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15 TO WATCH/5 SPORTS TECH/POWER OF SPORTS 5: RICK HORROW’S TOP SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 3

with Jacob Aere

Patrick Mahomes leads the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl victory in 50 years, and the sky’s the limit for the quarterback phenom, his team, and their city. Mahomes, who also captured NFL MVP honors, doesn’t turn 25 until September. His likely longevity, and the youth of many of the Chief’s other stars, are the main reasons that the Chiefs could be starting a string of Super Bowl appearances. Kansas City will now experience a new chapter in its community brand, one much more prestigious than the footnote of appearing (and getting beat) in the very first Super Bowl game 54 years ago. Look for local businesses such as respected international architecture firm Populous and greeting card giant Hallmark to capitalize. Also in line to cash in is Mahomes himself. As his rookie deal ends, Mahomes is eligible for a contract extension this offseason, which will likely see him land the NFL’s first $200 million contract and emerge as the league’s highest paid player. Whatever deal his agent Leigh Steinberg – not the fictional State Farm hack – negotiates, it’s a price the Chiefs should be willing to pay to continue their quest for more championships, and an international elevation of their brand.

The NFL reported that more than 30 charitable activities and community outreach events were on deck ahead of Super Bowl LIV. The big game in Miami served as the conclusion of the NFL’s season-long Huddle for 100 initiative, which encouraged people to donate 100 minutes of their time in honor of the NFL’s 100th season, totaling 100 million minutes – a goal in which the league surpassed in November. Super Bowl Week activities include the announcement of the annual Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide winner, a series of community projects made possible by NFL Foundation Super Bowl Legacy Grants and the Super Bowl LIV Host Committee and a number of youth health and wellness events including the NFL PLAY 60 Kids’ Day. During the week, the NFL and Verizon also hosted an Unsung Heroes luncheon for volunteers and employees at local domestic violence and sexual assault prevention organizations and shelters, among other activities. Even though the NFL season has now drawn to a close, the league’s tradition of giving back and making a positive impact in communities continues throughout the year.

Super Bowl LIV is in the record books, but celebrations in Miami continue. On Monday night, HSBC and Rick Horrow present SportBusiness 50: Lessons And Leadership From Legends Of The Game. The event, held at the University of Miami, features panelists including Dolphins Vice Chairman Tom Garfinkel, NFL Hall of Fame President and CEO David Baker, and RISE CEO Diahann Billings-Burford. The “Lessons And Leadership” Series will draw on contributors to Horrow’s latest book, The Sport Business Handbook: Insights from 100+ Leaders Who Shaped 50 Years of the Industry. The collaboration between HSBC and Horrow kicks off in Miami, focusing on the greatest moments in South Florida sports history and how technology has disrupted the industry. “We are always looking for new and interesting ways to connect with our clients and support their personal and professional growth,” said Michael Rogan, Head of Corporate & Strategic Partners, Retail Banking and Wealth Management, HSBC USA. “Collaborating with Rick on the launch of his new book provides us with an exclusive platform to share insights, perspectives and solutions from luminaries in the sports industry that will help support the long-term business success of our clients and prospects.” We will share the top “greatest moments” next week.

A new report predicts that sports sponsorship spending will increase the most it has in a decade. Global spending on sports sponsorships by advertisers is predicted to total $48.4 billion this year, up 5%, according to a new report from marketing intelligence firm WARC. The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo is expected to garner $5.94 billion in sponsorship dollars, with $1.95 billion coming from Olympic partners including Coca-Cola and P&G, double the amount sponsors spent at the previous games. The report also predicts that local sponsors in Japan including Canon, Asahi, and Fujitsu will spend $3.33 billion, four times the amount spent during Rio's 2016 games. The report also forecasts that brand investment in esports will total $795 million this year, up 23.1%, with $584 million going to sponsorships and $211 million to ad breaks. Further, NBC projects that the Summer Olympics in Tokyo will set a record by surpassing the $1.2 billion in TV commercials it sold during 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, per Front Office Sports. The network has already booked $1 billion in ad revenue commitments, and the Games are still five months away.

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has postponed all national soccer leagues at all levels, including the top-flight Chinese Super League club competition, due to the escalation of the coronavirus epidemic. China’s premier soccer league was due to start play on February 22. A new start date for the Super League and China’s soccer tournaments has not yet been announced. The CFA said in a statement, “In order to help prevent and control the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, and to protect the health of fans, media, players, coaches, game officials, clubs and staff, the CFA has decided to postpone the start of the 2020 national football competitions at all levels.” The Chinese women’s national soccer team arrived in Brisbane on January 29 for their Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualifier match versus Australia after the players and staff passed a coronavirus screening. The match, which was due to be held in Wuhan, was moved to Australia due to the escalating situation in China. The coronavirus outbreak has also seen the 2020 World Athletics Indoor Championships, which was due to take place in the Chinese city of Nanjing March 13-15, postponed on the advice of the World Health Organization until next year.

