European soccer is getting America-nized
Plus: Blown call, officially …
Good morning. For those upset with the NFL draft grade bestowed upon their team by those in the media—just remember that in 2012, Bleacher Report gave the Seattle Seahawks, who that year drafted Bruce Irvin (1st round), Bobby Wagner (2nd), Russell Wilson (3rd), Robert Turbin (4th), and JR Sweezy (7th), an “F”:
After one of the worst picks in the first round I can ever remember, the Seattle Seahawks didn't draft any positions of need or draft for the future.
Pete Carroll is proving why he didn’t make it in the NFL the first time. Not only was Bruce Irvin a reach at No. 15, the Seahawks proved they were oblivious to their madness by celebrating their selection.
As if the day wasn’t bad enough, Seattle selecting Russell Wilson, a QB that doesn’t fit their offense at all, was by far the worst move of the draft. With the two worst moves of the draft, Seattle is the only team that received an F on draft day.
The Seahawks went on to win two NFC championships and a Super Bowl over the next three seasons.
—Peter & Kyle
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⚽ ACROSS THE POND
The gang gets a record promotion
Babe, a new It’s Always Sunny episode with a famous cameo just dropped.
Wrexham, the Welsh soccer club owned by Rob McElhenney (wife: Kaitlin Olson, aka Sweet Dee) and international movie star Ryan Reynolds, over the weekend became the first English team to earn three promotions in three years—all coming since Reynolds and Mac bought the team for $2.5M in 2021—and will play next season in the country’s second tier, one level below the Premier League.
(North) Americans are taking over European soccer
Reynolds is Canadian, and McElhenney is American, making them part of a string of North American dominance in what the rest of the world considers real football.
- Liverpool, Leeds, and Birmingham City are all American-owned and have clinched titles or sit near the top in England’s top three divisions this season.
- 11 of the 20 Premier League clubs are controlled or part-owned by US investors, while roughly one third of all teams in the country's top four leagues are also owned by Americans.
- It’s not just England—27 clubs across the European “Big Five” leagues are currently under North American control (including nine in Serie A).
The appeal: In large part, lower valuations compared to equivalent assets in the US. The "promotion" system is also a draw for investment-minded owners—Bloomberg estimated Wrexham’s value back in March at ~$133M, a 5,200% increase since the initial purchase.
But…Things don't always go well. After becoming the first US owners to take over a Premier League club when they purchased Manchester United in 2005 (due to a dispute over a horse), the Glazer family, who also own the NFL’s Tampa Bay Bucs, were so despised by fans they had to sneak in to visit Old Trafford through an underground tunnel.
Liverpool’s owners in 2021 had to issue a public apology for signing up to a failed European Super League. And former Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner, who loved the club so much that he had the crest tattooed on his leg, ultimately sold it at a loss of $200M+ (a direct quote: “The Premier League cost me my nervous system”).
Big picture: Forbes’ annual list of the world’s most valuable sports teams is dominated by (American) football, baseball, and basketball teams. Soccer clubs occupy just seven of the top 50 spots.
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⏱️ Catch Up Quick
Headlines
⚾ Rough day: In his team’s 11-2 loss to the Yankees on Sunday, the Blue Jays’ Kevin Gausman was ejected after tying the franchise record for most pitches in an inning (53)…then slipped while walking down the dugout stairs and yelling at the umpire.
🏟️ Funding secured: The Washington Commanders reached a $3.7B deal with the District of Columbia to build a new stadium.
⛳ Highs and lows: Japan’s Mao Saigo won the Chevron Championship, the first major of the LPGA season, in a playoff—then almost drowned during the champion’s traditional leap into the pond on the 18th hole.
🍌 Banana Ball visits Death Valley: The Savannah Bananas sold out Clemson’s Memorial Stadium on Saturday (attendance: ~81,000).
🏃 Runnin’, runnin’, and runnin’-runnin’: Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa won the London Marathon with a time of 2:15:50, the fastest-ever mark in a women's-only marathon. | The 129th running of the Penn Relays took place this weekend (must watch: the men’s 80 and older 100m race).
