It is with great disappointment that I have to inform you that this is the last edition of The Playbook that I am writing. 

My youngest cat Spots, who is four months old, has been diagnosed with a serious medical condition, which requires a lot of my focus and bandwidth. It was becoming increasingly difficult to continue focusing on work, which led me to take the tough decision to leave The Signal.

I’d like to thank each and every one of you for your support over the last 13 months. I could never have imagined that nearly 10,000 people would sign up for The Playbook within a year. Working on this newsletter has been immensely rewarding and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.

So, until we see each other again, this is goodbye. If you’d like to get in touch with me, you can do so on my personal email (jaideep.s.vaidya@gmail.com), X (Twitter) or LinkedIn. Thanks again for all the love! 

Dear reader,

We regret to see Jaideep having to take an unplanned and uncertain break from writing. But we understand and deeply respect his decision. We also wish Spots a speedy recovery. 

We will continue to publish The Playbook as usual. You may receive a short version of the newsletter for a couple more weeks. However, we will be back with off-the-field and behind-the-scenes chronicles as the business of sports expands rapidly in India. 

Best,
Dinesh Narayanan

⚡️Quick Singles

🏏⚔️ The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has filed a case against edtech major BYJU’S in the National Company Law Tribunal for defaulting on dues worth ~₹160 crore ($19 million), per reports. BYJU’s had come on board as the BCCI’s lead jersey sponsor in 2019 and extended the deal in June 2022 again up to November 2023. However, the company eventually pulled out of the deal in December 2022 as it started cutting costs and focusing on profitability. Fantasy sports major Dream11 replaced BYJU’S as the Indian team’s lead jersey sponsor earlier this year.

🎾🌏 The four Grand Slams of tennis are attempting to tie up with the sport’s other major tournaments to set up a premium tour—something like a tennis version of Formula One, reports The Athletic. The tour would include at least 10 large tournaments. Tennis’ top executives and players believe the current calendar is too packed and confusing for fans to follow, apart from being strenuous for the players. Tennis also sees this revamped premium tour as a way to avoid facing the same disruption that golf is going through, with the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf luring top players away with lucrative contracts. 

♀️💰 The top women’s sports leagues around the world will generate revenues of $1.28 billion in 2024, according to a report by financial consultancy Deloitte. Commercial revenue, including sponsorships and merchandising, would account for a major chunk ($696 million), followed by media rights ($340 million) and matchday revenues ($240 million). It would be the first time the figure crosses the $1 billion mark and is 300% higher than the previous valuation three years ago.

⚽️🧑‍⚖️ Superstar footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has been hit with a class action lawsuit in the US over his endorsement of cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The petitioners are seeking damages worth over $1 billion after claiming his endorsement of the exchange led them to make loss-making investments. Binance had announced its CR7 collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in partnership with Ronaldo in November last year. Back then, the cheapest NFT from the collection was worth $77. Today, it’s worth only ~$1.

🐭🏏 Disney Star’s sports business posted a revenue drop of 39% to $729 million in the year ended September 2023 (FY23), while losses ballooned 82% to $432 million. The company attributed this to the fact that it broadcast fewer Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in FY23 compared with FY22. In 2021, the IPL was forced to split into two windows due to the pandemic. The second half of the season was accounted for in its FY22 results. Meanwhile, Disney Star’s overall ad revenue from sports dropped by 59% to $318 million. 

🏀🤑 American billionaire Mark Cuban is selling a majority stake in his NBA team Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson, widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. Cuban bought the team in 2000 for $285 million; according to reports, he’s getting more than 10x that amount—around $3.5 billion. The 65-year-old will also continue to serve as the team’s head of basketball operations, becoming “the rare owner who sells his majority share but remains in command,” per The Athletic.

That’s all from me. Thanks again for all the support. Until next time.

Goodbye,
Jaideep