Sport & Story Daily January 25, 2024

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January 25, 2024

Good morning! Harbaugh has landed

Chargers Hire Jim Harbaugh: Los Angeles' New Coach Returns to NFL After Leading Michigan to National Title
"My love for Michigan, playing there and coming back to coach there, leaves a lasting impact. I'll always be a loyal Wolverine," Harbaugh said in a statement released by the Chargers. "I'm remarkably fortunate to have been afforded the privilege of coaching at places where life's journey has created strong personal connections for me. From working as an assistant coach at Western Kentucky alongside my father, Jack, and time as an assistant with the Raiders, to being a head coach at USD, Stanford, the 49ers and Michigan -- each of those opportunities carried significance, each felt personal. When I played for the Chargers, the Spanos family could not have been more gracious or more welcoming. Being back here feels like home, and it's great to see that those things haven't changed.”
^{cbssports.com}

New AI Marketing Tool Generates Ad-Ready Images For Under Armour—Here’s How It Works 
As Ad Age’s Asa Hiken writes, “A new service from creative production company Tool is designed to compile a dataset representing a brand’s ‘visual DNA,’ which can be edited and iterated upon to create new assets and obviate the need for physical shoots. These assets, generated by AI, can be lifelike representations of products as well as of human models wearing the products.”
^adage.com

Finance: Women’s and Youth Sports Lead Sectors Primed for Big Investments in 2024
Michele Kang, owner of the Washington Spirit of the NWSL, bought the London City Lionesses for an undisclosed sum as part of her ambitious strategy to build a portfolio of women’s soccer clubs. In many ways, 2023 was the year of women’s sports investing…”
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

Kayla Harrison Joins UFC, to Debut vs. Holly Holm at UFC 300
"We're extremely grateful for Kayla's amazing career in the PFL," Harrison’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, told ESPN. "She became the fighter she is now with their support. We are nothing but grateful to them and are excited to start a new chapter in the UFC."
^espn.com

Sports Illustrated Collapse Proves There’s Never Been a Better Time for the Little Guy
As Barrett Sports Media Demetri Ravanos writes, “Sports Illustrated was an institution. It was an aspiration for athletes just as much as it was for journalists. Whether it was getting a cover or a byline, if Sports Illustrated put you in the spotlight, but meant you were special.

Those days appear to be over. The Arena Group, who operated SI in a deal with the brand’s owner, laid off the publication’s entire staff last week. It throws the future into doubt.”
^{barrettsportsmedia.com}

Your Vision Insights: Top 10 NBA Fan Bases Most Likely to Buy Sponsor’s Products

This week's ranker by Vision Insights takes a look at which NBA fan bases (aged 13+) are most likely to purchase a sponsor's products/services after witnessing sponsorship activation. Leading the way is the New Orleans Pelicans.

Barstool, DraftKings Near Sports Betting Deal After Penn Lock-Up
As Sportico’s Eben Novy-Williams writes, “Once again under the ownership of founder Dave Portnoy, the media company is in advanced talks on a wide-ranging sports betting deal with DraftKings, according to multiple people familiar with the negotiations…

While nothing is yet signed, the talks have centered around a multiyear deal that will pay Barstool in the low eight figures per year, said the people, who were granted anonymity because the details are private. Barstool is unable to finalize a betting deal until after the Super Bowl, because of a lock-up as part of its recent separation from Penn Entertainment, according to the sources.”
^sportico.com

NBC Sports and Cosm Partner to Deliver Live Premier League Matches and More in “Shared Reality”
NBC Sports and Cosm, a leading immersive technology, media, and entertainment company, today announced a multi-year partnership wherein NBC Sports will bring an expansive offering of live Premier League soccer matches, along with additional live sports content from NBC Sports’ world-class portfolio, to Cosm’s forthcoming immersive venues.
^cosm.com

Amazon Eyes Diamond Sports Bailout Options
As Sportico’s Brendan Coffey writes, “Under the proposed deal, Amazon will contribute $115 million for a two-year convertible note in Diamond. That means Amazon will be paid interest on its money, about $7.2 million a year, plus get all its capital back in 24 months at the latest…The deal faces high hurdles to get approved as its currently proposed. For one, the bankruptcy court judge has to approve the deal, and it’s possible one or more of the parties involved, such as the leagues whose rights are licensed to Diamond, could object. The proposal also makes clear that the YES Network, which shows the Yankees, NBA’s Nets and WNBA’s Liberty, would have to agree — which is unlikely.”
^sportico.com

Sources: Brewers finalizing deal with free agent Rhys Hoskins
First baseman Rhys Hoskins and the Milwaukee Brewers are finalizing a two-year, $34 million contract with an opt-out after the first season, sources told ESPN on Tuesday, and as ESPN’s Jeff Passan puts it, it’s “filling a significant hole in the reigning National League Central champions' lineup with a veteran power bat.”
^espn.com

