Unscripted Drama: ACC Football to Play Out in Theatres Across the US 🏈 🍿

Plus, football kits converge with high fashion, and the Rajasthan Royals eye £25m Yorkshire CCC investment...

Welcome to Sports Pundit, the sports business newsletter giving you the updates to stay ahead faster than Alicia Schmidt (or Erling Haaland) could run 400m 🏃

In today’s email;

• ESPN’s college football cinema deal 🍿

• Why are football kits converging with high fashion? 🧥

• Royals eye Yorkshire CCC investment 🏏

Thanks to Martin, Hans, Ian, and Chris who liked last week’s newsletter on Substack and to everyone that commented on LinkedIn. We also added 21 new subscribers this week, which is awesome!

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TOP STORY

Unscripted Drama: ACC Football to Play Out in Theatres Across the US 🏈 🍿

College football is heading to the big time screen.

That’s after ESPN announced a partnership with Theater Sports Network to cover approximately 75 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) games this season in movie theatres.

These ACC games, aired on ESPN platforms, will now be shown in theatres in both home and away markets for neutral-site games, or in just the away teams' markets, with ticket prices set by local theatres.

This initiative isn't limited to the regular season either; it will also include the "New Year's Six" bowl games and the College Football Playoff semi-finals, culminating in the national championship and offering a new, engaging fan experience in the process.

“These events will replicate the feel of a football stadium experience as fans gather and fill theatres to watch the games on the big screen,” said Theater Sports Network President and COO Scott Daw in a press release.

“We believe movie theatres are the next great frontier for live sporting events, and we are elated with this unprecedented agreement with ESPN.”

Sports Pundit says

🤔 This venture into live sports is in line with a broader trend of theatres aiming to diversify their offerings post-COVID, hosting classes, conferences, concerts and fine-arts events.

For sport, which is best enjoyed live (and together), this move provides a new communal experience for fans unable to attend in-person - and an alternative to watching in a pub or bar, where the sport may not always be the focus of other patrons.

It will be interesting to see if other sports leagues and broadcasters explore similar partnerships – particularly given the current discourse around piracy.

What if, for example, games not being shown on TV (a big problem for Premier League fans in the UK) were screened in select theatres around the country?

P.S. This was one solution proposed by Stephen Espinoza, president of Showtime Sports, when I spoke to him earlier this year about combating piracy of PPV fights like Spence v Crawford)  

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OPINION

Gucci or the Gunners? 🤔

When Arsenal dropped the video promotion for their third kit last month, The Drum’s Amy Houston says that viewers would have been forgiven for thinking it was an ad for a luxury fashion house, such as Gucci or Prada.

The appointment of Kenny Annan-Jonathan as creative director at Crystal Palace, a first for the Premier League, also provides another nod towards this wider trend of football mixing it with high fashion, as Houston has observed:

The consensus is that, by bridging the gap between fashion and football, clubs will attract the attention of people who don’t see themselves as ‘football fanatics’ but still enjoy the game. In turn, this delivers a new source of revenue from a cohort of people who wouldn’t normally spend money on a team shirt.

“If you can only wear a replica shirt when going to football matches, clubs are limited to selling them to the tens of thousands who regularly do so,” says Matt Readman, chief strategy officer at sports-focused creative agency Dark Horses. “If they are fashion items, you can sell them to millions around the world, so it’s very much in manufacturers’ and clubs’ interests to make them everyday fashion items.”

There has always been a niche football shirt fashion scene, but in recent years this has exploded into the mainstream thanks to celebrities including Drake, Snoop Dog, Beyonce and Gigi Hadid all wearing them, creating desirability – as well as thanks to clubs like Venezia and Red Star F.C.

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HIGHLIGHTS

• Head of luxury goods maker Kering has bought a majority stake in the talent agency CAA 💼

• Mets owner Steven Cohen buys team in Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s tech-infused golf league ⛳️

• CAF has ended it’s US$415m broadcast deal with BeIN Sports five years early 📺

• Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) & Kevin Durant’s Boardroom.tv are bringing street lacrosse to New York City 🥍

• Players in Liga F, Spanish soccer’s women’s top flight, will strike for the first two weeks of the 2023/24 season over pay and conditions ⚽️

• New York Yankees are partnering with international padel tour A1 Padel to bring its first ever U.S. tournament to Wollman Rink in October 🎾

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GETTING ON THE SCOREBOARD

Yorkshire Royals: English County Cricket Could be About to Enter New Era 🏏

The Daily Mail has reported that the Rajasthan Royals have made a ground-breaking bid to acquire Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

The £25 million offer distinguishes itself from previous proposals, as it would entail them assuming complete control and mark the first instance of an overseas franchise taking such ownership of an English county club.

Yorkshire CCC had been considering selling the ground, Headingley, to former Newcastle owner Mike Ashley in a bid to settle a £15 million debt owed to the family trust of former chairman Colin Graves.

However, this report suggests that the Royals are proposing a convertible loan note to manage the Graves debt, with plans to convert it into equity at a later date.

Sports Pundit says

🤔 Led by majority owner Manoj Badale, along with investors RedBird Capital and Lachlan Murdoch, the Royals have already bought stakes in overseas T20 sides in the Caribbean Premier League and in South Africa’s SA20 and are undoubtedly aspiring to further expand their footprint in the cricketing world.

This development with Yorkshire CCC could have significant implications for their multi-club ambitions, particularly due to the county’s stake in The Hundred's Northern Superchargers franchise - potentially granting them a cost-effective entry into short form franchise cricket in the UK.

Currently following a 100-ball format, The Hundred could become a T20 tournament in the coming years, with reports suggesting the ECB is considering a switch away from their unique format, which has failed to catch on in other cricket playing nations.

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JOB BOARD

• Manager, Host City Rights Management - FIFA World Cup 2026 (Miami, US)

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• Head of Commercial Operations - Plymouth Argyle (Plymouth, UK)

• Senior Internal Communications Manager - Red Bull Racing and Technology (Milton Keynes, UK)

• Senior Digital Channels Manager - LIV Golf (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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