The Big Deal Weekly: What's next for new AFL CEO, 'homeless' Socceroos cry poor, cricket cash grab, NFL draft latest, dealmaker Durant & more

Newsletter no. 31, 2 May 2023

From the AFL's leadership transition through to Snoop Dogg biting at NHL team ownership, it's a big week in sports business!

Get straight into it and tune in below, or scroll on for the headlines and key points.

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AFL GETS THEIR MAN, THE HARD WAY

The AFL has finally named a successor for CEO Gill McLachlan, with Andrew Dillon set to take over the league’s top job on October 2.

Dillon was a favourite for the role and Tredders believes it is probably the right ‘safe’ call, but did the AFL need to spend a million dollars on recruitment fees and take a year to decide on an internal appointment?

Tredders says it’s yet another example of the league choosing ‘one of the boys’.

Now Dillon gets to build his team as attention turns to the important football operations gig - with Laura Kane temporarily in the chair, questions are again being asked why this appointment needs to be dragged out.

HAWKS RACISM INVESTIGATION DRAGS ON

Even though Andrew Dillon doesn’t start until October it seems the Hawthorn racism investigation will still be ongoing - coaches Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan have been under the microscope for seven months so far and it doesn’t seem to be close to wrapping up.

Tredders believes one of the coaches wants to shine a light on the investigation, and ‘open the books’ for all to see that he has nothing to hide. The AFL though isn’t expected to be keen on that level of transparency.

TASSIE TO GET GREEN LIGHT … WHO’S NEXT?

The Federal Government has put aside $240 million for a Hobart stadium precinct and another $65 million for upgrades in in Launceston, all but confirming the green light for Tasmania to join the AFL.

Already talk has begun about who will become the league’s 20th team. Northern Territory is the sentimental favourite but a consortium is reportedly planning a bid for a third Western Australian team.

ARNOLD FIRES UP FOR ‘HOMELESS’ SOCCEROOS

Seeing all this government cash flying around for the AFL has tipped Socceroos coach Graham Arnold over the edge, and rightly so.

The Socceroos and the Matildas, despite their outrageous success on a global level, still don’t have a high performance base in Australia.

When the teams are in town they prepare at vintage rugby league stadium, Leichhardt Oval, which Arnold says is an ‘embarrassment’.

In a News Corp interview, Arnold said: “The Socceroos are ranked 27 in the world and the Matildas are ranked in the top 10 – that is an absolute miracle under the current circumstances with the lack of resources we have.”

CRICKET CASH GRAB

Aussie cricketers are benefiting as the Big Bash struggles to compete with lucrative international T20 competitions.

New rules now allow Big Bash teams to have a “marquee supplementary list”, allowing them to sign two Cricket Australia-­contracted players.

The changes also include a new $3 million salary cap, up from $1.9m last season.

Meanwhile India is chasing more cash from the ICC, despite being the richest cricket nation.

It wants to increase its share of revenue from 22 to 37 percent.

If it sounds greedy, note that India is responsible for 9 out of every 10 dollars generated by the game.

The Indian Premier League sold its media rights for 2023-27 for close to $9 billion, a 3X increase.

But according to research from London Telegraph journalist Tim Wigmore and sports economist Stefan Szymanski, the IPL is underpaying its stars.

IPL players only get 18 percent of revenue, while most sports send about half of their revenue to players - EPL players get a massive slice at 71 percent and the NFL is at 48 percent.

But still, we don’t think IPL cricketers are struggling to make ends meet.

LIV GOLF OFFICIAL NUMBERS

We talked in detail about the success of LIV Golf Adelaide last week, now we’ve got the official stats:

• Official attendance of 77,076 over the three days

• 116,978 beers sold

• 55 million social media video views

• 23,390 pieces of LIV Golf merch sold

As an organiser, you’ve got to be happy with that.

BOOMERS DRAW A BOOST AHEAD OF WORLD CUP

The countdown is on for the FIBA World Cup starting in August, with the Australian Boomers going in as favourites in Group E alongside Germany, Finland and host nation Japan.

The Aussies are going to have a strong squad again with Patty Mills, Josh Giddey, Jock Landale, Josh Green and Joe Ingles leading the way.

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AUSSIES HOPEFUL FOR NFL OPPORTUNITIES

Lou Hedley was claimed as an undrafted free agent by the New Orleans Saints following the NFL Draft.

He now gets a chance to make their 53-man roster – bringing a minimum payday of $US750,000.

It would be an incredible outcome for the school drop out turned tradie and father of one, who played in the WAFL reserves before turning his attention to punting.

Meanwhile another Aussie Adam Korsak surprisingly didn’t hear his name called, which was a shock given he was coming off a season where he was the best punter in college football, by a long way.

He will go to the rookie minicamps for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers … so the dream is far from over.

NFL DRAFT BRINGS IN THE DOLLARS

We talked about the commercial powerhouse of the NFL Draft event last week, and it certainly delivered.

The three-day event averaged six million viewers across ESPN, ABC and NFL Network (up 12% from the 5.3 million average in 2022). 

312,000 fans attended the event in Kansas City

The set and staging alone cost a staggering $US3 million construction cost, but it didn’t matter, the event delivered an estimated $100 million in economic impact.

DEALMAKER DURANT

NBA superstar Kevin Durant is the third NBA player to get a lifetime NBA deal, after Lebron James and Michael Jordan.

KD is just as successful off the court as he is on it, making high profile investments in multiple successful tech companies including Coinbase (which reportedly brought a 61X return!) and WHOOP.

KD also has his own media company, BOARDROOM - of course, this is where he broke the news of his Nike deal.

SNOOP SNIFFING OUT TEAM OWNERSHIP

Hip hop legend Snoop Dogg part of a group that wants to buy NHL team Ottawa Senators, becoming the first Black -controlling ownership in NHL history.

But actor Ryan Reynolds is also in the mix - his Wrexham AFC success has clearly given him a taste for it.

Bids for the Senators are expected to be above $US1 billion, which would be a record and also a decent ROI for current owners, the Melnyk family, who bought the team for $92 million in 2003.

MAN U OWNERSHIP NEGOTIATIONS

British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has reportedly offered more than $US6.2 billion to buy Manchester United.

We know current owners, the Glatzers, want $US7 billion or more, but Jim is apparently prepared to allow them to retain a minority share in the club.

Manchester United supporters protested over the weekend, calling for the complete removal of the Glazer family from ownership.

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