Sports Business Journal — Oct. 26, 2020

OCTOBER 26-
NOVEMBER 1, 2020
VOLUME 23,
ISSUE 29 • $7.95

BROTHERS
IN ARMS

While Tim Leiweke builds an
almost mythical arena in Seattle,
brother Tod readies the NHL
Kraken that will call it home.

PAGE 16

Tod (left) and Tim ‘Bowl Season’: College Trust in Numbers: In-Depth: Action plan
Leiweke at the Kraken football gets a new How KAGR built a data helps esports make
and Climate Pledge marketing brand. analysis powerhouse.
Arena preview center. major moves.
PAGE 7 PAGE 13
PGA Tour tiptoes PAGE 24
toward getting fans
back on the course.

PAGE 6

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?
OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO DOES?

Now Taking Nominations for the Forty Under 40 Class of 2021.

For MORE INFORMATION and to NOMINATE, please go to

www.FortyUnder40Awards.com

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SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

STATE OF PLAY

The Show Must Go On PICKING NAMES

The pandemic’s impact on the 2021 sports calendar is already being felt, even by competitions that aren’t really sports. The Los Angeles-based
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show announced last week that it will roll over its 145th event from Manhattan to expansion NWSL team
an outdoor location 25 miles north of the city. It will be the first time in 101 years that the top prize — Best in Show, formally announced its
won last year by Siba, a standard poodle— will not be given out at one of the arenas known as Madison Square Garden. name, Angel City FC, as
well as more than two dozen
“The sandsMONEYTALKS will go MARK YOUR CALENDAR new investors, including

through the hourglass Start date for a Billie Jean King.
more quickly new women’s
THE METER
”as the days go by. lacrosse
league, the DELAYING NAMES
— KATHY CARTER, chief revenue officer of the Los Angeles 2028 third such
Summer Olympics, on getting ready for the Games. venture from Washington Football Team
President Jason Wright
Athletes
Unlimited, said there is “a pretty good
chance” the club still will
joining not have a new nickname
softball and before the start of the 2021

volleyball NFL season. 

CHEERS

@budweiserusa Twitter; Getty Images (2) TOTHME WBEEKRINA. .D. Y

July19SUNDAY, OCT. 18 TUESDAY, OCT. 20 WEDNESDAY, SUNDAY, OCT. 25
 Leads the  Voices the intro OCT. 21  Scheduled to
Buccaneers to a on Fox for Game 1  Announces that make ‘Sunday Night
38-10 win over of the World Series TB12, his health and Football’ debut as
between the Tampa wellness brand, has a a Buc when Tampa
previously Bay Rays and Los deal with IMG to lead Bay visits Las
unbeaten Green Angeles Dodgers. its licensing efforts. Vegas, the game
Bay in the was instead moved
first game at  Announces that to the afternoon BUDWEISER released a new
Raymond James his autograph and because of COVID Rally Buds can with the label
Stadium with memorabilia sales concerns within printed inside-out, to coincide
fans, and it draws a will be handled the Raiders’ locker
week-high 22.3M exclusively by room. with the World Series.
viewers on Fox. Fanatics.

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M OCTOBER 26-NOVEMBER 1, 2020 | 3

FORUM

Storylines to watch in
MLB’s unsettled offseason

I T WASN’T CLEAR where Major League Baseball was going to end up this year. Of all the The entire contents
big leagues, it had the most tumultuous return-to-play negotiations amid prickly rela- of this magazine are
tions between management and labor. Its leadership was consistently criticized by the copyrighted by Street &
media, and even industry observers felt the league missed an ideal opportunity to start its Smith’s Sports Business
season July 4 and own the summer storylines. When MLB did start, it immediately faced a Journal 2020 with all rights
COVID spread that jeopardized its season. But now in late October, the sport is set to crown reserved. Street & Smith’s
a champion, and although Commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledged operating losses of is a registered trademark
$3 billion among the 30 clubs, labor and management can take solace in the fact that they of Leaders Group Holdings
worked effectively enough to complete a season. So, as we head into an unpredictable offsea- LLC. Reproduction or use,
son, here’s a few local club issues I’m watching, and then a national perspective: without permission, of
editorial or graphic content
ABRAHAM MADKOUR  CAN THE BOSTON RED SOX REGAIN RELEVANCE? A fascinating organization to watch, as re- in any manner is prohibited.
spected leadership — John Henry, Tom Werner, Mike Gordon and Sam Kennedy — has its Street & Smith’s Sports
PUBLISHER AND hands full. The team has rarely been less relevant in New England, saw its viewership on NESN Business Journal (ISSN-
EXECUTIVE EDITOR drop more than 50%, has a major rebuild ahead and a decision to make on a manager. All of 1098-5972) is published
this comes amid reports of Fenway Sports Group possibly going public in a deal with RedBall weekly, with the exception
THIS WEEK Acquisition and plans for real estate development around Fenway Park. Henry and Co. have of the first week of July
been known to quickly change course and zig while others zag, so there are a number of ways and the last two weeks of
LEAGUES this can go. But there is pressure, as fellow owners and MLB don’t want a long rebuild in Boston. December, for $306 a year
9 NEXT SEASON by Street & Smith’s Sports
 WHITHER THEO EPSTEIN? I crossed paths briefly with Theo Epstein in 1994 at the Baltimore Business Journal, at 120
MLB’s biggest offseason Orioles, where the whip-smart Yalie was learning under Larry Lucchino and Charles Stein- West Morehead Street, Suite
questions: How many berg. Few executives have excelled at their craft like Epstein, and his command of leadership 310, Charlotte, NC 28202.
fans will be allowed at and language are attributes I admire. What is next for him? His contract with the Cubs is up at In Canada $371 per year,
games and what will the the end of 2021, and he has said that executives shouldn’t remain in their roles for more than 10 includes GST and all other
experience be like? years. There’s talk he could move on before his deal ends, and while there was speculation he countries $471, includes
By Eric Prisbell could land at the New York Mets under Steve Cohen, that looks unlikely if Sandy Alderson a one-year subscription
returns. Epstein is a builder and a creator of culture, and I believe he will succeed wherever and expedited air delivery
MARKETING he goes next, inside or outside of baseball. What would his departure mean for the Cubs? Are (GST#139794580).
10 P AINT BY they, too, headed for a rebuild, and how would that affect Marquee Sports Network? Periodicals postage paid at
Charlotte, NC, and additional
NUMBERS  A FEW OTHER THOUGHTS: Think of the vast potential that Cohen’s riches bring to change mailing offices. Street &
Fans are lapping up “What’s next for Theothe culture and brand of the Mets, a sleeping giant in the game. … Will Miami baseball fans Smith’s Sports Business
Busch’s creative NASCAR — when they can return — embrace Derek Jeter and has he turned the corner as an owner? Journal is a publication of
activations, and sales … Does Liberty Media sell off The Battery development adjacent to Truist Park? … How will Leaders Group Holdings
figures show it. the Tampa Bay Rays’ success change their future prospects — if LLC. Street & Smith’s Sports
at all — in that market? … And don’t overlook the group looking Business Journal is an equal
By Adam Stern Epstein? His contract to bring baseball to Nashville. It features connected individuals opportunity employer.
with the Cubs is up who wouldn’t make the effort if they didn’t see a path to victory.
MEDIA at the end of 2021, Nashville is also one of the hottest sports cities in the nation. POSTMASTER: Please
11 N O ONE LIKE send address changes
Nationally, keep an eye on MLB’s media rights talks with ESPN and to Street & Smith’s
SID HARTMAN Sports Business Journal —
The passing of the and he has said that how that programming schedule may change, as I hope this year’s Subscriber Services,
100-year-old Minnesota executives shouldn’t playoff format will be adopted in 2021. Look for MLB’s broader plan P.O. Box 36637,
sports media legend is remain in their roles to reimagine Minor League Baseball and how many, if any, MiLB Charlotte, NC 28236-6637
truly the end of an era. teams will fold because of revenue issues. Also, how will the revenue
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two noteworthy firsts
and a special family ” spring’s bitter negotiations on the return to play influence the much
moment. larger negotiations ahead, with the CBA set to expire in late 2021?
Manfred is not going to win many most popular commissioner awards. Tony Clark won’t
By Liz Mullen be named the most effective union leader in our reader survey. The animus toward both of
them was fierce this year, and both lack the capital among baseball influencers to advocate
OPINION
29 HALFTIME REPORT for them. Manfred must improve his public messaging, and Clark should consider more

From COVID-19’s impact public outreach outside his carefully controlled media strategy. But they know they are
to the decline of linear
pay TV, get ready for sig- both in it — and must work together — to reimagine the sport. Remember, the new ideas
nificant change.
By Ed Desser implemented this year didn’t end baseball as we know it, and together they must continue
and John Kosner
to push a sport that needs more innovation.

OPINION. . . . . . . . . . 29 Abraham Madkour can be reached at [email protected].
CLOSING SHOT. . . . 30
SBJ/SBD FIRST LOOK & BUZZCAST
Cover image by Jane Gershovich
PODCASTS Check out our First Look podcast every Monday where we discuss the week’s top stories. Also, check out
Buzzcast in Sports Business Daily’s Morning Buzz, our daily two-minute look at the stories of the day.

4 | O CTO B E R 26- N OV E M B E R 1, 2020 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM



upfront

This year’s Waste
Management Phoenix
Open squeezed in just
before the pandemic,
but the 2021 event
will be a scaled-down
version, right down to
the famed 16th hole.

For the latest developments
with the coronavirus,

and how the sports industry
is responding, SBJ has you

covered with our
daily COVID-19 newsletter,
daily podcasts with insight

from industry insiders,
executives, health care
experts and SBJ reporters,
and live daily coverage at
sportsbusinessjournal.com.

Back On Course? us to look at making the events as profitable as they can be. For
The PGA Tour is easing back into allowing fans, but don’t us, profit is charity. Each event is a charitable entity. We want
them to be profitable so all the causes can benefit.”
expect to see packed fairways anytime soon. BY JOHN LOMBARDO
L The tour’s approach in Houston is registering high on the
IKE THE NHL and the NBA, the PGA Tour is deep in radar of other tournaments, perhaps none more so than the
scenario planning for how to bring fans back to the Waste Management Phoenix Open, one of the most raucous
game, but beginning this week, small numbers of and lucrative events on tour where some 500,000 fans typically
pass through the TPC Scottsdale gates during the week of the
them will be allowed on the course for the first time early February tournament. The tournament sneaked in early
this year just before the pandemic shut down sports, but the
since March. 2021 event will be a different story.

The tour will allow 500 fans per day at the Bermuda Cham- “There are a bunch of different scenarios where there is an
opportunity to have some number of spectators that is the culture
pionship, which is set for Oct. 29-Nov. 2. Then about 2,000 fans of that event,” Dennis said. “We are evaluating a number of
plans. We are not going to waver on our focus of health and
per day will be allowed at the Vivint Houston Open set for Nov. safety.”

5-8 at Memorial Park. Based on local guidelines, the tour also Typically, the Waste Management Open sells out its 585 suites,
priced between $50,000 and $150,000, by Nov. 1 and is deep into
has allowed the resumption of the lucrative pro-am events, building its steel-framed stadium seating structure around the
iconic par-3 16th hole that by itself draws about 16,000 fans. But
which are major perks for a tournament’s clients and a prime this year, the tournament isn’t selling any suites to date, while
offering refunds on prior sales and the ability for buyers to roll
generator for fundraising efforts. over suite deals into 2022.

“We are dipping our toe in the water with a limited number Tournament organizers have not finalized plans for the 2021
event but officials are adjusting with plans to create a scaled-
of spectators,” said Tyler Dennis, senior vice president and

chief of operations for the PGA Tour. “We feel like we have a Getty Images

good plan with golf played over a huge field outdoors and we

will learn in each place and pivot from there. We want fans back

on-site. We are trying to be reasonable and flexible. Time allows

6 | O CTO B E R 26- N OV E M B E R 1, 2020 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

down version with far fewer fans ‘Bowl Season’: A college football rebrand
and hospitality should local coro-
navirus policies allow. That could MOST EVERY SPORT and professional league has a
include a smaller structure to be
built at the famed 16th hole wheth- moniker or proper name that identifies its postseason, 1. The logo portrays an 1
er fans are allowed on the course. overhead view of a football 2
from March Madness to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. stadium, or “bowl.” It is also
“We felt it was important to have evocative of a 4
a structure to keep the integrity College football is an exception. It has bowl games championship ring, an
of the brand,” said Scott Jenkins, aspirational goal of playing
tournament chairman of the but has never had a true, overarching brand name in a bowl game.
Waste Management Open. “We will
build a one-level structure for fans that readily identifies the postseason and provides a 2. The red and gold
with limited hospitality and lim- sections of the stadium
ited general admission depending BY MICHAEL marketing platform. represent the fans of 3
on city and tour restrictions.” opposing teams. The colors
When Nick Carparelli was hired in are also representative of
Next month’s rescheduled Mas- the holidays, the calendar
ters won’t have fans, and the early SMITH December 2019 as executive director time of Bowl Season.
2021 PGA Tour schedule lands in of the Football Bowl Association, the
Hawaii and California where 3. There are 10 sections in
minimal, if any, fans are expect- nonprofit founded four decades ago to the stadium that represent
ed given strict public gathering the 10 FBS Conferences.
policies. While California has oversee and organize the bowls, he soon thereafter
loosened some of its pandemic 4. Bold and clean
policies to allow for more public set out to give the bowls a collective identity. typography complements
gatherings, it is possible the the icon with emphasis on
Waste Management Phoenix Open Carparelli and the bowls unveiled the results of the word Bowl.
would be the next high-profile
event able to host at least a lim- their exhaustive eight-month rebranding campaign
ited number of fans once the
Houston Open is over. with new marks and a brand called “Bowl Season”

Tour executives said they are that will appear on helmets, jerseys and even on the
looking at the March 2021 Florida
swing as the time when more fans field, as well as all kinds of marketing materials and
may be allowed at events, since
Florida has been less restrictive digital assets. The tagline “A celebration of college
on gatherings during the pan-
demic. The Florida stops in March football” accompanies the new name.
include the Arnold Palmer Invi-
tational, the Players Champion- Bowl Season will be more than branding. The name
ship and the Honda Classic.
will also replace Football Bowl Association and be-
“As we look to January, it is a
case-by-case basis,” Dennis said. come a more consumer-facing promotional machine EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
“As we look to Florida, we have
time and that allows us to focus as opposed to an association of bowls. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Nick Carparelli
on what we would do. We know
that in Florida there is an oppor- Gone is the old FBA mark. “Nobody knew what EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
tunity to have spectators and it
is evaluating how we do that in a that was anyway,” Carparelli said. It has been replaced Missy Setters, Chair Steve Beck Kevin McDonald
thoughtful way. Certainly, in (Independence (Military Bowl) (Famous Idaho
Florida and well into the spring with a more distinctive and versatile logo with im- Bowl) Mike Nealy Potato Bowl)
in Texas, we see an opportunity Mark Neville (Fiesta & Cactus Bernie Olivas
to build out a model and reintro- agery that identifies with a bowl stadium, a ring and (Holiday Bowl) Bowls) (Sun Bowl)
duce things.” Jeff Hundley David Fletcher Pete Derzis
the football in the center. (Sugar Bowl) (Texas Bowl) (ESPN Events)
“We are dipping
our toe in the “How many opportunities do you get to create a
water with a
limited number new 100-year-old brand in sports,” Carparelli said,
of spectators. We
feel like we have referring to the century-plus that bowl games have
a good plan with
golf played over a been played. “It clearly defines who we are. Now we’re
huge field outdoors
and we will learn just looking forward to the world seeing this new want some kind of easily identifiable, flexible brand that could
in each place and refer to all of college football’s postseason, just as March Madness
pivot from there.” brand and using it to promote the bowl season.” encapsulates conference tournaments, the NCAAs and the NIT.

