Y! Sports Biz: Name your price, Jalen Brunson

[ASFN Admin]

Happy Friday! The World Cup's epic conclusion is upon us. Thanks for the memories… and for a barrage of business stories almost as captivating as the action on the pitch.

In today’s edition: Fanatics Fest is a fan frenzy, big bucks for World Cup memorabilia, the SEC's scheduling solution, revisiting the biggest biz decision in soccer history, and more.


Time to show you the money...


SPORTS SPECTACLE

FANS FLOCK TO FANATICS FEST​

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(Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Fanatics)


This week and weekend, approximately 200,000 people are expected to descend on the Javits Center in New York City for an event that has become the epicenter of modern sports-fan culture. Fanatics Fest has returned for its third iteration, leaving growing pains behind and replacing them with a spectacle of unprecedented scale.

Year 3: The event's 2024 inaugural edition drew approximately 70,000 attendees. Last year, attendance grew to 125,000. Having outgrown that format, Fanatics added an additional day to this year's festival; the added day (Thursday) sold out. Friday and Saturday have, too. Rather than losing novelty with age, Fanatics Fest appears to be gaining momentum, filling the gaping "ComicCon for sports" market vacancy and evolving beyond that aspiration.

Costly investment: Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, speaking on The Breakfast Club podcast, shared that the company and its partners will spend $80-90 million to operate this year’s event. However you slice the average ticket price, you come up with a fraction of those expenses in ticket revenue; Rubin offered a $15 million estimate.

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(Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Fanatics)


But a worthy investment? Attendees flock in huge numbers to catch a glimpse of 400 stars across sports, many of whom are available for photos and autographs or appear for live shows. Among them is LeBron James, who did not announce his next destination… at least not yet. Through the spectacle, Fanatics Fest aims to mint lifelong fans, collectors, and customers.

• Though the stars are perhaps the central element of the event's popularity, the Fanatics ecosystem is never far from the spotlight, with memorabilia, apparel, and collectibles always lingering not too far from arm’s reach.
• Core to the event is the collecting community, with hundreds of trading card dealers in attendance. Through Topps, Fanatics has acquired the trading card licenses for both the NFL and NBA in recent years, adding to an already robust and still-growing portfolio. While the event serves the seasoned collector, its true value is in creating new ones.

The sports everything company: The scale of Fanatics Fest befits a company of Fanatics' size. In tandem with the event, Fanatics — still privately owned — hosted its investor day, where it revealed a projected $14 billion in revenue this year. For context, that's roughly on par with the NBA's reported projection for the 2025-26 season.

The King of New York: Most of the Fanatics Fest numbers are eye-popping, but perhaps none are as staggering as these, the most expensive autograph and photo opportunities at the event: Jalen Brunson ($937.40), Scottie Pippen ($664.90), Brett Favre ($474.15), Rob Gronkowski ($408.75), and Floyd Mayweather ($392.40). Brunson photo opportunities sold out on Thursday; was there a price in existence that would've been too high?

Go deeper:Your daily guide to Fanatics Fest, courtesy of Yahoo Sports’ Shlomo Sprung.


BIG BIDS

PRICE TAGS: WORLD CUP COLLECTIBLES​

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(Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)


$4,880,000

The jersey worn by 17-year-old Pelé in Brazil's 1958 World Cup Final triumph (a game in which he scored a brace) sold Thursday at Sotheby's for $4,880,000. While the price came up short of a $6 million estimate, it represents a colossal increase from its prior sale at Christie's in 2004 for £70,505 (approximately $126k at the time).

Some context: A set of six first-half Messi jerseys from the 2022 World Cup (including the jersey from the final) sold for $7.8 million in 2023. The most expensive soccer jersey ever sold was Maradona's "Hand of God" jersey, which sold for $9.3 million in 2022. Speaking of that game…

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(Bongarts/Getty Images)


$512,000

The captain’s armband worn by Maradona as he hoisted the World Cup aloft in 1986 — and in that infamous "Hand of God" match — sold on Thursday at Sotheby's for $512,000. Taken in tandem with the previously sold jersey, that means his uniform that day is worth almost $10 million.

