Trivia

Which NFL team scored the first points in Super Bowl History?

Last Week’s Answer: Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. are the two major league greats that made baseball history in 1990 by becoming the first father-son duo to hit back-to-back homers in an MLB game.  

Football:

The NFL owners “approved two essential elements” of the Buffalo Bills stadium agreement, according to the Buffalo News. The owners approved a "year-to-year extension on the Bills' lease” at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park and a "30-year lease agreement for a new stadium, which is expected to open as early as 2026.” New stadium construction is "expected to begin next year.” The stadium is being funding by $600M from the state of N.Y., $250M from Erie County and “at least” $550M from the Bills and NFL. The deal also includes a “non-relocation clause” which N.Y. Gov. Kathy Hochul described as “ironclad.” If the team were to leave Buffalo in the first 14 years of the lease, it would "have to repay all of the public contributions, and also cover the cost of demolishing the stadium." From year 15 through 30, the financial penalty "declines, reaching zero in the final year of the lease." However, the state "could still demand the team pay for tearing down the stadium. All signs point to the likelihood of the full deal being wrapped up soon.” While the deal could wrap soon, the construction agreement, which outlines "who will be eligible to build the new stadium, and the conditions under which they will be hired and work, is still being discussed.” The new stadium will have "slightly more than 60,000 seats, or about 10,000 fewer than the current stadium” and while still outdoors, the stadium is “being designed to feel dryer and likely warmer” than Highmark Stadium.

Baseball:

Kansas City Royals owner John Sherman said that private capital will “fund a ‘bulk’" of the club’s "quest to move downtown,” according to the K.C. Star. At a Midtown K.C. forum, club officials, architects and consultants “provided the most detailed explanation yet of the Royals’ desire to relocate.” Team leaders said that their vision includes a $1B stadium that “would hold 38,000 fans," with a surrounding $1B district that "would include housing, hotels, offices, retail and restaurants.” While they have “explored 14 individual sites,” team officials still “wouldn’t say where they plan to locate the stadium -- or exactly how much taxpayers will be asked to subsidize the project.” Sherman said that the team “remains committed to remaining" in K.C. He added that a new stadium with “modern amenities" would be “crucial to keeping the team successful over the next 50 years.” The event was the first in a Royals “listening tour” announced by Sherman in November. The team “did more talking than listening” yesterday, but did “answer about 45 minutes’ worth of pre-screened questions from the public”.

Hockey:

Optimism that the NHL's salary cap could jump by over $4M next season "has cooled" since Commissioner Gary Bettman first raised the possibility at the league’s BOG meetings in N.Y. back in October, according to SPORTSNET.ca. Bettman at this week's meetings in Florida "walked back his statement from the Manhattan meetings that there was a 'good probability' the players would be able to pay the remnants" of their $1B-plus debt to the owners by season’s end in order to "trigger a considerable increase in the cap." Bettman said there will "still be an escrow at the end of the season" and if that is the case, they "will move the cap up by a million dollars." Bettman: "If in fact we perform even better -- and the budgeting projections that we have now are pretty robust, we’re anticipating having a very good season -- but if we do even better by ballpark an additional $140 or $150 million, it’s conceivable the escrow will go away and then the cap will go up to $86 million, in the midrange of $86 million-plus. We’ll have to see.” The NHL and NHLPA signed a new CBA in 2020 and agreed to keep the cap at $81.5M until "hockey-related revenue spiked" to over $3.3B the previous season. This season is the "first one that’s seen the cap go up" by $1M since that decision was made. But any hope of the cap going up by much more next season is "dependent on currency valuations and which teams make the playoffs".

Soccer:

Manchester United is "looking for a new shirt sponsor after agreeing to bring an early end" to their US$286M partnership with German tech company TeamViewer. TeamViewer will remain as United’s shirt sponsor "until the club find a new partner, after which they will continue as a global partner until the end of their contract in 2026." The club will be "searching for a new partner at a time of huge uncertainty over the ownership and direction of the club with the Glazer family looking to sell and in an economically challenging environment." ManU's contract with TeamViewer is its "biggest commercial tie in" after their US$914M kit arrangement with Adidas. The club said TeamViewer’s financial commitments would remain “unchanged whilst they remain the club’s shirt front partner” but that the terms of the deal would alter once a new sponsor was found. TeamViewer "confirmed in August that they would not be renewing their five-year contract with United, since when pressure from investors intensified" (London TELEGRAPH, 12/16).

Sources: SportsBusiness Daily; ESPN.com; Washington Times; USA Today; ProFootballTalk; Buffalo News; K.C. Star; SPORTSNET.ca