This is Buying Sideline — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of sports hospitality and premium experiences.
Welcome to the 102 new subscribers since our last send, including executives from Monumental Sports, Rose Bowl Foundation, On Location, FC Tulsa, Sheraton, and Win-Win Partnerships.
Let’s get to it.
In the email today:
🏈 A Global NFL Franchise Would Be A Luxury Tourism Machine
The NFL has steadily expanded its international presence since the Cardinals and 49ers played the league’s first regular season game in Mexico back in 2005.
In May, NFL owners voted to increase its international game inventory to 10 regular season contests starting beginning in 2027, but commissioner Roger Goodell doesn’t see the league’s global expansion stopping there.
In an interview with German television outlet RTL/ntv earlier this week, Goodell told former New York Giants defensive tackle Markus Kuhn his belief that a city outside the United States will one day be home to an NFL franchise.
"I have no doubt that this will happen one day,” he said.
Goodell also noted his desire to see a franchise in an international city full-time before bringing a Super Bowl to it.
As for where a team might one day reside, London, Munich and Mexico City would seemingly be the current favorites to land a franchise, given the league’s consistent presence in each market.
Our Take: Many might look at this story and wonder if an international city can support an NFL franchise or what it might mean for the draft, free agency and competitive balance. Each are interesting talking points, but that’s not our angle with this story.
Goodell believes a team will “no doubt” go international and there’s no question that team will instantly become a global premium sports entity since its visiting fan base changes with each game. Sure, a city like London likely has enough juice for the NFL to support a team, but that franchise will also instantly benefit from each of its games serving as a destination event for visiting fans. Really, you could even go as far as to say that such a team would be tailor-made for luxury tourism and premium hospitality.
Let’s do some quick math. Current estimates suggest that somewhere between 3,000-7,000 fans attending international NFL games come from the United States. It then stands to reason a similar range of fans would travel eight or nine times throughout the course of a typical regular season.
Run some numbers for a 2-3 night trip with travel, hotel, food/drink and game tickets, and you’re probably looking at least $1,500-$2,500 spend per fan. Some quick math puts you within a range of $50 million to $150 million from U.S. fans. That’s a healthy amount of spend over a standard league year — and that’s just for fans who opt for a more standard travel and game experience.
What’s more, because many fans will likely view attending an international game as a vacation, upgraded experiences like luxury hotels and transportation along with elevated dining experiences, premium seating and access feel like a natural fit. For many, the spending psychology around a vacation is much different than trying to find something to do this weekend.
Think about a couple who might want to go see Big Ben or Buckingham Palace who can now check those boxes while pairing it with a premium sports experience.
🐦⬛ Ravens Cap Off $489 Million Reno with First-of-It’s Kind Modular Suite
The Ravens officially opened on August 14th a three-story premium tailgating option inside the stadium grounds that buyers can access 2.5 hours before kickoff. The modular space dubbed the Xfinity Flockyard will feature 20 16x16 private, climate-controlled “lofts”. The Sun posted an inside look at the setup.
Package details include:
20 lower-level tickets
2 parking passes
TVs, a rooftop deck, and central courtyard access with a large video board.
All-inclusive food and beverage - liquor sold separately
The team is also selling a standing room-only option that gives courtyard and rooftop access to fans, and weighing whether to allow purchasers to return to the suite at halftime, which is a common hospitality practice in Europe.
The Ravens three-year reno initially beefed up the high-end premium options. A luxurious field-level speakeasy called The Blackwing, The Champions Club, The Trust, The Raven, and Legends Suites were all added to the stadium. That’s an additional 1,400 new club membership opportunities for those keeping score at home.
Our Take: Whether it’s a stadium or premium hospitality we’re seeing sports teams lean more into building modular units they can rip and replace - though this one will be evergreen for now. Smart play from the Ravens here and a TrendWatch™ I think we’ll see moving forward as these “old” stadiums try to maximize space, capture more of the tailgating market, and charge a premium price.
