Sports Finance Report: NFL Provides Fans with the Worst Game-Day Experience

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NFL Provides Fans with the Worst Game-Day Experience

The Fan Experience Benchmark: U.S. Professional Sports report (10,000 surveyed) indicates that the National Football League gives its fans the worst game-day fan experience among American pro sports leagues (included Big 4 + NASCAR, PGA, MLS, WNBA and ATP). The NFL finished last in 8 of the 9 live-event experiences tracked by the Tempkin Group, scoring the lowest in parking, concessions and bathrooms. The news wasn’t all bad for the league though, it remains the most popular sport to watch on television by a wide margin; 50.8% of those surveyed enjoy watching the league on their couch (MLB 2^nd with 37.9%).

Howie Long-Short: Those surveyed rated parking as the worst part of the NFL game-day experience. The price to park your car outside of an NFL stadium varies across the league, but can cost between +/- $25 and $75 (Dallas); often still requiring a 10-15 minute walk to the stadium entrance. It’s a valid concern and one that the league could (and should) solve with minimal financial impact; but, I’m not in the camp that believes the NFL has a poor game-day experience. Sure, it’s expensive, but there’s nothing better than being in the building on days like these; plus, the tailgate is great!

For those who think this survey is another sign that the league is failing, think again. Back in December, Yahoo! (AABA) agreed to pay $2 billion over 5 years to stream league games (without exclusivity, I might add) and Amazon (AMZN) recently signed a 2-year $130 million deal for the rights TNF; $15 million more/year than they paid last season. NFL broadcast deals are so large, the league could play games in empty stadiums and still generate more revenue than any other pro sports league in the U.S. In 2016, the league generated 16.35% of its total revenue ($13 billion+) from ticket sales; using that same percentage on 2017 revenue (the percentage has declined, the new revenue is from TV) and the league still generated $1.8 billion more than MLB (hit $10 billion for 1^st time).

Fan Marino: Monday Night Football fans are going to have to get used to 2 new voices in 2018 with Joe Tessitore and Jason Witten, replacing Sean McDonough and Jon Gruden. Witten’s hiring is particularly confusing. He’ll make $4-4.5 million/year to be the “face of MNF”, despite never doing color commentary and lacking mainstream recognition (i.e. he’s not Peyton Manning, their 1^st choice). ESPN continues to burn good money after bad (see: $14.5 million on Get Up!). If they had to have Witten, they could have for less; no one could have offered a comparable stage.

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Puma Joining Wearables Sector, Sued by Nike for Patent Infringement

Puma SE has announced it will be joining the wearables sector, signing a 10-year global licensing partnership with Fossil Group. The 2 companies will collaborate to bring Puma branded watches and smartwatches to market by the end of 2019. Fossil Group (FOSL) will design, manufacture and distribute the sport-focused line of watches, as it does for several high-end fashion labels (see: Diesel, Michael Kors). It is expected that the Fossil x Puma line will run on Wear OS (formerly Android Wear) software.

Howie Long-Short: Puma SE is a subsidiary of Kering, trading over-the-counter under the symbol PMMAF. The German athletic footwear and apparel brand reported net profit rose +36% YoY (to $82.5 million) in Q1 ’18, with sales increasing double-digits across all product categories and markets (+15.6% in U.S.). China/Asia experienced “exceptionally high growth” (+35%), while the running, training and sportstyle categories grew the fastest. In early April, with currency adjusted sales +21% YoY, PMMAF slightly increased FY18 guidance (from +10% to +10%-12%).

Puma SE’s cautious approach to entering the wearables sector (with a licensing partnership, as opposed to building their own technology) is a wise one. Both Nike and Adidas have already tried and failed, only to later sign partnerships with Fitbit (Nike) and Apple (Adidas) respectively. There’s no reason to believe Puma would have had a different result.

On a separate note, Nike is suing Puma, accusing the competitor of patent infringement in federal court. Nike alleges the unauthorized use of “Flyknit, Air and cleat assembly technologies”, related to Puma’s Ignite, The Jamming and evoSpeed SL FG products. NKE is seeking a permanent injunction and has asked that damages be awarded. Puma plans to dispute the charges and has no intention of stopping production in the interim.

Fan Marino: In other Puma news, the company announced it will become the official kit sponsor of AC Milan for the 2018-2019 season; and the official kit sponsor of Sao Paulo Palmeiras (Brazil) for the 2019 season. Those clubs join Borussia Dortmund (BORUF), Arsenal FC and the National Football Associations of Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Czech Republic and Senegal in the Puma football portfolio.

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