Sport & Story Daily February 7, 2024

Stay Ahead of the Game

February 7, 2024

Good morning! ESPN, Fox & Warner Bros. unite to launch a “one-stop app”

ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros. to Launch Sports Streaming Platform
ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans on Tuesday to launch a sports streaming platform in the fall that will include offerings from at least 15 networks and all four major professional sports leagues.

A one-stop app to view most sports should be a welcome sight for fans, who continue to navigate rising costs by subscribing to multiple services.

The three companies will each share one-third ownership in the joint venture. A name for the service and pricing will be announced at a later date.

"This new sports service exemplifies our ability as an industry to drive innovation and provide consumers with more choice, enjoyment and value and we're thrilled to deliver it to sports fans," Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said in a statement.
^espn.com

Playfly Releases Fan Score Data
There are plenty of college football polls these days -- The AP, USA Today Coaches Poll, College Football Playoff, etc. But those are centered on wins and losses.

Playfly Sports is releasing a new poll, and it's geared toward fandom.

The company, which continues to be a player in collegiate multimedia rights (among a number of other areas), has released a new study dubbed the “Playfly College Football Fan Score” -- a combo of in-house metrics married with those accrued through a strategic partnership with Vision Insights to help quantify fandom and commercial viability in major college football.

“All these rankings all over the place, and most of them are performance-based, or coach salary-based,” Playfly CEO and co-founder Mike Schreiber told me. “Nothing is really [written] on the marketing and commercial side -- and that's where we live. So we thought it would be really interesting and useful to release those rankings."
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

Will Tiger Woods Play the 2024 Genesis Open?
As USA Today’s Blake Schuster writes, “The 2024 PGA Tour season is in full swing with players dialing in their game across the West Coast.

Which means it’s time for what’s sadly become an annual question every February: Is Tiger Woods going to play at all? The short answer is ‘Yes’.

The long answer varies from week-to-week.

But since The Genesis Invitational is both a signature event for the PGA and also organized by the Tiger Woods Foundation, anticipation for the participant field is always a bit higher for Woods’ fans.”
^{ftw.usatoday.com}

Brent Musburger, Gambling Guru, Is Stunned By NFL’s Betting 180
As Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy writes, “Back in the 1970s, Brent Musburger and Jimmy ‘the Greek’ Snyder were forced to speak in code when they tackled the taboo topic of gambling on CBS Sports’ The NFL Today. Now, the NFL has embraced the $100 billion industry with open arms. After opposing legalized sports betting for decades, the league picked Las Vegas—yes, Las Vegas—to host Super Bowl LVIII.

Vindicated? Sure. But even Musburger is shocked by just how quickly the NFL surrendered to the dark side after fighting legalized betting in court for years.”
^{frontofficesports.com}

Orioles Sale Pauses Potential Naming-Rights Deal
The Orioles had been planning to announce today a naming-rights partner for Oriole Park at Camden Yards as John Angelos had been "putting the finishing touches on a deal," but the status of that now "remains unclear" after the pending sale of the team to a group led by David Rubenstein.
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

NHL All-Star Game Down 7% From Last Year
The NHL All-Star Game drew just under 1.4 million viewers on ABC on Saturday afternoon from Toronto, down 7% from last year (around 1.5 million). But the 3x3 competition was up from 1.15 million 2022, when the All-Star Game from Las Vegas went up against Winter Olympic action.
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

Penn Athletics Receives $3 Million to Support Track & Field and Cross Country Teams
The University of Pennsylvania today announced a $3 million gift from H. Elliott Rogers, Jr., C'72, WG'75, and Gail Underwood Rogers, CW'73, WG'75, to ensure support for student-athletes competing in track & field and cross country at Penn.  

"With this gift, Penn Athletics now has more resources to bolster the ongoing needs of our track & field and cross country programs. We are so grateful to Elliott and Gail Rogers for inspiring our talented student-athletes to reach their fullest potential," said Alanna W. Shanahan, C'96, T. Gibbs Kane, Jr. W'69 Director of Athletics and Recreation.

"Penn's track and field program has roots dating back more than 150 years. This storied history is further strengthened thanks to longstanding support from devoted alumni like Elliott and Gail Rogers," said Penn Interim President J. Larry Jameson.
^{pennathletics.com}

NBA Trade Deadline: Lakers, Warriors Among Teams Most Desperate to Make a Move
A seller’s market has developed with contending teams outweighing the number of teams considering offloading veteran talent.
^si.com

Chiefs' Andy Reid on Possible Retirement: 'Today's Not the Day'
"My mom and dad told me this when they were working,'' Reid said as the Chiefs prepare for Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers. "They said, 'You'll know when it's time,' and I'm ready to go right now. Let's go.

"That's what they would tell me when I was young. I was an inquisitive kid and so that's the way I look [at it]. Somewhere you're going to know when it's time. Today's not the day.''
^espn.com

Court Report: Scott Drew's Controversial Ejection Stemmed from Big 12 Memo and League Finally Grading its Refs
The ejection incensed Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades, who made a rare move by an AD and spoke at the postgame press conference, calling the officiating in Saturday's game "an embarrassment for this league. Period. ... This league needs to get better when we think about our officiating."

Rhoades has been fined $25,000 by the Big 12 and will be given a public reprimand from the conference office, a source told CBS Sports.
^{cbssports.com}

U.S. Senators Reintroduce Bill That Aims To Change NCAA Investigation And Infractions Protocol
"The NCAA’s history of backroom deliberations that produce unfair punishments for athletes, coaches, and universities has gone on long enough," said Senator Blackburn. "Student athletes work their entire lives to compete on the college stage, and we must ensure that they are properly compensated for their talents, not bogged down with frustrating investigations with an organization that continues to move the goal posts. The NCAA Accountability Act brings much-needed consistency and transparency to the NCAA, ensuring that everyone is operating under the same set of expectations for rule violations."
^outkick.com

What Will the Big Ten-SEC Partnership Look to Accomplish?
As ESPN’s Pete Thamel writes, “The most important thing to know about the burgeoning cooperation of the Big Ten and the SEC, announced late last week, is to not call it an alliance. Let alone The Alliance.

The ill-fated -- and roundly mocked -- conference alliance of August 2021 was a ham-handed move. But most notably, it was the ACC, Pac-12 and Big Ten acting defensively in response to the SEC's acquisition of Oklahoma and Texas.

This ‘joint advisory group’ announced last week between the Big Ten and the SEC should be viewed more as a bellwether for where college sports are going, and the desire of SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti to be proactive. It will be a consultant for the two leagues but won't have the authority to implement changes.”
^espn.com

Judge Nixes Tennessee, Virginia NIL Injunction Push Against NCAA
As Sportico’s Daniel Libit writes, “A federal judge has denied a request by the states of Tennessee and Virginia to issue a temporary restraining order against the NCAA from policing NIL activities, following an antitrust lawsuit filed by those states’ attorneys general.

In his 12-page order, released Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Clifton L. Corker ruled the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate

the requisite irreparable harm’ needed for him to grant a TRO. While the ruling was confined to that request, the judge appeared to express some skepticism about the larger arguments made by the plaintiffs about the NCAA’s enforcement process.”
^sportico.com

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