🏟 This Soccer Stadium Will *Literally* Break Your Brain

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In today’s newsletter:

🗞 The Big Story: Why Fans Are Demanding to Buy the Same Ticket Twice

📉 Biggest Loser: The Soccer Stadium That Will Break Your Brain

🏆 Winner’s Circle: Debunking The Viral AI Golf Ball (Mostly)

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🗞 The Big Story

The newest trend in sports involves fans asking their favorite teams if they can pay twice for the same ticket. Let’s break it down.

Background: Three years ago, printing company Weldon, Williams & Lick launched a new platform called Direct Souvenir.

Since then, the company has partnered with teams in the NCAA, the NBA, and even the Arizona Diamondbacks during last year’s World Series to offer fans the option to pay extra to transform their digital tickets into physical ones.

High Demand: Before we break down the cost, it’s important to understand that these physical tickets don’t actually get you into the game.

In fact, fans only receive them by mail ten days after they attend the event with a digital ticket.

And while it may sound like teams found a way to charge fans twice for the same ticket, WW&L says it can’t roll this program out fast enough because fan demand has been so high.

Last year, Digital Souvenir was available for a handful of jersey-retirement games for the Phoenix Suns and for every home postseason game the Cleveland Cavaliers played.

Fans even had the opportunity to retroactively buy commemorative tickets for “The Strus Game” when Max Strus beat the Mavericks with a 59-foot buzzer-beater.

Big Business: Heading into the next NBA season, every Cavs digital ticket can be transformed into a “Super Bowl quality” hard copy for $20 extra, which will arrive in the mail a week and a half later.

Fans can even personalize the tickets with notes like “my first game.”

According to WW&L, this part of their business has doubled in the past year, showing there’s no sign of this “trend” slowing down anytime soon.

📉 Biggest Loser

The World Cup will be hosted here in less than ten years; there’s just one problem.

This is what it looks like right now, and that’s the good news.

Background: Remember back in 2017 when Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said the country would build a 106-mile-long city that would:

• House 9 million people

• Be built entirely out of mirrors

• Run on 100% renewable energy

• Car-free, connected end-to-end via high-speed rail

Well, that same project called “The Line” is now one of 15 stadium locations that Saudi Arabia is proposing in their bid for the 2034 World Cup.

Saudi Arabia was actually the only country to bid on the 2034 event, which means it’s almost guaranteed to be played in the middle of the desert.

The Specs: But that hasn’t stopped the Middle Eastern nation from pulling out all the stops.

According to ESPN, the country plans to build 11 new stadiums across five cities, including “The Line.”

This project, in particular, called the NEOM Stadium, will:

• Be three-sided

• Be built over 1,000 feet off the ground

• Seat 46,000 people

• Be set on a cliff with an open side

Status Update: However, even though this World Cup is less than a decade away - progress on “The Line” remains slow.

In fact, the plan for the $1.5 trillion project has since been reduced from a 106-mile-long wall to a 1.5-mile wall that’s set to be completed by 2030. The hope is that this section can hold 300,000 people, just 3% of what they originally planned.

I hope they have a backup plan.

🏆 Winner’s Circle

This is the most expensive golf ball in the world, and it’s going to make sure you never miss a putt ever again.

Background: I recently saw this video of a golfer who claimed to be using an AI golf ball that never missed the hole.

@thedailygolfers

These ProV1 AI balls are crazy 😳 @Sam Heung Min Golf @Taco Golf | Golf Coach #fyp #golf #golftiktok #ai #artificialintelligence #golfing

However, after some research, I learned that he was just using a Lynx Junior AI golf ball, which is only called that because it was designed using AI.

And while they are designed to be lighter so that they are easier for kids to hit, they do not contain actual technology.

But what if there was?

Integrating Tech: Well, that’s when I stumbled into this recent invention by a guy in Alabama, and what he claims to have done is seriously impressive.

On the surface, this looks like a normal golf ball. In fact, unlike the Lynx AI balls, it even weighs the same as a USGA-approved ball - the only difference?

It’s embedded with a 1.68-inch computer chip and electric sensors that instantly gather and send data to your phone via Bluetooth.

Brian Heaton invented the PuttLink Smart Golf Ball to make putting practice more fun for his son. Last year, it was named the Best New Product at the 2023 PGA Show.

How It Works: After every putt, the ball is able to immediately record things like:

• Green conditions

• Ball speed

• Putt distance

• Hole entry speed

The app then compiles this data into graphs and charts so that golfers can see where they need improvement.

Why it Matters: This is especially important, given 40-60% of a golfer’s strokes are in putting, even though it’s the most boring aspect of the game to practice.

One of these balls currently sells for $200, but honestly… I’d pay anything to get better at putting.

⏱ In Other News

• Charles Barkley Walked Away from $100M.

• Would this be the most dominant Olympic team ever?

• My favorite breakdown of the Olympic medal count.

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👋🏻 Happy Friday!

One of my favorite sports-isms is when a player on a rival team gets hurt, and fans feel the need to hedge their well-wishes with a phrase like “As a ___ fan.”

Tired: Wishing the best for someone who plays a silly little game that doesn’t mean anything because it’s a decent thing to do as a human.

Wired: Letting every inch of your humanity be defined by which billion dollar corporation you root for once per week.

Too much for a Friday? You’re right. As a Packers fan, I hope J.J. McCarthy gets better soon.