Tom Mayenknecht is the host of The Sport Market on Sportsnet 650 on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Vancouver-based sport business commentator and principal in Emblematica Brand Builders provides a behind-the-scenes look at the sport business stories that matter most to fans. Follow Mayenknecht at: x.com/TheSportMarket. Read More
Opinion: Major League Baseball celebrated opening day, but still has work to do from a business perspective
Article content
Bulls-of-the-Week
Article content
Article content
Much to the consternation of the fan bases of the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames, the St. Louis Blues have been the hottest team in the NHL in the five weeks since the 4-Nations Face-Off. Since Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington backstopped Canada to a 3-2 overtime win over the U.S. at the TD Garden in Boston on Feb. 20, St. Louis has compiled an impressive record of 14-2-2. They go into the weekend having won eight straight games to consolidate their hold on the second and final wild-card spot in the NHL’s western conference.
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
Meanwhile, 26-year-old Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder are storming their way to the best record in the NBA. A model of consistency averaging 32.9 points per game and surefire MVP candidate in the league, SGA has powered his Thunder to a record of 61-12, with nine wins in their last 10 starts. That gives them a remarkable cushion of 13.5 games ahead of the next best team in the western conference, the 48-26 Houston Rockets.
Article content
Westcoast Homes
Article content
The NBA itself is having a bullish week with news that it is partnering with FIBA (the international basketball federation) in exploring the establishment of a 16-team European League. That’s above and beyond its own plans for expansion of its 30-team North American league to 32 franchises.
Article content
It has also been another good week for women’s sports, including the Golden State Valkyries of women’s basketball. The WNBA expansion franchise this week became the first in history to sell 10,000 season tickets. Backed by the same ownership group that has helped make the Golden State Warriors the richest team in the NBA, at a Forbes valuation of $8.8 billion US, you can expect the San Francisco-based Valkyries to make sport business headlines throughout their launch this summer.
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
Yet in the midst of opening week in Major League Baseball, there is no franchise hotter than the $6.8-billion US Los Angeles Dodgers this week. They still trail the $8.2-billion New York Yankees in enterprise value, but have clearly become baseball’s most expansive global brand on the strength of Shohei Ohtani and their World Series victory last season. The sport business indicators are everywhere, including the announcement this past week of yet another Japanese corporate partnership, with JTB on board as the new Japanese tourism partner of the Dodgers. The defending World Series champions — with a payroll pricetag of $370 million — will appear an MLB-best 21 times on national broadcasts and streaming. Their home opener Thursday in L.A. featured a get-in price of $138 US, about 10 times that of the Toronto Blue Jays’ cheapest ticket available on the secondary market (equivalent to $12 US).