Tokyo 2020 organizers enter the final stretch of a decade of Olympics planning. According to Japan Today, the organizers are dealing with fewer issues than their counterparts did in the build-up to Rio four years ago. But a few challenges still remain before the opening ceremony on July 24, including the city's notoriously hot summer weather. "Everything is coming together now, and we are extremely excited," Tokyo 2020 spokesman Masa Takaya told Reuters. "It has been a long journey, with some bumps here and there, but for the most part everything has gone well. Everything is where we wanted it to be with six months to go – sometimes in an even better place." Noticeably different from Brazil is the weight of public support behind the Tokyo Games, with almost 4.5 million Olympics tickets having already been sold on the domestic market. By contrast, the Rio Olympics were met with widespread criticism over the use of public funds, as money was poured into venues that have since largely become white elephants. The centerpiece of Tokyo's Olympics is the 68,000-capacity National Stadium, opened by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in December.

Anheuser-Busch announced a partnership between the iconic Dominican pilsner Presidente Beer and Alex Rodriguez, with Rodriquez joining the company as Chairman of Presidente USA. “Growing up as a Dominican-American in the US, Presidente was not only a beer, it was part of our community. It connected my parents to their home and was a part of every major community event, big or small,” said Rodriguez. “It is truly an honor to get behind a brand with such a deep connection to my heritage and culture, and I cannot wait to help build its future.” As Chairman of Presidente USA, Rodriguez will help grow the Presidente brand presence in the U.S. in 2020 and beyond, including the release of new products and materials. Rodriguez’ fiancée and Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime performer Jennifer Lopez was, in the minds of many viewers, an even bigger star on Super Bowl Sunday than the victorious Chiefs. With every international deal, Rodriguez and Lopez cement their reputation as the leading power couple in sports and entertainment.

A U.S. House of Representatives resolution targets minor league contractions in baseball. Less than two weeks before major league pitchers and catchers are due to report to spring training on February 12, a group of U.S. representatives led by Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) have introduced a resolution imploring MLB to "abandon its proposal to strip major-league affiliation from 42 minor-league teams across the country." The bipartisan legislation, according to the Boston Globe, is an "outgrowth of the 'Save Minor League Baseball' Task Force formed late last year." The measure is "non-binding, but after being assigned to a committee, the sponsors' goal will be to bring the measure to the floor of the chamber for a full House vote." Approval is "not guaranteed but the bipartisan support suggests passage would be more likely than not, an outcome that could stiffen headwinds MLB is already facing” in its talks with MiLB over a new working agreement. As baseball season inches closer and the 2020 elections heat up, look for more candidates nationwide to come out in support of MiLB and what it means to our communities.

The World Golf Group (WGG) events organization has unveiled plans for a new 18-event global tour featuring a $240 million total prize fund. The Premier Golf League (PGL) is scheduled to launch in January, 2022, with an eight-month season and 10 U.S.-based events. New York-based merchant bank the Raine Group is backing the new series as it aims to shake up the golf landscape by recruiting 48 top players for the tour. The format will see a champion decided after the 17th event, and the final staged as a team playoff. Select players would be awarded part-ownership of a team franchise, which would then give them the chance to share in “significant equity value.” A WGG statement read, “We believe we’ll succeed because the league is what fans, sponsors and broadcasters want — and the best players deserve.” WGG is eager to work with the PGA Tour and European Tour rather than act as a breakaway league. However, golf’s premier tours have dismissed the concept.

The PGA Tour announced that the Tour and its tournaments have surpassed $3 billion in all-time charitable giving. The charitable total, which includes a record $204.3 million in 2019 to bring the all-time total to $3.05 billion, includes donations made by tournaments on the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada, PGA Tour Latinoamérica and PGA Tour Series-China. “It’s truly a pleasure to thank our fans, sponsors, tournaments, players and volunteers for helping us generate over $3 billion for charity and positively impact millions of lives,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan. “Together, we look forward to continuing to reach – and celebrate – millions more.” That’s an impressive number – as is the winner’s take just announced for the 2020 Players Championship. The PGA Tour, according to the Florida Times-Union, has “boosted the purse" for the event to $15 million in total and restored it to its "position as the tournament with the richest purse in golf.” The 2020 winner will take home $2.7 million, up from $2.25 million for the 2019 event won by Rory McIlroy.

