Sport & Story Daily May 13, 2024

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May 13, 2024

Good morning! Clark Reignites Race Debate

Caitlin Clark, Much Like Larry Bird, the Focus of Talks About Race and Double Standards in Sports
As Yahoo Sports’ Kyle Hightower writes, “Clark, like NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird was 45 years ago, is involuntarily the focus of discussions about race and her transition to professional basketball. Though Clark hasn't said anything to fuel the Black-white narrative surrounding her meteoric rise, talks about a double standard are being had.

“I think it’s a huge thing. I think a lot of people may say it’s not about Black and white, but to me, it is,” Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson said when asked about the race element in Clark’s popularity. "It doesn’t matter what we all do as Black women, we’re still going to be swept underneath the rug. That’s why it boils my blood when people say it’s not about race because it is.”
^{Yahoo! Sports}

WADA Faces Pressure Amid Cover Up Allegations
Per SBJ, the World Anti-Doping Agency is “facing a growing crisis” ahead of the Paris Games as it “fends off allegations it helped cover up the positive tests of elite Chinese swimmers who went on to compete -- and win medals.” Athletes are “openly questioning” whether WADA can be “relied upon to do its core job of ensuring there will be a level playing field in Paris.” Pressure on WADA has “increased significantly, particularly from the United States,” which is one of the agency’s “chief funders.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

A’ja Wilson Named Nike Signature Athlete, Sets Sneaker Collection Release for 2025
“It really is an honor,” Wilson said. “I’m super excited, and then to be able to showcase this on the stomping grounds that literally has watched me grow up is truly gonna be something special.”

When Wilson’s collection releases in 2025, she will be one of just four active WNBA players with a signature sneaker on the market (Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Elena Delle Donne being the other three).
^{The Athletic}

‘Perfect Storm’: The Rise of Local WNBA Broadcast Pacts
The WNBA is currently in the midst of selling a new set of national media-rights deals, doing so in concert with the NBA to help forge a potential year-round basketball presence on partner networks. As FOS points out, national rights are a focal point of Caitlin Clark’s debut season with the Indiana Fever, in which 36 of the team’s 40 regular-season games will be shown coast-to-coast. Now, Tegna and Fever's parent company, Pacers Sports & Entertainment, struck an agreement to show 17 of the team’s games on broadcast stations in Indianapolis. 
^{Front Office Sports}

Netflix Likely to Score Pair of NFL Christmas Day 2024 Games: Report
In what would be Netflix‘s first move into big-league sports streaming, the company is reportedly poised to win the rights to two NFL games on Christmas Day 2024.

Netflix will be the “likely winner” of media rights to the pair of NFL games scheduled for Dec. 25 for the upcoming football season, Puck’s John Ourand reported, citing anonymous sources. The report added that no deal has been signed yet and Netflix and the NFL “still have to clear some hurdles before any deal is announced.” Neither the NFL nor Netflix have commented.
^Variety

Toronto Awarded WNBA Expansion Team in 2026
Kilmer Sports Inc., headed by billionaire Larry Tanenbaum, has been "granted an expansion franchise" with the WNBA that will call Toronto home and will begin play in 2026, according to sources. An official announcement is expected on May 23 in Toronto, sources said.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Patriots Promote Eliot Wolf to Executive VP of Player Personnel
As The Athletic’s Chad Graff writes, “After a brief search, the New England Patriots formally announced Saturday that Eliot Wolf, the executive who had led their front office since Bill Belichick’s departure in January, will become the franchise’s executive vice president of player personnel. Since Robert Kraft purchased the Patriots 30 years ago, the franchise has never given out the general manager title, but that’s effectively what Wolf is now.”
^{The Athletic}

Shanahan Staying on as Maple Leafs President
Brendan Shanahan is "staying on" as Maple Leafs president despite having only one playoff-round win to his name in his 10 years at the helm. New Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley "delivered the news" in today's season-end media availability with Leafs management via SBJ, saying, "Brendan Shanahan is the president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s a champion."
^{Sports Business Journal}

College Title IX Gender Equity Compliance is a Failure, Feds Say
Per Sportico’s Daniel Libit, “The GAO report, unassumingly titled ‘Education Should Improve its Title IX Enforcement Efforts,’ found that during the 2021-22 academic year, 93% of universities had female athletic participation rates lower than their enrollment rate, while 63% of schools had participation-enrollment gaps of 10% or more. Overall, the athletic participation rate for collegiate women was 14% less than their enrollment rate. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination from schools that receive ‘federal financial assistance.’ To date, no school has ever had their funding pulled on account of being Title IX noncompliant, nor been sued by the federal government.
^Sportico

UC President Calls for UCLA to Pay for Pac-12 Exit
The University of California system is recommending that UCLA pay sister school California $10M a year through 2029-30 "for leaving the Golden Bears to scramble for a new home" after UCLA's move to the Big Ten alongside USC "contributed to the dismantling of the Pac-12."
^{Sports Business Journal}

College Football Might Allow Unlimited Coaches Soon. What Would it Mean?
As The Athletic’s Chris Vannini reports, “The Football Bowl Subdivision Oversight Committee put forth a proposal this spring to remove the cap on how many of a program’s staffers can do on-field football coaching, while still limiting off-campus recruiting activities to 10 assistants (or 12 in the FCS) plus the head coach. This would mean hundreds of analysts and quality control coaches around the country could finally coach in practice, bringing a monumental change to the profession.”
_{The Athletic}

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