued changes to the country’s soccer leadership. The players will not

Go to Source Author: Owen Poindexter New York Giants legend Eli Manning feels for Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets after Rodgers’ season-ending injury, but he doesn’t think that changing the field at MetLife Stadium from artificial turf to grass is the answer. “The turf gives you a reliable field all the time,” Manning said on Front Office Sports Today. “The Giants played in the same stadium in a big rainstorm [the night before]. If you have to play on that on Monday night [on grass], it would be ripped up.” Manning played for the Giants on that same field for 10 seasons, missing only one game from 2010 to 2018. On Wednesday, the NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell released a statement asking the

Go to Source Author: Daniel Myrick The NFL has further deepened its roots in Europe by making Tottenham Hotspur Stadium its official U.K. home, and next season could bring a game played in Madrid. We also look into pushback against allowing Netflix and other platforms access for sports documentaries, as well as the NBA’s new rules to keep stars on the court. Plus, Eli Manning joins to discuss whether the NFL should replace all turf fields with grass, Saquon Barkley’s relationship with the New York Giants, and his first forays into fantasy football. Related Stories Changing Market Forces NFL To Reevaluate Rules NFL Games On Nickelodeon Have Been A Hit. Disney Wants To Replicate Netflix Fatigue May Be Hitting Sports Docuseries For more on how sports impacts business

Go to Source Author: Michael McCarthy Stephen A. Smith’s recruitment of Shannon Sharpe to “First Take” continues to pay dividends for ESPN. The three-time Super Bowl champ returned to “First Take” earlier this week with Smith and Molly Qerim.  For the second week in a row, their audiences dwarfed those of Skip Bayless’ rival “Undisputed Live” on FS1. On Monday, after the first weekend of the NFL season, “First Take” posted 626,000 viewers to 185,000 for “Undisputed.” On Tuesday, the day after Aaron Rodgers’ season-ending injury, “First Take” drew 717,000 viewers compared to 118,000 for “Undisputed.”  That was the third-biggest audience for “First Take” this year, behind only Sharpe’s Labor Day debut and the Feb. 13 episode after Super Bowl 57. Sharpe appears on “First Take” Mondays-Tuesday. The

Go to Source Author: Andrew Cohen Business metrics for the New York Liberty have surged thanks to the team’s star-studded offseason. The Liberty finished 32-8 this season as the No. 2 seed entering Wednesday’s WNBA playoffs, narrowly finishing behind the Las Vegas Aces (34-6). New York’s success has led to over 100% growth in overall ticket sales this year, and an over 200% increase in season-ticket memberships, according to The Athletic. Barclays Center saw 2,500 more fan per game than the Liberty’s 2022 season. New York Liberty (and Brooklyn Nets) owner Joseph Tsai signed 2018 WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart and five-time All-Star Courtney Vandersloot this past offseason, and added 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones in a trade with Connecticut. The star trio joined incumbent Liberty

Go to Source Author: Andrew Cohen ESPN’s Saturday night viewership for Texas vs. Alabama narrowly edged out Deion Sanders’ Colorado home debut against Nebraska on Fox Sports. Texas-Alabama drew 8.8 million viewers on ESPN platforms, including 799,000 viewers that tuned into “The Pat McAfee Show” alternate broadcast on ESPN2. It was the most-watched alt-cast for McAfee, whose show debuted in 2019 with DAZN before he joined ESPN in May on a multiyear deal that pays him a reported $85 million. Texas-Alabama peaked at 10.7 million viewers, making it ESPN’s most-watched regular-season college football game since 2015 and the most-watched college football game of the week across all networks.  Colorado’s Saturday noon ET win over Nebraska scored 8.73 million viewers on Fox, making it the second-most-watched

Go to Source Author: Michael McCarthy The NFL’s media partners — ESPN, CBS, NBC, Fox, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube — pay over $12 billion annually for live game rights.  But they get their money’s worth, reaping an estimated $5 billion to $6 billion annually from advertising in and around NFL games, and 2023 is no different.  The Walt Disney Co. is poised to reap an estimated $585 million advertising windfall from ESPN’s 2023 NFL coverage. The company anticipates a 17% increase in ad sales for “Monday Night Football” and the “ManningCast,” sources told Front Office Sports. Disney declined to comment on numbers. But MNF ad sales across ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 last season (including a Wild Card Playoff telecast) hit an estimated $500 million, according

Go to Source Author: Doug Greenberg On Saturday, after years of hype and close calls, Coco Gauff finally broke through with her maiden Grand Slam victory, defeating Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the U.S. Open final. Gauff is the first American man or woman to win the home tournament since Sloane Stephens in 2017, and the first American to win a major since Sofia Kenin’s 2020 Australian Open triumph. “Thank you to the people who didn’t believe in me,” Gauff said after the match. “To those who thought you were putting water on my fire, you were actually adding gas to it.” As champion, the 19-year-old takes home $3 million from a Grand-Slam-record $65 million prize pool, bringing her total on-court earnings this season