Kobe Bryant will be recognized at the 92nd Oscars ceremony. The LA Lakers icon, who was killed with his daughter, Gianna, and seven others last Sunday, has been honored – and appropriately so – at seemingly every international and domestic sporting event over the past week, including during last Sunday’s Grammy awards and during the Super Bowl LIV pregame ceremonies. Now, Bryant will be honored on the motion picture industry’s biggest stage. Bryant won an Animated Short Oscar in 2018 for “Dear Basketball,” a short film that revolved around an essay he wrote as he neared retirement from the NBA in 2016. The 2020 Academy Awards air Sunday, February 9 on ABC. With the recognition at that event, Bryant will posthumously garner accolades at America’s trifecta of major awards shows, this year falling on back to back to back Sundays. And alongside the respects paid to him are remembrances of the eight other people who tragically lost their lives last Sunday, including Bryant’s daughter Gianna and two of her teammates, taken way too young.

Snapchat promotes its ability to reach millennials and Gen Z during March Madness. While everyone else’s mind is on Super Bowl LIV, Snapchat is focused on March Madness. According to Snap Inc. internal surveys, as reported by Hashtag Sports, nearly 75% of Snapchatters who intend to watch the 2019-2020 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship use the messaging application while watching live sports. Additionally, over 65% of that group will use Snapchat to chat with their friends about the games. Snapchat saw incremental reach up 23% on average among its advertisers’ target audiences, according to Nielsen, and 72% of the app’s Gen Z reach was not reached by TV. Snapchat concluded, “Marketers can look forward to March Madness on Snapchat in 2020 because of the hyper-relevant content on our platform, Snapchatters’ engagement during live sports events, our proven ability to add incremental reach to TV advertising and the strong performance advertisers saw during March Madness in 2019.” Reaching a desirable young demographic, clearly, is a snap.

While young American Sofia Kenin captured the women’s Australian Open title, 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu is fast becoming a heavyweight commercial asset in tennis, capable of commanding $35,331 per social media post, according to a recent study undertaken by Nielsen Sports. Drawing on data from the Influencer Selection and Measurement framework study, which saw Nielsen analyze athlete social media profiles over the last six months, the 19-year-old Canadian is ranked as the highest-performing athlete aged 25 or under. Andreescu’s social media followers grew by 585% over the course of the study, averaging 97,000 likes and 1,100 comments per post. Based on Nielsen’s framework grading, Andreescu scored 19 out of 20, which accounts for factors such as follower growth, engagement levels, and overall media value per post. Andreesu was forced to withdraw ahead of the Australian Open after failing to recover from a knee injury picked up at the WTA Finals in October. However, her and Kenin’s Slam victories represent a growing youth takeover in women’s tennis.

SoFi Stadium builders said that the venue is 85% complete, but "finishing touches will take up much of the construction horde's remaining time" before the Inglewood venue opens in late July. Rams Executive VP and COO Kevin Demoff told the Associated Press, "Everybody here feels confident about the timeline and how it will come together. There's been no indication to us that there's been any slippage." The Rams and Chargers will take advantage of the stadium's "late-summer concerts and their own preseason games to work out any quirks or adjustments before the regular season begins." The 298-acre Hollywood Park development surrounding the stadium will "take longer to complete, although construction is already underway on the 450,000-square-foot building that will house NFL Media" beginning in 2021. Crews also are "currently building the stadium's translucent roof, with roughly 40% of the panels already in place." USC School of Architecture Associate Professor Alvin Huang said, "They're going against the historic convention of stadium design where it is a closed roof or a retractable roof." He added, "You will literally have millions of people looking at it from above. The roof not only becomes an architectural signature, it also becomes a branding signature."

The launch of non-profit organization USA Cornhole has nailed a partner in NBC Sports, which will carry four National Events on NBCSN in 2020. Coverage begins on NBCSN on May 24, 2020 with the USA Forces Cornhole Championship, and will be followed by presentations of the USA Cornhole Club Championship, USA Cornhole Pro-Celebrity Charity Invitational, and USA Cornhole National Championship, in the second half of 2020. USA Cornhole will be based out of Denver. Kevin Warner will serve as Executive Director, and the new league will have a board of directors with representation from around the country made up of athletes and individuals from the business community. In news that’s not related but seems like it should be, Foster Farms Corn Dogs locked in a new partnership with WWE, launching a campaign featuring WWE Superstar Lacey Evans and her daughter Summer, as they face off against the “Hunger Monster.” The deal will run through 2020 and feature retail activation, a sweepstakes, micro site, and social media engagement rolling out into WWE SummerSlam in August, 2020.