Carparelli, a former Big East administrator and The first step in the process, Jacobson said, was to select a new
name. The creative team noted most major postseasons have two
Under Armour executive, used his network of contacts words — World Series, Super Bowl, March Madness.

to establish a working group of bowl representatives The group studied dozens of options before landing on Bowl
Season because “it’s simple, it’s memorable, it’s concise and it’s
and conference officials to study the rebranding. ownable,” he said. “Believe it or not, nobody owns ‘Bowl Season.’
It’s also less likely to be shortened to an acronym.”
He also brought in two veteran branding special-
Other derivations included use of the words college and football,
ists, Marc Jacobson from 1919 Productions and Joe but they decided that with “bowl,” the extra words weren’t needed.

Bosack, whose Pennsylvania-based design firm has Then they moved to the logo and began thinking about the at-
tributes they wanted in a new mark — football, bowl, ring. A clos-
worked on a number of college-focused brand initia- er look shows 10 sections around the mark, representing the 10 FBS
conferences with different colors a nod to fans on each side.
tives. Jacobson and Bosack have worked together on
“As simple and clean as it is, there are many meanings behind
several projects over 25 years. Tony Fay Public Rela- it,” Jacobson said, adding the mark with or without the name next
to it. The red and gold colors are reflective of the holiday season.
tions has handled publicity.
“It highlights everything that’s great about college football and
“Nick brought with him a lot of great ideas that the postseason,” said Missy Setters, executive director of the In-
dependence Bowl and chair of the Bowl Season’s executive com-
resonated with me and others,” said Mike Nealy, ex- mittee. “It speaks to the venues, the pageantry, the celebration.’’

ecutive director of the Fiesta and Cactus bowls, and Carparelli envisions taking a more active approach to Bowl Sea-
son content as well, including bowl projections on the new website
past chair of the FBA. BowlSeason.com and other items intended to make the new site a
destination for all things bowls. Bowlseason.com was previously
“When people see this, they’re going to wonder active as a site for serving bowls, Carparelli said, laughing, but he
purchased it from the owner for $3,000.
why they didn’t do this a long time ago,” Carparelli
They have also reached out to media partners asking for support
said. “We’ve never called the bowl system anything in using the new mark on air to help introduce it and broaden its
awareness as it starts to make the rounds this week.
unique or anything fans could really grab ahold of.”
“There’s going to be a lot of great storytelling that emerges from
The Bowl Season name and mark remain in line this,” Carparelli said.

with the college football tradition of keeping it sim-

ple. The College Football Playoff, which determines

the national champion, is the foremost example of

that. But a deeper dive into the logo shows the sym-

bolism that drove what was formerly the FBA in a

new, more modern direction coming together.

That was the culmination of a process that began

almost as soon as Carparelli was hired 11 months

ago. Carparelli took the idea of a rebrand to the FBA’s

executive committee in February. They didn’t want

to encroach on the CFP, which has established a very

clear and clean look in its first six years, but they did

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M OCTOBER 26-NOVEMBER 1, 2020 | 7

UPFRONT

just outside the Mile High City.

Accordingly, this is a rare deal: an arrangement

that actually includes shared risk and reward. “The

boat rises and falls with the tide for both parties

— that’s what partnership is,” Hayes added.

Hayes said the deal across KSE’s properties began

16 months ago at a chance social encounter with

some KSE executives. With a business-to-business

mindset, originally, “We were chilly on the

The naming rights idea,” he said. But with Ball’s aluminum
deal for Ball Arena, cups launching as a consumer product, the
formerly known as company was looking to convince consum-
the Pepsi Center, is ers that they are an environmentally friend-
for 10 years. ly alternative to the plastic cups most often

used to sell beer and soft drinks at venues.

Sports, then, became the platform of choice. Ball’s

aluminum cups were introduced at University of

Colorado football games last year, and what’s now

the Ball Arena became the first pro sports venue to

use the cups last fall. The aluminum cups were sub-

sequently featured at the Super Bowl in February

and the Waste Management Open. Plans were to also

have the cups at the Kentucky Derby, University of

Massive Ball Corp., KSE North Carolina basketball games, and other high-
deal has rare qualities profile events. Then the pandemic hit.

As Ball’s agency of record, The Strategic Agency
handled negotiations, and will perform activation.
That company’s president, Peter Stern, was flying
to Denver on March 11, as the sports world shut
down. By the time he landed, seven meetings were

scheduled, and handshaking was already off limits.

A DEAL PACKAGING ARENA naming rights with mar- rights to the Denver arena that houses the NBA’s From the past six months, Stern recalled many

keting rights for five teams as well as within their Nuggets, the NHL’s Avalanche and the NLL’s Mam- meetings with masks on, some with human re-

home venues is a high-wire-act in the best of the moth; marketing rights both at SoFi Stadium and sources mandating seating plans, and others that

times. During a pandemic, a deal with that many with the Los Angeles Rams; and rights to top Pre- required government approval to access what had

arms and legs was somewhere between unwieldy mier League club Arsenal FC. been called the Pepsi Center since it opened in 1999.

and painful: it meant completing a trans- “It meant we were right up front rais- “Making yourself heard through a mask in a

Atlantic agreement in unprecedented BY TERRY ing issues like ‘How are going to write room of 30 or 40 people is not easy,” he said. “Flying
times — often with social distancing and LEFTON you a check if there’s no one in the fa- itself was very odd then, and the time spent on
masks in place. cilities and nothing’s on TV?’” Hayes force majeure and figuring what the world might

“In some ways, the pandemic made it added. look like within the scope of a deal this size was

easier,” said Ball Corp. Chairman, Presi- The value of the deal was not dis- unique. But it was conceived with the whole Kroen-

dent and CEO John Hayes, of last week’s block- closed. The venue and team deals in Denver are for ke portfolio from the start, because they included

buster deal with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment 10 years; the others are for five. Ball Corp. is an $11 important local rights and the global reach of the

that got the packaging giant the following: naming billion company headquartered in Broomfield, Colo., NBA and EPL.”

USOPC seeking agency to help NGBs with long-term strategy

BY CHRIS SMITH with the USOPC and the USOPP,” said Rocky Chief Strategy & Growth Officer Katie Bynum said Michael Martin Photography
Harris, CEO of USA Triathlon. “This is kind of a that “it’s our intent to continue to evolve this
LATE LAST WEEK the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic starting place for the USOPC to start testing out program long term.” The USOPC is presently in
Committee planned to send out an RFP to have a new, creative revenue opportunities.” conversations with additional NGBs with the
third-party vendor sell run-of-site digital advertis- expectation that more will opt in.
ing for the national governing bodies that are part The 23 NGBs that make up that digital network
of the TeamUSA.org digital network, a move that include USA Diving, USA Softball, USA Triathlon, The USOPC had previously included the digital
initially may help smaller NGBs reach a broader USA Weightlifting and USA Wrestling. The chosen rights in broader sponsorship deals, with the NGBs
pool of potential partners. More long-term, the vendor will be responsible for selling ads across receiving tiered payouts determined by their
expectation is that the selected agency will each of their websites, in addition to creating a unique impressions each year. According to USA
engage with NGBs on managing additional assets, revenue sharing model and ensuring ads don’t Weightlifting CEO Phil Andrews, the annual DMA
including social media, email marketing, member- conflict with existing NGB sponsorships. Per the payout comprised the biggest portion of Weight-
ship communications and event opportunities, RFP, the USOPC estimates the NGB ad inventory lifting’s income from the USOPC.
including tickets, signage and hospitality. will generate between 40 million and 134 million
impressions in 2021. Coordinating the new program could prove
“What this will give the agency or company the difficult. “There’s lots of different scenarios which
ability to do is, potentially in the future, not just sell The USOPC controls the NGBs’ rights through might be a challenge to pull together. But it’s not
advertising on the network but maybe pick up 10, digital media agreements that were originally impossible,” said Andrews. “Can it work? Yes. Will
15, 20 NGBs and sell their sponsorship rights. And scheduled to run through this year. The USOPC it work? Let’s see. And will that level of interaction
maybe at some point become more of a partner extended the deals by an additional year following take very significant work to be successful?
the postponement of Tokyo 2020, and USOPC Absolutely, it will.”

8 | O CTO B E R 26- N OV E M B E R 1, 2020 WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

MLB teams’ ticket strategy: Subnation
Plan for 2021, hope for ‘2019’

NOW THAT MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL has reached the everyone is grappling with right now. Taking away

finish line of an unprecedented season that many the social part of premium really makes it a to-

doubted could ever be completed without severe tally different experience.”

disruption, attention turns to the most significant With so many companies furloughing employees,

offseason questions: How many fans will be permit- Paige Farragut, the Texas Rangers’ senior vice pres-

ted in ballparks on Opening Day of the 2021 season, ident of ticket sales and service, said it remains to

and what will that experience look like? be seen how willing companies will be to spend on

After an abbreviated 60-game regular season played anything related to premium sales. And with so much

entirely in empty ballparks, having at least uncertainty overall, she said it’s essential

partial attendance at the start of the 2021 BY ERIC for teams to turn to more unique ticket
season will be critical. Gate receipts rep- PRISBELL packages. While the Rangers had been plan-
resent some 40% of teams’ total revenue, ning to offer 20-game, half-season and full-

and they endured an estimated $3 billion season ticket plans, she said also offering

in operating losses this season. Unlike a 10-game plan is a possibility.

other gate-heavy sports such as basketball and “I bet a lot of our sales will be later,” she said.

hockey, baseball now has a full offseason to see what “That certainly doesn’t help us overall in terms of

happens with the virus before needing to make any planning, budgeting and spending, but the reaction

firm plans about seating. It also at least now has a to what other teams are doing and having smaller

template for how to welcome fans back because Globe sets of fans come out, if that works out, our con-

Life Field in Arlington, Texas, successfully hosted sumers will have more confidence.”

up to 11,500 fans for each game of the National League The complication with offering more innovative

Championship Series and World Series. ticket packages is that it may set a bar that fans

“We feel that we are going to have a pretty wide would expect the team to maintain after conditions

swath of the league open for business in terms of return to normal following the pandemic. Faulkner

fans next year,” Chris Marinak, MLB’s chief op- said the Cubs are sending season-ticket holders a

erations and strategy officer, told Sports Business questionnaire asking them what added benefits

Journal. “Whether that’s 100% of teams and at what would be important to them. Among the ones ex-

capacity I think is unclear at this point. But I think pected to be introduced are those related to new

the experience that we have had in Arlington has exchange policies and payment plans.

shown us that there is a way to pull this off and “This is a new world,” Faulkner said, later adding, We miss hosting sports—
from esports tournaments
there is a way to do this safely.” “It is one of the challenges that we run into to say if to soccer championships
and everything in between.
Colin Faulkner, the Chicago Cubs’ executive vice you are going to offer a payment plan or a more lib- As Greater Raleigh makes
its way back into the game,
president, sales and marketing, and chief commer- eral exchange policy. Once you do it, can you ever go we’re doing everything in
our power to protect the
cial officer, said that there is another key element back? We have to be really mindful of those decisions health and safety of
visiting athletes, coaches
we are making, not only for the and fans. And we can’t wait
to welcome you back for
short term but for the long term. sporting events yet-to-come.

It’s really hard to reel those things raleighsports.org/wish

back once you put them out OCTOBER 26-NOVEMBER 1, 2020 | 9

there.”

Farragut said that if for one

season they introduce new pack-

ages that “people will understand

it more because we have the new

ballpark as our sales tool. We have

so many unique spaces here that

I think we can accommodate

people that are really hesitant to

come out and maybe only want to

do one or two games and people

who are ready to experience as

much baseball as we can.”

The NLCS and World Series at Globe Life Field had the year’s first fans. Reviews of the Globe Life Field

experience with fans have been

in the attendance question: consumer confidence. positive and devoid of notable health and safety is-

Most teams are in the process of sending out in- sues. Marinak said that surveys the league conduct-

voices for season tickets for 2021, he said, and by ed indicate that people have been comfortable in the

asking fans to pay an invoice, there’s an expectation ballpark setting. The challenge is that guidelines

of full capacity. related to large gatherings can differ among munic-

“The honest answer is that it’s anyone’s guess ipalities, leaving the league with little control over

what 2021 will look like, but we have to be planning establishing stadium capacity thresholds.

Getty Images for a world that looks like 2019,” Faulkner said. As Farragut said, “It’s baby steps to get the con-

And in terms of the suite and premium ballpark sumer back on board. But people are ready to come

experience, he said, “What does that look like in a out and it’s only going to get better from here. That’s

world where we are only partway there? That’s what our only choice.”

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M

UPFRONT

Busch keeps changing it Phoenix and, through the Oct. 18 race at Kansas
up with NASCAR activation Speedway, he had collected a series-best nine wins.

