Owners Club Newsletter - May 2nd
JJ Watt invests in the EPL, Snoop Dogg and Ryan Reynolds get in on Senators bids, and an NBA media rights first
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News & Highlights:
USFL files list of new trademarks with team names for new (and existing) teams
Ryan Reynolds Group Preparing Ottawa Senators Bid in Excess of $1B
Phoenix Suns abandon RSN model for free local TV deal in NBA first
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Recent Sports M&A News and Developments
JJ, Kealia Watt Invest in English Soccer’s Burnley FC - Front Office Sports - May 1st, 2023
Retired NFL star JJ Watt and his wife, Kealia Watt, have acquired a minority ownership stake in English soccer club Burnley FC.
Terms of the Watts’ investment were not disclosed. American investment firm Alk Capital reportedly paid about £200 million ($250M) for majority control of Burnley FC in 2020.
Burnley FC was relegated to the second-division EFL Championship in 2022 but secured promotion in April to play in the Premier League’s upcoming season. Kealia Watt, a former UWSNT player, and current NWSL free agent, will be involved in growing Burnley FC’s women’s team.
USFL files list of new trademarks with team names for new (and existing) teams - Josh Gerben - May 1st, 2023
Josh Gerben is reporting that the USFL has filed a list of new trademarks for team names.
Consisting of both new and existing names, the below was recently filed by USFL Enterprises, Inc.:
Austin Wranglers, Baltimore Stars, Boston Breakers, Dallas Stallions, Denver Gold, LA Express, Oklahoma Outlaws, Portland Breakers, San Antonio Gunslingers
Snoop Dogg joins Neko Sparks Senators bid - ESPN - May 1st, 2023
Hip-hop artist and entrepreneur Snoop Dogg has joined businessman Neko Sparks' bid to buy the Ottawa Senators.
Snoop confirmed his involvement in an Instagram post Monday.
"Amazing what [Neko Sparks] is trying to do in Ottawa," Snoop wrote to his 80 million followers. "I'm looking forward to being apart [sic] of that ownership team. I WANNA BRING HOCKEY BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY."
Commanders sale moving towards a conclusion - Pro Football Talk - May 1st, 2023
Via FrontOfficeSports.com, the $6.05 billion offer submitted by the Josh Harris group is being treated as a final deal, even though it’s technically non-exclusive. Per the report, the league is currently vetting the Harris offer as if it has been announced and submitted for approval.
The goal remains for ownership to vote on the Harris purchase next month in Minnesota.
This meshes with public comments from current employees of the team. Over the weekend, coach Ron Rivera accidentally referred to Daniel and Tanya Snyder as “former ownership,” before correcting himself. Last week, team president Jason Wright told Pat McAfee, “We are almost to the end of it.”
Sheikh Jassim reportedly raises bid for Man U - Front Office Sports - April 28th, 2023
Third-round bids for Manchester United are due Friday — and one bidder is confident this time will be the charm.
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani was reportedly set to make a fresh bid for the storied franchise and remained confident he would be successful, despite another strong bid and reports that the Glazer family could opt to retain a majority stake.
The Raine Group is expected to declare a preferred bidder following this round, who would then enter final negotiations to secure the sale.
Ryan Reynolds Group Preparing Ottawa Senators Bid in Excess of $1B - Bleacher Report - April 28th, 2023
A group led by superstar actor Ryan Reynolds is reportedly preparing a bid of more than $1 billion in an effort to purchase the NHL's Ottawa Senators.
According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun (h/t TSN), Reynolds is partnering with the Remington Group, which is a real estate development company based in Ontario.
The 46-year-old Reynolds was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and he joined the ranks as a professional sports franchise owner in 2021 when he and fellow actor Rob McElhenney purchased Welsh soccer team Wrexham AFC.
Phoenix Suns abandon RSN model for free local TV deal in NBA first - SportsPro Media - April 28th, 2023
The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Phoenix Suns and Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA) Phoenix Mercury will not renew their local rights deal with Diamond Sports Group (DSG) in favour of offering live matches on free-to-air (FTA) television and through a new streaming service.
Starting next season, matches from both teams will be shown on Grey Television’s local stations in Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma, while a new direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform will launch in partnership with Kiswe. The deal with the Suns is for five years, while the Mercury arrangement is for the next two seasons.
Splitting coverage between FTA and DTC channels will reduce the amount of direct revenue received by the teams, but will dramatically increase the number of households able to receive live games to 2.8 million. Both teams will hope this leads to a more engaged fanbase, greater gameday revenue and enhanced commercial opportunities.
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