On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Jacob Feldman discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including their expectations for Super Bowl LIX.
Last year, the Chiefs set a viewership record in their overtime Super Bowl win, with an average of 123.7 million viewers. That number could be hard to match as KC fatigue builds, but Kansas City did just set the AFC title game viewership high mark at 57.4 million on Sunday. Fox is also going all out in its hunt for eyeballs, with the game set to stream on free service Tubi, while another broadcast covers the game in Spanish.
Despite the Chiefs’ record-setting showdowns, it’s their opponents, the Philadelphia Eagles, that come out ahead in terms of franchise value. Scott digs into the revenue details to show what separates the franchises.
Last season, cameos from Taylor Swift helped boost interest in KC; while she’s still around, could Caitlin Clark push interest further among sports fans?
Next, the hosts discuss newly reported details about the owners paying a combined $110 million expansion fee to bring the NWSL to Denver. The group includes members of some of Colorado’s best known families, as well as several investors with deep ties across sports and finance.
The hosts also touch on Rory McIlroy’s recent comments that the PGA Tour should “scale it back a little bit and maybe have a little more scarcity in some of the stuff that we do, like the NFL.” Some sports seem intent on consolidating seasons or shortening games while others are adding inventory or fostering spin-off competitions. What does it mean for the sports fans who can’t get enough—and the ones who maybe have had enough?
Lastly, Jacob dives into his recent story on YouTube TV‘s experimental “decreased” broadcast delay option, which has become increasingly popular during the NFL playoffs despite being buried in the app’s settings menus. NFL executives—up to commissioner Roger Goodell—pushed for the feature to be built.
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