📸 Snapped
Pics from the weekend
🏈 The NFL Draft concluded on Saturday. The event drew 600k fans across three days in Green Bay, tied for the second-highest figure ever, while preliminary data shows the second-highest average ratings on record. Potentially the biggest story this year centered around Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders, who was initially projected to go top-five overall but fell to Cleveland in the fifth round (#144 overall). Sanders also received a prank call in Round 2 from someone posing as the Saints GM (who ended up being the 21-year-old son of the Falcons DC), while several other draft prospects received prank calls too.
+Probably irrelevant but…Memphis DB Kobee Minor was selected by the Patriots with the last overall pick in the draft.
🏀 Game 4 of the Knicks-Pistons series ended on a blown call, according to the NBA. Pistons G Tim Hardaway Jr. missed a 3-pointer on the final play of his team’s 94-93 loss to the Knicks on Sunday, giving New York a 3-1 series lead over Detroit. But after the game concluded, NBA officials publicly acknowledged they missed a foul call on Hardaway’s shot that would have awarded him three free throws with ~0.3 seconds remaining (video). In other playoff news: Both #1 seeds (OKC and Cleveland) have completed 4-0 series sweeps, while all other series are still ongoing. See the full bracket.
🏒 The NHL’s best regular-season team is struggling in Round 1. The Winnipeg Jets earned the first President’s Trophy in club history with the top record in the NHL. But they’re now in trouble against St. Louis after a second straight blowout loss on Sunday evened the series at 2-2. Most of the blame has fallen on Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck—who’s favored to win back-to-back Vezina Trophies for best NHL goalie—after he allowed a combined 11 goals in the past two games. More broadly, all eight of the NHL’s First Round series are still ongoing; see the full bracket.
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🔢 Facts & Figures
By the numbers
Here are five stats from this past week that made our team say “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.
- 🏀 The OKC Thunder overcame the largest halftime deficit in NBA playoff history (26 points) to beat Memphis 114-108 in Game 3 on Friday.
- ⚖️ The Tampa Bay Buccaneers recently added both the lightest and heaviest players in NFL history: Oregon WR Tez Johnson (154 lbs) and Florida DT Desmond Watson (464 lbs).
- ⚾ Diamondbacks 3B Eugenio Suárez became the 19th player in MLB history to hit four home runs in a single game (in just four plate appearances).
- 🏎️ Austin Cindric edged out Ryan Preece by just 0.022 seconds to win NASCAR at Talladega on Sunday.
- 😬 The Colorado Rockies are off to the fourth-worst start in MLB history after 25 games (4-21).
👀 Must See
Top plays
😱 The first game-winning, buzzer-beater dunk in NBA Playoff history
🏟️ Heliot Ramos hits Little League home run to walk-off MLB game
🏒 Max Domi snipes OT winner to take Game 2 for the Leafs
⚽ Goal of the year? Kévin Denkey’s bicycle kick for FC Cincinnati
⚾ LSU caps unlikely 9th-inning comeback with walk-off HR at 1am
🌐 Web Gems
Cool things to click
🤔 Hmm: Could Aston Martin become F1's next super team?
💰 Mogul talk: Accredited investors with ~$500 in the bank can join rapper Too Short and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong on the ownership group of this Oakland-based pro baseball team.
⚾ Read: The 10 biggest surprises of the MLB season so far.
🤔 Trivia
One team, 124 possibilities
Welcome to Franchise Roulette.
How it works: We provide three facts about a professional sports franchise—then you tell us which franchise we’re talking about. Eligible franchises are those currently playing in the Big 4 (MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA).
Today’s team:
- Is the only major pro sports franchise in its city without a championship. They also have their league’s second-lowest all-time winning percentage.
- Has a nickname that was previously used by its city's first NHL team, now the New Jersey Devils.
- Set a single-franchise MLB attendance record in 1993, its first year as an expansion team (the record still stands).
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