Get up to speed with latest news impacting the sports business landscape in Chicago and beyond. 🗞️ 

Chicago

Nascar stuck in neutral on Chicago Street Race beyond 2025 Nascar and the Chicago street race are an imperfect marriage that wasn’t meant to be. After two editions, Nascar’s COO is noncommittal on whether the racing circuit will return to the Windy City after 2025. The blame can be placed on the lack of ROI (NASCAR hasn’t made a profit yet after spending $50 million in 2023 and more this year) or unpredictable weather conditions causing delays. Either way, Nascar is remaining coy, while implicitly saying ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ (but it’s really you). Maximizing next year’s event is the focus, says the COO, but hints of new destinations for street races inevitably came up in the discussion. See what the full plans are and what this could mean for Chicago

Chicago Fire moving forward with plans for a 25,000-seat stadium The Fire won’t be second-tier tenants to the Bears at Soldier Field much longer. Plans were unveiled right before Christmas for a new soccer-specific stadium south of Roosevelt Road. Meeting with Mayor Brandon Johnson and other city officials, reps from the Fire shared their vision of a 25,000-seat stadium on seven to ten acres to go along with retail stores and complementary buildings. Fire owner Joe Mansueto has been desperate to escape the little brother treatment at Soldier Field, which limits sponsorship opportunities, and he has billions to privately finance a new stadium. The plans could get complicated though if the White Sox join the mix. They have been clamoring for a new stadium on the South Loop site, but have been unsuccessful so far. It would be potentially good for business for the developer, but not so much for traffic and local residents. Crain’s explores the scope of the Fire’s plans and how the site would be used if approved.

NYE at Wrigley Field: How the NHL will hope Chicago can usher in a new era for the Winter Classic Wrigley Field hasn’t hosted many high-stakes games since game 5 of the 2016 World Series. NYE’s Winter Classic featuring the St Louis Blues against the Blackhawks will again shine a spotlight on one of the most striking landmarks in all sports. But not because of the teams playing. The Blackhawks, fresh off firing another head coach, are only overshadowed in the city by the catastrophic dysfunction of the White Sox and Bears. The NHL’s viewership is suffering a hangover from last season, down 24%. With college football competing for viewers on New Year’s Day, the NHL is shifting its broadcast of the Winter Classic to NYE. And they’re bringing out a full arsenal of pregame and halftime entertainment to attract the casual fan. A successful outing would be just the spark the NHL needs to lift its viewership struggles. Here’s how Wrigley Field will be transformed to host the Winter Classic.

National

Clash of the Titans: NBA vs. NFL ratings battle on Christmas Day The NBA on Christmas Day has been an ingrained tradition as popular as National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. For over 30 years, the NBA has enjoyed a monopoly on sports entertainment in late December while the NFL was satisfied with Thanksgiving. But now the NFL wants a piece of the action. This Christmas wasn’t the first time the NFL has stepped into the NBA’s arena, but it is the first Wednesday broadcast for the league that dominates media coverage. Reactions around the NBA are mixed, with some responding with apathy and others in utter disbelief. Despite a distinct disadvantage in audience size, the NBA used clever marketing and simulcasts to hold its own on a day it’s used to claiming as its own. Read more on how the NBA combatted the NFL’s encroachment of Christmas. 

Pot of NIL Gold: Notre Dame's CFP run fueled by NIL collective Notre Dame’s NIL collective generated over $20.5 million in revenue in 2023 while distributing $5.12 million to Notre Dame athletes. NIL collectives have been popping up all over the country as schools race to adapt to the ever-evolving college sports landscape. The bottom line seems to be: if you want to be the best, you have to outspend the best. Friends of the University of Notre Dame (FUND) Foundation has been operating as a nonprofit NIL collective since 2022. But as more state and federal agencies clamp down on tax-deductible organizations involved in NIL funding, plans are in place to transition Notre Dame’s collective to a for-profit model. Sportico reports on how Notre Dame is planning to pay its collegiate athletes going forward. 

Birth of the 7-year college career? How super senior collegiate athletes are challenging NCAA's eligibility rules amidst NIL Diego Pavia seeks to create a new class of collegiate athletes: the forever student. The Vanderbilt quarterback won an injunction against the NCAA that could open a can of worms and unravel long-standing eligibility rules. According to current NCAA bylaws, collegiate athletes can only play four seasons of intercollegiate competition within five years. Pavia’s argument, as a former two-year junior college player, is that denying him another year of eligibility, which was the NCAA’s plan, would be unjust. It wouldn’t have taken into consideration junior colleges aren’t NCAA member institutions. More importantly, he successfully argued he would be denied the opportunity to earn significant NIL compensation in the seven-figure range if not allowed to play. The NCAA could petition the U.S. Court of Appeals to vacate the injunction. It would help them both save face and prevent many other collegiate athletes from challenging their eligibility using Pavia’s case as precedent. See the full implications Sportico details from the landmark case.

More money, more problems: Sixers get multi-billion new arena approval despite protests and poor performance There’s no brotherly love this holiday season in Philly. Just before Christmas, the Philadelphia City Council approved a bid from the Sixers to develop their own arena. The controversial new venue, to be named 76 Place at Market East, will cost an estimated $1.55 billion and will be separate from their current shared space with the Flyers. The Sixers were desperate for an approved bid to stay on track for their desired completion date just before the 2031-2032 season. It’s been far from smooth sailing as the project has faced opposition from the Flyers and locals based in the area where the arena will be built. Demonstrators even had to be removed before the start of the meeting that approved the bid. How can you blame them? The Sixers are miles off their high standards this season and they can’t keep Joel Embid on the court in the current arena. It took support from Philly’s mayor and other promises of community benefits to push the bid through, but resistance is sure to remain throughout the construction process. Front Office Sports recaps the contentious arena plans and what’s next for the Sixers. 

How much was Beyoncé paid to perform Netflix’s NFL Christmas Day halftime show? Few first names on the planet are more well-known than Beyonce. So when Netflix, hosting their first-ever live-streamed NFL games, came knocking on her door, hardly anyone was surprised plenty of zeroes were involved. Netflix made sure to capitalize on the opportunity of a lifetime on one of the prime HUT (Households Using Television) days all year. Normally, the NFL reserves halftime shows for the Super Bowl. It’s something to entertain the non-football fans watching for the commercials. But they decided to up the ante for this occasion by bringing on one of the biggest names in entertainment. Based on a deal Beyonce signed with Netflix in 2019, she made much more than any of the Ravens or Texans players did playing in the game…in about 30 minutes. See how much they paid her, as reported by Yahoo Sports.

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