Top Five Tech

Verizon and the NFL developed AR technology on the NFL OnePass App for Super Bowl LIV. According to Sports Video Group, Verizon and the NFL jointly developed applications that came to life for fans at Hard Rock Stadium within the NFL OnePass app. All fans using the NFL OnePass app will be able to take advantage of AR overlays of big plays and stats across 4G networks, including new features such as in-stadium wayfinding and augmented reality entertainment experiences. And for Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband customers attending the game, the application also offered a new multi-camera angle streaming feature to choose the best angle for live action and instant replays. In addition to the Verizon-built features for fans in the stadium, the app included the full schedule of events, appearances, maps, and a chance to win prizes including game tickets. This was likely a first test of an app that will be used widely at official NFL events next season and allow fans to be better connected, even when they are at the game

Online Super Bowl betting was projected to take in $400 million. According to Yahoo Sports, legal online and retail sportsbooks across the country were on track to take in $400 million in total bets for Super Bowl LIV. Even if that is an overestimation, it is likely that the February 2 matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs brought in more money via legal sportsbooks than ever before. The Super Bowl is by far the most bet-on sporting event in the U.S., drawing an estimated $6 billion in legal and illegal bets in 2019, according to the American Gaming Association. That number will reach almost $7 billion in 2020, the AGA estimates. This year thirteen states, representing a combined population of 70 million, offered a means to place a legal bet on this year's Super Bowl with eight of those states offering both online and retail sports betting. Prop bets, including who would win the coin toss and the color of Gatorade dumped on winning coach Andy Reid (purple) would keep more fans invested in the game and the online betting community happy with its biggest result in the U.S. to date.

ESPN is rolling out 500 live shows across YouTube, Facebook and other platforms. According to Digiday, the TV network opened 2020 by announcing that it had hired House of Highlights founder Omar Raja. The company has also renovated the studio previously used by one of its most popular TV shows, “First Take,” to give ESPN’s digital programming its own, 2,750-square-foot home. This year, ESPN plans to air more than 500 live original shows across its own digital properties and platforms including YouTube, Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook. And the tally tops the more than 400 digital shows that ESPN aired in 2019, which was double its 2018 figure. In December 2019, all ESPN sites and apps combined received 102.4 million unique visitors in the U.S., a 4% increase from the December 2018 mark; ESPN’s video viewership via social media has ballooned over the past year with 2.2 billion video views in December 2019, a 58% increase, according to Tubular Labs. The expansion of ESPN’s live digital programming and social media presence should help its business at a time when TV advertisers are planning to shift more money online, particularly to reach younger people who are less likely to tune into traditional TV.

Hyundai unveiled TikTok video to support Super Bowl campaign of Boston stars. According to Mobile Marketer, the carmaker is the first automotive brand on the social media platform, and it debuted a TikTok video to support a Super Bowl campaign that included a 60-second commercial starring Boston celebrities. Hyundai's TikTok video stars former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Rachel Dratch, who also appeared in the Super Bowl spot, completing the #onedayafterwatching challenge. The popular TikTok challenge urges people to share videos of how watching a TV show or movie changes their behavior. Hyundai's Super Bowl social media campaign included a takeover of its Twitter account by Boston-area comedians Robert Kelly and Tony Viveiros. They live-tweeted from the @Hyundai account and responded to fans and viewers during the Super Bowl, and hosted four segments of "The Hyundai Quartertime Show" that were posted online throughout the game. With Super Bowl smartphone viewership on the rise among millennials and Gen Z, Hyundai is looking to connect with a young audience through the TikTok challenge.

YouTube and Google sign an exclusive streaming deal with esports Activision Blizzard. According to The Verge, video game publisher Activision Blizzard will see the Google cloud platform power all of its game hosting and technical needs. As part of the deal, YouTube will become the exclusive streaming partner for all of the game publisher’s big e-sports titles, including the upcoming season of the Overwatch League and the Call of Duty League. The deal is a huge win for YouTube, which has struggled to compete with game streaming leader Twitch, despite YouTube being the largest video site in the world and the second most-visited website on the planet behind only its parent company’s search engine. Twitch has long been the go-to destination for live gaming entertainment. In the larger esports streaming context, it’s Amazon-owned Twitch competing against Google-owned YouTube, while Facebook is also trying to build out its own live-streaming platform to capitalize on the popularity of gaming content. It is only a matter of time before other big streaming players, such as Disney, HBO, and Netflix try to get more involved in the live-streaming and gaming spaces, so Twitch and YouTube need to solidify their foothold on the new industry quickly.