“Whereas before we had done unique paint
schemes for fun, now it’s been because we’ve seen
that they … can drive big pieces of businesses be-
cause they ladder up to other campaigns within

the Busch ecosystem,” said Nick Kelly, A-B’s vice

NASCAR FANS are soaking up the activation efforts paint schemes to promote everything from a new president of partnerships, beer culture and com-

of Busch beer, as Anheuser-Busch says the partner- Busch Apple product to a partnership with the Na- munity.

ship is driving sales growth of the value brand. tional Forest Foundation. A “millennial” car last In terms of the performance of the specialty paint

The brewer has been a major sponsor of Stewart- season paid off a bet Busch had promised fans if schemes, Busch pointed to how its #Pit4Busch Day-

Haas Racing since 2014, aligned with the Harvick didn’t win the 2018 champion- tona 500 promotion this year trended higher on

No. 4 Ford driven by longtime endorser BY ADAM ship, and that effort turned into a highly Twitter during NASCAR’s biggest race than the
Kevin Harvick, and it’s also a premier STERN viral marketing stunt. #Daytona500 hashtag did. The same thing happened
partner of NASCAR. The SHR deal was in 2019, when Busch did a “Car 2 Can” Daytona 500
“We have been mixing up paint schemes

originally based around Budweiser as the since 2016 when we returned to the sport, promotion that gave fans who posted on social media

lead brand, but in 2016 A-B switched to but in the last

Busch, which has been involved in NASCAR spon- two years we have started

sorship since 1978. to really get creative and

A key to its SHR marketing is running more unique leverage that platform in

one-off paint schemes on Harvick’s car, using the a different way,” Daniel

driving billboard for different promotions, products Blake, A-B’s vice president

or even quirky of value portfolio,

memes from social Top-Selling Beer wrote in an email. “In
media that are de- Brands In U.S. my opinion, the paint
signed to go viral and scheme is one of the
Barrels
foster engagement. Brand Shipped most impactful spaces
NASCAR fans (Millions) in all of sports — it’s
in 2019 a great way to support
have been popping a our partners like the
top in response. Cit-

ing IRI data, A-B said Bud Light 28,700 National Forest Foun-
that in the first half Coors Light 14,795 dation or Ducks Un-
of this year, total Miller Lite 12,475 limited, and engage
Busch family sales our fans in a fun and

were up 10.1%, with Budweiser 11,700 unique way that other

Busch Light in par- Michelob Ultra 10,125 brands aren’t and A promotion in May put the faces of fans on Kevin Harvick’s race car.
ticular up 17.7%. A-B Modelo Especial 9,475 other sports can’t.”
credits the work in Corona Extra 8,700
NASCAR as a key Busch uses M&C
Sattchi, its in-house

driver for those Natural Light 6,600 agency and Sponsor

gains. Moreover, in Busch Light 6,300 Services Inc. for its NASCAR marketing efforts. the chance to win a specialty Busch beer can made
the 2019 NASCAR Busch 3,875 Last year, Busch ran eight specialty paint from actual sheet metal from one of Harvick’s cars.
brand loyalty survey
schemes and this year the company has run nine, “Over the last two years, our specialty paint

by Sports Business Source: Beer Marketer’s Insights according to Mike Verlander, SHR’s executive scheme programs have trended on Twitter nine

Journal, 47% of fans vice president of sales and marketing. More times, and driven hundreds of thousands of engage-

identified Busch as the official beer of NASCAR, specialty paint schemes are in the works for 2021. ments on social media,” Blake wrote. Meanwhile,

which was up 6 percentage points from 2018 and Harvick’s performance on the track has elevated Verlander said the millennial car earned 25 million

was the highest score of any beer brand since 2009. Busch’s efforts. He’s contending for the Cup Series impressions, while a follow-up paint scheme around

Over the past two seasons, Busch has featured title as the season rolls toward its Nov. 8 finale in Gen X generated 20 million.

“Yes, we have fun being disruptive, but no one

Talk Of The Track understands ROI and measurement better than
[A-B], and we’ve been able to create tremendous
Based on an analysis by Zoomph, Busch and driver Kevin Harvick have put in a dominating performance when engagement with younger crowds and impressions
it comes to social media engagement. The valuation firm looked at posts from NASCAR drivers and their primary with all demographics, and the net result is that
sponsors, as well as mentions of them by others across social media, and calculated the value those mentions sales are up,” Verlander said.
generated.
A flannel paint scheme last year played off the
Brand mentions (July 15, 2019 - July 15, 2020)
Busch man mascot’s clothing; the National Forest

Driver Posts Engagements Rate Impressions Social Value Foundation theme earlier this year promoted Busch’s

Kevin Harvick + Busch 4,529 225,078 0.74% 30,570,744 $501,342 work with the forest conservation group; and when
fans couldn’t attend races because of the pandemic
Denny Hamlin + FedEx 908 68,580 0.84% 8,136,440 $145,144
in May, a #FaceAtTheRace Busch Light paint scheme

Kurt Busch + Monster Energy 641 58,956 0.66% 8,873,125 $136,911 put a handful of fans’ headshots onto the car.

Chase Elliott + Mountain Dew 449 54,279 0.88% 6,174,899 $113,167 “The fan reactions to our paint schemes over the
Joey Logano + Pennzoil 471 43,479 0.68% 6,391,407 $99,985 past few years has been incredible, and we’ll con-
tinue to use that platform as a way to engage our

Martin Truex Jr. + Bass Pro Shops 392 46,602 0.97% 4,803,581 $93,944 fans and cement Busch as a leading sponsor in the

Brad Keselowski + Discount Tire 43 25,536 0.57% 4,449,257 $63,216 sport,” Blake wrote. “I can’t say for certain exactly Getty Images
Joey Logano + Shell 99 16,992 0.75% 2,268,591 $37,594 how many we’ll do, but I will say we already have
a few ideas for next year that will surprise, and we

Source: Zoomph can’t wait to roll those out in 2021.”

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SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

THE INSIDERS

Sid Hartman flicts of interest. Stories circulated last week of Sid
chats with browbeating local high school sports stars into play-
Vikings coach ing for the University of Minnesota. Not the role of
Mike Zimmer a typical journalist. Power broker is more like it.
in 2018. The
sports media And his impact went far beyond the Land of 10,000
legend’s Lakes: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman last week spent
impact was 90 seconds on air memorializing Hartman with
felt well personal remembrances, even while play was going
beyond on in a game that didn’t involve the Vikings.
Minnesota.
For generations, he owned the column of record
SPORTS MEDIA for the Minnesota sports world in the Star Tribune.
Over the years, I have made appearances on count-
Remembering Sid Hartman: less national and international outlets, which was
Minnesota journalist one of a kind always part of the job. But seeing my name in Sid’s
column for the first time as a young exec: That was
T HE PHRASE “END OF AN ERA” is often BY BEN that kind of impact on one market. huge. That mattered. That, I’ll truly never forget.
hyperbole, but in the case of the GROSSMAN He was once the de facto GM of the Min-
recent passing of Minnesota How did Sid achieve all of this? According to many,
neapolis Lakers and a local newspaper he just wanted it more. He was tireless in his pur-
suit of the next story, merciless on anyone who gave
sports media legend Sid Hartman, it is guy. At the same time. When Vikings star a scoop to anyone else. At 96 he broke a hip, and a
few weeks later was at a press conference, making
a simple fact. Adam Thielen referred to him as a “big sure a new coach appeared on his radio show.

Hartman died at 100 on Oct. 18, leaving behind a part of this organization,” no one batted an eye. Sid Like many, my late grandfather (a former co-
owner of the Vikings) was a “close, personal friend”
legacy unlike any other anywhere in the country. — who had one-name status in Minnesota perhaps to Sid. Despite a story breaking at the time, Sid
came to his funeral. I was touched. Then I looked
There will simply never be another journalist with paling only to Prince — was too big a force for con- around and saw him with his notebook out. A tar-
get-rich environment. Always working. His last
column, on the day he died, was his 119th of 2020.
An end of an era, indeed.

Minnesota native Ben Grossman is a media consul-

tant/investor and a minority owner of MLS Minnesota

United and NWSL Angel City FC.

Early or late game? NFL uses analytics to guide network decisions

THE UNDEFEATED TITANS were scheduled to play the game that went to 38% of the country. “Our

undefeated Steelers this past Sunday on CBS, a game goal here is to get as many fans exposed to

that in Week 7 normally would be a good anchor our biggest games as possible,” North said.

for the network’s late Sunday afternoon window. Recentive relies on more than just teams’

But when the NFL talked to CBS early last week, Nielsen ratings history. It takes into account

they suggested that the network keep the Steelers- everything from fantasy football involvement

Titans game in the early 1 p.m. window and Twitter usage to jersey

and leave the Chiefs-Broncos game in sales and NFL.com traffic in

the late window. various markets. “Our system

CBS has the final say in which games is processing over a thousand

it will carry in specific markets. But different data sources at this

the NFL makes recommendations to time,” said Recentive CEO

the networks each week based on pre- Andy Tabrizi. “When you’re

dictive analytic insights from a com- trying to map 237 stations, it’s

pany called Recentive, an analytics a pretty large problem. Those Data from analytics firm Recentive helped CBS decide to keep the
firm it has used to help with schedul- games are generally pretty Steelers-Titans game in the 1 p.m. window.

ing over the past three years. BY JOHN OURAND close. One game may do a 10 dig deeper and actually understand the incremen-
Each week, Recentive develops an rating, one game may do an 11.”

optimized map for the league that sug- Those changes are all on the margins, tal value of one versus the other,” Tabrizi said. “By

gests which parts of the country should but those margins are millions of dol- looking at all the other data sources we have, and

see various games. From those analytics, the NFL lars. Every tenth of a ratings point matters. truly understanding what matters in Boise, Boston

pushed to keep the Steelers-Titans in the early win- Take one of the traditionally highest-rated teams or Miami, we’re able to, on a very, very granular

dow, where it would be seen by 87% of the country. in the league, the Cowboys, for example. Typically, level, say that this game is 5% better in one market

“We were more likely to have the Pittsburgh- Fox would show Dallas’ traditional rivalry game and 25% better in another.”

Tennessee game available in more of the country against Washington to most of the country. This Fox had the Washington-Dallas game set in the

in the early window than we if we had moved it,” season, though, the Cowboys are 2-4 and without early window on Sunday, which would likely go to

Getty Images (2) said Mike North, vice president of NFL broadcast their star quarterback, Dak Prescott. 22% of the country.

planning and scheduling. An eye test would say to bury that game. What

If it had been moved to the late window, it would about Recentive’s predictive analytics? John Ourand can be reached at jourand@sports-

not have been seen by the western half of the coun- “You can look at geography, you can look at play- businessjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter

try, which would have seen the Chiefs-Broncos — a ers, but beyond that, the human eye has no way to @Ourand_SBJ and read his twice-weekly newsletter.

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M OCTOBER 26-NOVEMBER 1, 2020 | 11

THE INSIDERS

LABOR AND AGENTS

NHL draft offered some noteworthy firsts
T HERE WERE A LOT of firsts in this year’s NHL
draft, in addition to it being held virtually left: Emilie Castonguay
and in October. represented No. 1 overall
It was the first time a female agent represented pick Alexis Lafreniere.
center: Quinton Byfield
the No. 1 overall pick, as Emilie Castonguay is became the highest-drafted
Black player in NHL history.
the agent for wing Alexis Lafreniere, who was
below: Agent Pat Brisson
the top pick by the New York Rangers. saw his son Brendan drafted
with the No. 29 overall pick.
It was the first time a Black player broke through
all No. 1 picks and has sat
the ice to be the second with many nervous par-
ents on NHL draft night.
player selected in the This year he had a differ-
ent experience.
draft, as the Los Angeles
“I was remarkably calm,
Kings took Quinton By- to be honest with you,”
said Brisson, who traveled
field. Byfield, who is rep- with his family to the Uni-
versity of Michigan to see
resented by Wasserman his son drafted.
The 18-year-old Brisson was not quite as cool, his
NHL agent Jeff Jackson, father revealed, as the entire Michigan hockey team
held a draft night party while they waited for Bren-
became the highest-draft- dan’s name to be called. “I could tell he was getting
nervous, sitting next to me,” Brisson said.
ed Black player in NHL When Brendan’s name was called, there was great
joy. The younger Brisson, who grew up around some
history. of the best players in the NHL, including Sidney
Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and John Tavares,
And powerful NHL his father’s clients, said at a news conference “My
whole body went numb” when he was drafted.
BY LIZ MULLEN agent Pat Brisson, co- cused on acquiring the knowledge, education and Pat Brisson played hockey in Canada and played
head of CAA Hockey, saw experience it took to be able to represent profes- professionally in Europe before moving to Los An-
sional athletes well.” geles and becoming an agent. “My first dream was
his son drafted in the first to be an NHL player when I was younger, and I went
■ HIGHEST-DRAFTED BLACK PLAYER: The Los An- as far as playing in Europe,” Brisson said. “For him
round, when the Vegas geles Kings are excited about what Byfield may mean to be drafted was an amazing moment for him and
to the team and potentially to the community, said our family.”
Golden Knights took Brendan Brisson with the Mike Altieri, Kings senior vice president of market- CAA Sports had three other first-round selections:
ing, communications and content. “The fact that he winger Lucas Raymond (No. 4, Detroit Red Wings);
No. 29 overall pick. is the highest-drafted Black player in the history of center Dawson Mercer (No. 18, New Jersey Devils)
the NHL is newsworthy,” Altieri said. “It’s important and winger Jacob Perreault (No. 27, Anaheim Ducks).
■ FIRST WOMAN: Castonguay may be the first
woman to have represented a No. 1 overall pick in for us to celebrate it.” Liz Mullen can be reached at
a major men’s sports league draft. Roc Nation The Kings have existing pro-
Sports NFL agent Kim Miale represents New York [email protected].
Giants running back Sa- grams to expand participation
quon Barkley, who was and interest in hockey to a di- Follow her on Twitter @SBJLizMullen.
picked No. 2 overall in the verse audience, Altieri said.
2018 NFL draft. Byfield is a young rookie, having Momentum Hockey; Wasserman; Pat Brisson
turned 18 in August. “Quinton
Castonguay played the is going to define his career and
sport for the Niagara Uni- this journey for himself,” Altieri
versity Purple Eagles, said. “And if he wants to get in-
where she was a wing and volved in programs to grow the
team captain. “I played game within the Black and
hockey in the NCAA, and Brown community, we would
knowing I wouldn’t make jump on board and help him do
the Olympic team, I de- that.”
cided to really focus on my
studies in order to forge a Through his agent, Jackson at
path to work in hockey,” Wasser man, Byfield said he
she said. wants to be involved in commu-
nity outreach in Los Angeles.
After getting a degree “Kids look up to pro athletes and
in finance at Niagara, I believe it’s super important to
Castonguay went on to get be a role model by supporting the
a law degree from the Uni- community in which we live and
versity of Montreal in play,” Byfield said. “So any program that the Kings
2012 and joined Momen- want me to be involved in, I’m 100% in.”
tum Hockey in Montreal Wasserman, which started its hockey division
in 2014. She became the first female NHL Players’ two years ago, had its best NHL draft ever with
Association-certified agent in 2016. seven players taken overall, including three first-
round selections. Defenseman Jamie Drysdale
Castonguay said in an email to Sports Business was taken No. 6 overall by the Anaheim Ducks, and
Journal that she understands why people want to center Anton Lundell was selected No. 12 by the
talk about her being the first woman to represent Florida Panthers.
the No. 1 pick.
■ SPECIAL DRAFT FOR BRISSON: Pat Brisson, co-
“If it can inspire young people (women or men) head of CAA Hockey, has represented seven over-
to pursue their dreams of building a career they
are passionate about, then I am all for it,” she said.
“But the truth is when I decided to become an agent,
I never once thought about my gender and wheth-
er women could or should be agents. Rather, I fo-

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PORTFOLIO COMPANY PROFILE

“I remember saying, ‘OK, what are you doing

tomorrow?’” Lafemina said. “And I got on a train

and went to New England and sat down with her

for several hours and went through the plan.”

