This is your Morning Buzzcast for Monday, August 17th. I'm Abe Matkor. Keep your eye on San Antonio today, Monday, as the San Antonio City Council will decide if there should be a public vote on the city's nearly $500 million contribution to the Spurs' potential new $1.3 billion. downtown arena. So why is this interesting? Well, the San Antonio mayor, Gina Jones, has actually lobbied council members to support her bid for a November 3rd vote. But as of the last count, a majority of council members oppose a public vote. The Spurs are obviously very upset with the mayor, as she has stressed that plans for a downtown arena known as Project Marvel have changed since voters went to the polls last November to approve an arena contribution.
So the Spurs are saying a vote has already taken place and it's been approved. But the mayor is saying the city is projected budget deficits over the next two years, which affects the development of Project Marvel. So why should you watch this? Well, you never want to go to a public vote. And this could, could spark talk of a possible relocation as you never want to even risk losing a major league sports team over politics. Today will be a big day in San Antonio. I know other teams and the league office will be watching.
What a week of major sports deals last week. It concluded Friday as a group that includes Amazon's Jeff Bezos completed a deal with Fenway Sports Group to acquire a hefty 30% stake in Liverpool. And that stake is believed to be valued at about $2 billion. Now, the deal will see Fenway Sports Group retain majority ownership and operational control of the club. But there are multiple reports saying the Bezos Group is planning to eventually obtain a controlling stake in the team.
But again, there have been different reports. Fenway Sports said no immediate plans to sell the club, but other reports saying the Bezos Group has every intention of taking majority ownership of the team. Again, Liverpool, a very valuable asset. Jeff Bezos getting deeper into sports. Speaking of John Henry and Fenway Sports Group, a big move for his organization as the Red Sox will move their entire staff out of Fenway Park to a new office across the street on Boylston Street. And that will also include Fenway Sports Group.
and Fenway Sports Management. It is the first time the three staffs are together under one roof. So the Red Sox signed a lease for the top three floors of a new building again, just steps from the ballpark. And this venue will be part of a major development around Fenway called Fenway Corners. It's a mixed-use project. It'll include eight new buildings on the streets around Fenway Park. And the Red Sox, they have not finalized plans for the future use of their office space inside of Fenway Park, which they are now leaving. So some interesting developments in downtown Boston around Fenway Park.
Two major personnel moves. First, Elevate has hired Mike Kitts as president of global sales and solutions. Now, Mike Kitts was chief commercial officer at the Golden State Warriors. Now he moves to Elevate. He will head its corporate partnership program. Kitts worked for 13 years at the Warriors. And during that time, the Warriors were an annual league leader in corporate sponsorship deals and in revenue. So at Elevate, Kitts is expected to support an existing partnership group looking to grow businesses with teams and leagues and venues. Elevate did not use a search firm to identify Mike Kitts. He will report directly.
to Al Guido at Elevate. Shifting to the Arizona Cardinals, their chief operating officer, Jeremy Walls, will be stepping down from his role at the end of this coming season. It'll be his fourth with the team. Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell announced the move on Thursday. Noted the team is now searching for a replacement for Jeremy Walls. Now, Jeremy Walls, very strong executive, very, very good leader. He came from the Dolphins and he is from the Tom Garfinkel tree.
And during his time at the Cardinals, he did a lot. He restructured the business department of the organization. He opened a new office at Tempe. He really grew revenue, sponsorship, and other premium experiences. The team is much stronger from a business and revenue standpoint. And so one, we will need to see who they bring on. And two, we'll have to be looking at what his next move is. I wouldn't be surprised if Jeremy Walls stays patient for a bit, but he will be in high demand. He is that good. So Jeremy Walls stepping down as chief operating officer of the Arizona Cardinals at the end of this year.
A quick story. At a dinner in Charlotte in 2021, fresh off the COVID pandemic, several sports leaders in the Charlotte community gathered in a private dining room at a restaurant to discuss the issues and challenges our organizations were facing. And one of those challenges was maintaining a pipeline of young, diverse talent who wanted to work in sports. We brainstormed about starting a program that could offer opportunities to young people within sports, and we did. We launched the Charlotte Sports Business Fellowship Program.
In today's issue of Sports Business Journal, we introduce the fifth class of young people. They just spent 12 weeks with various sports organizations in the city, and the fellows talk about what they learned, what surprised them, what they're taking away from their experiences. I'm especially pleased to see that in the first four fellowship classes, nearly 40 young people who have gone through the program are working full time. at a sports organization, and that was the original goal of the program that we started back in 2021, or that we brainstormed back in 2021. It's great to see it continuing to thrive and see these young people continuing on their journey. And if you haven't caught it yet, check out the trailer for the movie Madden. There are plenty of boldface names around this project. You have David Russell as the director. He did Silver Linings Playbook. Steve Tisch is one of the producers. Michael Strahan and Constance Schwartz-Marini are executive producers.
Nicolas Cage has an uncanny resemblance to John Madden, and the buzz from those close to the project is the work of Christian Bale, who brings his usual intensity to his role. He is said to be so in character as Raiders owner Al Davis. The film will be released on Prime Video on November 18th, so check out the trailer, Madden. And I hope you will join me at Access Drive September 22nd through the 24th in Indianapolis. We will have a rare sit-down.
with Pacer Sports and Entertainment Chair Herb Simon. He is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. We will have Mike Plant and Derek Schiller talk about the impact of the battery in Truist Park. Again, all of that and more. Access Drive, September 22nd through the 24th. Go to our website to register or let me know if you have any questions. And that is your Morning Buzz, guys, for Monday, August 17th. I'm Abe Matgore. Thanks for listening. Stay healthy. Be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.