Welcome back to MoneyCall, The Athletic’s weekly sports business cheat sheet. (Subscribe here — it’s free.)
Name-dropped today: Tony Reali, Europa League, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, Asli Pelit, Alexis Ohanian, Alex Morgan, Charles Woodson, Michele Kang, Daniel-Yaw Miller, the San Diego Chargers social media team and more. Let’s go:
Driving the Conversation
The legacy of “Around The Horn”
ESPN’s weekday afternoon roundtable debate show “Around The Horn” began as a showcase for four well-established regional newspaper sports columnists to loudly debate the topics of the day. After 23 years and an astonishing 4,953 episodes, the show reaches its finale Friday as the sports media industry’s most prolific on-air talent incubator.
On the show’s long list of 60 panelists through the years, dozens used those on-air reps and mentorship from 21-year host Tony Reali to hone their talent and springboard into bigger roles at ESPN.
- Alums have become mainstays of shows including “NFL Live” (Mina Kimes), “SportsCenter” (Jemele Hill and Michael Smith), “PTI” (Pablo Torre), “E:60” (Kate Fagan), “This Is Football” (Kevin Clark), ESPN Radio (Sarah Spain and Clinton Yates) and so many more.
At the heart of the show is Reali — if you haven’t read The Athletic’s incredible profile of him from a few years ago, please set aside the time this week — whose outsized combo of empathy and energy has powered its peripatetic cast of panelists.
I visited the “Around the Horn” studio in New York City yesterday to catch a taping of one of the final shows, and it was a good sample of the newer voices the show has brought on over the past dozen or so years: ESPN NHL reporter Emily Kaplan, ESPN NFL reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques, ESPN NFL columnist Bill Barnwell and former ESPNer Bomani Jones, who went from “Highly Questionable” to “High Noon” to his own show on HBO to a popular video podcast. The emotion from each of them about their experience on the show — and Reali’s emotional connection with each of them — was palpable.
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The legacy of “Around the Horn” isn’t the show itself — although it was a signature and metronomic component within ESPN’s five-decade history — as much as its alumni, a multiplier effect that will continue to be seen and heard daily across sports media.
*** Coming tomorrow at The Athletic: My first-person recollections of being a short-lived panelist on the show. Just as a sneak preview, the working title is “Confessions of ESPN’s worst ‘Around The Horn’ participant of all time.” ***
Get Caught Up
Big talkers from the sports business industry:
NFL’s Olympic-sized ambitions, plus a high-stakes soccer day
The $100 million soccer game today: Man U vs. Spurs in the Europa League final (3 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network). The winner gets an automatic spot in the Champions League, which brings with it the potential for $100M in fees for qualifying, plus bonus payments for wins and simply getting fans to tune in to watch on TV. (Want to dive into the numbers? Here’s one analysis for Man U and one for Spurs.)
Among the financial rewards of Champions League membership available to unlock (all numbers directional estimates):
$24M: Just for qualifying(!)
$2.8M per win (~$1M per draw)
$367K per spot in standings ($13M max)
$2M: Bonus for finishing in the top eight
$1M: Bonus for finishing ninth-16th
$10M+: Bonus for good TV ratings
That’s on top of new Champions League match-day revenue like ticket sales, along with the unquantifiable value of driving additional enthusiasm from fans. “Europa League champions” is nice. “Champions League participant” is even better.
The NFL’s $1 billion vote yesterday: Forget the “tush push.” The most interesting item on the docket for a vote by NFL owners this week was yesterday’s 32-0 approval to allow NFL players to participate in Olympic flag football in 2028. Each team will be allowed to designate one player to try out for any given country.
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The real benefit is turbo-charging a domestic and worldwide interest in flag football that the NFL has recognized is not just helpful to its continued growth, but essential.
That’s why you saw the league dedicate its big-budget Super Bowl spot to promoting the cause of varsity status for high school girls’ flag football; it’s why you see the league accepting bids from investors to own franchises in pro men’s and women’s flag leagues; and it’s why voting to permit NFL players to be Olympians was a no-brainer. Flag football, played in more than 100 countries, could be a billion-dollar business line for the NFL as a gateway — and the owners know it.
Fun: Tashan Reed’s Team USA flag “NFL dream team.”
Jaw-dropping WNBA TV ratings: 2.7 million people watched Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese on Saturday during the WNBA’s opening weekend, the league’s most-watched regular-season game in 25 years. (Last year’s Fever-Sky game on CBS got 2.2M viewers, so this is a notable bump.)
If sports league success is, in part, measured by attention paid, the WNBA season could not have gotten off to a better start. The Clark-Reese rivalry discourse earned top billing, right in the heart of the NBA playoffs. I’m inclined to agree with WNBA commish Cathy Engelbert that Clark is the most popular player in U.S. sports.
Dick’s Sporting Goods buying Foot Locker: If you didn’t see this news last week, don’t miss our outstanding analysis of the deal from industry expert Daniel-Yaw Miller.
Exclusive Q&Awith F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali: My colleague Luke Smith ID’d that Domenicali emphasized one word more than most: “Relevance.”
Other current obsessions: The NFL muscling in on Fridays and Saturdays for game days … Crystal Palace fans … Scottie Scheffler: Sports Dad of the Year? … Tom Brady and Kevin Durant vs. fans at Fanatics Fest … The White Sox going all in on Pope Leo XIV …
What I’m Wondering
What goes into women’s soccer franchise valuations?
Today, my colleague Asli Pelit is launching a brand-new twice-a-month column about the business of women’s soccer: “Down to Business.” Highly recommend!
Here is the first edition — a really helpful analysis of what is going on with women’s soccer valuations, which I have been wondering about for roughly six months. And here’s Asli:
“When it comes to valuations, much of the confusion stems from people mistaking expansion fees for what a team is actually worth. An expansion fee is not the valuation of the team, it’s just the price of entry. While the expansion fee plays a small role in the valuation, what really matters is what you build after you’re in. How do you convert your investment into a team with a loyal and (hopefully) global fanbase, secure sponsorship deals and have the infrastructure to support both?”
Speaking of women’s soccer investment …
Grab Bag
Name to Know: Alexis Ohanian
Serena Williams’ husband (and the co-founder of Reddit) just bought an 8 percent stake in Chelsea Women, marking his latest investment in women’s sports. His others include a founding investment in Angel City FC, women’s pro track event Athlos and a big donation to the University of Virginia’s women’s basketball program.
Investment lightning round (in just the last week!):
(Related: This was a delightful story about NBA player Larry Nance Jr.’s passion for Leeds United as an investor.)
Brand of the Week: OL Lyonnes
More accurately, the re-brand of the week: Legendary women’s side Lyon Feminin will now be known as OL Lyonnes, continuing to unlock the standalone value of the team’s brand. Another smart move by pace-setting owner Michele Kang, who last week saw her London City Lionesses earn promotion to the top-flight WSL.
Power Ranking
NFL schedule release videos, per Jayna Bardahl:
- Chargers
- Seahawks
- Falcons
- Rams
- Cardinals
Beat Dan in Connections: Sports Edition
Today’s puzzle: 0:41
Try the game here!
Worth Your Time
Inside the trillion-dollar plan to elevate global football in Saudi Arabia. Arguably the most influential letters in world soccer over the next decade: NEOM.
Two more reads worth your time:
Back next Wednesday! This week’s challenge: In honor of my five career Around The Horn appearances, send this story link to five friends or colleagues and tell them to subscribe to receive MoneyCall in their email every Wednesday (totally free, as are all The Athletic’s other newsletters, too.)
(Photo: Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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