FIFA World Cup spin-off snafu illustrates that there are limits, if tenuous
Welcome back to MoneyCall, The Athletic’s weekly sports business cheat sheet.
Name-dropped today: Gianni Infantino, LeBron James, Larry Berg, Tony Romo, Serena Williams, Alex Eala, Matt Futterman, Ken Rosenthal, Ted Lasso, Paraag Marathe, John Harbaugh, Christopher Nolan, John Ourand, Cleveland Sirens and more. Let’s go:
Driving the Conversation
Wait, are there really limits to greed in sports?
Throughout the past week’s crisis over Gianni Infantino’s ill-advised, ill-received and ultimately ill-fated idea to spin off a World Cup side hustle backed by private equity investors — which might ensnare him in legal action, if not cost him his job (and definitely add more meetings to his cal)— I have been struck by this latest bucking to apparent avarice in sports.
Normally, there is no real revolt around the high ticket prices to attend. The need for more streaming subscriptions to watch. Or more sponsorships to sell. More investment to extract. For the most part, it all proceeds as if it’s baked in to the experience, regardless of fan reaction to what feels like a constantly increasing squeeze.
But there apparently are limits, as we saw with the allergic reaction to Infantino’s ham-fisted ploy. We saw something similar with European soccer’s “Super League” idea a few years ago. We saw it again a year ago when the Big Ten wanted to sell itself off for private equity investment. Or Big 12 teams turning down private-equity cash advances.
Before you start to feel much better about all this, for me, the throughline on the pushback that actually derailed these ideas was other institutions’ own significant financial interests: in this case, UEFA. The Premier League. Michigan. With enough economic leverage, powerful groups thwarted particularly audacious cash grabs that would hurt their own bottom line.
“The game belongs to everyone” is compelling (if convenient) framing, and fans were just as outraged as soccer’s mega-conglomerates. But in the same way that your tickets cost more, that you needed that extra $8.99 per month to watch a game or that your college team’s jersey now is splattered with a couple of brand logos — and those kinds of orgs sign on willingly to those kinds of deals — fan interests in all this remain incidental.
Get Caught Up
Big talkers from the sports business industry:
More FIFA: U.S. cities that hosted World Cup games have been reduced to chasing FIFA for payments promised.
Are the Dodgers ruining baseball? That’s so interesting, I dedicated “What I’m Wondering” to that question. You’re a minute of reading away from it!
LeBron Economy, cont’d: How will a daily commute from NYC to Philly work? “It’s tricky.”
MLS names new commissioner Larry Berg: “I think there’s so much upside left,” he told The Athletic’s Paul Tenorio. Great coverage here of the transition from longtime commish Don Garber to Berg.
(Speaking of future: I can’t get enough of Henry Bushnell’s coverage of the future of youth soccer in the U.S. Here’s his latest about how a rebuild from U.S. Soccer might work.)
Is Tony Romo done at CBS? Andrew Marchand had a strong column last Friday about Romo’s tenuous situation at the network. He is owed about $72 million more on his original 10-year, $180 million deal (“the worst contract in media history,” per Marchand’s reporting), and his immediate replacement J.J. Watt will likely be so much better that fans may not miss Romo.
NHL media questions: Following the snafu with the Columbus Blue Jackets canning their longtime radio voice and having fans listening in instead hear the TV announcers, what is the future of the NHL on the radio?
What next for LIV Golf? In short, there’s nothing definitive. As one golfer said: “I think probably in the next two to three weeks we’ll have a bigger picture.”
College sports’ summer miasma: There is the “Protect College Sports” Senate bill possibly ready to be passed — by the Senate, at least — now that the Big Ten and SEC are on board. But the legislation is still chock-full of unintended consequences and loopholes that guarantee confusion for years to come. Here’s what you could expect if the act passes.
(On the flip side, Indiana football is doing just fine in this new environment, with a theoretical valuation that has skyrocketed following its national title last season.)
Serena Watch: The Cincinnati Open has always been a tennis event that punched above its weight (like my hometown D.C. Open). Having Serena participate will take attention to a new level.
