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Winners of the 2023 Sports Business Awards


The 16th Annual Sports Business Awards were celebrated Wednesday night in New York City. Below is the running list of the winners in the 15 categories:

  • Deal of the Year -- Michele Kang’s acquisition of the Washington Spirit: Kang emerged victorious from a power struggle with the Spirit’s previous majority owner, Steve Baldwin, and fended off interest from sports mega-investor Todd Boehly to take control of the then-reigning NWSL champions. The $35 million acquisition, the most expensive in league history at the time, reset the market for NWSL franchises, directly leading to the league extracting a record $58 million expansion fee from the owners of the recently announced expansion team in the Bay Area.

    "As a female entrepreneur who has some resources, I felt this was my responsibility. But more importantly, I see this as a business with incredible commercial viability," Kang said while accepting the award. "We’re not charity."
  • Best in Sports Betting -- FanDuel: The clear market leader among U.S. sportsbooks in 2022, FanDuel spent the year stacking one win atop another. Its best-in-class same-game parlay product engaged bettors and improved profitability, while lower customer acquisition costs kept it on track to post its first year in the black. FanDuel wrapped up its big year with its first Super Bowl commercial, which had retired tight end Rob Gronkowski attempting a field goal on live TV.

    "This is an industry you don’t win because of one reason. You win because of good customer service, good prices, good products, reliability, partnerships, for us it’s trying to get as many engines firing at once," said John Griffin, FanDuel SVP/sports commercial, who accepted the award for the company.
  • Best in Sports Social Media -- Bleacher Report: Blending anime and sports, Hero Ball was a hit with Bleacher Report’s audience, bringing in more than 10 million views for each of its first three episodes. The content is a unique blend of creativity, artistry, and sports. Production for Hero Ball featured a team comprising 30 writers, artists, producers, voice talent and more, delivering roughly 2,500 human hours for each episode. The series also was supported by a creative collaboration with one of the top NBA online creators, Kenny Beecham.

    B/R SVP Doug Bernstein accepted the award for the platform, thanking the animators and all involved on the animated series. “It’s really validating for Bleacher Report,” Bernstein said of the win. “To receive this recognition on a piece of original content is really what differentiates Bleacher Report’s growing IP.” As to how he and the B/R crew plan to celebrate the win, Bernstein looked at the trophy and said, “We may need to fill this up with some adult beverages!”
  • Best Talent Representation -- Wasserman: Close to 100 people at Wasserman, from interns to the CEO, worked on an aggressive campaign to sway public perception and unite unions, athletes and other celebrities with the goal of bringing Brittney Griner home from Russia where she was detained. Wasserman continued to bolster its agency with the acquisitions of baseball agency Jet Sports Management, global rugby leader Esportif, golf agency Mullhaupt Management, and media and broadcast agency The Montag Group.

    “Really, I think we won for one specific reason this year: the work that Lindsay Kagawa Colas did for Brittney Griner," said COO and EVP/Talent Representation Jason Renne of Wasserman Media Group. I remember getting a phone call the night Lindsay found out she was detained, and I watched Lindsay just work tirelessly for months and months, leading everyone in our company, everyone outside of the company. It was truly remarkable.”
  • Sports Event of the Year -- U.S. Open: The event got a major boost from Serena Williams, likely playing in her final U.S. Open, as the tournament saw viewership increase by more than 50% over 2021 and recorded the third-highest total for ESPN since it acquired the rights. The event also saw attendance records, with more than 776,000 fans on hand during the two weeks in Queens.

    "This trophy will be a fantastic reminder of the historic '22 US Open," the USTA's Stacey Allaster said. "We broke all records. It was so historic with the greatest of all time, Serena Williams, 'evolving,' and it will also be a terrific inspiration as we start the 2023 U.S. Open, celebrating 50 years of equal prize money."
  • AD of the Year -- J.D. Wicker: It’s not often that an athletic director has an opportunity to build a football stadium from the ground up, but that’s exactly what J.D. Wicker has been doing at San Diego State. Wicker led a potentially thorny process to get Snapdragon Stadium to the finish line last season, bringing together the city of San Diego, the university and the athletics department in a way that kept the $310 million project on budget and on time for a 2022 opening.

    “First Group of 5 to ever win. It feels like we get nominated a lot, but if you’re not in the Power 5, you’re not at that level,” Wicker said of this "unexpected win." With college sports facing so many challenges, Wicker shared how he measured success this year: "Two weeks ago, we graduated a bunch of student athletes, and that’s how I know we’re succeeding. The women’s softball team is in their first ever-superregional this weekend. That’s succeeding. We just announced MLS [expansion] in San Diego in the stadium San Diego State built for the community. That’s succeeding. There’s always something around the corner; you can get lost in all the things at times. But we’re doing a lot to make San Diego successful.”
  • Best in Sports Media -- Fox Sports: The biggest U.S. sports events were on Fox Sports, from the World Series to the FIFA World Cup to the Super Bowl. Fox produced these events with new MLB and NFL broadcast booths that won critical praise. The network signed the Big Ten to a rights deal, then turned around and auctioned off the conference’s other rights to CBS and NBC. And Fox Sports launched a spring football league that was successful enough to see a second year.

    Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks accepted the award for Best in Sports Media. He thanked all the people at Fox and made a point to note all the great work from the sports media space. “Quite honestly, everyone had a great year.” Shanks said. “We’re also proud to take home the award for shortest speed of the night.” Asked about the tonnage of events Fox put on during the award period and the work across the network, he said, “It’s what we live to do. ... Everybody viewed as a challenge or an accomplishment more than grind.” He also spoke about the rise of women’s sports. “Our first World Cup was the 2015 Women’s World Cup. We made the commitment to put as much effort into the women’s as the men’s, and that had never happened before,” Shanks said. “We feel like we were there at the very beginning of this explosion of women’s sports. ... We feel really proud to have been part of it and kind of kept that going in trying to be the standard bearer for women’s sports in this country.”
  • Best in Property Consulting, Sales and Client Services -- Elevate: On the heels of its international expansion, Elevate was appointed by Premier League club Everton FC to support its commercial strategy for a new stadium, including helping to produce a global search for a stadium naming-rights partner. Domestically, the agency won the assignment to handle sales consulting on the Tennessee Titans’ planned $2.1 billion stadium expected to be completed in time for the 2026 NFL season. Elevate also closed on an investment from Arctos Sports Partners, the private equity firm’s first investment in an agency. Arctos joins Elevate equity partners Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, Oak View Group, Live Nation/Ticketmaster, and the San Francisco 49ers.

    “It means the world to me -- five years of working really hard on behalf of all of our partners and employees. I just honestly wish all of our employees could be here to celebrate,” Elevate Chairman and CEO Al Guido said, as 18 joined him onstage to receive the award. “The York family gives me the opportunity to do two incredible jobs, and it's just awesome, man. It's an awesome night. It's been an awesome week, with the Super Bowl being awarded in the Bay and then winning this trophy.”
  • Sports Sponsor of the Year -- T-Mobile U.S.: T-Mobile partnered with MLB Network to produce T-Mobile’s 5GBP, a highly praised Home Run Derby show shot live in HD over 5G network on 5G-connected smartphones. Fans were virtually transported to the field to watch MLB All-Stars gear up for the T-Mobile Home Run Derby. Multiple 5G-powered cameras streamed the live action from the field during batting practice, giving fans unique, up-close views of the pre-event festivities. It also worked with Little League and GoDog Sports to outfit 100-plus local ballfields in rural markets with 5G-connected cameras. Using a simple mobile or desktop interface, family and friends can stream their Little Leaguers’ games from wherever they are, live or on demand. T-Mobile For Business established a customer relationship with the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which will see the telecom invest over $10 million in technology solutions over the next three years.

    "We have got such a heard-working and passionate team, and it's incredible to see them recognized for their effort," said Amy Azzi, the senior director/head of sponsorships at T-Mobile. 
  • Sports Facility of the Year -- Fenway Park: The 111-year-old ballpark hosted 438 events in 2022, including becoming the first repeat host of the NHL Winter Classic. That event was part of a concerted focus to host more offseason events at the home of the Red Sox, which culminated in Topgolf Live, the Wasabi Fenway Bowl, and the Frozen Fenway college hockey tournament being held at Fenway Park. Those events brought 130,000 more fans to the venue than otherwise would have visited. In 2022, Fenway Park became the first carbon-neutral ballpark in MLB, as the Red Sox teamed with Aspiration to neutralize the greenhouse gas emissions of fans attending games by contributing a portion of the sale of each ticket to purchase verified carbon credits.

    “We just have a great team of people, of ops people, who are able to transform the ballpark quickly, and take it apart quickly for these special events and return it to a pristine condition," Fenway Sports Management President Mark Lev said about managing events around a baseball schedule and in a ballpark known for being tight on space. "It’s a great operations team that just works tirelessly to make the ballpark accessible, beautiful ad functional for all these events."
  • Sports Breakthrough of the Year -- NHL Digitally Enhanced Dasherboards: The NHL’s new advertising technology, which cost tens of millions of dollars to develop over several years, is a business game-changer at both the national and local levels. DEDs have already unlocked new sponsorship opportunities for the league in Canada and allowed clubs to provide partners with home-market exposure during road telecasts. Most importantly, the virtual ads have done little to detract from the viewing experience, a testament to the league’s thorough work and patience in implementing the technology.