The solution was to hire KAGR, the analytics

firm of which Gelman is CEO and that was spun

out of the Kraft Sports & En-

Jessica Gelman tertainment’s strategy divi-
has been KAGR’s sion one year earlier, after
CEO since its birth owner Robert Kraft realized
in 2016, 10 years outsiders would pay for their

after she co-found- work. Gelman, who had spent
ed the MIT Sloan her previous six years as vice
Sports Analytics president of customer mar-
Conference with keting and strategy, helped
NBA executive develop the business plan
Daryl Morey

(below). behind the Patriots’ variable

ticket pricing and the team’s

hugely successful “Do Your

Job” slogan.

Three years after that initial meeting between

Gelman and Lafemina, KAGR is deeply embedded

across the business of the NFL and most of its teams.

Its data warehouses and data visualization tools

inform everything from local sales calls to the C-

suite strategy meetings.

The NFL is just one of about 20 major KAGR cli-

ents signed since its 2016 launch, a period in which

it has averaged 165% annual growth. Its 10-person

workforce at launch has expanded to 48 as it becomes

an employer-of-choice for the elite data scientists

interested in sports. Today amid the pandemic un-

certainty, it’s become even more critical to strate-

gic planners, multiple senior sports executives said.

The key to KAGR’s growth has been its roots in-

side the Patriots and Kraft Sports, said Lafemina,

who is now the chief business officer of Los Ange-

les 2028. KAGR was the first major analytics com-

pany to carry both advanced computing expertise

Empirical Empire: KAGR and firsthand knowledge of team and venue op-
builds trust through data eration — a company as interested in the end result
as the numbers themselves.

“They were onto something different than anyone
else had done,” Lafemina said. “They were born out
of a team, so they didn’t look at things like a tradi-
tional data company. They had a unique perspective

that allowed them to look at the challenge and the

BY BEN FISCHER Three years ago, the NFL was in the midst of a 3% attendance decline that opportunity from a league and team perspective.”

would ultimately lead to a six-year low-water mark. At the same time, top KAGR — both an acronym for Kraft Analytics Group

league executives decided they had a data problem. In an age in which Netflix and a reference to the all-important business metric

and Amazon are able to predict a consumer’s next purchase, NFL teams didn’t compound annual growth rate — traces its founding

even know the names of many fans sitting in their own stadiums to the early days of

— much less what to offer them next. the Patriots dynasty.

The first part of the solution was The organization had

a groundbreaking deal announced “They were onto recruited Gelman, a
that October with longtime vendor something different former Harvard point
Ticketmaster to digitize tickets and guard, as something

gain access to secondary market sales than anyone else of an all-purpose
data. But the second part — actually had done.” strategic consultant
putting all that information to use as she finished Har-

— would require a massive analytics vard Business School

function, which the NFL had little in the 2001-02 school

interest in building in-house. year.

Not long after the Ticketmaster deal was an- While still in school, Gelman did a project to help

nounced, Brian Lafemina, the NFL’s senior vice develop a business plan around multifunction pre-

president of club business development at the mium spaces within the new Gillette Stadium — field-

Getty Imaes time, mentioned the challenge to an old friend, view rooms with relatively few fixed seats, which

MIT Sloan Analytics Conference co-founder Jes- could flex from game suite to year-round meeting and

sica Gelman. She thought she could help. Lafe- event rooms. At the time an unconventional concept,

mina didn’t want to wait a day longer. CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

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PORTFOLIO COMPANY PROFILE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 has acted as the strategic glue unify- little complicated,” O’Neil said. “For One simple example of KAGR’s
ing business intelligence across every them it was really turnkey. [Gelman] work came out of the NFL in 2019,
the rooms sold well with 10-year terms, part of the company. is an incredible executive, as smart when the league saw a 170% increase
based in part on Gelman’s data-backed as they come and as driven as anyone in the number of customer satisfac-
market segmentation. Often team marketing divisions are I’ve ever met and has built a really tion surveys completed and returned.
more branding than revenue-driving, nice company.” The surveys go to every single-game
Then in 2006, Gelman asked for and business intelligence is heavily ticket buyer and some season-ticket
Kraft’s permission to launch the MIT project-based, O’Neil said. KAGR’s That integration is the biggest chal- holders for every game. But because
Sloan Sports Analytics Conference data warehouse and visualization lenge in sports data, business intelli- so many seats are ultimately used by
with her friend, Daryl Morey, who had functions put all of the data needed gence experts say. Compared to the someone other than the original buyer,
recently left the Celtics front office to in one place. data-heavy goliaths in health insur- a lot of those surveys went to people
become assistant general manager ance or big finance, sports companies who weren’t actually there.
with the Houston Rockets. For nearly “For an organization like ours that generally handle a comparatively small
another decade, Gelman toiled inside works with StubHub, Paciolan and amount of data. But it tends to be de- With the new digital-mobile ticket-
the Kraft organization. Ticketmaster, sometimes it can get a ing program created by Ticketmaster,
centralized, and underuti- the league has an eye on the entire
By 2015, the growth of the Sloan lized. chain of custody, which alone has
conference — combined with Gel- helped it find 5 million people who
man’s general eagerness to help when Take Gelman’s work inside attended an NFL game it didn’t previ-
asked — put her expertise in high Kraft Sports & Entertainment ously have in its records.
demand. The business opportunity before KAGR — they had
was obvious to the Kraft family, and separate databases for the KAGR made a simple suggestion:
the company launched one year later. Patriots, Patriot Place, the Connect the survey distribution list to
It remains wholly owned by Kraft, but Revolution and Gillette Sta- the end user of the tickets, not the buyer.
apart from Kraft Sports & Entertain- dium itself. Simply streamlin-
ment, which runs the Patriots and the ing those databases so “Obviously higher response rates
MLS New England Revolution. employees could see a single lead to better outcomes, and allows us
customer’s entire history to further cut the data on satisfaction,”
“We’ve invested internally over the across the business led to said Executive Vice President Peter
years, and people have approached us hugely important insights. O’Reilly, who attended Harvard Busi-
from other leagues, teams and enter- But it’s crucial that the people ness School with Gelman. “That may
tainment organizations to help them,” doing that analysis are well- feel like a tactical example, but it’s
said Robert Kraft at the time it versed in the ultimate goal of about connecting dots.” With better
launched. “And people were looking the business, and that’s where and more feedback, teams can make
to hire her, so we saw the need to fi- clients say KAGR distinguish- fast tweaks to game-day operations,
nally start a new company and see it es itself. and the NFL hit all-time highs on game-
as a way to differentiate ourselves.”

Originally, the company’s big prior-
ity was a joint venture with Learfield
to pursue college athletic departments,
which were thought to be a ripe place
for big data to drive efficiency gains.
But that business ended after just one
year in part because athletic depart-
ments struggled to share data inter-
nally with university development
offices and lacked business systems
sophisticated enough to take advantage.

KAGR’s earliest clients were Mis-
sissippi State University and Harris
Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. After
Fanatics co-founder and Harris Blitzer
investor Michael Rubin introduced
Gelman to CEO Scott O’Neil, KAGR

Courtesy of KAGR

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SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

KAGR was spun out stance, or how to boost a season-ticket retention sports consumer behavior will, eventually, mostly
of Kraft Sports &
Entertainment and now rate from 85% to 90%. rebound to pre-pandemic levels. But KAGR’s ma-
has about 20 major
clients. Today, its most valuable and in-demand work aims chine-learning software makes no assumptions, so

day satisfaction last year, to answer the biggest strategic questions in the it’s acting as a check on their instincts.
though total attendance
declined again. industry: When will consumers be ready to come “There’s no fixed results when you run the num-

Two popular analyses back to large venues? Have spending patterns or bers,” Camillo said. “For the machine-learning
that KAGR’s data visu-
alizations generate in- preferences changed permanently? It’s added a new modelings, if the data is showing that the factors
clude 1.) a ticketing
health index, which uses importance to their relationships. we assume are no longer holding, it will adjust. Even
both internal and exter-
nal data to gauge how “I think we always did [strategic work], but it’s if we’re wrong about things coming back eventu-
likely a customer is to
renew, and spot stadium likely more pronounced to our clients because there’s ally in roughly the same way, they’ll be with us on
seating that may be un-
derperforming, and 2.) a deficit of information,” Gelman said. “Because that journey.”
customer lifetime value
of a given fan — how during the pandemic, the need for (To rebut any concern
much revenue a given
consumer might gener- real-time information to make adjust- about KAGR sharing sensi-
ate over the long term.
ments as insights and knowledge are “There’s tons of tive data with its owners
Armed with that data, changing is more important than feelings but the or other clients, Camillo
the sales team can opti- ever.” truest reality is: What notes that KAGR also won
mize its time and effort their business because it
on its biggest upside cli- KAGR launched a product called
ents or its biggest risks.
But KAGR also strategiz- the Fan Demand Index in May, a are they actually met parent company Com-
es with the NFL on the scoring system that tries to measure doing?” cast’s high data-protection
biggest long-term issues fans’ preparedness for normalcy by standards.)
of the moment.
local market. It might be intuitive Generous with her time
“That ability to toggle
between the really micro, that fans in Dallas are more eager and eager for a challenge,
and the data we’re
crunching with them on to resume the status quo than fans in New York, Gelman starts to discuss the pandemic challenges
a weekly basis to make decisions, and then pull
back, would be the dynamic that’s really powerful,” but there’s a difference between intuition and facts by saying: “It’s actually really fun. It’s really hard.”
O’Reilly said.
KAGR’s one-two punch of superior analytics ca- — and KAGR brings a trove of demographic, his- She says many planners struggle with a “false
pabilities and sports-specific expertise can be a busi-
ness development burden. Before they signed KAGR torical and real-time data to the equation. sense of security” that “historical precedent is what
to a five-year deal in 2017, NFL owners had to be con-
vinced they wouldn’t be handing over sensitive data That level of detail is critical to longtime client the future holds,” and data can help explain what’s
to a competitor. Cautious about being seen as too close
to the company, the Krafts declined on-the-record On Location Experiences, said CEO Paul Caine. really happening when those precedents don’t hold.
interviews about KAGR for this story.
Before the pandemic hit, KAGR’s work tended to The near-total shutdown of live events and hospi- Consider, for example, the NFL’s attendance so
be focused on the tactics and details: how to make
stadium retail a little bit more profitable, for in- tality during the pandemic was a major challenge far this season. Throughout the summer, experts

to the NFL-founded company, of which Endeavor presumed there was pent-up demand for tickets and

acquired a controlling stake on Jan. 1. that teams would easily sell out a sharply reduced

Caine said he’s confident all consumers want to supply. But for many games, there have been tickets

get back to live events, but “it’s the pace of return, unsold. Explaining why reality diverges from ex-

or the types of events people want to go to, that pectations, not just theorizing why, is KAGR’s goal.

may shift by market or by personal experience.” And in a world full of opinion polls about fan be-

He continued: “You have to understand that havior, actual consumer data tells the real story.

there’s no macro view of consumers. You have to “There’s tons of feelings, but the truest reality

look at it on a micro view, which is why I value is: What are they actually doing?” Gelman said.

what KAGR’s doing. They look at it from all levels.” “The data is more important than ever right now.”

Last winter, before the pandemic started, the KAGR’s growth has been steady, but it was not

Philadelphia Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center immune to pandemic slowdown pressures. Gelman

signed a major contract with KAGR for its ware- said they were fortunate to have recently landed

housing and data visualization tools. Their remit new clients, like the Flyers, to occupy them during

was a classic use case: develop a custom data ware- the early days of the pandemic shutdown. “We’re

house to store all internal data and whatever ex- busy,” Gelman said. “We have been very focused

ternal data KAGR can get that’s relevant, with an on our ability to scale our business, and one of the

eye toward three particular visualization products benefits of how we’ve evolved is we’ve been able to

— ticket sales and reporting, customer behavioral grow organically.”

and demographic trends, and stadium operations That track record, combined with its recurring

(food, beverage and retail). revenue/software-as-a-service business model, would

Valerie Camillo, make it a prime candidate for external growth capi-

president of busi- tal, even one of the sports-minded special purpose

ness operations for acquisition companies now on the hunt for a purchase.

the Flyers and their But KAGR is capable of meeting the moment with

arena, said KAGR’s backing from the Kraft Group and organic revenue,

ability to adjust the Gelman said, while not ruling anything out.

analysis based on “We are well-capitalized and fortunately, do not

n e a r r e a l - t i m e need to do deals for growth or working capital,”

changes is critical Gelman said. “We are always open to synergistic

as the world adjusts strategic partnerships, but to date, nothing has

to COVID-19. risen to that level.”

Camillo said her The pandemic creates another opportunity for

team operates on the KAGR: more data to analyze. The safety-driven

assumption that charge toward contactless fan experience is push-

Courtesy of KAGR ing all-digital transactions, and their data paper

Gelman and her team trails are coming to all sports faster than expected.
have increased rev- Said Camillo, “The wealth of information is going
enue by an average
of 165% annually. to be sitting there, and the teams that figure out
how to act on it are going to win.”

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THE STORY RAISING SEATTLE

Family Matters

Tim and Tod Leiweke have crisscrossed the country
in becoming two of the most well-connected

people in sports. Now the brothers find themselves
together making monster-size moves toward
the launch of the Seattle Kraken.