Power of Sports Five

Vanessa Bryant announces a fund to direct donations to other families of helicopter crash victims that killed her husband Kobe and daughter Gianna. According to Business Insider, Vanessa Bryant posted on Instagram about the crash, thanking the "millions of people who've shown support and love during this horrific time." She also announced a new fund called the MambaOnThree Foundation set up to support the families affected by the tragedy. The new fund is being set up in conjunction with Kobe Bryant's youth sports charity, the Mamba Sports Foundation, in order to further Kobe and Gianna's legacy, Vanessa Bryant conveyed. According to information on the new foundation’s website, all proceeds from the fund will be directed to the families of the other victims. As the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration continue to investigate the crash, there is a way to show financially support for all of the loved ones of those who lost family in the tragedy.

Didier Drogba and Dwight Yorke to play in a charity game to combat the Australian bushfires. According to the BBC, FootballForFires match will take place at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on Saturday, May 23. Former Manchester United forward Dwight Yorke, ex-Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, former Juventus striker David Trezeguet, ex-Manchester United midfielder Ji-sung Park, and former Sunderland and Leeds striker Michael Bridges are players confirmed to play in support of relief efforts for the widespread Australian natural disaster. Since September, blazes have killed at least 30 people, destroyed over 2,000 homes, and burnt through 10 million hectares of land - an area almost the size of England. Proceeds from ticket sales and donations from the match will be used to help football clubs affected by the fires across Australia. The damages from the fires are widespread in the sports world but the Australian Football League, Rugby Australia, Cricket Australia, Football Federation Australia, National Rugby League, Netball Australia, and Tennis Australia plan to work together with the government and relevant agencies to rebuild sport facilities.

The NBA makes major All-Star Game format changes that include a tribute to Kobe Bryant. According to Larry Brown Sports, the 2020 NBA All-Star Game will be broken into a series of mini-games in which teams can raise money for Chicago-area charities. Scores will be reset to 0-0 at the end of the first three quarters, with the winners of each of the first three quarters receiving $100,000 to donate to their charity. When the fourth quarter begins, the scores for each team from the first three quarters combined will be redisplayed, and the team that wins the All-Star Game will be the first to reach a target score in the untimed fourth quarter. That target score will be determined by the total score the leading team through three quarters, plus 24. The 24 is a nod to Bryant’s jersey number. The final score is worth $200,000, making the total game worth $500,000 for local charities. If one team leads the entire way through, the losing team will still get $100,000 to donate to its charity. In an effort to honor Kobe Bryant and contribute to local charities, the NBA will make sure to place the Lakers star center stage during this year’s All-Star game.

Adidas will launch new fabrics from recycled polyester and ocean plastic. According to Reuters, the new fabrics will be expanded into Adidas product lines after the success of shoes made with the eco-friendly Parley for the Oceans initiative. Adidas first teamed up with Parley in 2015 and gradually ramped up production of shoes using plastic collected on beaches and coastal regions to make more than 11 million pairs in 2019, still just a fraction of a total of more than 400 million shoes. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation says less than 1% of material used for new clothing is recycled, a loss of more than $100 billion worth of materials each year. Adidas will continue to make Parley-branded shoes and clothes out of ocean plastic in 2020 and will also launch “Primeblue” fabric containing Parley marine waste that it will use in existing lines like its popular Ultraboost shoes, with the aim of having 100% of its polyester recycled by 2024. In total, the German sports giant will produce 15-20 million pairs of shoes using ocean plastic in 2020. While recycled polyester costs about 10% more than the other material, Adidas ultimately wants to get the price down so more consumers can afford to choose sustainable products and help save the planet.

New York Jets linebacker Brandon Copeland receives NFLPA's Alan Page Award. According to UPI, the award is the NFLPA's highest honor presented to an NFL player each season. Copeland will receive a $100,000 donation either to his foundation or a charity of his choice. Copeland was presented the award by Alan Page himself at the NFLPA's Super Bowl week news conference in Miami. Copeland received the honor after taking 300 children on a Christmas shopping spree to Target, with each child getting $200 gift cards to spend. Many NFL players made differences in their communities throughout the football season, and ahead of the NFL’s biggest game, it is important to remember the players like Copeland who make their communities better year-round.

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