Highlight Reel: Super Mario Bros smash the box office 👊 🎬
This week's top stories feature Super Mario Bros, Premier League, Washington Commanders, Euro 2028, NBA, WTA, EA Sports FC, Endeavor, and LVMH
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Welcome to the Highlight Reel, where we keep you up to date with sports business news as valuable as a pair of 1998 NBA Finals Game 2 ‘Bred’ Air Jordan 13s.
This week's lineup includes…
Super Mario Bros. box office smash 🕹
Premier League’s gambling ban ⚽️
A top contender to be sport’s LVMH 👜
But first… Let’s grab a drink! 🍻🧃
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It’s totally free, and totally informal.
HEADLINE
Super Mario Bros. cash in on IP, smashing box office records in the process 👊 🎬
The animated video game adaptation, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” crushed it at the box office over last weekend, drawing a jaw-dropping $204.6 million domestic and $377 million global debut.
Despite poor reviews, family audiences eager for Easter entertainment attended en masse. The success of the film has also been credited by some to the breadth of its reach - capitalising on its valuable intellectual property (IP).
This IP had already started to demonstrate its incredible pull earlier this year.
Universal Studios Hollywood opened Super Nintendo World, a lavishly themed expansion that features the Brothers Mario and early entry tickets have sold out every day since (Feb 17).
This leaves plenty of food for thought for other high-value IP owners, including sports & entertainment properties…
FEATURE
Premier League teams agree to remove front-of-shirt gambling sponsors ⚽️
Premier League teams have unanimously agreed to remove gambling sponsorship from the front of their match day jerseys by the conclusion of the 2025-26 season.
The decision comes after consultation between the league, its clubs, and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) as part of the government’s ongoing gabling legislation review.
Even after the deadline passes, this won’t be the end of gambling sponsorship within the Premier League. Clubs will still be able showcase gambling brands on shirt sleeves and in-stadia LED advertisements.
Currently, eight top-flight clubs have gambling companies as their primary shirt sponsors, amounting to an estimated $75 million annually.
EXPLORE
Here’s a few other interesting stories from across the week… 👇
Dan Snyder agrees to sell NFL’s Washington Commanders to Josh Harris for $6 Billion 🏈
UK and Ireland submit final bid for European Championship and reveal 10 shortlisted host stadiums 🏟
MLB’s time-shrinking experiment already showing signs of rejuvenation among younger fans ⚾️
EA Sports FC 24 Ultimate Team will reportedly feature female players for the first time 🎮
The NBA is “facing a very different economic reality than just one year ago," making budget cuts and stoping hiring 🏀
WTA is set to return to China in September after ending boycott over Peng Shuai concerns 🎾
What stories have I missed? Let me know by replying to this email.
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BIG IDEA
Conglomerate thinking: Endeavor positioned to become sport’s LVMH 👜
Endeavor recently acquired WWE in a $9.3 billion deal.
The publicly traded holding company (NYSE: EDR) plans to pair the UFC with WWE and create a new $21 billion plus sports and entertainment giant with global reach, scale and omnichannel distribution. The new company will trade under the symbol TKO.
The move speaks to the ‘sports conglomerate’ thinking Roger Mitchell (founder, Albachiara) referenced in a recent column entitled 'Who is Going to be Sport's LVMH?'.
“The best [companies] will have synergies and economies of scale, [and] deploy finances across businesses that give a return,” he said.
Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel now appears positioned to become sport's answer to Bernard Arnault.
Arnault, the world's wealthiest man, first recognized the power of global brands when he acquired Christian Dior as part of a purchase of Boussac Saint-Frères from the French government in 1984.
Three years later, it was a profitable label, and he, along with Alain Chevalier (CEO, Moët Hennessy) and Henry Racamier (president, Louis Vuitton), founded the luxury brand group LVMH.
Today, LVMH is the 15th largest company in the world by market cap (north of $450 billion).
Arnault's successful integration of various aspirational brands under a single umbrella inspired other European luxury labels to pursue similar rollups (see: Kering, Richemont).
However, his learnings can also be applied to sport…
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JOB BOARD
Members Director - Snowsport England (England, UK)
Senior Marketing Manager - Women's Leagues (9 Months FTC) - The FA (London, UK)
Global Sports Marketing Manager, Global Football (Sponsorships) - New Balance (London, UK)
Senior Manager, Partnerships Insight and Performance - Liverpool FC (Liverpool, UK)
Coordinator, Digital Marketing - National Women's Soccer League (New York, US)
Manager, Strategy - Major League Baseball (New York, US)
Manager, Licensing - Major League Soccer (New York, US)
Do you have a job you’d like to promote to the amazing readers of this newsletter? Drop me a note at andy@sportspundit.org
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