Profit Players Newsletter May 22

Author

Nate Rodgers
May 22, 2024

Fanatics Failures

Sports apparel company, Fanatics, took another major hit to its public perception this week. Many may remember the MLB uniform fiasco that took place during spring training this season. They faced backlash as many fans deemed the new uniforms produced by the company as cheap and see through. Just as they seemed to be out of the public from that situation, they have resurfaced in the news because they are attempting to sue Marvin Harrison Jr, who was selected with the fourth overall pick in this years NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Marvin Harrison Jr made an unprecedented move when he got drafted in April. Ahead of the 2024 draft, Marvin Harrison decided to not sign the NFLPA’s licensing agreement for all incoming rookies. Marvin Harrison wanted to explore options on his own, because he believed he was worth more than what the NFLPA was offering him. This means that, for now, his jersey will not be available for purchase and he won’t be featured in the newest Madden NFL video game.

Marvin Harrison with Fanatics Owner, Michael Rubin

Harrison signed a $1 million NIL deal with Fanatics prior to his final season of college football at Ohio State University. The contract ran from April 2023 to April 2024. Now Fanatics is suing him, stating a breach of contract as grounds for the lawsuit. Fanatics claims Harrison did not fulfill his obligations and estimated the damage in "millions of dollars." Whether or not this lawsuit against Harrison is true, Fanatics is taking a massive risk. If you lose this lawsuit, you are putting your relationships of other players in jeopardy. Even if Fanatics wins, other companies that are competing with Fanatics will use this lawsuit against them. Stating that a player shouldn’t do business with a company that “sues other players.” This seems like a bad move for a company that already is not viewed well by the public.

No more Mr Nice Guy

Scottie Scheffler Mugshot

Scottie Scheffler is often regarded as the nicest guy in golf. He even has been described as a “relentless nice guy.” This is why the world was in shock as people woke up to the news on Friday morning that Scottie Scheffler had been arrested on his way into the second round of the PGA championship. The golf world had an absolute field day on twitter as they flooded the social media platform with memes and “real” reasons as to why Scottie Scheffler as arrested. It turned out that it was all just a big misunderstanding. Scottie was charged with a slew of different crimes which were all dropped on Sunday. He managed to finish 8th in the PGA championship even after his short stint in the Louisville County Jail.

This whole PGA fiasco was likely a good thing for the PGA. The buzz around the world and specifically the sports world was real. The incident made national news and many experts are expecting a steep increase in both TV viewership and ratings. Not to mention, someone besides Scottie won a PGA tour event. Surprisingly, Scheffler’s dominance over the last few months had seen a decrease in overall viewership and tv ratings. Fans want to see a close match with damage up to the last shot. Xander Schauffele took home his first ever major victory over the weekend when he birdied his final hole to beat LIV tour member Bryson DeChambeau.

Arena Football Fails Again

The arena football league was set to start its new season with plans to revamp the once prosperous league. That plan has failed. Since its April 27th start date, the league has been hit with a number of issues. The most glaring of all of the issues they have faced this season is that they originally started the season with 16 teams in the league. A few short weeks later, the league is now operating with 11 teams. The NFL Network also dropped their streaming deal with the league because of the disfunction surrounding the league. All of the games are now only available on AFLNow.

Teams that have folded for the 2024 season

  • Georgia Force - Folded two games into the 2024 season.

  • Iowa Rampage - Folded after one game in the 2024 season in protest of league nonpayment.

  • Minnesota Myth - Folded two games into the 2024 season in a maneuver tied to the owner's husband being ousted as commissioner.

  • Louisiana VooDoo - Left out of the league in the 2024 reorganization.

  • Philadelphia Soul – Suspended operations two games into the 2024 season after playing with replacement players.

The collapse of the AFL is the golden standard of how to NOT run a sports league. It’s no secret that trying to compete with the NFL is nearly impossible, but what the people running the AFL did will make it easy for your league to fail. The Washington Wolfpack, based in Everett, remain one of the teams in the league and said in a statement “teams were promised player salaries and team travel to away games — paid by the league. Under commissioner Lee Hutton III, the AFL failed to provide a single dollar towards these expenses.” The league still believes that can have a successful season and hopes that teams that have folded will rejoin the AFL for the 2025 season.

Quick Reads

  • The Penn State Board of Trustees has approved a $700 million renovation to Beaver Stadium.

  • The English Premier League season ended with a record performance from Manchester City—becoming the first club to win the title four years in a row.

  • Saturday's Fever-Liberty game averaged 1.71 million viewers—ABC's most-watched WNBA game ever.

  • Houston's tourism arm is planning to invest $2B to turn develop an entertainment district near Toyota Center.

  • LPGA player, Nelly Korda wins her 6th start in her last 7

Job Openings in Sports

Games of the Week

  • Manchester City vs Manchester United - Saturday @ 10 AM EST

  • Dallas Mavericks vs Minnesota Timberwolves - Wednesday @ 8:30 PM EST

  • Indiana Pacers vs Boston Celtics - Thursday @ 8 PM EST

  • Monaco Grand Prix - Sunday @ 9 AM EST

  • Florida Panthers vs New York Rangers - Wednesday @ 8 PM EST

Feel free to reply to any of our emails and tell us what you like AND don’t like about these so we can continue to improve!