The future of horse racing’s Triple Crown: A more robust schedule?
Other current obsessions: LeBron’s “Last Dance”-ish docuseries … Northwestern’s new football stadium (with a “safe standing” student section) … Alex Eala’s star-power stock … my colleague Matt Futterman’s new tennis book … the White Sox’s push-up “sushi pop” …
What I’m Wondering
MLB’s Dodgers conundrum
Back to that question… in the wake of L.A.’s trade for ace Tarik Skubal and seemingly unlimited resources, are the Dodgers ruining baseball? Are they the case study for the need for a salary cap or other radical adjustment to the competitive system?
Three interesting perspectives to indicate the answer is “no”:
Ken Rosenthal, on the big picture: “The dirty little secret of a salary cap and floor system is that it would not guarantee small-market teams success. Many would need to develop more of a killer instinct, an instinct the Dodgers demonstrate time and again.”
Steve Buckley, on why having a Big Bad is essential to baseball: “It’s OK to hate a team, to fervently root against that team, while respecting what makes the team special.”
Neil Paine, in an insightful Substack dispatch on the limits of simply having money: “Competence alone can get a team far even without resources — as was the original premise of Moneyball in Oakland, now put to use with teams like the Rays, Brewers and Guardians. By contrast, money alone, in the absence of competence — as we see with the Angels and Mets perennially — can’t get a team very far.”
Extra credit to Paine for including an instant-classic 2×2 matrix that warms the heart of this MBA:
Grab Bag
Name to Know: Ted Lasso
Today, Apple TV’s biggest hit, “Ted Lasso,” returns for its fourth season. What began as a quirky, zeitgeist-powering, (mostly) beloved sitcom got a little bogged down in itself last season, but a couple things remain true: 1) It was far too popular not to have an additional season if the stars were up for it, and 2) fans will watch.
Here’s a fun related story we just published this morning from Asli Pelit: How the NWSL informed this new season. (Also, Asli is going to be filing weekly episode recaps this season. As an avid TV recap consumer — shoutout to my fellow “Television Without Pity” fans — I am so excited to add this format to The Athletic’s milieu.)
One more: Paraag Marathe. The highly regarded 49ers executive is leaving the franchise to focus on Leeds.
Data Point: $2,461
That’s how much it will cost to attend the gymnastics final or a track and field evening event at the 2028 Olympics in L.A., per sleuthing done by Henry Bushnell.
One more: $11 million, the latest eye-popping number for a sports card. Imagine finding that Shohei Ohtani redemption card in your random pack.
Brand Watch: Cleveland Sirens
In what I can only imagine is a happy coincidence, the WNBA’s expansion franchise revealed its new name and logo at the precise moment we’re all obsessing about “The Odyssey.” (The team says the name is inspired by Lake Erie.) They start play in 2028.
Peak of the Week: Harbaugh Q&A
Given the opportunity to ask John Harbaugh a management question, what would I ask? Frankly, that feels intimidating to even contemplate. I’m glad our other readers had some good ideas, and Harbaugh is answering them for us.
Beat Dan in Connections: Sports Edition
Puzzle No. 681
Dan’s time: DID NOT FINISH
This is it, friends: This morning, the puzzle foiled me as I tried to “speed-run” through it. “Beat Dan” is right there for the taking! If you have never tried Connections: Sports Edition, today is your moment to try and then bask in the superiority. And if you’re a C:SE regular, enjoy today’s victory lap … if you can finish the puzzle today, you top me. I’m rooting for you! Play the game here!
Worth Your Time
Great business-adjacent reads for your downtime or commute:
Inside the Golden State Valkyries’ success: Make time for this tremendous deep dive by Brian Hamilton into all of the ways that the WNBA team found massive (and near-instant) business success.
Two more:
An ex-NHLer’s “Odyssey”: How Sean Avery became a go-to Christopher Nolan cast member.
The secret to happiness? Pickup basketball. (I had to stop playing in my weekly game 10 years ago — Puck’s John Ourand and I formed a winning trash-talking, sweet-shooting backcourt — and I miss it constantly.)
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