BY BRUCE SCHOENFELD

Tim Leiweke (left) EVEN MONTHS,” Tim Leiweke Jane Gershovich
and Tod Leiweke said, his voice raised to be
heard over the power drills. “I
just went seven months, and I
didn’t get a chance to see my baby.”
Leiweke was standing on what will be
the ice surface of Climate Pledge Arena,
which will be the home of the NHL’s ex-
pansion Seattle Kraken when it opens
next year in the city’s Uptown neighbor-
hood. It was mid-September. Fires were
raging across the American West, filling
the skies with smoke. COVID numbers
were surging. Leiweke was wearing a
hard hat, baggy khakis, and the requi-
site facemask. Around him, the air was
murky — from the construction, but
mostly from the smoke.
Leiweke, who lives in Los Angeles,
hadn’t traveled since March. This hard-
ly seemed like a propitious time for a
trip, but he couldn’t stay away. For
months, Leiweke had been charting the
progress of the Seattle arena from his
home office in Brentwood. “The inter-
net is a wonderful tool,” he said. But it
didn’t satisfy him. “You gotta go live
these things, breathe these things, walk
these things. You gotta go motivate peo-
ple. You gotta be on the ground.”
Leiweke’s new company, Oak View
Group, owns 51% of the arena, which
will be net-zero carbon certified. (The
venue was branded as a call to action on
climate change by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos
after he bought naming rights for a re-
ported $300 million.) David Bonderman,
the majority investor in the Kraken, and
his partners own the rest. Together,
they’re spending more than $1 billion to
build a new facility under an existing
roof of the old KeyArena — and at least
another $100 million to spruce up the
surrounding Seattle Center campus.
During the 17 years that Leiweke, 63,
worked under Phil Anschutz at AEG,
from 1996 to 2013, he helped design and
build arenas and arena districts
around the world. Staples Center was a

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Leiweke project. So was the neighboring L.A. Tim Leiweke‘s latest
Live entertainment district, and T-Mobile Center project includes the
in Kansas City, and the commercial development engineering feat of
there, too. When London’s Millennium Dome fell preserving the roof of
into disuse after 2000, Leiweke imagined the en- the old KeyArena, but
gineering marvel that became O2 Arena. some wonder how he
can make the numbers
Now, after more than two years running Maple work on the $1 billion
Leaf Sports & Entertainment in Toronto, he’s undertaking.
back in the facilities business with Oak View. “I’m
an arena rat,” he said. “I’m betting my whole ca- A TALE OF $300 million ago.”
reer and my life’s fortune on this company.” TWO BROTHERS Add the uncertainty of COVID-19, which has

These days, he’s involved with six new venues. Not since the 1980s have the Leiweke eviscerated the live music industry that the Lei-
One in Austin is on the University of Texas cam- brothers found themselves spending time wekes are counting on for much of the arena’s an-
pus. Another is a new home for the NHL’s New nual revenue, and the brothers are taking nothing
York Islanders. A third will be the centerpiece of together in the same market. for granted. “I go to bed every night worried,” Tim
the 2026 Olympics in Milan. said. “And I wake up every morning anxious.”
TIM LEIWEKE TOD LEIWEKE
But Seattle is unique. Leiweke is working both Still, as Tim scanned the arena on this Tuesday
for and alongside his younger brother, Tod, the  Oak View Group,  Seattle Kraken, afternoon, he liked what he saw. The most diffi-
Kraken chief executive. As Tim emerged as the CEO, 2015-present CEO, 2018-present cult part of the construction, lifting and sus-
leading facilities visionary in the industry, Tod, pending the roof while excavating a massive hole
60, held executive positions with a series of pro  Maple Leaf Sports  NFL, COO, several stories deep and constructing the arena
sports teams, from the NFL to MLS and Vancou- & Entertainment, 2015-2018 bowl there well below ground level, had been
ver to Tampa. He made his career connecting President and CEO, completed without incident. What’s left was
downtrodden franchises — and franchises that 2013-2015  Tampa Bay merely … building a state-of-the-art arena. And
didn’t yet exist — with their markets. After their Lightning, CEO, then hoping that Seattle, battered by COVID and
start in indoor soccer in the early 1980s, the two  AEG, President 2010-2015 social protests and now blanketed in smoke, will
brothers have worked in both the NBA and the and CEO, 2001-2013 have healed enough to care.
NHL simultaneously, but never with the same  Seattle Seahawks,
team. “We’ve always competed against each  Los Angeles Seattle Sounders, IM AND TOD are two of four Leiweke broth-
other,” Tod said. “And that’s rather remarkable, Kings, President, CEO, 2002-2010 ers. (There are also two sisters, Trish and
having worked in the same industry all this time. 1996-2001 Therese.) Their uneasy upbringing has
Because we’ve always loved one another.”  Minnesota Wild, been well-chronicled; the boys lost their mother
 U.S. Skiing, President, and a stepmother in adolescence. Their father, an
It’s tempting to see Seattle as the happy ending, President and CEO, 1998-2002 insurance salesman, struggled to support the fam-
a convergence of these two brothers with comple- 1995-1996 ily financially. Neither Tim nor Tod graduated
mentary skills. “You’ve got Tim — the P.T. Bar-  The First Tee, from college.
num, the rallying the troops, the big, massive  Denver Nuggets, Executive Director, All four brothers, Tracey, Terry, Tim and Tod,
vision,” said Scott O’Neil, CEO of Harris Blitzer President, 1991- 1997-1998 served in various capacities for the MISL’s Kan-
Sports & Entertainment (New Jersey Devils and 1995 sas City Comets. Tim, who had been selling in-
Philadelphia 76ers), who is also one of Tim’s part-  Vancouver surance not long before, was hired as the general
ners at Elevate Sports Ventures, a sales and mar-  Minnesota Canucks, 1994- manager for the team’s expansion season of 1981.
keting agency. “And then you’ve got Tod, the Timberwolves, 1997 He had no formal training in operations, “but he
mastermind of sports branding and teams becom- Vice President, really understood the business and game presen-
ing one with their community. These guys are not 1988-1991  PGA Tour, tation,” said Tod, who ran the public address sys-
just setting the bar at what they do, they’re in an Vice President of tem. “Somehow, some way, it came into his mind.
entirely different room from everyone else.”  MISL Kansas Marketing, He agonized over every piece of music.”
City Comets, Vice 1991-1993 In 1988, Tim was the first employee hired by
Even with both Leiwekes, though, success in Se- President, GM and
attle is hardly assured. It was the biggest North later President,  Golden State CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
American city without an NBA or NHL team, but 1981-1988 Warriors, 1987-1991
MLS’s expansion Sounders emerged under Tod’s
guidance a decade ago as a true major league fran-  MISL Baltimore  MISL Kansas City
chise. (As of this month, Tod is also a minority Blast, GM, 1980-1981 Comets, early 1980s
shareholder in the Sounders.) Add that to the
Jane Gershovich NFL’s Seahawks, MLB’s Mariners, and the Pac-12’s  MISL St. Louis
University of Washington, and the nation’s 18th- Steamers, Assistant
largest city already has what might seem like a full GM, 1979-1980
plate of sports teams. “It would be naïve to suggest
that there are unlimited amounts of seat revenue
and sponsorship share and mindshare,” admitted
Adrian Hanauer, the Sounders’ majority owner.

Beyond that, the cost of retaining the roof of
historically significant KeyArena while building
a modern facility beneath it has soared into 10
digits. Bonderman subsidized a chunk of that,
but at least $500 million was borrowed. Even at
today’s interest rates, that creates a prodigious
amount of annual debt. “We dropped out because
we couldn’t see any way that the numbers
worked,” said an executive at another company
that had bid on the project. “And that was about

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THE STORY RAISING SEATTLE

WHAT THEY RE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17  Climate Pledge Arena will have only Seattle Kraken
SAYING 40 suites (32 are already sold) and will
another expansion team, the NBA’s Minnesota feature seven clubs.
“My philosophy in general is to hire the best person Timberwolves. It had become clear that he’d been
I could hire for a position. I absolutely believed then gifted with the imagination to conjure up big Maple Leafs, Leiweke left Toronto to
and I do now that Tod Leiweke is one of the very best ideas, and a charismatic ability to sell them to decidedly mixed reviews. “It was
executives in sports. He’d come up with more ideas in those charged with implementing them. In 2007 easy to dismiss the brief Leiweke
while with AEG, when he decided he wanted to era as all noise and no substance,”
the shower than I would in the whole year.” sign David Beckham, who was still a world-class wrote David Shoalts in the The Globe
— JEFF VINIK, talent, to play for Anschutz’s LA Galaxy, he flew and Mail. Though Shoalts argued
to England and asked him to dinner. “As soon as I that Leiweke had made substantive
Tampa Bay Lightning owner sat with him for five minutes, I could tell,” Beck- gains for the city’s teams, he admit-
ham said. “He spoke with a passion in a way ted that many observers would con-
“He makes me feel so inferior as a leader. I remember that’s like the way a father speaks to you. His en- sider his tenure “a loud flop.”
going to Tampa three months after Tod started and ergy and drive were inspiring to me.”
wandering around the arena with him pregame. Tod By contrast, Tod has had nothing
effectively knew every security person’s name, their “When he talks to you, you get caught up in his but sustained success during a ca-
spouses’ names and probably their kids’ names, knew all vision,” said Brendan Shanahan, whom Leiweke reer that has taken him from the
the concessions people, the ushers. His sincerity around hired to run the Toronto Maple Leafs. Added Golden State Warriors to the Van-
Ryan Brach, Oak View’s senior vice president for couver Canucks, the Minnesota
caring for people, it’s something to behold.” global partnerships, “you leave meetings with Wild, Seattle’s Seahawks and
— ADRIAN HANAUER, him and you’re just shaking your head, because Sounders, the Tampa Bay Lightning
it all completely makes sense. And you wonder, and then the NFL, with a stop in
majority owner, Seattle Sounders why has nobody thought of that before?” professional golf. Unlike Tim, who
has his detractors, Tod is universal-
“The one thing we all know is, you bet on Tim every day and Often, someone has thought of it, but aban- ly admired. “I know a lot of people,”
twice on Sundays. I mean, he’s the best dealmaker I’ve ever doned the idea as wildly impractical. “Everybody said NHL Hall of Famer Ron Fran-
on Earth said you couldn’t build a brand-new cis, whom Tod hired as the Kraken
been around. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.” arena under this roof that’s 44 million pounds general manager in July of 2019. “I
— SCOTT O’NEIL, and hadn’t been moved since 1962,” said Brach. couldn’t get anyone to say a bad
“And he pulled it off. Everybody else would have thing about him.”
CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and heard the ‘no, no, no.’”
a partner with Tim at Elevate Sports Ventures Added Al Guido, the San Francis-
Those unlikely ideas are Leiweke’s specialty, co 49ers’ chairman and CEO and an-
“Tim invented L.A. Live and Staples and everything that mostly because he secretly believes only he has other Elevate partner: “Tod doesn’t
goes on there. That’s vision. He had the vision to take the the guts to make them happen. “When you work need to own the room. If you take a
for Tim, he wants you to be really ambitious,” talk time of minutes spoken, he
Millennium Dome in London, which was an abandoned said Chris McGowan, CEO of Vulcan Sports and won’t have the most. But when he
structure, and realize you could put an arena inside it. Entertainment (Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle speaks, it comes from an under-
And now in Seattle, he had the vision to say you could Seahawks and Seattle Sounders), who was with standing of what’s important, based
take a listed structure and still make an arena out of it.” Leiweke at AEG. “He makes you strive and push. on the feedback he’s hearing.”
For some people, that can be intimidating — it’s
— SCOTT MALKIN, an intensity that not everyone thrives under. But A high school hockey player, Tod
New York Islanders owner, who has hired Oak View Group he makes you think you can do amazing things, is the more sensitive of the two.
which to me is one of his strongest assets.” “I’m an emotional person,” he said.
to build the team’s new arena in Elmont, N.Y. “My eyes water easily.” While Tim
It also occasionally has been his undoing. “I visits an arena under construction
definitely wore out my welcome with Phil,” Tim and envisions sight lines and club
said about Anschutz. seats and how the acoustics will

Despite transforming the Raptors into a team
that would win an NBA title and revitalizing the

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work, Tod conjures up an image of fans coming together for a right: Actor Matthew
common cause. “People gathering in one spot and dispensing McConaughey joins
with whatever stress might have happened that day,” he said. Tim Leiweke last year
“That’s why this business is unique and different. It can trans- to celebrate the start of
form communities and change people’s lives.” another Oak View Group
project, a new arena at
Tod has an uncanny ability to size up those communities the University of Texas.
and the sports fans living in them. “The first time I met him, it below: Tod Leiweke
was like meeting a sports marketing evangelist,” said Victor knows Seattle well from
DeBonis, who worked with Tod in Vancouver beginning in his time serving as CEO
1994 and now serves as the COO of the Kraken. “It was like, of the Seahawks, which
‘This is not a normal person. This is a major talent.’” included landing Pete
Carroll as the coach.
At the time, Tod had been hired away from Golden State and
charged with quickly getting commitments for the 5,000 season against the Lightning. They were confident they’d created an
tickets it would take to get Vancouver the NBA expansion team experience — including an actual bolt of lightning that crack-
that eventually became the Grizzlies. It was a formidable task led across the ice — that would entice them to return. “The
for a market with little basketball history. He branded the cam- idea was,” Vinik said, “we’ll be your second favorite team.
paign the “Drive For Five” and met the deadline. “Within two And you know what? We’ll be your kids’ favorite team.” Last
weeks,” DeBonis said, “he was able to figure out the whole city. season, the Lightning played to 99.9% of capacity.
Who the power brokers are. Who the right people are. Who’s
giving back to the community. Who’s driving the businesses. I The challenge inherent in Seattle is different, but Tod is ap-
didn’t know any of that, and I had lived there my whole life.” proaching it the only way he knows how. “He tells us we’re going
to try to build the biggest love affair in the history of sports,”
In Seattle, where he worked for Paul Allen’s Vulcan Sports and said Brach. “And he reminds us of that every single day.”
Entertainment from 2003 to 2010, Tod took a Seahawks franchise
that had known little success and gave it the rah-rah appeal of a
college team. During Tod’s tenure, MLS awarded Seattle an ex-
pansion franchise. The ownership group included Allen, and Tod
became its first president. He understood that the city, which still
felt wounded by the departure of the NBA’s SuperSonics, longed
for a team that felt more neighborhood than national. “Seattle is
a major market, but it definitely has a local feel that’s different
than New York or L.A. or Chicago or even Houston,” said Hanau-
er. “Tod brought that authenticity. It was a master class in build-
ing a brand. A true vision — an inspired vision.”

In 2010, Tod left to take control of the Lightning. The club’s
situation was worse than an expansion team’s because the
Lightning had alienated many potential fans. “This was a
franchise that more easily could have been relocated than
made to work there,” Tod said. “It had been left for dead.” But
in owner Jeff Vinik, Tod found a kindred spirit. Together, they
made the hockey team an integral part of a city that had won-
dered why it even had one.

