RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – JANUARY 03: Cristiano Ronaldo attends a press conference during the official unveiling of Cristiano Ronaldo as an Al Nassr player at Mrsool Park Stadium on January 3, 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)
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In this week’s SportsMoney Playbook: The world’s most valuable sports empires, LAFC’s record naming rights pact, and the multimillion-dollar content creator HQ. Plus: how much it costs to attend the Super Bowl.
Pro Football
Going to the Super Bowl is a bucket list item for many, but a trip to Phoenix this year could cost fans more than $9,000 each with tickets, hotels and transportation prices all surging.
Soccer
Months after winning its first MLS Cup, LAFC has landed the largest naming rights partnership, by average annual value, in Major League Soccer history for its stadium in downtown Los Angeles.
Cristiano Ronaldo‘s arrival has brought the soccer world’s attention to Saudi Arabiaand like it or not, the country is fast becoming an unrecognizable part of the sport’s global landscape.
Baseball
MLB‘s total luxury tax payrolls in 2022 exceeded $5 billion for the first time, and a record-tying six clubs were hit with penalties after passing the $230 million threshold.
Arte Moreno announced this week he is no longer looking to sell the Angelseven after multiple bidders offered him the highest sale price in baseball history.
Golf
Many sports fans did a double-take when LIV Golf announced a broadcast deal with the The CW Network. But the partnership could be mutually beneficial as both sides try to shift their narrative.
Action Sports
Mikaela Shiffrin won her 83rd and 84th World Cup races this week, passing Lindsey Vonn as the winningest female alpine skier in history. “That record is not going to be the thing that defines my success in my career,” she told us last year.
Sports Business
A venture capital firm has raised a fresh $181 million–and $300 million in total–from a who’s who of investors to fuel startups that are disrupting sports, entertainment and culture.
Featured Story
The World’s Most Valuable Sports Empires
ILLUSTRATION BY PHILIP SMITH FOR FORBES
The World’s Most Valuable Sports Empires 2023
The owners and ownership groups that command the sports world often own much more than a single franchise. This year, the world’s 25 most valuable sports empires are up 23% to a total of $173 billion in sports properties. Who’s No. 1? See the full ranking here.
Hot Reads
Upon Further Review
Despite a nagging hamstring issue, Novak Djokovic cruised into the Australian Open semifinals and looks poised to win a record-tying 22nd major championship. Still, the dominant Serb continues to lag behind his GOAT rivals for the title of highest-paid tennis player. See where he ranks among the crowd.
The Last Word
“Worst-case scenario, this is my big building that I stream out of and create content from.” — Ali Hassan
Ali Hassan, the popular creator and competitive Fortnite player known as SypherPK, is reinvesting his streaming fortune into a company he founded with his wife, which opened a multi-million dollar headquarters in Austin, Texas, this week. Now he must prove he can build a profitable business.
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