🏟NBA on TNT vs NBA and Amazon

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Sports Industry Weekly as we share insights from the most significant business headlines in the sports industry, including:

🍿 The competition intensifies between NBA on TNT and NBA/Amazon for the league’s media rights.

🌟 WNBA superstars shattered All-Star Weekend records in Phoenix.

🏟 Several new development projects for professional sports team arenas and stadiums have been announced.

🏅 As the Paris Olympics commence this week, the official rankings of the most followed male and female Team USA athletes have been released.

NBA'S MEDIA RIGHTS NEGOTIATIONS HEAT UP

This week has been monumental for NBA media rights negotiations. If you need to catch up, here's a complete timeline:

💰 Wednesday July 10th: the NBA agreed to terms on $76B media rights deal with ESPN, NBC and Amazon. The final season of NBA on TNT would be the 2024-25 NBA season if they didn’t match the bid.

📺 Monday July 22nd: TNT Sports attempts to exercise matching rights to counter Amazon’s bid for a portion of the NBA’s national media rights.

🚫 Wednesday July 24th @ 3PM: NBA responds by rejecting TNT’s attempt, stating that TNT (Warner Bros. Discovery) did not meet the terms offered by Amazon.

🤳 Wednesday July 24th @ 5PM: Just hours after NBA’s official response, Amazon and Amazon Prime shared on Instagram their NBA Coming Soon post with their full list of media rights.

🍿 Wednesday July 24th @ 5:43PM: TNT Sports issued a statement claiming they matched Amazon's offer and asserts that the NBA is misinterpreting their contractual rights, threatening potential legal action.

There's a lot to unpack here, and we'll provide more updates as the situation develops (possibly in court).

🌟 The 2024 WNBA All-Star Game drew 3.44 million viewers, breaking the 2003 record of 1.44 million and marking a 305% increase from last year. Team WNBA’s win over Team USA was the most-watched WNBA broadcast on any ESPN platform and the third-highest in WNBA history.

🥣 Travis and Jason Kelce announced their cereal collaboration with General Mills to combine their favorite cereals: Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms and Reese’s Puffs into one bowl, called “The Kelce Mix”. The athlete and cereal collaboration highlights how athletes and brands can extend their partnerships into unique products and storytelling moments.

🏅 LeBron James (159M+) and Simone Biles (7.2M+) are the most followed male and female Team USA athletes competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics. This data was included in Out2Win’s Olympic Marketability Report that provides a comprehensive analysis of all of this year’s Olympic athlete’s visibility and marketing potential.

🏈 This year's top NFL draft pick, Caleb Williams, turned down millions of dollars from USC's NIL collective. Instead, he chose to share the Athletic Brewing brand partnership opportunity with his offensive line. We recently shared the business portfolio of the #1 draft pick, and if the Chicago Bears’ O-Line protects their star QB this season, I’m sure they’ll receive a wealth of brand partnership opportunities as well.

🏟 This week saw the announcement of several major development projects: the $7 billion 1901 Project for the Chicago Bulls, a $1.3 billion new ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays, an $880 million arena district for the Calgary Flames, and a $100 million headquarters for the Phoenix Mercury. Anticipation is at an all-time high as fans eagerly await the unveiling of their teams' new arenas and stadiums.

🥶 The IOC has voted to award Salt Lake City the 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games. The games will take place in a mix of existing and temporary venues across the region, leading to a significant boost in the job market to support the event.

🇺🇸 LeBron James and Coco Gauff were announced as the official flag bearer’s for Team USA during the 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony. As the country’s flag bearers, Coco became the youngest U.S. athlete to be selected, and LeBron became the first male basketball player to be selected. Here’s the full Olympics TV schedule — we’ll be tuned in!

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