Somehow this video isn't AI??
Plus: Bowl games in Saudi Arabia, sports apparel gets fancy, and the Dallas Cowboys credit union.
Back by popular demand, here are six sports business items that caught our eyes to start your week.
Sportico Story of the Week ⛪: Our colleague Luke Cyphers has spent years reporting on the tragic story of the Riverside Church Hawks, a youth basketball program that pioneered the business model later professionalized via AAU. Run out of an interdenominational church in Manhattan, the Riverside program had dozens of future NBA players, including Hall of Famers Nate “Tiny” Archibald and Chris Mullin. It was also run by a prominent deacon and serial sexual abuser. Luke collaborated with Rolling Stone on one of the best stories in Sportico’s five-year history.
Non-Sportico Story of the Week 💵: It’s not sports directly, but I’ve been thinking a lot about this Sherwood News story about MrBeast, the world’s most popular YoutTuber, possibly launching a financial services venture. We talk often about sports teams as platform companies—on top of the games themselves, owners often layer media, tech, real estate, and apparel—but we’ve yet to see a team brand really extend itself. For good or bad, this is the future. And if MrBeast can be a bank, why can’t the Dallas Cowboys be a fan-centric credit union?1
Real Video That I Assumed Was AI: You can’t trust any video you see on social media anymore. So when this one came across my X feed, I assumed it was fake.
But no! Following a recent crackdown by the Big 12 Conference, Texas Tech’s football team could face a 15-yard penalty and a $100,00 fine (!) if fans continue the tradition of throwing tortillas on the field. Did I say “field”? I mean “playing enclosure.” This has been a growing problem at Red Raiders games this year, in part because you can huck a tortilla like a frisbee and really disrupt play. The more you know!2
Real Story That I Assume was The Onion: The Holiday Bowl, a college football postseason game held annually in San Diego, has considered moving this year’s game to Saudi Arabia. It’s unclear how serious the plan was, but it was an agenda item for an ACC board meeting in June, according to FOIA Ball, and subject to a digital poll among ADs either in favor or against the plan.
College football in the Middle East won’t happen this season (I assume!). But it is coming.3
What I Don’t Understand 👕: For much of the last ten years, licensed sports apparel has been dominated by relatively cheap t-shirts and shirseys. Now the industry is in its glow-up phase. Fanatics is working with fashion house Todd Snyder, the Nets have their own high-priced streetwear brand called bǝrō, and this week, the NFL announced its “first-ever licensed cashmere apparel collection.” 🤢 For a cool $348, you can complete this wool’s journey from the steppes of Mongolia to the upper levels at the Meadowlands.
A New Wrinkle to a Huge Story 🏀: Unless something crazy happens in the next ten days, the WNBA is headed for a lockout as the league and its players continue their contentious labor talks. In the background, of course, is Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 startup league that pays better than the WNBA and grants players equity. That’s a competitor of sorts, but players are able to do both. Now, however, it appears Maverick Carter, LeBron James’ long-time business advisor, is looking to raise money to start an actual rival to the WNBA.
Will that help spur action in the W’s labor fight? We’ll see.
Club Sportico is a community organized by Sportico, a digital media company launched in 2020 to cover the business side of sports. You can read breaking news, smart analysis, and in-depth features from Eben, Jacob and their colleagues at Sportico.com, and listen to the Sporticast podcast wherever you get your audio. Contact us at club@sportico.com.
Don’t think I’ve ever hated one of my own sentences more than I hate this one.
What’s to stop visiting fans from dressing in Texas Tech gear and repeatedly throwing tortillas, securing multiple 15-year penalties?
We created an office pool (5 Saudi riyals) to whoever correctly names a team that plays in the first college football game in Riyadh. I said Colorado, Jacob said Arizona State.