Checking In With PwC’s Mike Keenan
I spoke with Mike Keenan, PwC’s US Sports Practice leader and former president of the Cleveland Browns, last week about pressing topics and the firm’s 2023 sports industry outlook report, which outlined the 10 hottest issues facing the industry. Here are five main points from the conversation. (Answers have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.)
On the future of name, image and likeness: “I think there will need to be some regulation to level the playing field. The new NCAA President Charlie Baker has said it’s a top priority. In terms of the federal government getting involved, I don’t know if that’s the right answer or not. This will be a big story in the coming year in 2023 and beyond. I’m curious to see how the new NCAA president decides to try to wrap his hands around it or if he can.”
On the maturation of data and sponsorship in the sports business: “We’re seeing more ‘clean rooms’ come up in conversations. A clean room allows different parties to share anonymized data. For example, if I was at a team, I could put all of my data anonymized into this clean room, and then I could have a sponsor put their data in there. We could start to match — again, I wouldn’t know exactly who it is — but you could start to see, ‘OK, this is what an average fan might look like.’ That type of technology is interesting.”
On the globalization of sport: “Formula One has done a tremendous job taking a sport that maybe in the U.S. wasn’t as popular as some of the other sports but through Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ series, it’s become more popular — they had a race in Miami, they have one coming up in Las Vegas. It’s a two-way street. It’s not just U.S. teams going out but it’s also internationally the teams and leagues coming into the U.S., too.”
On the next Formula One in terms of enhanced popularity domestically: “I don’t know if there’s another example quite like that one, but you do see the Premier League coming into the U.S. in terms of friendlies. I imagine if it’s possible at some point, they may take a regular-season match and play it here.”
On pickleball’s viability as a media product: “I’m bullish on pickleball as a sport. Is it a sport people will watch on TV? I think the jury’s still out on that. Where pickleball can learn from some of the other emerging leagues is storytelling, like HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series. People love to find out the backstory of these great athletes. There’s an opportunity for that.”
And onto the news of the week…
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Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan is reportedly in “serious talks” to sell a majority stake to a group fronted by the team’s minority owner Gabe Plotkin and Atlanta Hawks minority owner Rick Schnall, both of whom would also likely serve as the organization’s co-governors but a deal is not said to be imminent.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who was re-elected this week after running unopposed, announced the prize money for the 2023 women’s FIFA World Cup will be $150 million, including $42 million distributed to teams whose players participated in the tournament, marking a three-fold uptick from 2019.
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FIFA’s governing council approved a new World Cup format to include 24 additional matches, bringing the total to 104 games for the 2026 North America-based event, which will feature for the first time 48 teams, a 16-team increase from the 2022 edition, competing across three host countries.
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Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.-owned Diamond Sports Group LLC, which operates the Bally Sports regional sports networks, filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas court, listing between $1 billion and $10 billion each for its assets and liabilities.
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Mississippi hired Chris Beard to replace Kermit Davis as the school’s new men’s basketball coach after Texas fired him in January following felony domestic charges stemming from an incident with his fiancee where he allegedly strangled, bit and hit her, though the charges were dismissed in February.
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The NBA suspended Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant for eight games without pay for conduct detrimental to the league.
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Sports media personality Pat McAfee could reportedly walk away from his four-year, $120 million-plus endorsement deal with sports betting company FanDuel Group, whose logo no longer appears on “The Pat McAfee Show,” though the former NFL punter said there is no rift with the organization.
- Aaron Rodgers said on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he intends to play for the New York Jets and is waiting to be traded by the Green Bay Packers.
