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The SMI executive said “there’s value - from both a marketing and habit forming perspective - to have fans at the track.” Wolfe also noted that “you can’t take steps 2 and 3 without first taking step 1. If [NASCAR and the tracks] want to eventually get back to having a large number of fans in the stands - which we clearly do - we have to take a methodical approach.”

The Beaverton, OR based footwear and apparel brand is the latest company to adopt a performance-based partnership model in lieu of guaranteeing massive annual payments (see: Manchester United + Adidas). It's a trend gaining steam as part of a larger push towards transparency and accountability within the sponsorship arena.

Should HBSE be able to take down SNY in a deal for the NL club, the company would own 3 teams across two major metropolitan markets and have an opportunity to establish the first super regional sports network (SRSN).

John Kosner (Kosner Media) foresees a superstar exodus on the horizon “in part because top talent will have no choice but to examine what they could do [in a D2C capacity] moving forward.”

Crakes believes that the scale needed to fund massive broadcast rights agreements can only be achieved with a digital re-bundling that would enable the league's existing network partners to reach - and monetize - the general market (those who will watch on occasion, but are unlikely to buy the channel on an ala carte basis).