Vinik and Leiweke encouraged hockey fans who’d moved
there from other markets to come root for their favorite team

Getty Images (2) IS SECOND MORNING in Seattle last month, Tim Lei-
weke woke up at 4:30 a.m. He was out the door of his
W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M hotel by 5. Traveling around the country, he likes to
take early-morning walks. He keeps count of his steps and, ul-
timately, his miles. But beyond that, he uses that time to …
imagine. “Inspiration and entrepreneurial moments come
from those walks,” he’d told me the previous week. “Trying to
think outside the box. ‘This is what we’ve learned, but now
this is what we should think about.’”
On this morning, he pointed out construction cranes visible
from the southern edge of Seattle Center’s 74-acre campus,
which includes parks and other green spaces, museums, the
Space Needle, and a food court filled with local purveyors. While
his Oak View Group was bidding for the right to build an arena,
a competing project by Valiant Capital’s Chris Hansen was pro-
jected for the SoDo neighborhood south of Pioneer Square, near
the baseball and football stadiums. That has been Seattle’s hot,

CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

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THE STORY RAISING SEATTLE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 “You’ve got Arena will have only 40 suites (32 are already While Tim built the
Tim — the sold). Instead, space will be allocated for seven arena, the Kraken
hip area for a while. It also has enough available P.T. Barnum, clubs, mini-venues inside the venue. And while needed someone to lead
land for the L.A. Live-type development that every- the rallying ticket revenue goes to concert promoters, in- the team. Tim had no
one assumed would be part of any project. the troops, come from the clubs will be divided. problem recommending
the big, his brother for the job.
But when Tim started walking the city during massive Oak View is also getting into a variety of busi-
that spring of 2017, he noticed that the cranes vision. And ness inside Seattle Center, including parking, Seattle Kraken
weren’t in SoDo but on the other side of down- then you’ve concessions, security, and staging festivals. Tim
town, in Belltown and off Lake Union. He won- got Tod, the guaranteed the city the same amount it had been
dered why nearby KeyArena was being mastermind making on parking and taxes. “Wrote them a
dismissed as a potential site. “The momentum of of sports check,” he said. In return, he asked for the reve-
where people want to live and want to play was branding nue for the next decade.
here,” he said. “SoDo has all the land, and could and teams
develop all this other stuff, but just look where becoming But success on the campus depends on having
we are. I’m not sure they need that here.” one with good relations with the other tenants. One of those
their is KEXP, a public radio station. At first, the sta-
Seattle Center is owned by the city. Commer- community. tion’s executives expressed their concern about the
cial use is limited. Leiweke understands that the These guys inevitable noise and tumult of arena construction
economic opportunities of an arena there won’t are not just on their doorstep. Oak View could have forged
approach those of L.A. Live. “But it’s a different setting the ahead regardless, but it was important to the Lei-
kind of development, and a different kind of im- bar at what wekes that the arena and the team were considered
pact,” he explained. “Part of it is a maturity of they do, good neighbors. “So my brother, God bless him,
saying, ‘I don’t want to go out and just recreate they’re in came in and worked his magic,” Tim said.
L.A. Live. I want to go into an emerging area and an entirely
redefine development and do something differ- different From a contentious relationship, Tod forged a
ent.’ We don’t need to build L.A. Live. This is 74 room from partnership. When Ron Francis was hired in the
acres, smack in the middle of the city.” everyone summer of 2019, the station let him hold the
else.” press conference in its open-space lobby. Tim re-
But this arena will also be far more expensive. ports that artists who do shows at the arena will
When it opened in 1999, Staples Center cost the be asked to donate memorabilia that KEXP can
present-day equivalent of between $350 and $375 auction to raise money. In return, the station’s
million. All of that was Anschutz money, and it DJs will curate the music playlists at Kraken
bought him the right to develop the land around games. “Development takes many forms,” Tim
it. Leiweke calculated he could take the top off of said. “And we figured out, the campus, those 74
KeyArena and build beneath it for $650 million. acres — that’s our campus. So let’s act like it.
That grew to around $750 million after the NHL And that’s what Tod has done.”
team was awarded. Then $50 million more was re-
quired for additional locker rooms and square While work on the arena continues, the team is
footage in case the NBA ever wants to return. also finishing its training facility in North Seat-
tle. Oak View will concentrate on the other parts
With all that investment, he said, majority of Seattle Center, including various small venues
owner Bonderman insisted that the arena be and open spaces to develop.
“spectacular.” So New York-based architect and
designer David Rockwell, known best for hotels,
restaurants and theaters, was called in for the
grace notes. “And we did want it to be spectacu-
lar,” Bonderman said. “But the reason it cost so
much is not that, but because Timmy got the num-
bers all wrong. He was overly optimistic.” At the
same time, Bonderman believed Leiweke also un-
derestimated the potential value of the business.
“So it all kind of came out in the wash,” he said.

However you tally the figures, they’re more
than any arena has cost before. As much as $110
million will be offset by tax credits earned for
keeping the KeyArena roof, a historic landmark.
But that still leaves a big chunk of debt to be ser-
viced, somewhere between two-thirds and three-
quarters of the total. Those ratios aren’t unusual
for an arena project — but the size of the num-
bers are. “Does this work? Yes,” Tim insisted. “Is
it the best investment in the history of mankind?
Absolutely not. We’re spending three times what
we spent in Las Vegas on T-Mobile,” he added,
referencing his last arena deal for AEG.

That revenue will come not just from the
Kraken, but a steady stream of live entertain-
ment in a setting that he promises will feel al-
most intimate. After Leiweke presided over the
construction of Staples Center, which contains
more than 200 suites of various sizes, Bruce
Springsteen told him he preferred “hot, sweaty
halls.” Leiweke never forgot it. Climate Pledge

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FTER HE ARRIVED in Seattle to run the Se- Roth and Drew Carey together with Tod and drive. Tim called Bonderman. “This Seattle thing
ahawks, Tod remembers being told that Hanauer to form the partnership that eventually is definitely happening,” he said.
their fans weren’t passionate. “I didn’t owned the Sounders. He loved the idea of solving
believe it,” he said. Then the cheering at the NFC Seattle’s decades-long arena problem. Leiweke knew that Bonderman, who is based in
Championship Game at Qwest Field in January Fort Worth but attended college in Seattle, had an
2006 registered as a seismic event by the monitor- But he needed a money man. He’d been work- affinity for the city. (Bonderman even had worked
ing devices on the University of Washington ing with MSG’s James Dolan on potential arenas, as a security guard at the Space Needle, charged
campus. “I never forgot that,” he said. but Dolan already owned NBA and NHL teams. with making sure nobody jumped off.) Bonder-
He was already working at the NFL, five years So he thought of Bonderman, who shortly before man also had an appreciation for the grand ges-
and two jobs removed from Seattle, when Tim the 2008 market crash had reached an agreement ture and the ambitious act; for his 60th birthday
started Oak View, but his feeling for the city with the NHL for an expansion franchise in Las party, in 2002, he hired the Rolling Stones. Tim
hadn’t diminished. He urged his brother to con- Vegas that would play in an arena AEG would didn’t need to write “some 90-page prospectus,” he
sider Seattle for his company’s first arena proj- build. “We were in the process of doing bank fi- said, “or sell him on the investment. “He had a gut
ect. “That’s your opportunity,” he said. nancing when it turned out there wasn’t bank fi- instinct. He said, ‘I’m in. Let’s go.’”
Tim, too, had a history with the city. He’d felt its nancing to be had,” Bonderman said.
passion in the KeyArena stands while watching The original plan was for Leiweke to run the
his Denver Nuggets upset the Sonics in May 1994, A decade later, Bonderman still wanted a hock- team. But a problem quickly emerged. Tim had en-
a No. 8 playoff seed eliminating a No. 1 for the ey team, but Leiweke couldn’t promise him one. tanglements throughout the NHL, most notably eq-
first time in NBA history. Later, he’d convinced And Leiweke also seemed to be the only person uity interest in the new arena Oak View is building
Pete Carroll, then at USC, to talk with Tod about who believed that suspending the KeyArena roof for the Islanders. Somehow, he’d figured he’d make
coaching the Seahawks, and even hosted the se- and building beneath it was an actionable idea. that work. He couldn’t, so there would be no stake
cret meetings between them in his backyard in “So I’m bidding for a project that nobody else in the Seattle franchise. “We had a number of con-
Brentwood. He arranged a dinner — at the Space thinks can work, from an engineering and design versations,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman
Needle, of all places — putting Hollywood’s Joe standpoint,” he recalled. “We don’t have an an- said. “Some of those included the appropriateness
chor tenant. And if we did have an anchor tenant, of not owning equity in multiple situations.”
I’d have to figure out a way to pay for it. And it
can’t be MSG because of the conflict of interest.” For Tim, this was a fork in the road. He’d al-
ways been a franchise guy, as much about what
Nevertheless, Seattle’s city government liked went on inside the arena as building the next one.
his vision. In December 2017, Oak View won the He was the man who brought Beckham and the
bid. Three days later, the NHL provisionally Stanley Cup to Los Angeles, and Masai Ujiri and
agreed to the idea of an expansion team for the an MLS title to Toronto on his watch. Apart from
new arena, contingent on a successful ticket
CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

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THE STORY RAISING SEATTLE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 tles of wine. Half a dozen Kraken employees and ployees of the franchise were asked to guess how
a few sponsors and friends have gathered to long it would take before the goal was reached.
a brief stint with U.S. Skiing, he’d spent his whole watch the NHL’s Eastern Conference playoffs. Would it be a month? A matter of weeks? They
professional life wearing clothing with the logo of Masks are on, and then they’re off. It’s hard to wrote guesses on scraps of paper for posterity.
his team. To keep Oak View viable and honor the sip when your face is covered. Of everyone, Tim was the most optimistic — to
deals that already had been made, he needed to nobody’s surprise. “The first day,” his said.
leave that behind. “The question was, ‘Are you a It feels like a family gathering — and to a cer-
team guy or an arena guy?’” Islanders’ owner tain extent, it is. Tim Leiweke sits in the back of That morning, the 10,000 season tickets were
Scott Malkin said. “And Tim has been very clear.” the room, doing a phone interview with a news- sold in 12 minutes. This was a financial commit-
paper. Dan Leiweke, Tracey’s son and a Kraken ment to a club that had never played a game, had
“It took an awful lot for me to say, OK, I have to sales executive, takes up a position behind the no name or head coach, or even an ironclad com-
step back from player personnel and running bar. And then Tracey, the oldest brother, arrives mitment from the NHL that it would ever exist.
teams,” Tim admitted. “Because I love it. I’ve and settles in beside Tod. The Leiwekes collected the 12 scraps of paper
done it my whole life. Do I miss that? I miss it and framed them. Tod declared the date, March 1,
every day. But we have to have an understanding Leiwekes aside, that’s the atmosphere Tod fo- a permanent company holiday. The arena’s ca-
of what goes where. That way I don’t have Scott ments. It’s the reason Tim believed he’d leave the pacity will be 17,190 and the team plans to sell
Malkin or any of my arena partners yelling at NFL and join the expansion project. Chief oper- 15,500 seats to season-ticket holders, either full
me because I’m competing with them on the ice.” ating officer at one of the world’s most important or partial/shared plans.
leagues is a fantasy job for most anyone in
Before that, though, he had to tell Bonderman sports, but it can’t compare with the thrill of cre- On the screen now, the Lightning are playing the
that while he’d retain his interest in the arena, ating a team and sending it out into a communi- Islanders. Tim finishes his interview and walks to-
he wasn’t able to be involved in the team. To re- ty, not for Tod. “I knew I could convince him,” ward the bar. “Everyone should be rooting for the
place himself, he needed someone with the same Tim said. “And I also knew that if I convinced Islanders,” he announces. “We’re the underdogs!”
level of commitment to the project — and, equal- him, our success was guaranteed.” Everyone smiles, in part because they know that
ly important, to Seattle. He needed someone so Tod will never root against Vinik and the Light-
familiar with the challenge of building a fran- In the days before the start of the ticket drive ning. Not until they play the Kraken, anyway.
chise from scratch that he could step into the in March of 2018, it became evident that they
oversized shoes of Tim Leiweke. were likely to get the 10,000 deposits. The few em- Despite the festive atmosphere, a feeling of

He knew just the man. In fact, he told Bonder-
man, he happened to be related to him.

“I just kept telling them, there is absolutely no
one who will do a better job of integrating a team
into the community than Tod will,” he said. “And
that’s what you have to do in Seattle. Look at all
those other teams here. It was critical that this
be about Seattle, by Seattle, for Seattle.”

Bonderman agreed. Now all Tim had to do was
get Tod to leave one of the best jobs in sports for
a team that didn’t yet exist.

IGHT IS FALLING over Seattle, though the
street lamps have been on all day. A hock-
ey game is showing on television. That’s
not necessarily a common sight in a city that
doesn’t have a single sheet of skating ice inside
its borders. This is inside a private sports bar in-
side the Kraken’s new team shop off Lake Union.
Post-pandemic, it will be used for everything
from press conferences to staff parties. For now,
Tod steps behind the bar to grab a couple of bot-

UNLEASHING THE KRAKEN day of my existence, people would ask me, ‘What’s the team Seattle Kraken
name?’ And I’d ask them, ‘What do you think it should be?’”
THE KRAKEN? A mythical giant squid with origins in Nordic
folklore, Krakens may or may not actually live just under the It was classic Tod Leiweke, empowering not just team
surface of the water that borders the Pacific Northwest. Seattle’s executives and employees to make the decision, but the fans
original professional hockey team, the Metropolitans, predated who would need to support the team. And week after week,
the formation of the NHL (and actually won the Stanley Cup conversation after conversation, a consensus choice started
in 1917, then played for it twice more before disbanding.) to emerge. “That name just sustained itself,” Tod said. “It
That name was one of the popular choices for the city’s NHL wasn’t always in first place — sometimes it fell to second or
expansion team. So was Rainiers, the city’s old Pacific Coast third. But at the end of the day it was the winner because it just
League baseball team, and Sockeyes, and Evergreens. But hung in there. We didn’t do focus groups, so the whole thing
Kraken was an underground choice, and it wouldn’t go away. was like, ‘I hope this is good.’ And there was a chance that a
whole bunch of people could have said, ‘You missed it.’ But
“We saw fans every single day,” Tod Leiweke said. “Every our confidence was good. We’d been staring at it for months
and months and months.” — B.S.

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above left: The initial 10,000 season tickets offered for above: The brothers see the project as more than an uncertainty hangs over the room. It’s the first
the Kraken sold out in 12 minutes, making a strong arena, but something that can inspire and unite a city time, two of the sponsors confide, that they’ve
statement for the market’s embrace of the franchise. that has faced a pandemic, protests and fires. been in a social situation indoors since March.
That’s the reality of life during the pandemic.
How will it affect the economics of sports
events and concerts going forward, they wonder.
The answer is, of course, that nobody knows.

But by now, it seems clear that the impact of the
project in Seattle Center will transcend econom-
ics. As Tim’s plane came in to land on Tuesday
morning, he’d been shocked to see the creamy
haze that had settled in over the area. “I thought,
‘My God, what this city has been through,’” he
said. Seattle was the first city hit by the coronavi-
rus in late February. Then came the summer of
social protests. “And then all of a sudden these
fires.” He sighs. “This beautiful, wonderful city,
and it’s taken three straight punches.”

He’s at his evangelistic best as he starts listing
what the new arena and the team can offer.
“Hope,” he said, his voice rising. “Emotion! Pride!
This is a moment in time when this project can
pull everyone in the city together. And it’s funny,
when we made our bet on Seattle, we had no idea
that we would have the opportunity to do that.”

What started as an investment has become a
cause, and how could anyone be surprised? It’s
the Leiweke way.

Bruce Schoenfeld is a writer in Colorado.

