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 ongoing T20 Cricket World Cup in the U.S.
Novy-Williams attended the India vs. Pakistan match on Sunday in the 35,000-seat pop-up venue on Long Island. He shares his experience as a cricket novice, learning about the rules of the game and its traditions. He also talks about the venue itself, a temporary structure built specifically for the World Cup, which struggled at times to accommodate the demands of the sold-out crowd.
Next, Soshnick discusses an outing of his own. He was at Yankee Stadium over the weekend for a game between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. He discusses how the pitch clock has changed the in-person experience and describes a playoff-like atmosphere in the Bronx.
The hosts also discuss Kyrie Irving’s shoes. The Dallas Mavericks star has a five-year deal with Anta, a company with a $32 billion market cap that does almost all of its business in China. Irving, whose team is down 2-0 to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, is one of a number of NBA stars signing shoe deals with lesser-known companies, spreading an industry recently dominated by Nike and Adidas.
The hosts also talk about a notable acquisition by the Washington Capitals. Ted Leonsis‘s NHL team has reached an agreement to buy CapFriendly, a website that tracks player salaries and franchise cap situations. The site is popular among fans and media members, but also among other teams. The Capitals plan to close the public-facing part of the website and integrate its data, functions and staff into the team’s hockey ops department.
They close by discussing a pair of Americans looking to buy 25% of Portuguese soccer team Benfica, and some tennis trivia based on players’ on-court earnings.
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