Highly Concentrated CFB Viewership - 2016-23 Total Nielsen-Rated Viewers 
As Tony Altimore writes on Twitter, “Check this out, gang: 50% of football viewership comes from just 18 teams In updating TV data to add in this year, I continue to be amazed by how heavily concentrated viewers are among so few brands.”
^twitter.com

WWE Deal Doesn’t Mean Netflix Will Invest More in Sports, Co-CEO Says
“WWE is sports entertainment,” Sarandos clarified during Netflix’s fourth-quarter earnings conference call. “It’s really as close to our core as you can get in terms of sports storytelling. In terms of the deal itself, it has options and the protections we seek in our general licensing deals, and with economics that we’re super happy with globally. So, I would not look at this as a signal of any change to our sports strategy.”
^cnbc.com

Next Sports Boom Town? Salt Lake City Makes Case for NHL Expansion
Sports magnate Ryan Smith, the owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz (along with their Delta Center) and co-owner of MLS’s Real Salt Lake and NWSL’s Utah Royals, issued a public statement on Wednesday through his Smith Entertainment Group calling on the NHL to initiate a formal expansion process that would consider Salt Lake City, advancing two years of private discussions with league commissioner Gary Bettman. The development of a new, state-of-the-art hockey arena is part of Smith’s pitch for an NHL franchise, which he says is predicated “on making this happen as soon as possible.”
^{frontofficesports.com}

Bucks Hire Doc Rivers as Head Coach With Hopes That He Can Lead Them to a Championship
The Milwaukee Bucks have hired Rivers as their head coach after firing Adrian Griffin 43 games into his tenure, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Wednesday.

Rivers takes over a 30-13 Bucks team sitting 3.5 games behind the Boston Celtics in second place in the Eastern Conference. As Yahoo! Sports’ Jason Owens writes, “The Bucks hire Rivers with their sights squarely set on a second NBA championship in four seasons.

Milwaukee stunned the NBA by dismissing Griffin Tuesday amid the 30-13 start.”
^{sports.yahoo.com}

Eagles Interview Former Cardinals Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury for Offensive Coordinator Position, per Report
CBS Sports’ Jordan Dajani reports “According to NFL Media, the Eagles interviewed current USC senior offensive analyst and former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury for their offensive coordinator job on Tuesday. Kingsbury has received some NFL interest this offseason, reportedly interviewing with the Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Steelers as well.” 
^{cbssports.com}

Joe Barry out as Packers Defensive Coordinator
Joe Barry is out as the Packers' defensive coordinator even after his defense held up well enough to help Green Bay advance to the NFC divisional round of the playoffs.

"We want to thank Joe for his commitment and contributions to our success the past three seasons," LaFleur said in a statement released by the team. "These decisions are extremely difficult, and Joe is one of the best men I've had the opportunity to work with in this league."
^espn.com

Raiders Hire Former Chargers General Manager Tom Telesco as New GM
As Around the NFL Writer Kevin Patra writes, “Considered a dark-horse candidate among the Raiders finalists, which included interim GM Champ Kelly and Colts assistant general manager Ed Dodds, [Tom] Telesco brings a wealth of experience to pair with coach Antonio Pierce. That experience likely won out for owner Mark Davis, who reportedly had expressed apprehension about pairing a first-time GM with a rookie coach.
^nfl.com

With College Sports at a Critical Juncture, is 'Project DI' the Answer? 'Everything is on the Table'
As Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger writes in answer to the question as to what’s wrong with Project DI, “Those in Division III, Division II and many in Division I support a proposal that draws a more official line between the haves and have-nots of the NCAA’s three-division, 97-conference organization…

However, at the Power Five level, there is pushback, especially from those in the Big Ten and SEC…”
^{sports.yahoo.com}

Majority of ACC Athletes Surveyed Want to Be Involved in Reform Model Discussions
A survey of ACC athletes by Athletes.org revealed that 60% of those who responded said they want to be involved in discussions about the creation of a model like the one the NCAA proposed last month.
^on3.com

Loyola Marymount Nixes Six Intercollegiate Sports Programs at the Conclusion of the 2023-24 Competitive Season
The impacted sports are men’s rowing, men’s cross country, men’s track and field, women’s rowing, women’s track and field, and women’s swimming.

We realize that this is unexpected and unsettling news,” AD Craig Pintens writes. “And I’d like to explain a few considerations about how and why we arrived at this difficult decision. LMU currently offers 20 sports programs with more than 400 student-athletes, the most in the West Coast Conference. Our goal is to provide the best student-athlete experience possible, and we are better positioned to achieve our objectives when we concentrate our finite resources on fewer programs.”
^{resources.lmu.edu}

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