Seattle Kraken

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IN-DEPTH ESPORTS

When mainstream leagues hit the pause button, increased viewership to new sponsors and addi-
esports were able to continue, successfully tional media attention.
coming up with new ways to add viewers and
sponsors. Will those gains last? | BY ADAM STERN Part of that success is due to opportunity and
part is a result of “smart strats” — the esports
J ACK HARARI, the vice president of global partner development at Ac- shorthand for clever strategies. When the pandem-
tivision Blizzard Esports, was touting the benefits of competitive ic reached the U.S. in March, few sports were able
gaming in the pandemic age during a recent meeting with a prospec- to be as resilient, and able to quickly restart their
competitions in a different format, as esports, which
tive new client when the brand executive stopped him. quickly transitioned its in-person events to online-
only games. At the same time that millions around
“We were at a point in the conversation where we were addressing our reli- the world began playing more video games than
usual while stuck at home. That led to significant
ability and how we never stopped playing this year, and the conversation buzz for the space as ESPN, Fox Sports and NBC
Sports leaned into esports. ESPN signed League of
stopped and [the brand executive] said: ‘We love this — this is exactly what Legends’ North American series, called the League
Championship Series (LCS), to a short-term deal,
we’re looking for,’” recounted Harari. “And that’s just one case — we’re get- and also had an Esports Day on April 5 on which Riot Games
it aired 12 hours of games such as Madden NFL20,
ting that with nearly every conversation.” NBA 2K20, F1 esports and Rocket League. Fox and
NBC aired more than a dozen virtual racing events.
That conversation helped Harari as he worked to try and close the deal that

would mark yet another win in a year that has seen many for esports, from

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SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

REVENUE REVIEW $7270168.4 $9205179.5 $2905200.3 2$012.63

Postponed and canceled events in 2020 caused a MILLION MILLION MILLION BILLION
decline in projected revenue this year, but both
supply (viewers) and demand (organizers) remain
strong, including projections for 2023.

Source: Newzoo

The Dallas Empire won the Call of Duty sizable increases in certain key per- ESPORTS Malone [as an investor], and you’re seeing that ex-
League’s Championship Finals in the formance indicators this year, such REVENUE tensive reach outside the core vertical of esports
most-watched event in CDL history. as viewership and social media STREAMS that’s bringing really good headlines to the space,”
Sponsorship said Adam Rymer, CEO of Envy Gaming, which
growth. But the reality is that it will owns the 2020 Call of Duty League champion Dallas
$584.1M Empire, among other teams.
take time for the increased buzz to +7.5%
Rymer is used to disruption because he has a
translate into new revenue and long- Media rights long background in music and entertainment when
those worlds were being affected by the likes of
term viewers, and not everyone in the $163.3M Napster and Netflix. However, the pandemic’s effect
+3.3% on esports has been a beast unto itself — and even
industry will come out as a winner. an industry that has benefited from the pandemic
Publisher in certain ways will still be dealing with some
Moreover, not everything was pos- fees negative fallout in others.

itive in 2020. Big in-per- $108.9M In its most recent report on revenue projections,
-11.6% Newzoo noted that the negative impact on consum-
Twitch says that in son events such as the er-brand spending in the space from COVID-19
the second quarter, Grand Finals, the cham- Merchandise “could hurt the growth of both sponsorship and
pionship of the Over- and fees media-rights revenues in the future.” That’s some-
thing Rymer is already seeing.
hours watched on watch League, which $52.5M
the platform almost sold out a reduced capac- -50.3% “There’s a lot of companies hurting and a lot of
doubled versus the the ity at Barclays Center in people who would be big sponsors and advertisers
same period in 2019. 2018 and Wells Fargo Digital who are instead evaluating what the pandemic
means for them and absorbing all the info, and it’s
Center in 2019, was in- $21.5M not necessarily the best time to increase spending
stead held without fans +60.9% on the sponsorship side,” he said. “It’s going to take
time for the economy to come back.”
in South Korea earlier Streaming
nnnn
However, as the end of 2020 beckons, this month. The home-and-away fran- $19.9M
+44.9% Of all the metrics most likely to experience a
esports executives are trying to figure chise model that Overwatch League bump amid and after the pandemic, video game
Source: Newzoo usage and viewership were at the top.
out how much growth the space truly started in 2018 and Call of Duty
In the early days of the pandemic in late March,
realized through this period while League began earlier this year suf- Verizon reported that it saw a 75% increase in video
game usage during peak hours since Americans
looking toward what everyone hopes fered as in-person events were large- had started quarantining. As for viewing, Amazon-
owned streaming platform Twitch says that in the
is a more normal 2021. While esports ly canceled across the world after the second quarter, hours watched on the platform
almost doubled versus the same period in 2019.
had been on a firmly upward trajec- pandemic started. That led to the Google’s YouTube platform is also seeing gains in
gaming viewership. YouTube Gaming’s live platform
tory in recent years, revenue is now projected drop in revenue and related increased quarterly watch hours by 53% from the
first quarter of this year through the third quarter,
expected to slightly contract this year, moves, such as Activision Blizzard, and is up 131% from the third quarter of last year
through the third quarter of this year, according
from $957.5 million in 2019 to $950.3 the owner of both Overwatch League to data intelligence firm Stream Hatchet, which
works with Riot Games and agencies including UTA
million in 2020, largely due to effects and Call of Duty League, telling teams among others.

of the pandemic, according to re- they could delay making their fran- Overall, the global esports industry saw a 17%
increase in live watched hours from the third quar-
search firm Newzoo, which recently chise payments this year. ter of 2019 to the third quarter of 2020, from 395.3
million to 463.7 million, according to Stream Hatch-
revised the estimate downward. “In the short term, we know that et. There was also a 16% increase in average minute
audience.
In interviews with more than a [the pandemic brought] huge amounts
That comes despite a roughly 33% decrease in
Getty Images dozen people across the industry, ex- of awareness, more people playing esports events this year, from 184 to 124, since so
many were canceled — meaning the industry saw
ecutives say that video game makers, games and getting exposed to what a double-digit increase in hours watched despite

streaming platforms and many esports esports is all about, teams making big CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

properties and related businesses saw moves … like us bringing on Post

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IN-DEPTH ESPORTS

Four ways the business model has changed for esports

BY TOBIAS SECK announced the

ARND BENNINGHOFF WAS MAKING his last-minute suspension of its
preparations for the Intel Extreme Masters World
Championship in a sold-out stadium in Katowice, season on March 11,
Poland, when the world came to a halt.
the Phoenix Suns
“We were first confronted with the coronavirus
impact early in March, just the night before our decided to continue
biggest esports event in Katowice,” said Benning-
hoff, the executive vice president of MTGx, the their regular-season
Modern Times Group vertical that operates its
esports assets such as ESL and DreamHack. “We schedule by simulating
were notified that we couldn’t run the event with an
audience. So since then, we have been busy with the games in the
scenario planning.”
NBA2K, which the team
Just like ESL had to adapt its biggest esports
tournament of the year, many esports companies streamed on Twitch.
had to react quickly to governments all over the
world putting COVID-19 policies in place. Formula One estab-

Esports is a nascent industry still in the process of lished a racing
carving out revenue streams. When the COVID-19
pandemic swept across Europe and the Americas in simulation series in
the spring, resulting in profound consequences
such as social distancing and stay-at-home orders, place of its regular
the impact on the esports ecosystem was signifi-
cant. schedule in which a

Some of the developments in esports before the The Phoenix Suns simulated the rest of their regular-season schedule on NBA2K. number of F1 and other
pandemic included hosting ever bigger in-person motorsports drivers
events, building esports stadiums and venues, and
the establishment of esports programs at schools participated in
and colleges. Those advances resulted in ticketing,
merchandise, concessions, media rights, and Hack. “One aspect we saw is that a few companies partnership with esports organizer Gfinity. Addition-
sponsorship revenue becoming more important,
but those types of revenue are currently either who were still sitting on a bunch of cash … just ally, a large number of different sim-racing competi-
uncertain or outright nonexistent with spectator
events prohibited in most countries. reconsidered [investing] in light of these uncertain tions emerged that included the participation of

Since the beginning of the health crisis, four times,” said Malte Barth, founding general partner of racing drivers, athletes, and celebrities, including a
trends have emerged in how esports companies are
adjusting their business models to handle the BITKRAFT Ventures, an esports and gaming-focused multirace exhibition by NASCAR, which was
economic consequences caused by COVID.
investment firm. Barth added that those companies broadcast on Fox Sports and regularly drew in more
u FINANCIAL ADJUSTMENTS: Several esports
companies took measures to cut operational costs to made “the decision to use only a little bit of money than 1 million viewers.
counteract the loss of revenues that were caused by
COVID policies. OverActive Media, the parent of now and make sure to have a bit more fuel in the tank u ALTERNATIVE FINANCING: As the COVID
Overwatch League franchise Toronto Defiant, laid off
some of its staff. Danish esports organization Astralis to run a little longer if ‘whatever’ sort of happens.” pandemic had a severe impact on the global
reduced salaries by up to 30%. Esports organizers
ESL and DreamHack parent Modern Times Group u GOING ONLINE: While the games played at economy, risk capital got harder to come by for
reacted by cutting down on operational costs that
ultimately resulted in the merger of ESL and Dream- esports competitions are natively played online, most smaller companies. “I think for pretty much every

large competitions usually take place at a physical venture capital fund, the first order of business was

location such as an arena or a studio. Due to the to make sure companies are in good shape and are

COVID-19 policies and for safety reasons, most of getting through this,” said Kevin Baxpehler, the

those formats have been transformed into online founder and managing partner of Remagine

events. While this transition brought about a lot of Ventures, an Israel-based, early-stage venture

infrastructure challenges, it also demanded an capital fund focused on gaming and entertainment.

adjustment in monetization. Sponsorship activations Consequently, esports companies in need of

especially had to be altered to reflect the online additional funds explored alternative financing

nature of events. There has been a notable benefit, methods such as crowdfunding and going public.

however, as Benninghoff noted: “With our shift to all Since the spring, the latter option — either via

online productions and the unique economics, we reverse takeovers or through initial public offerings

have seen record-high viewership numbers.” — has become a popular strategy to raise capital.

u VIRTUAL SPORTS: Just as most esports Examples include British esports organization Guild

competitions went online, for the time being, they Esports, which hired former soccer player David

were joined by several sports organizations that Beckham in an almost $20 million deal to be the

turned to gaming competitions and exhibitions to fill face of the organization; game engine developer

the void of sports events. Several esports endemic Unity Software; and computer hardware and

companies and startups were able to seize that peripherals manufacturer Corsair Gaming. Addition-

opportunity by providing traditional sports teams ally, several companies are currently planning IPOs,

with esports players, tournament structures and including KRAFTON Game Union, the parent

livestreaming expertise. Two days after the NBA company of PUBG developer PUBG Corp.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25 Riot Games, each saw viewership time when most live sports were shut of what makes esports really special
growth around 30% this year, far high- down. He also cited the NBA and NHL in this landscape: It’s a virtual sport
working with less inventory. er than the 20% that Riot Games typi- having successful “bubble” tourna- that can pivot into online competitive
Bobby Baird, Stream Hatchet’s direc- cally forecasts, according to John ments as inspirations for the idea to play and do that very well.”
Needham, Riot’s global head of esports. try to still hold this year’s League of
tor of strategic partnerships, said that Legends World Championships — The shutdowns that leagues expe-
the growth esports viewership has seen This includes the LCS having an which will conclude this Saturday rienced during the early stages of the
this year “is much greater than we’ve average minute audience of 485,000 — in Shanghai, even though they’ve pandemic also had some interesting
seen” in the past. Properties that have viewers for its Summer Split finals, been greatly downsized from the effects on viewership. When the Chi-
done particularly well include League up about 27% from last year, while the original multicity plan. nese league, the LPL, shut down in
of Legends Esports, which was already European league, the LEC, had a late January as the pandemic started
the most watched esport in the world, roughly 17% jump for its Summer Split, “The viewership did exceed our ex- to plague that country, the Korean
as its major regions — LCS in North which is the second half of the season. pectations, and the reason is we were league, the LCK, saw a huge influx of
America, LPL in China, LEC in Europe the only sport on air for many months Chinese viewership that resulted in
and LCK in South Korea — saw in- Needham attributed the growth to in our regions,” Needham said. “We a 42% jump in hours consumed versus
creases in viewership this year. the fact that the leagues were able to did benefit from that, and that’s a part
pivot to online play so quickly at a CONTINUED ON PAGE 27
Those top regional leagues, all from

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SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26 esports was one of the only options than 61%, is due to come from spon- among other assets. “Whether they
if you wanted to watch a live com- sorships. get to the point where they’re spend-
the prior year. petitive event. Over the course of the ing and activating remains to be seen,
LoL is currently in the closing pandemic, ESPN aired 12 straight That has made it even more impor- but having that first conversation with
hours of esports coverage, a multitude tant for those in the industry to keep a brand about: ‘What is this, how do
stages of its annual World Champion- of major media publications wrote current partners happy despite can- we start in the space, what places can
ship tournament, and Riot is seeking articles about esports ‘filling the void celed in-person events, while also we be active?’ is important.”
to top last year’s global average min- of traditional sports,’ and some of the taking advantage of the moment to
ute audience of 21.8 million people. biggest sportsbooks started accepting bring in new sponsors. With 2020 hav- Anheuser-Busch is one brand that
esports bets. A lot of people are now ing been a show-me year for esports, has already started spending heavily
Activision Blizzard’s major proper- familiar with esports that weren’t at many in the industry are hoping 2021 in the esports space, sponsoring
ties were tougher to judge because the beginning of the year.” will be a big year for bringing in new leagues, setting up exhibition tourna-
Call of Duty League was in its first spending to the space. ments with major streaming influenc-
year and both it and Overwatch nnnn ers and starting an official Twitch
League aired on YouTube after Over- Among new sponsors this year, Riot channel for its Bud Light account. Joe
watch switched over from Twitch this One thing that currently makes Games added Mercedes-Benz and Spo- Barnes, Bud Light’s director of sports
year. esports different from major stick- tify as global sponsors; and Activision marketing, said that he’s budgeting
and-ball properties is that sponsorship Blizzard signed IBM to be the official to spend about the same amount in
The 2020 Overwatch League Grand is the biggest revenue stream in the artificial intelligence, cloud and ana- gaming in 2021 as was spent in 2020.
Finals, won for the second year in a competitive gaming space — safely lytics sponsor of the Overwatch
row by the San Francisco Shock, ahead of the next bucket, media League and the presenting sponsor of Twitch has seen several brands in-
earned a global average minute audi- rights. Out of the total $950.3 million the Grand Finals. There have also been crease or renew their spends with the
ence of 1.55 million, a 38% increase that Newzoo is projecting the esports some gambling-related sponsors, as platform this year, including Capital
from 2019, but most of the viewership industry to realize in revenue this sportsbooks and related players have One, Doritos, Jersey Mike’s, Verizon,
was in China. The Call of Duty League year, $584.1 million of that, or more looked to get involved with esports. Honda and Warner Brothers.
Championship Finals, in which the For example, DraftKings is now adver-
Dallas Empire defeated the Atlanta tising on the new gaming network Nathan Lindberg, Twitch’s East
Faze on Aug. 30, peaked on YouTube region vice president, said that while
at more than 330,000 viewers including Venn. gaming “has always been more main-
co-streams, making it the most Like Harai, as NRG Esports stream than most people and brands
watched CDL event of all time. realize, it’s especially popular now
President Brett Lautenbach that people are spending so much time
Meanwhile, Baird noted that ESL ventured into the marketplace at home and turning to esports for
Pro League for Counter-Strike: Glob- in recent months, he encoun- their live entertainment.”
al Offensive also had a strong year. tered a new level of receptive-
For its part, Epic Games’ Fortnite took ness toward gaming. “It has taken brands a while to un-
the year off from holding a World Cup. derstand the breadth of the gaming
Mobile gaming viewership saw no- “I’ve seen more first-time community,” said Lindberg. “But they
table viewership during 2020; the spenders show up at the door are beginning to see that watching
PUBG Mobile World League had an in the last five months than CoreJJ make key plays for Team Liq-
average minute audience of 324,000 ever before,” said Lautenbach, uid during LOL Worlds 2020 is no dif-
in its first year, with YouTube as the who is selling a Rocket League ferent than watching LeBron James
main platform, meaning hundreds of title sponsorship position, lead the Lakers to victory.”
thousands of people were watching
a game being played by people on their League of Legends moved Keeping current partners happy
phone. its World Championships to was no small matter either. Riot
Shanghai earlier this month.
Many organizations in esports also CONTINUED ON PAGE 28
saw important gains on social media
in 2020.

