And We’re Underway
At some point today, the top four men’s soccer leagues in Europe played at least one match.
For novice soccer fans, the kick-offs took place in Germany, Spain, England, and Italy.
In the United States, the domestic soccer league that includes parts of Canada, Major League Soccer, still lags behind (American) football, basketball, baseball, and hockey in terms of media coverage, average player salaries, and legacy fan bases.
But last September, ESPN ($DIS) made clear how valuable broadcasting Bundesliga (German soccer league) games were by signing a six-year contract that vastly outpriced Fox Sports’s prior deal:
“First of all, I want to say there is no ESPN+,” Rees says. “Most of the games will be on ESPN+, but it is a partnership with ESPN, an organization that has about 90 million people that use the digital format. That number goes to about 200 million if you add all the TV and radio users to that.”
“What ESPN+ is now and what ESPN+ will be by the time we start our contract are two different animals,” Rees said.
By the way, how you interpret “Fox Sports” depends on where you live:
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from the Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from that of the Fox Film Corporation (which merged with Twentieth Century Pictures to form 20th Century Fox in 1935).
The Fox Sports name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fox Corporation, with the exceptions of the operations in Australia, which are part of News Corp Australia; the rest of the international Fox Sports channels, which are owned by The Walt Disney Company; and the U.S regional sports networks, along with Fox College Sports, which are owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint venture between the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios that was formed they acquired these assets from Disney (following the latter’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets) on August 23, 2019.
Soccer is perennial in a way other sports are not.
Its club seasons include national team play mixed in along with busy off-seasons.
But even as a huge soccer fan, I could never find any thrill in following fantasy soccer.
Yes, soccer has goals, assists, and saves, but its box scores don’t have the minute-to-minute emotional attachment as baseball, basketball, football, or even hockey does.
Former ESPN and Ringer writer Ryan O’Hanlon shared the following on his No Grass in the Clouds Substack:
The record for most assists in a Premier League season was set by Arsenal’s Thierry Henry: 20 in the 2002–03 season. That’s absurd, both because he only broke double digits in Europe one other time in his career and because he also scored 20 non-penalty goals. There are a few Premier League seasons with more total goals+assists and/or a better per 90 rate, but obviously no one else in England has gone 20/20. Lionel Messi, who has only failed to hit double-digit assists in three of his 14 full seasons as a pro, hasn’t done it either. Poor guy will have to live with that 50/16 season in 2011–12 or that pathetic 31/19 the year before.
Wouldn’t it be a little more fun if soccer was better at tracking and appreciating these individual records? Baseball has done A LOT wrong, but the sport has built a deep history with its extensive record-keeping. Every season builds on and competes against all the ones that came before. Even when the race for playoff spots fizzle out early, there are plenty of individual records — homers, batting average, hit streaks, strikeouts, etc. — for fans to follow along with. Since most domestic soccer seasons nowadays become dead rubbers by March, record chases would add some new texture and intrigue to the final few months of each year.
Allow me to introduce you to Sleeper, self-described as “a sports platform intended for fantasy leagues and eSports.” Link
Last month, the startup raised its Series B, which included Andreessen Horowitz as an investor as general partner Andrew Chen wrote:
That vision has taken off. I met Nan and Weixi when they were just getting started; in just a few short years, they’ve built an app that reached over one million active players last football season. Sleeper is one of the fastest-growing apps in all of sports: Its fantasy leagues grew 700 percent year-over-year, with nearly daily activity from its user base. Given that it’s an app that brings friends together, it’s not surprising over 90 percent of Sleeper’s growth has been viral, as users invite their friends to the app.
We know that sports is a huge market. Over 59 percent of Americans describe themselves as sports fans; globally, there are billions of fans for soccer, basketball, cricket, tennis, and more. Individual tournaments like the World Cup and the Olympics draw over 3.5 billion viewers. Many top athletes are global celebrities. And companies built on sports — whether in media, apparel, or teams — are some of the most valuable on the planet.
We are also excited about the rise of esports and the continued popularity of gaming. In recent years, events like the World Championship for League of Legends have exceeded 100 million viewers, more than sports linchpins like Wimbledon, the Tour de France, and the Daytona 500. Furthermore, the broader games industry has revenues of over $100 billion — more than the music and film industries combined. Whereas in the past many of us grew up playing kickball to build friendships, now that bond is being forged in Roblox and Fortnite.
I’m too old to play Roblox or Fortnite and don’t talk to me about Animal Crossing.
But what caught my eye when reading Sleeper’s Crunchbase profile are the familiar names, outside of traditional venture capitalists, that have invested:
- Kevin Durant — NBA (Series A)
- Kevin Lin — Twitch (Series B)
- Rosalyn Gold-Onwude — NCAA/WNBA (Series B)
- JuJu Smith-Schuster — NFL (Series B)
- Baron Davis — NBA (Series B)
Yes, Las Vegas has reopened, but esports may drive the next wave of betting:
Esports has witnessed 40x growth when it comes to betting, largely due to both FIFA and NBA 2K taking the top spots. With traditional sports — namely football and basketball — mostly becoming inactive, their virtual counterparts have stepped up to the spotlight. EveryMatrix has identified that FIFA and NBA 2K are making up 80 percent of the betting volume.
What’s worth noting when it comes to these two titles is the esports scene around them. FIFA has replicated much of what’s seen in professional football, creating virtual versions of major leagues with prominent teams getting involved — think of the ePremier League, the eSerie A, and the eLaLiga. The NBA 2K League on with its third season, not only bringing in NBA franchises but endemic esports brands such as Gen.G esports.
I haven’t participated in any Sleeper leagues yet, but I plan on coming out of fantasy retirement to give this app a try.
Its mock draft user experience alone blows Yahoo!, ESPN, and CBS out of the water.
There isn’t any fantasy soccer option yet, but anything is possible.
Lastly, the counterpart to the MLS in the United States is the NWSL: the National Women’s Soccer League.
On the latest Fútbol with Grant Wahl podcast episode, NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird shared the news that its league games will stream on Twitch ($AMZN). Link
Being a fan of soccer means that I also equally follow the women’s game.
And I look forward to being a paid subscriber this upcoming season. Link