But wait, there's more: The ball used in that decisive "Hand of God" moment will sell at Heritage Auctions later this summer. The estimate? $10 million. However, the ball was offered at auction twice in the early 2020s, failing to reach its reserve price each time despite a £2 million bid in 2022 and a $1.7 million bid in 2023.

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(Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)


$450 - $3,000

If the six- and seven-figure memorabilia is a bit rich for your blood, might FIFA interest you in a $3,000 piece of the pitch? The organization is selling four tiers of turf products from Sunday's final, ranging from the $450 Foundation Edition to the $3,000 Hero Edition, which features a larger piece of the pitch, a mini crystal World Cup trophy, and a mini replica of the Trionda ball.

Looking ahead: Folarin Balogun's jersey from the Bosnia and Herzegovina game will be sold next week at MatchWornShirt, with a current bid of $22,343. Had the U.S. gone on an extended run, it could have been one of the more consequential jerseys in U.S. Soccer history. Instead, it’s an artifact representative of a week-long flash point at the center of sports, politics, and culture.


SCHEDULE SET

SEC, FASTBREAK AI ANNOUNCE EXTENSION​

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(Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)


Those bullish on sports as an asset class frequently tout its immunity to potential AI disruption. And while this may be true of the on-field product, AI will transform the behind-the-scenes operations of leagues and teams, and that trend is already well underway.

Driving the news: Yahoo Sports has learned that Fastbreak AI and the SEC are announcing a multi-year extension to optimize scheduling across conference sports. Using Fastbreak's Pro Schedule platform, the conference builds and optimizes schedules for 10 sports, balancing hundreds of variables and constraints, such as travel requirements, venue availability, competitive equity, and more.

How it works:Fastbreak takes what was once an intensive and time-consuming manual process and automates it, translating those rules and constraints into a highly complex mathematical problem. While scheduling remains — at least partially — an art, the technology tilts the scale further toward science.

• "If you do a schedule by hand, in the end, you have one, and you feel like you've explored the whole universe. You've only explored a little sliver of it," Fastbreak Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer Dr. Chris Groer told Yahoo Sports. "With this technology, a football schedule will solve very, very quickly, and you can just rinse and repeat as many times as you want to explore what’s out there."
• "Essentially, Fastbreak's product was so good that they got people like me inside the office to be their internal champions," shared Garth Glissman, SEC Associate Commissioner of Men’s Basketball. "We were having hallway conversations with colleagues who managed other sports, and over time those conversations led to Fastbreak servicing them."

It just means more: Despite the addition of a ninth conference game to the upcoming SEC football slate, the schedule features the fewest back-to-back road games and games played on unequal rest in at least a decade.

• In the crucible that is SEC football, leveling the playing field keeps the focus on the field, rather than on the fairness discourse.
• "One thing that fans probably don’t realize is how much focus there is on equity," Dr. Groer explained. "We try really, really hard to make this as fair as possible with excruciatingly detailed constraints."

Schedule for success: Schedule optimization offers conferences financial upside in an era of collegiate athletics when revenue generation and cost savings have scarcely been more important.

• Short-term revenue generation: A well-designed schedule lands desirable match-ups in the right venues on the right days, maximizing on-campus revenue. As schools pursue diversified revenue streams, scheduling can also keep venues clear on days when they host special events like concerts.
• Long-term revenue generation: Longer term, assembling the schedule in a way that strengthens television viewership and satisfies media partners improves a conference's bargaining position for rights negotiations.
• Cost savings: Just as important as the revenue generation, though, are the cost savings for non-revenue-generating sports. Whereas football and basketball emphasize the top line, less lucrative sports can optimize to reduce travel costs, improving their budgetary sustainability.

Leading the break: Fastbreak is perhaps best known for supporting the scheduling efforts of the NBA, NHL, and MLS — in addition to the SEC. However, those solutions are transferable across the sports ecosystem. Expansion in the $55 billion youth sports market, which runs largely on archaic or disjointed systems and processes, is an area of focus.

