Happy Sunday Morning!

New York City had the worst air quality in the world early Friday morning according to the tracking service IQAir.com. Also, Congratulations to Man City for winning the Treble. We’ll speak more in-depth about this incredible victory later in the newsletter.

NEWS: It came out of nowhere. On Tuesday, PGA Tour agreed to merge with Saudi-backed rival LIV Golf. This stunned everyone, within the golf industry [including the players] and beyond. This move would immediately end the expensive fight of antitrust claims between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf venture.

For those who aren’t familiar with LIV Golf… LIV Golf was founded in 2021, and is based out of England. LIV Golf has a partnership with the CW. LIV Golf is backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, an entity controlled by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The NY Times has an informative article that can put you up to speed on the twenty-year history.

Why it Matters: This deal [if it goes through] will have a monumental effect on the game [and influence] of golf. Right now, there are still a lot of unknowns that we don’t have. Some questions we wonder are how the deal was formed, how the partnership will look like once formed, and will the government approve this deal? Here’s what PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said:

“I recognize that people are going to call me a hypocrite. Anytime I said anything, I said it with the information that I had at that moment, and I said it based on someone that’s trying to compete for the PGA Tour and our players.”

Check this out: PGA's Jay Monahan and PIF's Yasir Al Rumayyan break down surprise deal to merge PGA and LIV:

Groups representing families and survivors of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were outraged by the news. We’ll keep you updated on what happens next.

NBA Finals: The Denver Nuggets are one win away from their first NBA Championship as they lead the series against the Miami Heat 3-1. In game four on Friday night in Miami, Nikola Jokic had to sit out in the forth quarter as he was suddenly riddled with five fouls. Nonetheless, Jokic made history being the first player ever with 500 points, 250 rebounds, 150 assists in a postseason.

Game 4 of the Stanley Cup - One Win Away: Last night, the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Florida, boosting them to lead 3-1 in the series. If the Golden Knights defeat the Panthers, they would surpass the Philadelphia Flyers as the fastest team in history to win a Stanley Cup following expansion.

Headlines:

• MLS Wins Big With Messi Moving to Inter Miami

• Manchester City invested A LOT in Completing the Treble

• Can the Oakland Athletics Get a Move to Las Vegas Done?

MLS Wins Big With Messi Moving to Inter Miami

Who could’ve seen this one coming. This past Wednesday, Lionel Messi announced that he intends to join Major League Soccer (MLS) team Inter Miami as a free agent. He shot down competing deals from FC Barcelona and Saudi Arabian team Al-Hilal, which offered him a lot more money. Messi turned down $1.6 billon from Saudi Arabian team Al-Hilal. Inter Miami’s Twitter posted this video:

In an interview with beIN Sports Australia, Messi stated that he chose Inter Miami over Barcelona because he did not want to be “in the same position again.” Where his future is in other people’s hands. Of course, he was referring to FC Barcelonas past financial struggles.

Why did Messi take this deal?

1. Messi will get paid in other ways other than his agreed upon salary (reportedly be valued between $125 million and $150 million)

2. Messi will receive a share of Adidas Kit sales and earn a share of the Apple TV season pass revenue

3. Messi will also get an option for ownership in the Inter Miami club when he retires

4. The freedom to go to any organization he wants to in the future

Manchester City invested A LOT in Completing the Treble

Yesterday, Manchester City won the Champions League. This big accomplishment led to Man City winning the Treble for the first time as an organization. For those who don’t know, here’s the definition of a [continental] Treble: A team would need to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League to achieve the Treble. This victory wasn’t lucky. This was a lot hard work, and many smart investments on Manchester City’s end. Since 2016-2017, Man City spent nearly $1.24 billion in investing in some of the highest-performing players we’ve seen.

Pep Guardiola, the current manager of Manchester City set records becoming the first manager to win the Treble with two different teams. With Barcelona in 2008/09, Pep won his first Teble, and now this season (2022/23) with Man City he makes history.

Speaking of making history. Julián Álvarez becomes the first player to win the World Cup and the Treble in the same season. Álvarez won the World Cup with Argentina and now the Treble with Manchester City.

Can the Oakland Athletics Get a Move to Las Vegas Done?

So far, the Oakland Athletics are 0-3 in trying to move to potential host cities, striking out in the pursuit of a new ballpark in Oakland, Fremont, and San Jose. The big question now: can they get a deal done in Las Vegas? It’ll be an uphill battle to get this new deal done. It’s already unfortunate that the Oakland A’s are last place in the entire MLB with a current record of 15-50.

Here’s what has to happen for the A’s to get a deal:

1. Nevada Senate Passes Financing Bill: On Thursday, the Nevada Senate met again to consider voting on the financing bill supported by the A’s. They made the decision not to vote, postponing it for another time.

2. Nevada Assembly Passes Financing Bill: Once past the Senate, the Assembly of Nevada would need to pass the funding bill, and then it would go to the governors desk and be signed into law. The governor has expressed support for the bill.

3. MLB Owners Vote in Agreement: Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said a vote by major-league owners on the Oakland Athletics relocating to Las Vegas could happen by middle of June if the team has a financing deal for a new ballpark approved,

It’s going to be difficult to convince Nevada lawmakers they should pass this bill. The Athletics are averaging 8,675 fans attending per game. That’s the lowest attendance of any stadium in the Major League.

Nearly 2 in 5 Gen Zers Don’t Have a Favorite Sports Team

Take a look at this Morning Consult Poll. Gen Zers have a clear lack of interest in watching and attending sports games, relative to their older counterparts, Morning Consult research finds. A number of executives in the industry say they have a plan to fix that.

Required Reading

The Big 12 Is Officially Expanding To Mexico (Front Office Sports)

Gensler unveils new renderings for 76ers arena (Sport Business Journal)

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Says The XFL Will Succeed. Who Wants To Tell Him He’s Wrong? (Forbes)

Looking for Sports Biz Jobs?

Communications Manager - Ignite Sports & Entertainment (Columbus · GA) - APPLY NOW

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Corporate Partnerships Manager (Lakeland, FL) - Detroit Tigers (Lakeland · FL) - APPLY NOW

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Want to find more sports business jobs? We highly recommend checking out Teamwork Online. It’s a free sports business job posting site.

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