On the 561st Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including a confluence of major events.
On Friday night, the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) opened its World Cup with a dominant 4-1 win over Paraguay. On Saturday, the New York Knicks won their first NBA title in more than 50 years. On Sunday, the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup.
They break down business angles from all three, starting with the Knicks. Though this NBA Finals only lasted five games, it’s going to break a number of modern day records for metrics like viewership, merchandise sales and social media discussion. New York City has embraced this team in a way that it hasn’t embraced a sports team in decades.
They hosts also talk about the Brooklyn Nets. When the Nets moved from New Jersey, and certainly after Joe and Clara Wu Tsai bought the team, the Nets’ thesis hinged on the Knicks’ struggles to bring a title back to New York City. For a while the Nets appeared significantly closer than their cross-town rivals, but that has now come and gone.
For the Hurricanes, they discuss owner Tom Dundon. Dundon led a group that bought the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers last year and he’s drawn criticism for various cost saving measures. The hosts debate whether a Hurricanes title, his first as an NHL owner, will give Dundon more benefit of the doubt from Blazers fans that there’s a plan in place for his changes.
