Ticketmaster Accused of Gouging Rugby Fans

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - MARCH 18: John Barclay of Scotland drives forward during the RBS Six Nations Championship match between Scotland and Italy at Murrayfield Stadium on March 18, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)


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Ticketmaster Accused of Gouging Rugby Fans

Scottish rugby fans have accused The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) of failing to monitor (and ultimately stop) Ticketmaster, the official ticketing partner of the Six Nations Championship, from selling seats at inflated prices (and collecting exorbitant booking fees) on company owned secondary sites; Seatwave and GetMeIn! Tickets are listed for the more than 10x face value ($118 seats are selling for $2,500) and the perceived conflict of interest has forced the SRU to act. The rugby organization is reportedly speaking to Ticketmaster about removing seats from their secondary sites, while it explores launching a non-profit resale site of its own; where seats are resold at face value or below.

Howie Long-Short: Rare negative news of late, for the LYV subsidiary. Live Nation Entertainment reported its best Q3 of all-time, with the company’s ticketing segment reporting its strongest quarterly adjusted operating income ever. LYV also touted the the introduction of the first open source digital ticketing platform in sports (for NFL) and the increased scale of its Verified Fan product (expects to save fans $100 million in ’17); though clearly to the scale needed to handle primary distribution of Six Nations Championship tickets.

Fan Marino: If Howie can discuss Scottish rugby, Chilean soccer is fair game. Turner Broadcasting (TWX) won the exclusive broadcast rights to Chilean soccer matches, for the next 15 years; with a $1.3 billion bid. Fox Sports (FOXA) was the favorite to land the rights, but a spokesman for the Chilean soccer association said regulatory concerns stemming from the DIS deal “influenced the decision.” For comparison purposes, the Argentine Football Association accepted a 5 year $1.03 billion offer from Fox Sports Latin America in March. 

NBCU to Stream Sunday Night Football to Mobile Phones, Broadcasts to Include Local Ads

NBCUniversal (CMCSA), which has been streaming Sunday Night Football to desktops, tablets and connected TVs since 2008, has acquired the rights to stream SNF to all mobile devices, including mobile phones for the first time. The deal also provides NBCU’s cable, satellite, traditional and virtual MVPD partners with authenticated streaming rights. The NBCU mobile stream will contain both national and local affiliate ads (for 1st time). SNF is primetime television’s #1 show; NBCU also owns the rights to the #2 rated show, TNF.

Howie Long-Short: NBCU had the ability to add rights to stream games to mobile phones after Verizon gave up exclusivity as part of its recent 5-year $2.5 billion deal with the NFL. In exchange for conceding exclusivity, the telecom giant picked up the rights to stream in-market and nationally-televised league games (and access to on-demand content) to any mobile device, Oath owned web property (i.e. Yahoo (AABA), Yahoo Sports, AOL, Go90) or connected TV nationwide regardless of carrier. Verizon won’t have the rights to sell national ads though, as NBCU maintains exclusive control over the inventory; now offering advertisers expanded reach through VZ (and NFL mobile) platforms.

Fan Marino: Speaking of football on NBC, there are rumors that the XFL (a WWE/NBC collaboration) could be making a return. The WWE didn’t exactly deny the rumors, saying Vince McMahon “has established and is personally funding a separate entity from WWE, Alpha Entertainment, to explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football.” If the league do get it a reboot, don’t expect NBC to be a part of it this time around; the network, hungry for football, didn’t own any NFL rights back in 2001.

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Regulated Esports Wagering Platform Bringing Live Tournaments to Las Vegas  

Unikrn Partners and MGM Resorts International (MGM) have partnered to bring competitive gaming and live esports tournaments to LEVEL UP, the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino’s interactive gaming lounge. Unikrn, a regulated esports wagering platform, will host bi-weekly competitions within the skill-based adult playground; with cash prizes and UnikoinGold tokens to be won. MGM Resorts Executive Director of Interactive Gaming Development Lovell Walker noted that the partnership reflects the company’s “commitment to the future of esports”; an industry projected to hit $2.3 billion in global revenue by 2022.

Howie Long-Short: Unikrn is privately held, with backers like Mark Cuban, but you can invest in Tabcorp Holdings; the Australian wagering, gaming and Keno operator that participated in the company’s June ‘15 $7 million Series A round. Tabcorp trades on the Australian stock exchange under the symbol ASX: TAH. In late October, Unikrn raised an additional $40 million in an ICO to expand its business across the European Union; the largest token sale in video game/esports history.

Fan Marino: You’ll be able to wager on esports competition, but sportsbooks on MGM properties (in Nevada) will not be listing Aces’ (WNBA) games. MGM Resorts International owns the franchise has pulled the team off the board due to the potential conflict of interest (i.e. fixing games). Did you know the Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets are also off boards in Vegas? Caesers (in NV) no longer takes bets on Celtics games (Gary Loveman) and Golden Nugget properties in Las Vegas and Laughlin, do not offer lines on Rockets games (Tillman Fertitta).

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While we won’t be publishing “hot takes” on LeBron’s relative greatness to Jordan, we will be offering up the most relevant sports related finance news, in easily digestible bites, with commentary from both the equities analyst and sports fanatic perspectives.

We’ll cover publicly traded professional teams & stadiums, television networks, apparel & footwear companies, equipment companies, ticketing companies, content and facilities providers. If it trades on Wall Street, and has a sports angle, it’s in our wheel house.

Howie Long-Short and Fan Marino will be providing their expert opinions on each story. They have slightly different areas of expertise. Fan Marino is a firm believer that the SEC is the premier football conference. Howie Long-Short knows it as the Securities & Exchange Commission. Fan Marino lives and dies with the college selection of 5 star, blue chip recruits. Howie Long-Short spends his days analyzing blue chip stocks. Howie Long-Short knows that Black Monday occurred on October 19th, 1987. Fan Marino swears it happens every January after Week 17. You get the point.