FOS PM: Saudis' Big MMA Investment

Jun 23, 2023

August 30, 2023

PRESENTED BY

Media measurement stories are usually full of inside baseball — but the growing controversy over how Nielsen will count Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football” audiences this season carries major implications for sports streaming.

Meanwhile, the Orioles’ seemingly never-ending lease negotiations take a narrower turn, and Saudi Arabia makes a big investment in mixed-martial arts. Today, our thoughts are with those in the path of Hurricane Idalia.

— Eric Fisher

Cooper Neill / PFL

Saudi Arabia’s new sports-focused investment company has made MMA its first major project — by taking an equity stake in UFC’s top competitor.

Officially launched earlier this month, SRJ Sports Investments has acquired a minority ownership stake in the Professional Fighters League and will become an investor in new regional league PFL MENA, which will launch in 2024.

The value of SRJ’s investment is $100 million, according to the Financial Times, although the size of the stake in the PFL is unclear. Last year, the PFL was valued at $500 million.

As part of the deal, Saudi Arabia will host major PFL pay-per-view events. When launched, SRJ’s stated mission was to accelerate the growth of the sector in Saudi Arabia and MENA.

It is still unclear if other Saudi-backed sports properties like LIV Golf, Newcastle United, and Formula 1 entities will remain under the banner of the Public Investment Fund, or if any or all of those investments will eventually fall under SRJ.

Exactly how much funding SRJ has is also still unknown — although it had been reported that Saudi Arabia’s sports-focused company would comprise billions of dollars.

If the PFL deal is an indicator of future strategies, SRJ’s next investments could focus on bringing major sports events to the Middle East.

F1 has a Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and LIV Golf has tournaments in the country as well. Most recently, the Saudi Pro League has been luring major soccer stars and exploring the possibility of competing in the UEFA Champions League.

Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles’ long-running lease negotiations are now focusing on a narrower deal structure — in contrast to the expansive development vision advocated by team managing partner John Angelos.

As the Dec. 31 expiration of the current Camden Yards lease approaches, Angelos has pushed for an Atlanta Braves-type mixed-use complex with residential units, hotels, shops, and restaurants, as well as an elementary school in the B&O Warehouse next to the ballpark and a health and wellness clinic.

Early this year, Angelos even advocated for a simple, two-year lease extension to provide more time to develop a more complex, long-term agreement. But the administration of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore reportedly remains focused on sealing a long-term lease deal this year, without some of the additional perks that Angelos had sought.

A $300 million infusion of state money — beyond a separate $600 million in bond funds that will be available to the Orioles for stadium upgrades with a lease deal — is now off the table.

Also no longer part of the ongoing discussions are exclusive rights for the Orioles to develop part of the state-owned property around Camden Yards.

“The Moore-Miller Administration remains focused on getting this deal done,” the governor’s office said. “The Orioles have been reliable, community-minded partners and we are working together to secure the team’s future at Camden Yards for decades to come.”

The Orioles’ lease saga has become one of the key storylines of the 2023 MLB season, as the protracted negotiations coincide with the team’s rise to the best record in the American League after a long rebuilding period.

PRESENTED BY NEW BALANCE

“The biggest reason I run is for those who can’t.” – Molly Benson, cancer nurse and member of NYC’s Dirty Bird Run Club.

Front Office Sports and New Balance are teaming up for Season 2 of Empowering Change, where we highlight runners from across the country as they prepare for the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon and share their story of what running means to them.

In episode one, we join Molly and her fellow Dirty Bird Run Club members to hear how running empowers her to change the world.

Watch the full episode now.

Amazon

The controversy over audience measurement for Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football” and other live streaming programming has hit another flashpoint.

Nielsen sharply rebuked criticism that it is improperly favoring the online giant, formally responding to the Video Advertising Bureau, an advocacy group that had accused the measurement agency of wrongly bending to Amazon’s whims by moving to incorporate first-party streaming data in its viewership reports.

“Your letter accuses Nielsen of unfairness, a lack of transparency, and forcing a change on the industry,” Nielsen said. “We wholeheartedly object to those accusations.”

At stake are potentially billions of dollars in advertising. The inclusion of the first-party data, supplementing Nielsen’s traditional independent research, will likely elevate ratings for “Thursday Night Football” by allowing for higher rates during the games. An auditing component is also part of the proposed change.

The enhanced metrics also carry far-reaching implications for Amazon’s push to land other major live sports rights.

The plan is now before the Media Rating Council, which accredits media measurement, for final approval.

The move quickly angered rival linear networks that also carry NFL games, including ESPN and Fox. CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus, normally one of the industry’s more reserved executives, also criticized the measurement change.

“A fair and accurate audience measurement across all platforms, as you know, is absolutely vital to our industry,” McManus said. “Anything that is not impartial and unbiased is unacceptable to us. I must say that we think it’s extremely odd and unfortunate that different rules are suddenly applying to one platform.”

Last year, Nielsen said “Thursday Night Football” games averaged 9.58 million viewers on Amazon Prime Video, though Amazon said its internal data showed a viewership average nearly 18% higher.

To that end, NFL chief media and business officer Brian Rolapp said, “We have for a very long time, certainly pre-Amazon, felt that our games were a bit underrepresented in total viewership.”

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