    Keith Wachtel, NHL chief business officer and EVP/global partnerships, accepted the award for Sports Breakthrough of the Year. He recognized the “tireless effort” from league officials in getting the digital dasherboard project done over seven years. He also thanked corporate sponsors, broadcast partners and tech suppliers for their roles. “It was easily the hardest initiative that I’d ever been part of,” Wachtel said. “The integration that it took, not just for the league but for our clubs, for our broadcast partners. Building a technical operations center that works nightly, game after game, with the venues and with the broadcast trucks. The hub to create the playlist for the advertising. … But the real exciting part of it was truly changing the dynamic of what is a traditional asset for sports properties and clubs and broadcasters to sell.”
  • Best in Agency Creativity and Innovation -- MKTG Sports + Entertainment: MKTG continued to diversify its business by launching two new divisions, MKTG esports and MKTG wsports, as well as a strong focus on building out its data and analytics team. Its work with Ally to lead a revolution in women’s sports with the Ally 50-50 Pledge and efforts to move the NWSL Championship game to prime time on CBS helped that brand be nominated for Sponsor of the Year.

    “It's very exciting. It's a testament, honestly, to the team that we’ve grown and built and the work and the dedication they put in,” said Dominic Curran, managing director, Americas at MKTG Sports & Entertainment. “It's been a tough few years for the sports industry. So for them to come back and develop that, build what they've done -- it’s huge for us.”
  • Sports Team of the Year -- Angel City FC: Angel City appears poised to become the most valuable women’s sports team in North America. Before the club played a single NWSL game, it was already bringing on investors at a valuation of more than $100 million. In 2022, the club accounted for 38.75% of all NWSL revenue, averaging more than 19,000 fans per game and earning the largest kit sponsorship deal of any NWSL team, with DoorDash. Not only are attendance and sponsorships thriving, the team tops NWSL in merchandise sales, bringing in $6 million last year.

    "We wanted to build an organization a different way. We led with purpose. We led with brand. We wanted to build with our community. There was no playbook for how we built this," said Angel City FC co-owner and President Julie Uhrman. "The results showed themselves, but to have your colleagues and your peers recognize the work that you've done, we're truly grateful and humbled."
  • Sports Executive of the Year -- Eric Shanks, Fox Sports: It’s not just that Fox Sports’ Eric Shanks cut a rights deal that runs through 2029-30. It’s that Shanks cut a unique deal that his team negotiated on behalf of the Big Ten during the conference’s talks with CBS and NBC. But it’s also because of other accomplishments, such as Fox carrying a record-setting Super Bowl, overseeing production for the World Series, FIFA World Cup, NFC playoffs and the Super Bowl in just over three months, putting together new broadcast booths for MLB and NFL productions and launching a spring football league in the USFL that was successful enough to warrant a second season.

    After a very brief speech following a win in the Media category, Shanks took some more time to reflect and offer thanks in his Executive of the Year speech. He first thanked his “dear friend” Don Garber, as the MLS commissioner presented the award. He went on to thank Rupert Murdoch, David Hill and Chase Carey for their efforts in starting Fox Sports 30 years ago. He thanked numerous Fox partners, joking that the MLB table at the SBAs asked him to point them out specifically as the “best partner” if he wanted any chance of a Game 7 of the World Series this year. “Our other partners, the advertisers and agencies in here who support us: We love running your ads,” he said. “Without you, we’d only be Netflix.” He also noted that the SBAs fell on his wedding anniversary and thanked his wife, Brenda, and his three kids.

    How does Shanks plan to celebrate with the Fox team back in L.A. after multiple wins? “What we’ll do is set up a get-together for as many people as we can,” he said. “It’s been not only a great year, but this week in particular, the team across the board was able to get recognized, earlier in the week with the Sports Emmys, and now these amazing awards tonight. Yeah, I think we’ll all get together at some point before we head off to Australia. And then I’m going to head home for the first time in a while.”
  • Sports League of the Year -- NFL: In 2022, the NFL scored big wins in revenue growth, expansion into new markets and innovation, while not losing sight of its core consumers. The league secured YouTube as successor to DirecTV for “Sunday Ticket” rights at a 33% increase, blew away German crowds with a successful debut of the NFL regular season in Munich and overhauled the Pro Bowl into a non-contact celebration of star players. Live attendance recovered most of the decline from last decade, and the league was responsible for 82 of the top 100 TV audiences in the year.

    "It is a throughline, that proper balance of tradition and innovation," said NFL EVP Peter O'Reilly on the league's capability to push new ideas while keeping fans. "It does stem from the DNA of the commissioner and the owners on constantly innovating and asking how we get better every year. You’ve got to strike that balance, and we balance that every day. We have so much respect for the traditions of our game, and what our fans love about the game, while knowing that the right steps to continue to innovate are going to make us better."