Picks and shovels: While much of the sports investment discourse centers on team ownership, investors are also pursuing infrastructure plays. That theme is evident in Fastbreak's $40 million Series A, which included participation from the NBA, NHL, and TMRW Sports.

Bottom line: Processes previously handled with countless hours of manpower, disparate records, and abundant frustration are now automated to great effect. AI will have a hard time replacing the experience of watching the Tide meet the Tigers, but it can help to bring that experience to life more efficiently than ever.

Parting thought: Speaking at CNBC's Game Plan event, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver joked that he'd like to see LeBron James choose his next team so that the league can finish its schedule. Thankfully for the NBA, that process won't be as painful or time-consuming as it once was. Over to you, LeBron…


ICYMI

LIGHTNING ROUND​

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(Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)


MLB bans in-game AI use: AI will not make further inroads into one area of sports, at least for now. MLB has cracked down on the use of generative AI on league-provided iPads in the dugout, according to a report from The Athletic, which noted that as many as a third of MLB's teams had used the technology for in-game strategy and pitch calling.

Yankees, Apollo nearing deal: The Yankees are reportedly in talks with alternative asset manager Apollo Global about a $2-3 billion financing deal, split between debt and equity. Yankee parent company Yankee Global Enterprise’s other assets include stakes in AC Milan (10%), New York City FC (10%), YES Network (26%), and hospitality company Legends (16%), per Sportico.

NBA probing Trent contract: After an underwhelming season played on a minimum contract, Gary Trent Jr. reached an agreement with the Bucks on a 4-year, $64 million contract this summer, raising eyebrows across the league. According to a report from Shams Charania, the NBA is probing that deal, likely to explore potential salary cap circumvention.

Suitors emerge for local NBA hub: With the NBA expected to try to arrest the decline in local media rights revenue via a centralized hub, two potential bidders for those rights emerged this week. Sports Business Journal reported that YouTube TV is the leading candidate, while ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro noted the network’s interest at a CNBC event on Thursday, emphasizing that ESPN does not require exclusivity.

Mixed signals from MLB All-Star ratings: Netflix averaged 5.3 million viewers for Monday night’s Home Run Derby, down 7.5% from the prior year in a market where most sports properties are experiencing gains. The All-Star Game itself, however, benefited from a World Cup lead-in on Fox, averaging 8.79 million viewers, the most for the game since 2018.


See what else is trending on the Yahoo Sports Business Hub.


BREAKAWAY PLAY

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: PREM PLOTS THE COURSE​

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(Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)


The Premier League is the richest league in world soccer, with its clubs generating over $9 billion in combined revenues in the 2024-25 season, nearly double the next-most lucrative league in Europe. But the English top flight’s relative largesse has not been a permanent fixture. In fact, for years it trailed La Liga and Serie A in commercial power… until one decision changed everything.

On this day in 1991, the clubs in England's top league signed the Founders Members Agreement, establishing the framework for what would become the Premier League and preparing to break away from the larger English Football League (EFL).

Follow the money: The clubs' decision was driven in part by an envious look across the pond at the NFL’s media success. They came to believe that their affiliation with the EFL — and the country's lower flights — hamstrung their commercial value. With the break, the top-flight clubs would gain the ability to negotiate their own broadcast and commercial deals, free (mostly) of the shackles of the pyramid's lower rungs.

• The thesis proved correct immediately. The EFL’s last TV deal before the schism, signed in 1988, was for four years and £44 million. In 1992, the newly formed Premier League inked a deal with BSkyB for £304 million over five years.
• The league hasn’t looked back: Its current U.K. TV deal totals £6.7 billion ($9 billion) over four years, to say nothing of its agreements spanning the globe.
• The Premier League still plays some role in subsidizing the EFL's lower levels, making hundreds of millions of pounds worth of parachute payments to relegated clubs and solidarity payments to the rest of the pyramid. To this day, the payments remain a source of negotiation.

Sound familiar? In America, the current state of collegiate athletics resembles the crossroads of the Premier League’s early days. Power 4 conferences — and, more specifically, the Big 10 and SEC — deliver the vast majority of the commercial value. One side of the issue wants college sports to travel further in the EFL direction, pooling rights to help lift the tide for all boats. Others see a more lucrative future for the NCAA's "haves" should they fully abandon the "have-nots."

