On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including the finals of the NHL‘s 4 Nations Face-Off. The U.S. and Canada play Thursday night for the tournament title.
The hosts talks about the economics of the event. A joint venture between the NHL and NHLPA, the event is making money via media deals, sponsorships and ticket sales. Profits will be split evenly between the two groups, and will be significantly higher than what the league would have made by hosting a traditional All-Star Game.
They also mull the cultural moment created by the event. It’s rare for hockey to penetrate the national sports discourse, but the 4 Nations Face-Off has achieved just that, at a time when the NBA All-Star Weekend was also underway. The round robin showdown between the two sides averaged 4.4 million viewers in the U.S.—the most-watched NHL All-Star Game of the century was 2.68 million in 2004—with the final likely to outpace that number. This tournament starts a run of more international events featuring NHL stars, such as the Olympics and the World Cup.
Next the hosts talk about Nike‘s partnership with Kim Kardashian‘s shapewear company Skims. This is the first time Nike has joined forces with an outside company on a product line, and comes at a time when Nike is struggling with its women’s products. Skims raised money recently at a $4 billion valuation.
They close with a series of lightning topics: The $50 million price tag to get the minor league baseball stadium ready for the Tampa Bay Rays; surprising comments from an executive for the WNBA‘s Connecticut Sun; and a series of notable sponsorship deals in the WNBA and NWSL.
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