“One thing that has always been
uncertain is when esports will con-
tinue to enter further into mainstream
interest — that is something that I
think has been accelerated signifi-
cantly due to COVID,” said Joey
Brander, president and managing
partner of First Serve Partners, which
is invested in esports. “For months,

Getty Images (2)

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IN-DEPTH ESPORTS

THE PANDEMIC created opportunities across esports for makers, promoters and executives alike. These people capitalized the best from a difficult situation.

BY TRENT MURRAY WHALEN ROZELLE JOHANNA FARIES

STEVE MYERS senior director of global esports, Call of Duty League commissioner,

executive vice president and executive Riot Games Activision Blizzard
producer of iRacing Rozelle is responsible for driving Riot Games’ Faries had one of the more difficult jobs in esports this

The John Henry-owned simulation esports initiatives outside of League of year, taking a league that was meant to operate
platform iRacing saw a meteoric rise this Legends. By the end of 2020, his team completely at localized live events and
will have overseen Riot’s expansion shifting it entirely online in a matter of
year amid the coronavirus from a single major esports ecosystem weeks. Under her leadership, the CDL held
pandemic shutdown. Myers to four, each with its own potential for two live events before taking a two-week
helped forge the relationship sponsorship and media rights opportuni- hiatus to adjust for the pandemic. She
with NASCAR that led to the
creation of the Pro Invitational ties. Most notable among these rising successfully moved six months’ worth of
Series, the multiweek exhibition esports is Valorant, which first appeared on Twitch events online, enabling CDL to complete its full season
in April, where it was that platform’s most popular including a championship event, while also finding
tournament that real-life NASCAR game, and it will hold its first official champion- ways to allow some teams to deliver on their events in a
drivers participated in and Fox Sports aired ship in December. Some veteran players are digital setting. For her efforts, Activision Blizzard has
for several weeks during the early days of the already predicting that the first-person shooter rewarded her with an expanded role overseeing the
shutdown. The series drew more than 1 game could join the top tier of the esports industry Overwatch League as commissioner of both major
million people on Fox channels per event and as soon as next year. esports properties for the company.
helped spark sizable growth of subscriptions
to the iRacing platform. TREVOR “QUICKSHOT” HENRY

TRICIA SUGITA on-air talent manager, Riot Games
While Henry’s focus is on Riot’s European League of Legends broadcast, his success amid the
CEO, FlyQuest
FlyQuest was one of the lesser-known U.S. pandemic relative to all other esports broadcasts cannot be ignored. Under his leadership, the
LEC has taken a bold approach to turning its commentary talent into entertainers and content
esports organizations when Sugita creators that the company can then leverage for sponsorship activations. His influence can be
took the reins in early February. As directly seen in the disparity between the LEC’s viewership growth this year and that of its
part of a breakout year, she North American counterpart (LCS).
implemented a bold, eco-friendly
brand strategy — including plant- FOREST WILLARD MARCUS BROMANDER AMY LIU
ing 200 trees for each of her
head of business management, InnerSloth co-founder, InnerSloth artist, InnerSloth
team’s wins and putting a flower on
its jerseys — which raised the team’s profile Video game streaming has arguably been the biggest winner of 2020, and that growth is best characterized by
within League of Legends’ League Champi-
onship Series (LCS). She also led the organi- the recent rise of the game Among Us, in which players try to suss out impostors. It was first released by
zation to its first League of Legends World
Championship appearance. InnerSloth, a three-person company in Redmond, Wash., in 2018 to limited success, but social distancing and

the quarantine caused Twitch streamers to look for ways to collaborate and socialize, and that search led to

InnerSloth’s little-known title. The game has been so successful in recent months that InnerSloth scrapped its

plans for a sequel, choosing instead to capitalize on the unique moment its first game is having right now.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 he viewed as validation that the or- stressful environment globally?’” There are also broader financial con- iRacing; Riot Games (2); Activision Blizzard; FlyQuest
ganization’s effort to transition spon- cerns around everything, from the dif-
Games has been able to do so in part sors to online-only play is working. nnnn ficulty of fundraising to franchise
by adding new in-game advertising Activision Blizzard’s Harari said that payments and valuations at a time when
inventory including first-of-its-kind his company also created new digital As the industry looks toward 2021, the U.S. could get mired in a recession.
in-game signage with several part- assets to help make sponsors whole there are still significant headwinds.
ners, including newcomers Spotify after they lost out on in-person op- But, despite it all, after a year that
and Mercedes-Benz, that has helped portunities. Riot Games’ Needham said that the brought so much attention to esports,
avoid the need for make-goods. One publisher is making its plans for next observers agree that the industry’s
source who sells for a major organiza- “Yeah, of course we want to be back year as if the first half of the year will upward trajectory is continuing.
tion that has teams in both the Over- to selling out Barclays Center and be similar to the quarantined times of
watch and Call of Duty leagues noted Wells Fargo Center [sites of the 2018 2020. However, Riot is hopeful that the “I’m really curious to see the move
that they didn’t have to return any and 2019 Grand Finals, respectively] latter half of 2021 will feature a return back to live events and how it evolves;
money to sponsors this year because and having the home/away model … to normalcy, which could usher in the we’re not immediately going to be
esports leagues were able to so quick- but our fans are already consuming return of in-person events for esports. ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder
ly transition to online-only play and gaming content digitally,” said Ha- Activision Blizzard is still in the plan- in 5,000-person venues, but bringing
find ways to make up the value that rari. “Once we figured out how to get ning stages for how OWL and CDL will people together for community ac-
was lost with in-person events. our partners excited and comfortable, look for 2021, but there is some specula- tivities is a really important part of
it wasn’t so much about a lack of con- tion that the seasons may feature a this space,” Rymer said. “Hopefully,
For Envy, Rymer noted that the team fidence in our properties — it was just mixture of mostly online matches with what we’ve seeded during this quar-
was able to secure a renewal with about: ‘How do we deal with a really a handful of tentpole events in person. antine period is really going to come
major sponsor Jack in the Box, which to life as we get back to that.”

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SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

OPINION

The COVID-19 them to spend money. Enter … of a student athlete is changing forever. We
halftime report: ■ BETTING. Sports is calculating that it can could ultimately get to a better place in college
Just warming up sports. And, of course …
reach the next generation by giving them some
T HESPORTSGLUTHIT this summer, but as we await COVID-19’s “action.” This risky change is a total 180. Bet- ■ TECHNOLOGY WILL ACCELERATE EVERY-
“Second (Sports) Wave,” we have reached one major con- ting is already adding a new dimension to THING. Considering how often most of us are
clusion: event coverage. With younger fans, live sports on Zoom calls, it was apropos to see video
We predict more sports industry change will occur in this decade comes face to face with the dominance of: conferencing technology featured in the NBA’s
virtual fan experience from the bubble. What
than in the previous five combined. COVID-19’s “first half ” already ■ VIDEO GAMES. A generation that grew up will the impact be on corporate America? In
playing electronic games views them as main- a Zoom world, will businesses entertain more
brought: a late-summer Stanley Cup; an NBA season that ended, stream. This influences the look (NBA’s side- or less in suites? Will they advertise the same
line rail-cam from the bubble and football’s on TV and other screens (the value of which
not began, in the fall; back-to-back U.S. Opens (tennis, then golf), Skycam behind the QB) and feel of live sports could skyrocket with the audience shift) and
telecasts (which haven’t changed substan- in-venue? Before COVID-19, artificial intel-
a 60-game MLB season culminating in a neutral site World Series, tially since the 1970s), the growth of esports ligence and technologies such as computer
and the shrinking of attention spans. We vision and machine learning had already been
fanless NFL games, a significant but hopefully transitory ratings expect shorter games and new content ap- changing sports. After COVID-19, they will
proaches. transform them using …
decline, and a fall/holiday “sports partial eclipse” without the
Not surprisingly … ■ NEXT-WAVE TECHNOLOGY harnessing con-
NBA or NHL, dominated by football and … college basketball? ■ ATHLETES HAVE CHANGED TOO. These men tent algorithms; low-latency 5G; robotic um-
and women are far more media savvy, harness- pires; automated highlights compilation and
Things figure to get even wilder, starting ing their online personas into individual customized curation; wearables with 24/7
direct-to-consumer media properties. They biometrics spawning a generation of quanti-
BY ED DESSER with the: are more inclined to use their voices to advo- fied athletes; and use of the cloud. It’s all going
AND JOHN KOSNER ■ IMPACT OF THE VIRUS. Sports that played cate and they have the tools to do so. The piv- to combine to make our experience of sports
otal moment occurred Aug. 26, when NBA, increasingly personalized/curated, always
through successfully had a plan. But without WNBA, MLB and NHL players, reeling from on, and differentiated from the past.
the searing video of Jacob Blake’s shooting
a plan for the country, sports will suffer. We in Kenosha, Wis., shut all sports down. The All of us in sports will have to work much
threat of future actions in an increasingly harder to regain market and mindshare once
don’t see a return to “normalcy” in our lives volatile country (and world) is now part of COVID-19 is behind us. That’s achievable be-
the calculus. Meanwhile, on college campus- cause sports are dynamic, live entertainment,
(or sports) until 2022, with local gathering restrictions combined es, name, image and likeness rights are com- which thrills and emotionally ties audiences
ing to athletes next year. More than 15,000 together. Like LeBron James and the Lakers
with fans’ reluctance to return to indoor venues. Since most sports have already signed up on the Opendorse app. winning the NBA title … in October!
That follows the Big Ten’s and Pac-12’s deci-
derive more than half of their income from gate-related sources, sions to play football (after deciding not to), Ed Desser is president of Desser Media Inc.
joining the other major conferences, making
COVID-19 remains an existential threat. Compounding this … college players seemingly “essential employ- (www.desser.tv). John Kosner is president of
ees,” according to Joe Nocera of Bloomberg
■ LINEAR PAY TV IS IN SECULAR DECLINE. The return of sports Opinion. The NCAA’s traditional definition Kosner Media (www.kosnermedia.com).

has been a lifeline. However, spring’s sports blackout accelerated Together they ran NBA broadcasting in the

cord-cutting, and pay TV audiences are expected to be down around ’80s and ’90s.

8% despite finally quenching pent-up demand. Considering that

pay TV’s massive bundle revenue is the other linchpin of the

Sports Industrial Complex, continued decline could be devastat-

ing. There is no “Plan B” to replace that revenue and exposure.

We see the industry evolving more toward streaming to supple-

ment lost income, and better serving audiences that are less reach-

able via TV. Indeed …

■ FANS UNDER 30 ARE DIFFERENT.

This generation, which grew up

with smartphones, is accustomed

to myriad more choices, many, like

TikTok, of their own (user-gener-

ated) making. We are experiencing

a content revolution — an ever-

expanding, infinite supply of inter-

esting programming, often available

for free through social networks

including YouTube and Twitch. A

friend’s son recently declined his

father’s offer of Sunday Ticket,

preferring a pirated feed from NFL-

bite.com. The sports avidity of this

crucial younger audience is our

industry’s biggest, but not guaran-

teed, opportunity. Fathers and sons

no longer bond primarily through

sharing sports. Rather, they experi-

ence sports via video games (Mad-

den, NBA 2K), which are more

compelling

Getty Images than playing Sports will
catch. Sports continue to be
has to invest to larger than life
attract this as we navigate
younger gen- our way through
eration and get 2020 and
beyond.

W W W . S P O R T S B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L . C O M OCTOBER 26-NOVEMBER 1, 2020 | 29

CLOSING SHOT

During his career,
Mike “Doc” Emrick
called more than
3,750 pro and
Olympic hockey
games.

‘Doc’ Makes His Final Call

After nearly 50 years, play-by-play voice Mike “Doc” Emrick leaves with a book’s worth
of memories from his stellar hockey broadcasting career.

BY MARK J. BURNS

MIKE “DOC” EMRICK’S road to profes- Stanley Cup Finals and many more require a tape. Still, the games logged Pittsburgh Penguins, the time was Getty Images
sional hockey and becoming arguably accolades later, Emrick is now retiring by Emrick from 1971-73 while on cam- right to retire, Emrick said. The coro-
the sport’s best play-by-play caller as the main play-by- navirus pandemic contributed to the
began with the Port Huron Flags of play voice behind the pus working on his decision, but according to Emrick, “it
the now-defunct International Hock- NHL on NBC. doctorate opened the wasn’t everything.”
ey League. Forty-seven years ago this door to Port Huron.
month, Emrick now recalls Flags left Famously known as He and his wife Joyce, who are both
winger Dale Dolmage scoring a game- “Doc” because of his Emrick, who would animal enthusiasts, will remain com-
winner on a slap shot from the left Ph.D. in broadcast have been a teacher mitted to local animal causes around
circle to give Port Huron a 6-5 victory communications from had it not been for their home in St. Clair, Mich. One hun-
at the Toledo Hornets. Bowling Green State hockey, said he’ll miss dred percent of Emrick’s split from
University in 1976, sitting alongside play- his newly released book, “Off Mike,”
“Even though it was a 250-watt night- Emrick for years ers in the dressing with former USA Today hockey scribe
time station in Port Huron, Mich., you would sit in the cor- room and across from Kevin Allen, will go toward supporting
just think that 50 million people are ners of ice rinks, call coaches in their office various initiatives, including paying
listening to this station and thinking games on a portable and learning not only for veterinary bills for those who can-
about everything you’re saying. You recorder and send more about the sport not afford them otherwise.
wanted to do the best job possible,” them into prospective but their lives, and
said Emrick, 74, who made $160 a week employers, but to no then serving as a con- “We’re here in the autumn of our
in his first pro announcing gig during avail. Ironically, for a duit between them and lives,” Emrick said last week, a day
the 1973-74 season. position calling BGSU the fans. after he announced his retirement.
games for campus radio station WBGU- “How about we just take time out now
After more than 3,750 pro and Olym- FM, director Terry Gottschalk didn’t Fifty years after for ourselves and our creatures?
pic hockey games, 45 NHL Game 7s, 22 serving as a freelance reporter for the That’s what is important to us.”
Beaver County Times covering the

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