Profit Players Newsletter 3-20

Author

Nate Rodgers
March 20, 2024

Scottie Scheffler continues his domination…BUT at what cost?

Scottie Scheffler took home the win at The Players Championship this past weekend and became the first ever back-to-back winner of the event. He is by far the best golfer in the world right now. To understand just how dominant he is, take a look at his run over the last two years.

Scottie Scheffler’s dominance is also highlighted in the money he has made. After The Players, he broke his own record for single season earnings with $21 million earned so far this year, and there are still 6 months left in this PGA season. But, the real issue behind this figure is it is still nowhere near what the LIV players are making per season. With still no conclusion as to what the PGA x LIV golf merger entails, the loyalty to the PGA for big names like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy has been unrewarded. The pair has repeatedly defended the PGA and criticized LIV and the players who joined. The Players had a slightly underwhelming field of players and Scheffler was quoted as saying, "If the fans are upset, then look at the guys that left. We had a tour, we were all together and the people that left are no longer here. At the end of the day, that's where the splintering comes from.”

Reported money turned down from LIV

  • $800 Million - Tiger Woods

  • $400 Million - Hideki Matsuyama

  • $150 Million - Scottie Scheffler

  • $130 Million - Will Zalatoris

  • $100 Million - Jack Nicklaus

Scottie Scheffler is the face of the PGA and allegedly never entertained the offer from LIV. Like many players who didn’t jump ship, he wants some sort of reward for his loyalty. “I think that's going to be the opinion of most of the players that stayed,” Scheffler said. “We remained loyal to a tour, a tour that was loyal to us. I built my entire career here on the PGA Tour and I wasn't willing to leave it. I dreamt of playing on this tour.” The PGA is getting a $3 billion investment from Strategic Sports Group that will allow players to be granted equity in the newly formed PGA Tour Enterprises, but the LIV merger and the compensation that will come along with it is still far away.

Money in March

For the 2024 March Madness tournament, each team in the conference gets $2 million. This money is then evenly distributed to each team in their conference, and an additional $2 million is given for every win earned by a team. For small universities, success in March Madness can be a game changer. In Saint Peter’s historic 2022 run, the 15 seed drew attention to the school that was estimated to be worth between $125 million and $150 million in media exposure. This doesn’t include the $2+ million they received in donations during this period.

Notable tournament runs in recent years

  • #11 Loyola Chicago - Final Four (2018)

  • #15 Oral Roberts - Sweet Sixteen (2021)

  • #15 Princeton - Sweet Sixteen (2022)

The money they get from the NCAA is one thing, but the true money comes from the exposure of being in the tournament. Teams with a big upset will gain social media exposure worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. After 16 seed FDU beat 1 seed Purdue last year, they earned nearly $70,000 in social value from a single post on twitter. Here is the outlook of how teams faired after the opening weekend of the 2023 Men’s Tournament.

Chart from Zoomph

The Worst Owner in Sports

Clark Hunt has gotten a reputation as one of the worst owners in sports. Second generation owners tend to be much less liked, but Clark Hunt is the poster child for owners who don’t care about their teams. Hunt took over ownership of the Chiefs from his very well-liked and influential father, Lamar Hunt. Lamar Hunt is considered one of the trailblazers of the NFL. Clark Hunt has brought unprecedented success to the Chiefs, but often neglects other aspects of the team. The NFLPA ranked Clark Hunt and the Chiefs as the worst ownership group in the league.

Courtesy of the NFLPA

Players on the team have become increasingly frustrated in the lack of money invested into the team. After their Super Bowl win of February 2023, they were promised an updated locker room, only to return in the summer to new chairs as the only upgrade. The practice facility hasn’t been upgraded in 20 years and the stadium is 50 years old. Although there are plans to build a new one, the billionaire owner is threatening to leave Kansas City if he can’t secure $500 million in tax payer dollars. These are likely empty threats and just a play to get leverage in order to secure funding, but it is an obviously scummy thing to do to the fans.

The threat stems from the new Kansas City Royals stadium getting granted taxpayer money for their new stadium. The Hunt family, worth an estimated $25 billion, is not willing to spend out of their pocket or go get private funding like the Los Angeles Rams or Las Vegas Raiders did. Chiefs fans across the country are sick of how cheap Hunt has been, and they hope that pushback from the fans and players alike will force them to shell out the cash for the various stadium and facility improvements.

Quick Reads

  • Netflix just announced plans for a new project "Receiver", similar to “Quarterback” but with wide receivers.

  • The NBA is rolling out a new function on League Pass that allows viewers to track betting odds in-game and bet on them through FanDuel and DraftKings.

  • John Rahm reveals his Masters Dinner Menu headlined by Basque Ribeye or Turbot Fish.

  • The men’s and women’s college basketball transfer portal is officially open.

  • Minute Media purchased the rights to Sports Illustrated in an effort to rejuvenate the brand.

My favorite games to watch for the week

  • #8 Mississippi St vs #9 Michigan State (Friday - 4:15 PM)

  • #5 Wisconsin vs #12 James Madison (Friday - 9:40 PM)

  • USA vs Jamaica - Nations League Semi Final (Thursday 7:00 PM)

  • Valspar Championship (Thursday-Sunday)

Job Openings in Sports

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