Expansion is the name of the game in today’s Leadoff: The College Football Playoff triples in size, Lululemon posts impressive growth across the board, NFL broadcasters are charging record prices for ad space, and the NWSL hypes its best-attended match ever. Click here to listen . 🎧
La Liga is seeking to replicate its success in North America in some of the most densely populated areas of the world.
The top-flight Spanish soccer league struck a 15-year agreement with Dubai-based esports and gaming company Galaxy Racer to grow the league’s presence and popularity in North Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent.
Sports streamer DAZN announced Tuesday that it secured exclusive broadcast rights for Spanish women’s soccer’s La Liga Profesional de Fútbol Femenino in a five-year deal beginning with 2022-23.
In 2018, the league launched La Liga North America, a 50-50 joint venture with Relevent Sports Group.
Last year, the venture landed the league’s two largest international media deals: an eight-year, $1.4 billion deal for U.S. rights with ESPN and a $560 million deal of the same length for Mexican and Central American rights with Televisa’s Sky Sports.
Many leagues are “reaching a ceiling in their growth at the domestic level, on the revenue side, and definitely on the TV rights side,” La Liga North America CEO Boris Gartner told Front Office Sports.
The Australian Football League announced Tuesday that it struck the biggest sports broadcast agreement in the country’s history.
Seven Network, Foxtel, and Telstra extended their agreements with the league from 2025 to 2031 in a deal worth $3.05 billion, totaling around $436 million per season. The AFL’s current deal — which was revised and extended in 2020 — runs until the end of the 2024 campaign and is worth roughly $320 million per season.
The rights drew interest from several other media giants.
Owned by News Corp. and Telstra, Foxtel has held broadcasting rights to the AFL with Seven since 2011. Telstra will resume its live match access through the AFL Live app and retain highlight, replay, and on-demand rights.
Outlets reported last month that the AFL had considered moving free-to-air matches to give Foxtel more exclusivity, but Australia’s communications minister Michelle Rowland encouraged the league to “ensure there is no diminution in the availability of AFL matches.”
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said the media agreement “contemplates” a 19-team competition — Tasmania bid to join the league, with the AFL reportedly pushing its government to build a multipurpose stadium.
League executives will now likely turn their attention to the AFL Players’ Association, whose collective bargaining agreement expires this year.
In today’s sports world, the needs and wants of consumers are constantly evolving. Now more than ever, sports organizations are using sales and marketing automation to stay ahead of the game.
Tune in on September 14 at 1 p.m. ET for our next webinar, How to Improve the Fan Experience at the Stadium and Online, presented by Salesforce Marketing Cloud, to learn how three pro teams from different leagues – the Indiana Pacers (NBA), Texas Rangers (MLB) and the Dallas Cowboys (NFL) – are using Salesforce to engage fans, gain insights, and streamline operations.
Register here to receive an email reminder the day of the event.
British sportswear brand Castore has raised $57.6 million, valuing the company at $864 million.
Backed by three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray and Pure Gym co-founders Peter Roberts and Brian Scurrah, Castore will use the funding round to improve its financial flexibility as it provides the company with more liquidity while maturing committed debt facilities.
Castore, which has 11 brick-and-mortar stores across the U.K., has established a presence in the sportswear industry through kit sponsorship deals in soccer, rugby, cricket, and Formula 1.
Last year, Castore secured a multiyear kit deal with the Premier League’s Wolverhampton FC for an undisclosed amount and with Newcastle United in a deal worth $6.9 million annually.
In May, it signed a deal with Aston Villa to be its kit supplier starting from the 2022-23 season.
Castore is the team kit provider for F1’s McLaren Racing and it also has a multiyear deal with England’s men’s and women’s national cricket teams worth $34.6 million over 10 years.
Castore is projected to report $23 million in EBITDA in FY2023, co-founder Tom Beahon said. The company is also estimated to have a turnover of $230 million in the fiscal year.
It’s nearly the best time of the year. The regular season on CBS begins this weekend!
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U.S. stocks experienced declines across all three major indexes on Tuesday. Here’s a look at how sports-related stocks performed:
The Las Vegas Aces face the Seattle Storm on Tuesday night in Game 4 of the WNBA playoff semifinals. The Aces lead the series 2-1.
How to Watch: 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Betting Odds: Storm -1 || ML -110 || O/U 167.5
Pick: Expect the Storm to force a Game 5. Take Seattle to cover.
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