Fortune favors the bold: In 1991, it required a bold break from tradition in a country obsessed with it in order to fuel the sport’s strongest commercial growth. Today, sports properties are more emboldened than ever to make those breaks* in the pursuit of revenue.


*Literally, in the case of the World Cup’s hydration breaks.


BIZ VIZ

WEEKEND WATCHLIST​

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(Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports)


Welcome to our Weekend Watchlist, where we share the business and money lens through which you can view some of the weekend's top games and tournaments.

World Cup Final (3pm ET, FOX)

Argentina and Spain, the reigning South American and European champions and the world's top two teams, meet on Sunday to decide history.

Biz Viz: The winner walks away with $51 million in prize money; the runner-up only $34 million. While the Argentine distribution is unknown, reports from Spain suggest La Roja's players could receive 45% of the prize money, which, in the event of a win, equates to approximately $883k.

We’re also watching the game's get-in price, which currently sits at $7,706, up 10% over the last three days. The final has a chance to be more expensive than this year’s Super Bowl ($7,771).

The Open Championship (Fri-Sun, Peacock/USA/NBC)

Midway through The Open’s second round, Lucas Herbert leads at -8 after a record-tying second-round 62 (equaled by Sam Burns), with a host of heavy hitters a few shots back.

Biz Viz: The Open dodged a bullet with England's semifinal ouster against Argentina in the World Cup, which could’ve dented attendance. Instead, the business focus turns to the largest prize money in Open history at $17.75 million, up from $17 million last year. It remains comfortably the lowest among the majors.

Look out: A win this weekend would bring either Rory McIlroy or Scottie Scheffler within touching distance of Tiger Woods in career PGA earnings.

LA Galaxy vs. Los Angeles FC (10:25pm, Apple TV)

The MLS season resumed last night, but one of its highest-profile matchups, El Trafico, takes center stage this evening ahead of this weekend’s main event.

Biz Viz: MLS launched its post-World Cup marketing campaign on Monday. Now, it's time to find out if the league can truly "take it from here" and develop an American audience’s newfound affinity for the sport. Son and Marco Reus will both play, but new viewers may still find the fixture devoid of the star power commonplace in World Cup matches.


️ LET'S PLAY

PATCH THINGS UP​

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(Andrew Redington/Getty Images)


As captain of his LIV Golf team, Bryson DeChambeau owns 25% of its equity. However, his future contract status and the competition's funding remain sources of uncertainty.

Question: We have removed the logo of DeChambeau's LIV Golf team from his polo shirt. What is the name of his team?

Hint: The team name is fitting for DeChambeau's 313-yard average drive distance.

Bonus points: We've also removed the logo of DeChambeau's apparel sponsor, which sponsors his LIV Golf team. Who is that sponsor?

Bonus question hint: Allen Iverson.


BENEVOLENT BRENTFORD

THE SHIRTS AND THE BEES​

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(Brentford FC on X)


American fans lament the commercial motives behind the growing prevalence of alternate jerseys across American sports. To that, English fans say, "Hold my room-temperature beer."

Vicious cycle: Across Europe, football clubs release new home, away, and third (sometimes even fourth) strips every season, creating a perception of finite, collectible supply and revving a reliable commercial engine.

But not the Bees: Taking a stand for affordability and sustainability, Premier League side Brentford has made an admirable habit of using its kits for two seasons. Stateside, it sounds laughable; We use our Association Editions and City Connects for longer than that! Across the pond, it's heroic.

Side note: The kit’s reveal marks the first appearance of new front-of-shirt sponsor Indeed, which replaces the outgoing Hollywood Bets amid the Premier League’s ban on gambling front-of-shirt sponsors.


"Patch Things Up" answer: Crushers GC.

LIV could explore selling stakes in its underlying teams. Prospective investors might want to know what percentage of you answered correctly…

Bonus answer: Reebok.

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(Andrew Redington/Getty Images)


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