Sport & Story Daily May 16, 2024

Stay Ahead of the Game

May 15, 2024

Good morning! Clark’s Frosty Welcome to WNBA

Just About Every Outlet Shared Their Take on Caitlin Clark’s WNBA Debut—Here Are a Few:
^“Fans Pack Arena for Caitlin Clark's WNBA Debut” - Sports Business Journal
“Caitlin Clark’s Pro Debut: Inside the Connecticut Casino Pressure Cooker” - Front Office Sports
“Welcome to the WNBA: Caitlin Clark's Regular-Season Debut is Anything But Easy” - Yahoo! Sports
“What We Learned in Caitlin Clark’s WNBA Debut: 3 Takeaways” - The Athletic

2024 Preakness Stakes Post Positions, Odds: Race Favorite Muth Ruled Out With Fever
The 2024 Preakness Stakes is this Saturday and will see Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan go for the second leg of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. Mystik Dan's path to winning the Preakness opened on Wednesday as early favorite Muth was ruled out due to a spiking fever.
^{Yahoo! Sports}

Fanatics Sportsbook Inks Justin Thomas as Endorser
Fanatics Sportsbook has signed two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas as the first athlete to endorse the brand, rolling out the promotional tie-up as it launches an expanded menu of golf bets and visualization tools that it debuts this week.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Varsity Cheerleading, Bain Agree to $82.5 Million Antitrust Settlement
As Sportico’s Daniel Libit reports, “Bain Capital, its cheerleading company Varsity Brands and Varsity’s previous owners have agreed to pay $82.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of cheerleading consumers, or ‘indirect purchasers,’ who accused the defendants of intentionally monopolizing or conspiring to monopolize the cheer competition, camps and apparel markets. Plaintiffs’ attorneys will receive a third of the settlement amount—$27.5 million—plus $9.2 million in litigation costs, according to court filings this week. 
^Sportico

Charles Barkley Shares Concerns about Future of TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’: ‘We Might Lose It’
TNT analyst and “Inside the NBA” mainstay Charles Barkley is “100 percent” concerned about TNT’s future with the NBA, he said on an ESPN Chicago radio show Tuesday. Per The Athletic, TNT Sports is battling NBC for the final piece of the NBA’s next TV rights deal. Amazon Prime Video and ESPN/ABC already have the framework in place for contracts expected to be at least a decade in length, and TNT’s current contract with the NBA ends after the 2024-25 season.
^{NY Times/The Athletic}

Roku-MLB Highlights Free Sports Streaming as Fubo, Others Dive In
As Sportico’s Brendan Coffey writes, “Roku’s announcement this week that it will show the Sunday morning MLB games at no charge on its Roku Channel highlights the seemingly sudden move of sports into the explosion of FAST channels—free, ad-supported streaming television. Roku is paying $30 million over this and the following two seasons… it’s a strong vote of confidence in FAST.”
^Sportico

‘Hard Knocks’ Extending to Offseason Access and Will Feature the Giants
HBO announced that "Hard Knocks, Offseason with the New York Giants" will debut July 2 on Max, the network's streaming service. Presumably, that will feature an inside look at the team's approach to the scouting combine, free agency, and the NFL Draft.
^{Yahoo! Sports}

Giants-Panthers in Germany, Jets-Vikings in London Among 2024 NFL International Games
The New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings will kick off the NFL’s 2024 London slate with an Oct. 6 matchup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the first of three London games this season. Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Jaguars will play back-to-back weeks in London against the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots, and the New York Giants will join the Carolina Panthers in the third year of the NFL’s foray into Germany.
^{The Athletic}

Jaguars, Jacksonville Reach $1.4 Billion Deal For EverBank Stadium Renovation
The Jacksonville Jaguars and the city of Jacksonville unveiled the framework of a deal at Tuesday evening’s city council meeting that would allocate $1.4B to renovate the 29-year-old, city-owned EverBank Stadium. The deal would extend the Jaguars’ lease by 30 years and include a non-relocation stipulation. It would see the city spend $775M —$625M for the renovation and $150M for deferred maintenance paid upfront to the project—while the Jaguars would reportedly kick in $625M.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Arizona State is Expected to Promote Executive Senior Assoc. AD/CBO Graham Rossini to AD.
A tweet from DevilsDigest.com reads: JUST IN: ASU coaches were told this week that ASU's Executive Senior Associate AD and Chief Business Officer Graham Rossini will be prompted to Athletic Director. This is a move that has been in the works for months and is now poised to take place in the very near future.
^X/Twitter

Docs: NCAA Could Face $20B in Damages, Bankruptcy if Proposed Settlement Offer Isn't Agreed Upon
As Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger reports: “The document outlines settlement concepts in detail as well as particulars around the new compensation model. It also provides university leaders with new information on hot-button topics such as how a settlement protects the NCAA from future legal challenges, Title IX’s application and the enforcement of booster-led collectives in a “new infrastructure.

“Documents specify, perhaps for the first time in writing, the total amount in back damages owed to athletes for the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) before the NCAA lifted NIL prohibitions in 2021. The amount is $2.776 billion.”
^{Yahoo! Sports}

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