IndyCar Seeing Record Numbers – Front Office Sports

June 1, 2022

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Derek Jeter finally joined Twitter and Instagram — and his first tweet was a response to an eight-year-old tweet. Within six hours of creating his accounts, Jeter blew past 100,000 followers on each platform. Welcome to social media, Captain.

The Indianapolis 500 came roaring back on Sunday, welcoming 325,000 fans.

The race was the first since the start of the pandemic in which the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was open to fans without any restrictions.

While it remains uncertain whether the rising popularity of Formula 1 in the U.S. will hurt or lift U.S.-based racing series such as IndyCar, the showing demonstrated resilience for the flagship event.

• The crowd was the second-largest in 20 years, behind only the 100th running of the race in 2016.
• The venue has 250,000 permanent seats and can accommodate around 350,000.
• The Indy 500 allowed 135,000 fans last year, and none in 2020.

The event was blacked out on local television broadcasts in an effort to boost ticket sales, but all fans were able to watch on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock. NBC attempted to comply with the blackout but was unable to devise a technological solution to exclude a geographical area that small.

Record Prize

Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, who came to Indy from F1, took home $3.1 million, a record top prize for the event. Second place Pato O’Ward earned $1 million, which was among the highest totals for a runner-up.

Average driver winnings reached $485,000.

The Arizona Coyotes could be on the path to a new arena, but the next steps are fraught with complications.

Tempe’s city council will vote on Thursday whether or not to begin formal negotiations on a $1.7 billion mini-city development centering on a new arena for the NHL team. 

• Bluebird Development, owned by Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo, submitted a proposal for an arena project that would include hotels, offices, stores, and housing on 46 acres of city land.
• Bluebird is seeking $200 million from the city in sales tax revenue derived from the project to help pay for infrastructure costs.
• A “yes” vote from the council does not indicate approval of the project, but allows Bluebird to enter a lengthy negotiation phase with the city.

The project would fall under Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport’s flight path, and airport officials have stated concerns around building heights and the development’s proximity to runways. The project will need approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The city of Phoenix has stated that plans for 1,000 residential units would violate a 1994 agreement on land use agreed to by the two cities.

Cozy Confines

The proposed project represents a path out of the team’s peculiar playing arrangement. 

After facing a potential lockout from the city of Glendale over unpaid taxes, the team will play at least the next three seasons at Arizona State University, which has a capacity of 5,100.

More than half of the Premier League’s 20 teams are raising season-ticket prices for fans. 

England’s top-flight soccer league will see 11 of its clubs increase the asking price for season-long admission to some of the most-watched games in sports. The increase marks a significant jump from the six teams that raised season-ticket prices in 2021 amid the pandemic. 

The price hike follows heavy losses of potential matchday revenue due to fan restrictions at stadiums and inflationary pressures felt by Premier League clubs and fans around the world.

• Only eight clubs will freeze top season-ticket prices for the 2022-23 season. 
• Tottenham Hotspur, which sells the most expensive Premier League season pass at $2,562, has frozen its ticket prices for next year.
• Arsenal sells the cheapest season pass at $1,168, a 14% increase year-over-year. 

In addition to raising ticket prices, Premier League clubs will also deepen their pockets after they split roughly $3.3 billion in prize cash and central funds for the 2021-22 season. 

Manchester City, the Premier League’s current champion, is set to pocket roughly $206 million from the payments, slightly ahead of the $205 million second-place Liverpool expects. 

Hefty Losses 

Manchester United, owned by the Glazer family, generated $192 million in revenue in fiscal Q3, but experienced a net loss of $35 million compared to $23 million in Q3 2021.

Tottenham posted $106.9 million in pre-tax losses for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021.

The sale of a minority stake in New Zealand Rugby’s commercial rights to California-based private equity firm Silver Lake for $130.6 million is up against a critical vote to gain approval. 

Silver Lake agreed to acquire a 5.7% stake in NZR CommercialCo, a division of New Zealand Rugby that houses all revenue-generating assets of the governing body. The pending sale — agreed to in February 2022 — was approved by New Zealand Rugby’s players union after some reluctance. 

• Members of New Zealand Rugby will vote on Thursday at a special general meeting.
• Approval of the sale could value NZR CommercialCo at more than $2 billion.

The process for Silver Lake to invest in New Zealand Rugby — the owner of the All Blacks team — has been arduous. A report from April 2021 revealed that Silver Lake offered $279 million for a 12.5% stake in the commercial entity, but the players union opposed the deal.

Players for the All Blacks — named for their iconic team shirt — say investment could also taint their rugby traditions. The All Blacks have won more than 75% of their test matches and three of nine Rugby World Cups.

Rugby Investment in the U.S.

World Rugby, which has 10 million registered players, is exploring investment opportunities with private equity firms including CVC Capital Partners, per the Financial Times.

The World Rugby Council recently voted to give the U.S. bids for the Men’s Rugby World Cup in 2031 and the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2033. The total cost of hosting both events could reach $500 million, according to USA Rugby.