Tonight at Unpax: U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Soccer Federation have withdrawn from joint bids for the next Women's World Cup, shifting focus to hosting the event in 2031.
Tonight too:
- Las Vegas developer plans Strip project for NBA team
- Texans' rebranding goes beyond new uniforms
- David Manica digs into the Bears' proposed $4.7 billion stadium plan
- UAB Football signs up for player association
Listen to SBJ's most popular podcast, Morning Buzzcast. Abe Madcoure kicks off the week with his record-setting NFL Draft, Roger Goodell entertains his holiday weekend with an expanded Super Bowl schedule, Messi his mania is coming to Gillette's stadium, and more. Please enjoy the program.
U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Soccer Federation are withdrawing their joint bid to host the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup, SBJ's Alex Silverman reports. The two countries' governing bodies will instead shift their focus to hosting the Games in 2031.
With Mexico and the United States withdrawn from the 2027 bid, two bids remain for a joint project between Brazil, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. FIFA is scheduled to announce the winning bid at its annual general meeting in Bangkok on May 17.
If the Women's World Cup were to be held in 2031 instead of 2027, commercially, operationally, and in public consciousness, it would be much more difficult to hold the Women's World Cup in 2031 than in 2027, due to the influence of the Men's World Cup, which had been held on this continent exactly one year earlier. The tournament will no longer be overshadowed. It is unclear whether concerns among the U.S. soccer community and the host city about FIFA's 2026 World Cup plans contributed to the decision to withdraw the 2027 bid. U.S. Soccer has been largely left out of FIFA's 2026 preparations, frustrating host cities.
Real estate developer LVXP is planning a 27-acre experiential mixed-use development on the Las Vegas Strip that it hopes will serve as the home for a new NBA franchise, SBJ's Brett McCormick reports.
The property is located across from the newly expanded Las Vegas Convention Center, adjacent to Fontainebleau and near Resorts World. LVXP's development will include an expansive retail plaza, state-of-the-art convention space, a destination casino, several ultra-luxury hotels and residences, as well as a sports and entertainment arena. The site was previously part of an effort by businessman Jackie Robinson to build an arena for a potential NBA team in Las Vegas, which fell through last year. The entertainment and sports arena will seat between 18,500 and 20,000.
The uniform changes that Texans owner Cal McNair hinted at on Reddit AMA for 2022 were just the most visible part of a broader reinvention of the franchise's attitude and culture that was already well underway.
part Some of that came from new hires, including chief marketing officer Doug Vosik, whose pitch in 2022 interviews was a top-to-bottom rebrand and uniform refresh. That ambition perfectly aligned with the culture McNair and new team president Greg Grissom desperately wanted to change. Mr. McNair had promoted Mr. Grissom to the role the previous year, and since then they had been trying to reshape an organization they deemed complacent and outdated.
Last week, nearly two years after that fateful interview and about a year earlier than most teams, the Texans announced the first uniform update in franchise history. It's all part of a brand transformation that includes not just new uniforms and a new logo, but a new sense of identity, a symbol of a new era for Houston, SBJ's Ben Fisher reports in this week's cover story. There is.
The Texans aren't the only team updating their look. The Broncos, Lions and Jets also showed off fresh uniforms.
SBJ's Brett McCormick met with architect David Manica late last week to discuss his firm's design for the Bears' proposed $4.7 billion stadium and public park plan announced last Wednesday. . NFL teams will donate more than $2 billion. Here are the key points he shared about the project:
Bears' focus is on the lakefront:
Manica worked with the Bears on the Arlington Heights project, but the Bears hired Kevin Warren as president and CEO in April 2023, leading to a decision to keep the team on the Lake Michigan waterfront. When the focus returned, the Bears had effectively paused work, he said.
funding challenge:
The Bears face significant challenges in obtaining public funding for their development. In addition to the sought-after $300 million G5 loan from the NFL, the Bears are proposing an extension of the 2% hotel tax that will be used as backing for the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority bond, followed by a reduction in existing ISFA debt. It will be extended for 40 years in parallel with the reorganization. .
The College Football Players Association movement gained momentum this week as the entire UAB football team joined Athletes.org (AO). Athletes.org (AO), a company led by former INFLCR CEO Jim Cavalle, is one of the few organizations working to organize athletes to discuss income potential. SBJ's Ben Portnoy reports that will happen in a few years.
The team met with Cavale and co-founder Brandon Copeland on April 12 at the invitation of coach Trent Dilfer. Since then, AO has helped every Blazers football player sign with AO, but Cavale said he requested that UAB quarterback Jacob Zeno and running back Isaiah Jacobs serve as team representatives. Cavale said he has been in contact with other coaches at the FBS level around the AO and may work with their respective rosters following UAB's involvement, which is also welcome and could be expected at some level. Dilfer led the way by saying, “If all college coaches really care about their players, let them organize.''
The situation surrounding Shohei Ohtani, Jontay Porter, and prop bets on college athletes has reignited the debate over whether the benefits of sports betting outweigh the risks. SBJ's Bill King has no idea that this is a debate that leagues and sportsbooks are once again engaging in. Both sides knew from the beginning that the players, and perhaps the coaches and executives, would be caught crossing the line and making headlines.
In this week's SBJ Betting Newsletter, King examines the processes leagues and sportsbooks have in place to maintain the integrity of their platforms and catch those who place illegal or inappropriate bets, and discusses the Reports monthly betting handles for each state.
- Thursday night's first round of the NFL Draft averaged nearly 12 million viewers on ESPN, ABC, NFL Network (and other NFL digital streams), the most viewers in three years. SBJ's Austin Karp reports..
- Aramark Sports + Entertainment has rolled out a new consulting division called Immerse that packages existing capabilities into service offerings, writes SBJ's Brett McCormick.
- The Pistons were the first North American professional team to use Neuron's AI technology for targeted marketing, and their business is growing after deals with the Hornets, 76ers and Devils, said SBJ's Rob Schaefer. I am.
- Duke University's Cameron Indoor Stadium is installing a new three-tier center-hung scoreboard system from Daktronics in conjunction with Ewing Cole architecture, McCormick reports.
- Team Whistle and 2K have partnered on a two-episode series, “Rally On: Game Set, Matchup,” to promote the launch of TopSpin 2K25. The show pits professional tennis players Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton against Zack “ZackTTG” Morley, a content creator with 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube.
