Sport & Story Daily February 22, 2024

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February 22, 2024

Good morning! Apple unveils a sports app with live scores

Apple Unveils Sports App With Live Scores
“You can obviously get scores in many places today, but I don’t think anybody is focused and dedicated on the concept of live and making it simple, clean, fast like we’ve done,” Apple SVP of services Eddy Cue told Sportico in a video demonstration and interview. “We’ve spent an incredible amount of engineering on this.”
^sportico.com

TNT Sports Getting More Serious About Golf With Inaugural Grass League Tournament
As Front Office Sports’ Margaret Fleming reports, “TNT Sports wants to increase its footprint in golf, and, with PGA Tour media rights tied up through 2030, the rights holder is getting creative.

Bleacher Report announced Wednesday it will carry the first event of the Grass League, a new par-3 golf association beginning with an opening event in Tempe, Ariz., on April 17–20. The tournament, held at Grass Clippings Rolling Hills, will feature professional teams from the Grass League’s regional markets, plus amateur qualifiers that get into the tournament, competing for a six-figure prize. Bleacher Report will produce the event for its website, app, social media, Golf Digest, and TruTV.”
^{frontofficesports.com}

Inter Miami, MLS Will Lean Into Messi Effect For 2024 Season
As Sportico’s Asli Pelit reports, “Ticket prices for Wednesday’s opener—which will be played with replacement officials as the Professional Soccer Referees Association announced a lockout of its members—are running as high as $5,400 in the secondary market.

While it’s too early to assess Messi’s long-term impact on the league, both Inter Miami and MLS are working to leverage the Argentine’s star power ahead of his first full season in the United States, through ticket sales, sponsorship, merchandising, broadcasting and a Drive to Survive-style reality show.”
^sportico.com

Your Vision Insights: Top 10 Largest MLB Fan Bases

Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers…probably the 3 fan bases you’d expect towards the top of this list…but did you expect the Angels, Astros or White Sox?

How about the Texas Rangers Fan base? From March of ’23 to December of ’23 their fan base grew nationally by over 34%...AND…fandom amongst U.S. residents aged 13-17 grew by 50%. Amazing what a fantastic season can do!

German League Abandons Private Equity Deal After Fan Protests
According to ESPN, The German Football League (DFL) said Wednesday it is abandoning plans to sell a stake in its media rights income to an outside investor after months of increasingly disruptive protests by fans.

In December, Germany's first- and second-tier football clubs voted in favour of letting a financial investor take a stake of the DFL media arm in a deal valued at between €900 million ($973.2m) and €1 billion ($1.08bn).

"A successful continuation of the process looks impossible given the current developments," DFL board spokesperson Hans-Joachim Watzke said in a statement.
^espn.com

Tuned In: Amazon Said To Be Paying Record $120M To Stream NFL Playoff Game
As Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy writes, “Out of the Big Four tech giants, Amazon is the most ambitious about invading live sports. The giant streamer is opening its nearly bottomless wallet for the most valuable programming in entertainment: postseason NFL football.

Prime Video is paying an estimated $120 million for exclusive rights to an NFL playoff game after the 2024 season, sources familiar with the deal tell me.” 
^{frontofficesports.com}

Why Next Year’s Super Bowl Ads Will Be Better
As Ad Age’s Javier Campopiano writes, “Between the riddle of AI, the fear of social media backlash and a global political landscape that would make Churchill smoke too much, it is only natural to rely on the light touch of simple humor and the safe bet of multiple celebrities. And, honestly, this refreshed embracing of humor as the reigning creative device can even be welcomed … as long as it is part of the transition to whatever comes next and not a desperate resource.  
^adage.com

NFL Network, NFL+ and NFL Digital Media Provide Comprehensive On-Location Coverage of 2024 NFL Scouting Combine
Beginning Tuesday, Feb. 27, NFL Network provides more than 50 hours of live Combine week coverage – the 19th Combine covered by NFL Network – offering the first look at the 2024 NFL Draft class, highlighted by quarterbacks Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels, wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze, and more.

This year, NFL Network's coverage of the Combine again extends into primetime beginning Thursday, Feb. 29 with five hours of live coverage of the defensive linemen and linebackers starting at 3 p.m. ET and continuing until 8 p.m. ET.
^{nflcommunications.com}

Playing for the Oakland A’s Hasn’t Been Glamorous For Years. In 2024, It Could Be Downright Weird.
As the AP’s David Brandt writes, “The Athletics — set to move to Las Vegas sometime around 2028 — are facing a lame-duck season at the Oakland Coliseum, which hosted some of the smallest crowds in recent MLB history in 2023. The A’s have met with Oakland city officials about extending the club’s lease beyond 2024, but nothing is certain at the moment.”
^apnews.com

SeventySix Capital Promotes Chad Stender
SeventySix Capital, the venture capital company that invests in early-stage sports, media, and entertainment companies, announced Chad Stender was promoted to Managing Partner alongside SeventySix Capital’s Founder, Wayne Kimmel.

Both Stender and Kimmel will have the title of Managing Partner and the shared responsibility of running the investment company.
^{seventysixcapital.com}

Kevin Durant Teases Possible Role in Seattle SuperSonics NBA Expansion Team
As SI’s Joseph Salvador writes, “Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant was drafted in 2007 by what feels like a relic from an era long removed from the NBA: the Seattle SuperSonics. The 14-time All-Star spent his rookie season in Seattle before the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008, but he still remembers that season with great joy—so much so that he’d consider returning to the Pacific Northwest and joining a new SuperSonics franchise should Seattle receive an expansion team.”
^si.com

How the 12-team College Football Playoff Will Work
As AP News’ Ralph D. Russo and Stephen Hawkins write, “It is all about the rankings from the 13-member selection panel.

The five highest-ranked conference champions will make the field and then the seven highest-ranked at-large qualifiers. There are no automatic bids.

The four-highest ranked conference champs receive first-round byes into the quarterfinals. The four first-round games will match the teams seeded five through 12.”
^apnews.com

Skinner Introduces Bill To Bring Transparency To NIL In College Sports
“SB 206 sparked a revolution in the multibillion-dollar industry of college sports. Today, student athletes in every state are finally receiving some compensation for their talent and hard work. That’s great news. But with the growth of collectives and other strategies employed by college sports boosters, these efforts may be primarily benefitting men and once again shortchanging women athletes,” said Sen. Skinner. “SB 906 will shine a light on NIL and give us a better understanding of whether NIL is contributing to gender inequity in college sports.”
^{sd09.senate.ca.gov}

Sue Bird Makes WNBA Prediction for Iowa Star Caitlin Clark
“I think if she plays up to her potential, yes, that’s realistic,” Bird told the Sports Media with Richard Deitsch podcast. “And by the way, that’s not a knock on anyone in the WNBA. It’s going to be hard, but I think she can do it.”
^si.com

There could be additional changes coming to the recently revamped College Football Playoff.

College Football Playoff Committee Looking to Tweak Tournament Size in 2026, per Report
As SI’s Tom Dierberger writes, “Set to expand to a 12-team field this fall, the College Football Playoff committee is discussing expanding the tournament size to 14, ESPN insider Pete Thamel reported Wednesday.

If the change is implemented, the 14-team bracket would debut in 2026.

The College Football Playoff management committee, made up of 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, discussed the change during a meeting Wednesday in Dallas.”
^si.com

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