The build itself is an interesting case study. Filmwerks, who builds Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football sets and contributed to TGL’s, built the $7 million Flockyard in only two months. More importantly they didn’t have to demolish any existing infrastructure or worry about headaches transporting the ModStax through the stadium. Quick and cost-efficient. Visualize me slapping one of those Easy buttons.
The revenue opportunity shouldn’t be buried here either. Not only did the Ravens secure more sponsorship inventory, they replaced a dozen hospitality tents that were only available on game days with a more welcoming area, better views, and year-round access for all events at M&T Bank.
That’s a win-win.
🎰 Las Vegas Remains A Good Bet
As the saying goes, when one door closes, another one opens.
Maybe that’s not always true, but Las Vegas, a city once best known as the epicenter of the sports gaming industry has quickly become a primary hub of the sports hospitality space.
With an inherent DNA as an entertainment town and a run of high profile sporting events in the recent rearview and others like the College Football Playoff Championship (January 2027), Division 1 Men’s Final Four (April 2028) and Super Bowl 63 (February 2029) ahead, Las Vegas continues to be a focal point for the luxury experience company On Location.
“We're looking to innovate what we do, we provide the premium seat the spectacular view, but what we’re doing is we’re adding value around that, not just the hospitality, but with those VIP behind-the-scenes-experiences,” On Location head of combat sports Rachel Nabatian Tasch told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Ahead of the recent UFC 329 card headlined by the Connor McGregor-Max Holloway fight, experiences ranged from meeting UFC talent and analysts, weigh-in access, post-fight octagon access and even a one-on-one lunch with Dana White, helping to make it On Location’s highest-grossing UFC to date— all made possible by the fact that TKO can offer red tape free, high-margin access given that it owns both.
Our Take: The sports — and sports hospitality industry — appear to be all-in on Sin City.
The Raiders and Golden Knights are scheduled to be joined by the Athletics in 2028 as the city’s third professional sports team and there’s legitimate momentum behind the NBA joining the party if and when the league expands.
When you pair the pro league growth with a steady diet of bucket list events (NFL Draft, Wrestlemania, UFC, NCAA Final Four, Super Bowls, etc.) and a slew of luxury hotel and dining options, it’s not hard to see how Las Vegas is essentially tailor-made for premium sports experiences. In fact, so much so that UNLV recently launched the state’s first sports hospitality program.
🎾 Faux US Open Outrage Dominates Social Media
This X post, and the subsequent Substack article it linked to, had legs.
Many who reposted and replied expressed their outrage over such an expensive Day 1 ticket. Most of them didn’t bother to read closely that this was, of course, a secondary market price— the face value of these passes was $65.
Even billionaire Bill Ackman, who can afford either price point, fell for it:
The actual price almost doesn’t matter, because the narrative, further fueled by this in-depth New Yorker piece, has taken root.
Oof. We have thoughts.
Our Take:
“The bottom line is there's almost no land available down here. They're not making any more land.” - Citadel founder Ken Griffin, speaking about expensive real estate in Stone Harbor, New Jersey
“The Wimbledon ticket is gonna continue to be even more exclusive, even more scarce, because there’s just a finite amount of access to it.” - Reddit co-founder and husband of Serena Williams, Alexis Ohanian
These are two different quotes, but they explain the same thing: supply and demand.
For premium sporting events - like the US Open, Wimbledon, and the World Cup - demand greatly exceeds supply. That’s nothing new. But rights holders are now realizing that the top end of that demand is completely inelastic, because there are only hundreds or single-digit thousands of truly premium seats and experiences available. FIFA and On Location proved it with more than $2B in World Cup hospitality sales.
A vocal minority (or maybe even plurality?) will publicly lambaste this, and the media will happily amplify their complaints. But fans will have to get used to this dynamic. At the same time, it will also be important for rights holders to adopt a barbell approach with exclusive high-end experiences on one side, and very affordable tickets to keep common fans engaged - with some measure of control to ensure those tickets actually reach and stay with them - similar to how soccer clubs and colleges prioritize supporter and student sections. Ironically, it seems that’s what the US Open tried to do here— they offered affordable day passes for ~25% of the fair market value, and yet they’re still getting raked online, perhaps because they didn't care enough to make sure they remained accessible.
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See you on the field.