ESPN's Linda Cohn said her goodbye to SportsCenter over the weekend after 34 years at the network with the longtime anchor set to retire from the network this month. Former hosts like Neil Everett and Jay Harris, Kenny Mayne and Chris Berman all gave tributes to Cohn during her final show on Saturday night. Linda Cohn, a very strong run at ESPN. And this is your Morning Buzzcast for Monday, June 29th. I'm Abe Madcore. I was in Nashville over the weekend. And let's just say the new Nissan Stadium looks like a behemoth up against its smaller sister, the current Nissan Stadium. It's really something. How much bigger the new stadium looks compared to the current venue?
But I can tell you a firsthand report. That stadium is being built. It's coming out of the ground quickly. It looks incredibly impressive. Meanwhile, CAA opened its new office in Nashville on Thursday night. An impressive addition to the Nashville Yards development, which is just off-Broadway. That city is growing at such a frantic pace. And this new office for CAA is right next to the AEG-owned and operated theater, The Pinnacle.
So CAA will occupy about 75,000 square feet across two floors. And the building offers a history of the agency across film and music and sports. It'll be home to about 160 employees. And one really special touch is Condon's. It's a speakeasy.
dedicated to pioneering agent Tom Condon. It's a great little spot. If you go to Nashville, if you find yourself in Nashville, this office is one you want to take a look at. It was a great ceremony. There were former governors, current governors, the city mayor, an impressive mix of politicos, local leaders, sports team owners, and executives and top representatives of the music world all to help CAA open its new office in Nashville. Now, if you read Weekend Rap on Sunday, you saw one note from NPR that was cited, and it stated, it's time to declare the North American World Cup has been a success.
And overall, I totally agree. Stadium attendance has been great. The energy has been great. The environment has been top tier. Both foreign visitors and people who live in the United States love this event. And that has been the general consensus of everybody that I'm speaking to. And it's a great thing for sports. Meanwhile, the group stage wrapped up on Saturday and attendance for the matches surpassed 4.6 million as FIFA really continues to blow past its record for the most attended World Cup.
Right now, the World Cup group stages drew 4.6 million fans, 44 sellouts over 72 matches. The New York, New Jersey Stadium had five matches and had the second largest capacity of all World Cup venues at 80,000 and had the most fans with four sellouts in five matches. BC Place has done very well. Mexico City has done very well. And then when it comes to viewership, Kansas City continues to lead all markets for World Cup games. That's across Fox and Telemundo. Followed by number two is Boston. Number three, Austin. Number four, Dallas-Fort Worth.
Number five, San Diego. So you see a mix of cities, but overall, attendance strong, viewership strong, environment and energy very strong. Through these first couple weeks, it has certainly been a successful World Cup. Let's move on. The Walton family, which of course owns Walmart, is showing that it really likes the sports business. Walmart heir Lucas Walton and his wife Samantha have acquired a minority stake in the Chicago Bulls and the United Center.
Now, the transaction involves the purchase of existing stakes from limited partners, does not provide Lucas Walton with a path to controlling ownership. And the size of the minority stake and the valuation were not disclosed. But CNBC reported that the Walton stake in the team and arena was around 10%. And of course, the Rhinestor family controls the Bulls. And the Wurtz family and the Rhinestor family split ownership of the United Center. And we've talked about the United Center and the 1901 redevelopment project, which is a $7 billion mixed-use project right next to the arena. So Lucas Walton and his wife invest into the Bulls and the United Center. Lucas Walton is the 39-year-old grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton. He and his wife are residents of Chicago, so this investment obviously hits home and is important to them. Lucas Walton's uncle is Rob Walton.
who bought the Denver Broncos in 2022 and also owns a stake in the Diamondbacks. So the Walton family obviously likes to invest in sports. Wimbledon begins today, Monday, in London, and one of the key storylines will be Serena Williams, who, even at 44 years old and being away from the game, is dominating the news and the discussion around the tournament. So, of course, she has 23 Grand Slam titles. She'll play her first singles match in just under four years on Tuesday against a 20-year-old named Maya Joint.
So we will see the return of Serena. That's one storyline. The American women are likely to do well. That's another storyline. Then there is the story of Novak Djokovic, who is seeking a history-making 25th Grand Slam title. Just amazing. Meanwhile, he will have a documentary exploring his career, Novak Djokovic, The Wolf in Winter. That will premiere on Prime Video on August 20th. That'll be just before the U.S. Open. And this is a feature-length documentary. It's directed by the same person who did The Last Dance. So this could be quite the show.
Meanwhile, staying with Wimbledon, leading players have called off their media protests after they've held constructive talks with the All England Club. The players had said they would limit their media activity to 15 minutes, both pre-tournament and following their matches during the first week. But the players said they had constructive meetings with tournament leaders as they looked to the Grand Slams to pay more prize money, contribute to a player welfare program, and give players more of a say in decision making. And the All England Club told the players they would return with specific proposals addressing all of these points. in the near future. So for now, the players are standing down on any possible protests. Hallmark Media, the NFL, and Skydance Sports are teaming up to produce Holiday Touchdown, a Bears love story. And if this sounds familiar, remember, this comes after the production of Chiefs and Bills-themed Christmas movies the past couple years. So what does this all mean? Well, it shows that a venerable brand like Hallmark sees great benefit from partnering with the NFL, and it also shows the appeal of the NFL and its teams and the appeal they have across all areas of American culture.
Hallmark obviously feel it got value from aligning with the NFL. And this new film, Around the Bears, comes out later this year. Hallmark has put on a casting call for extras to film at Soldier Field. This is funny. Extras must be willing to wear winter attire while filming during the daytime in July. They're also looking specifically for fans that have Bears apparel, particularly Bears apparel from the 60s, 70s, and Super Bowl XX when they had the fridge and Jim McMahon and they won the Super Bowl that year. So interesting that they are looking for extras. Production will begin this summer.
and will film entirely at locations in and around Chicago. So again, Hallmark aligning its brand with the NFL and specifically the Chicago Bears. Takeaways from today's Buzzcast. Number one, Nashville continues to be a fast-growing sports hub, and Nissan Stadium is going to be a vibrant, dynamic building, and of course, hosting a Super Bowl. The city, like my hometown of Charlotte, offers a mix of teams and businesses and a growth mentality around sports. And takeaway number two, as the World Cup heads into its next phase, it's very hard not to call it a very...
big hit. With attendance very strong and viewership performing well, this week should be a good week for soccer. And that is your Morning Buzzcast for Monday, June 29th. I'm Abe Matgore. Thanks for listening. Stay healthy. Be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.