SBJ Unpacks: Crypto.com looks to quell uncertainty – Sports Business Journal

• MLS reveals pricing, name for new Apple streaming service
• U.S. Soccer, Legends extend retail pact for multiple years
• Scott Boras: MLB’s future bright in era of streaming, betting
• Sports Media Podcast: NBA media rights, ESPN’s Mina Kimes
• SBJ set to honor New Voices Under 30 at trendy N.Y. locale
• Cavs team up with WTA event in Cleveland

In today’s Morning Buzzcast, SBJ’s David Albright looks at NYCFC’s stadium plans in Queens, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports laying off 10% of its staff and the NFL’s new highest-rated game for this season.

Crypto.com said that it is business as usual with its sports sponsorships, including for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar that starts Sunday, despite chaos in the cryptocurrency industry unleashed by the bankruptcy of rival exchange FTX, writes SBJ’s Adam Stern.

Crypto.com has a range of major sponsorships that combined are worth well into the nine figures, including deals with FIFA and F1; naming rights for the Lakers’ arena; title sponsorship of the F1 race in Miami; and team deals with the 76ers and Aston Martin. Crypto.com CMO Steve Kalifowitz told SBJ last night that he was on a plane to the World Cup and wrote in a text message that “it’s business as usual.”

Aston Martin F1 Team Managing Dir Jefferson Slack this morning told SBJ that the team is confident that Crypto.com was not engaging in the same sort of allegedly risky trading that FTX is accused of. Slack: “They have explained to us that they have an exchange platform and are not taking risks like the ones FTX took.”

This comes as FTX’s sports tie-ins continue to collapse. Esports team TSM‘s 10-year, $210 million naming rights deal with the cryptocurrency exchange is now officially suspended, notes SBJ’s Hunter Cooke. Meanwhile, MLB is speaking with its legal counsel to decide how to best proceed regarding its sponsorship with the now bankrupt cryptocurrency firm, sources tell SportTechie‘s Andrew Cohen.

Esports brand TSM suspended its landmark 10-year, $210 million deal with FTX

MLS and Apple revealed that the league’s new streaming service will be called MLS Season Pass and launch Feb. 1 ahead of the 2023 season, reports SBJ’s Alex Silverman.

Season Pass, which will be available through Apple TV, will cost $14.99 per month during the season or $99 for the entire season. Existing Apple TV+ subscribers will receive a discounted price of $12.99 per month or $79 per season, and season-ticket holders for MLS clubs will receive a complimentary subscription. The service is the centerpiece of the 10-year, $2.5B deal MLS signed with Apple earlier this year.

All MLS regular-season, playoff and Leagues Cup matches (featuring Liga MX clubs) will be available to stream in more than 100 countries and regions. Fans also will have access to a live whip-around show during matches in the style of NFL Red Zone. MLS Next Pro and MLS Next matches also will be offered on Season Pass. The league has said it plans to simulcast select matches on linear TV but has yet to announce deals with any broadcast partners.

U.S. Soccer and Legends agreed to a multiyear extension of their retail partnership, which dates back to 2018, reports SBJ’s Alex Silverman.

Specific terms of the deal were not available, but a Legends spokesperson said it extends well beyond the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America. Legends will continue as the provider for all U.S. Soccer Store experiences both online and at events. The renewal follows Legends’ recent redesign of U.S. Soccer’s online store, which is presented by Visa.

In addition to online sales, Legends operates retail experiences at all official U.S. Soccer events, including the Visa Fan Studio mobile unit that is deployed at USWNT and USMNT matches. Plans for the partnership include the rollout of a new version of the Visa Fan Studio featuring interactive fan engagement experiences, first-look product drops and a larger product selection.

Legends will continue as the provider for all U.S. Soccer Store experiences both online and at events

Baseball super-agent Scott Boras said the long-term future for baseball is bright, especially because of the advent of gaming and streaming, writes SBJ’s Liz Mullen.

Boras, speaking in a wide-ranging interview from the MLB GM meetings in Las Vegas, said, “Baseball, because it’s played in 162 games, it’s going to be vastly more popular because of the fact that people on their handheld will have more interest in players. They’ll have a reason to follow players that they didn’t have before.” Despite the wave of acquisitions sweeping the agent business, he has no intention of selling the eponymous Boras Corp.

