Clowney Is Top Pick: Sports Business Wrap For The Week

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Texans Take Clowney

The 2014 NFL Draft started off with a defensive player taken with the top overall pick for the first time since 2006. South Carolina's Jadeveon Clowney will join one of the league's best defensive lineman (J.J. Watt) after being taken by the Houston Texans on Thursday night.

His contract is estimated to be worth about $22 million. One of the game's biggest stars, however, had to wait a little bit longer than many thought. Johnny Manziel was nabbed by Cleveland with the 22nd overall pick, as the Browns made a couple of trades to make it happen.

The former Heisman winner brings a level of excitement that the Cleveland area sports scene that hasn't been seen since Lebron James.

Braves Cash In

The Atlanta Braves are about to make a lot more money. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that "The combination of the new stadium and the reworked TV deals have fueled the Braves' recent flurry of long-term contract extensions to key players."

See also: Apple's Rumored $3.2 Billion Beats Deal, Netflix Price Hike And More

Furthermore, “Through some good work at the management of the Braves and a confluence of events, we were able to renegotiate positively a bunch of those (TV) rights and receive probably in the order of $500 million of incremental revenue over the life of the contracts,” Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei said in a conference call.

“So that's been very positive. … That adds a lot of value, even on a present value basis, to the Braves.” 

Who's Watching What?

The first round of the NFL Draft was the highest rated in history. Beginning at 8:00 pm Thursday night, the event drew a 6.8 overnight rating or about 7.9 million households, more than double any other sports event that night. The event was featured heavily on ESPN and the NFL Network.

A Closer Look At... Foot Locker

The sports apparel outlet continued to rise throughout the week. Foot Locker FL closed Friday at $47.83, up 1.55 percent over the five-day period. The stock has seen a rise of nearly 33 percent over the past six months.

Tweet Of The Week

Many speculated the Dallas Cowboys would take Manziel if he fell to them. The combination of Manziel and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones seemed too good for television.