⚾️ The Business Behind the College World Series

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This week, the Boston Celtics won their 18th NBA Championship on June 17, 2024, in five games.

The Celtics have recently lost four legends of their franchise:

• Bill Russell (No. 6)

• John Havlicek (No. 17)

• Sam Jones (No. 24)

• Bill Walton (No. 5)

The Celtics’ last championship (2008) was also won on June 17.

Boston's area code? 617 - and still, ratings hit a three-year low.

In today’s newsletter:

🗞 The Big Story: The Business Behind the CWS

📉 Biggest Loser: We’re Losing Hockey History to THIS!?

🏆 Winner’s Circle: Rickwood Field: Historic Renovations or White-Washing?

🗞 The Big Story

The Men’s College World Series makes $7M every year before hosting a single game, but that’s not even the most impressive part of the event.

Background: The College World Series has been held in Omaha, NE, since 1950. In 2010, the event played its first game at Charles Schwab Field, which cost $131 million.

Aside from being larger and newer than the stadium it replaced, it also helped ensure that the College World Series would be hosted in Omaha until at least 2035.

Tourism Boom: Last year, Visit Omaha estimated that the 10-day event had an economic impact of over $115M for the surrounding area.

That includes:

• 22,000 temporary jobs

• More than 72,000 hotel room nights

• Over $3 million in local taxes generated

Usually, I’m skeptical of these economic impact figures, but Visit Omaha claims that 106,000 of the 393,000 total visitors in 2023 (27%) came from over 60 miles away.

This means that if it weren’t for the College World Series, these people probably wouldn’t be spending money in Omaha.

Come Here Often? However, the most impressive figure from this event is the amount of money they make on season tickets.

A part of building Charles Schwab Field was so that the College World Series could sell season tickets every year since the event would always be held in the same place.

According to the CEO of the organization that manages the stadium, the College World Series sells around 12,000 season tickets every year, with some ticket holders dating back to the 1970s.

And at an average price of almost $600 per seat, that’s $7.2 million in annual revenue the event collects before ever playing a game.

Not bad for a city and state without a pro sports team…

📉 Biggest Loser

The oldest hockey rink in the world is about to be demolished, and I can’t believe what they’re replacing it with…

History: Matthews Arena opened in 1910 in Boston, Massachusetts. Not only is it the world’s oldest hockey rink, but it’s also the world’s oldest multi-purpose stadium still in use.

And since its completion, it has been home to nearly every kind of event, including:

• Basketball

• Ice Shows

• Curling

• Boxing

• Presidential Speeches

In fact, the first NHL game played on American soil was played here between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Maroons.

The Celtics also played their first game at the arena in 1946 and called it home through 1955.

Specs: When it was first built, Mathews only had a capacity of about 5,000, which is still what it is today, as it now plays host to Northeastern University’s men’s hockey.

Since the university bought the stadium in 1979, the arena has undergone several renovations, including:

• New seating

• Adding a jumbotron

• Renovating the weight room

• Expanding locker rooms

• Adding steel scaffolding for additional structural support

In total, the university has spent over $12 million to keep the 114-year-old arena as modern as possible, but now they’re saying they can’t do anymore.

The Replacement: In May, the university revealed that it was planning to demolish Matthews Arena to replace it with a new arena.

The $350 million project would also be a multipurpose athletic facility that could hold 4,000 fans for hockey games and 5,000 fans for basketball games. It would also include recreational sports facilities for students, such as an indoor turf field, rowing tanks, and an auditorium.

The Issue: The university claims that renovating Mathews Arena is no longer feasible due to structural stability and fire safety issues. They plan to begin demolition and construction early next year, with the hopes that the new arena will be finished by the summer of 2028.

And while they might have a point about Mathews Arena no longer being safe, why did they have to replace it with the ugliest building of all time?

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🏆 Winner’s Circle

The oldest existing baseball stadium in America just got a $4.5 million makeover, and because of it, MLB reminded us of two of the most unique stadium features in baseball history.

Background: When Major League Baseball announced last October that it would be hosting Cardinals-Giants at Rickwood Field, the league knew that the ballpark, a staple of the Negro Leagues that was built in 1910, would have to undergo some serious renovations to make it playable for big leaguers.

So the city of Birmingham agreed to spend $4.5 million to renovate the 8,300-seat field, and now the venue features:

• New grass

• Expanded dugouts

• Extended netting

• Padding on the outfield wall

To level the field properly, workers had to scrape off 4,000 tons of surface material, during which they also installed new drainage and irrigation systems.

The Dimensions: Rickwood Field was always known for its funky dimensions, which originally included a 478-foot-deep concrete center-field wall. This would be the deepest outfield dimensions in MLB today, but the league decided to reshape it, resulting in a more standard, 400-foot centerfield fence.

But that’s not even the craziest part because Rickwood was probably best known for its 85-foot-deep backstop, which would also be the deepest in MLB today by far.

Those who have played at Rickwood, like Bo Jackson and Michael Jordan, appreciated this quirky feature, which allowed players to potentially take extra bases on a passed ball. However, during these renovations, it has since been shortened to a more standard 60 feet.

But to give MLB some credit, they are keeping the original manual scoreboard, and they’re even ensuring that the sponsored signs in the outfield walls are styled like they would have been in the 1950s.

That way, when fans walk into the new Rickwood Field, they get to see it like it would have looked over almost 80 years ago during the peak era of the Negro Leagues.

⏱ In Other News

• Roger Goodell launches some friendly fire

• The Atlanta Falcons flex on my timeline

• Could the NFL actually lose the NFL Ticket Lawsuit?

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👋 Happy Friday!

I just secured tickets to watch the Savannah Bananas play in Washington, D.C., at Nationals Park. Excited is an understatement, but unlike most people, I’m looking forward to potentially getting to meet Jesse Cole, the Michael Jordan of Sports Marketing.

Wish me luck. 🫡