Other topics he covered in the Q&A:

• Teams going over the luxury tax threshold: “When you see revenues increase and franchise values increase, you give owners aggressive and good business reasons to bring a roster of championship talent to their team.”

• The 13-year, $330 million contract deal he negotiated with the Phillies for Bryce Harper in 2019: “I told (Phillies owner) John Middleton, ‘This is one of the best deals you are ever going to get in baseball.’”

• Doing yoga three or four times a week: “It’s a very intense two hours. … Since I started doing it five years ago, my body is in a completely different flexible state.”

Boras Corp. negotiated $1.2 billion in free-agent contracts and extensions last offseason

It isn’t NBA media rights season yet, but this doesn’t stop Andrew Marchand and John Ourand from discussing comments from Commissioner Adam Silver at SBJ’s Dealmakers and Warner Bros. Discovery President & CEO David Zaslav, whose company just laid off around 70 people in the sports division.

The duo also tackles the sports media’s reaction to Jeff Saturday’s improbable ascension to the Colts’ head coaching job and “sports media Twitter” as the social media platform flails amid Elon Musk’s acquisition.

This week’s Big Get is ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes, who details her journey from investigative reporter at Bloomberg and Fortune to developing into one of the most insightful voices at the network. They also discuss the hiring of Saturday, plus Dan Orlovsky and Sunday Ticket.

SBJ’s New Voices Under 30 awards ceremony returns tonight with a raucous ceremony at the Marquee Nightclub in Manhattan‘s Chelsea neighborhood.

The event honors “new influencers,” those fresh voices representing the next generation in the sports business. New Voices Under 30 identifies young, diverse and impactful leaders, entrepreneurs, risk-takers and disrupters who are re-imagining the sports experience and the way business is done. They have varied backgrounds, beliefs and points of view, and are the change agents who are eager to shift the traditional sports industry.

See profiles of the full NVU30 class. Also, check out some of the images from SBJ’s Forty Under 40 ceremony last night in N.Y.

In this week’s SBJ College newsletter, Austin Karp and Bret McCormick look at:

• Indiana gets a dedicated outbound ticket sales team for the first time with Learfield Amplify

• Cosm using “College GameDay” as test for immersive sports video

• Capturing pageantry of a sporting event for remote fans could be in the cards for Cosm

In this week’s SBJ Marketing newsletter, Terry Lefton looks at:

• How Bill Koenigsberg and Chris Weil got the ball rolling on working together

• Expanded capabilities — including with the metaverse — key to new Horizon Sports & Experiences

• HS&E will have financial resources to make acquisitions

• Launch of HS&E an effort by Koenigsberg to play offense

• The Devils are using Smartabase’s performance and analytics platform for the franchise’s athlete and management system, reports SportTechie’s Tom Friend. The Sabres and Kings also use it within the NHL, as do various Olympic committees.

• The Florida Panthers and FLA Live Arena reached a multiyear sponsorship with Waste Management as an official sustainability brand of the NHL team.

• NESN is seeing its local TV ratings for Bruins games jump 34% compared to the same point last season as the team has started 9-0 at TD Garden.

• Cavaliers parent company Rock Entertainment Group is partnering with Topnotch Management’s Tennis in The Land, a 250-level WTA event in downtown Cleveland, reports SBJ’s Bret McCormick. 

• The Drone Racing League has added several new international media rights partners ahead of the premiere of its 2022-23 DRL Algorand World Championship Season this Saturday on NBC in the U.S., writes SportTechie’s David Rumsey. See more on this story in today’s SBJ Global.

• McLaren Racing and Smartsheet are working together on Sponsor X, a DEI program, writes SBJ’s Adam Stern.

• The NWSL has signed an exclusive education partnership with DeVry University, reports SBJ’s Silverman. This satisfies part of its CBA with the NWSLPA for an educational partnership.

• The Disney Service Awards honored several ESPN staffers last night, reports SBJ’s John Ourand.

Front row: Bill Hofheimer (25 years with ESPN), Teri Couch (40), Katina Arnold (20); back row: Mike Soltys (40), Chris LaPlaca (40), Sheldon Spencer (20) and Josh Krulewitz (30)