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- Sport & Story Daily March 18, 2024
Sport & Story Daily March 18, 2024
Sport & Story Daily March 18, 2024

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Stay Ahead of the Game
March 18, 2024
Good morning! Let the Madness Begin

ILLUSTRATION BY LORENZO GORDON, IMAGE BY GETTY
UConn Leads Top Seeds in Men’s Basketball Spending: Data Viz
As Sportico’s Lev Akabas writes, “The wide range of men’s college basketball budgets is on display in 2024 March Madness. UConn, which is a No. 1 seed for the first time since 2009, spent $24.1 million on its men’s basketball team in the 2021-22 season, good for the second-most in the country. Meanwhile, No. 16 seed Grambling State was the seventh-most frugal Division I program in the country, with expenditures totaling just $854,000, according to EADA data.”
sportico.com
Bracket Bucks: Conferences Eye $260M Payday, Tournament Glory
As reported by FOS’ David Rumsey and Eric Fisher, “The NCAA, which brings in some $900 million in annual media rights fees from CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery, allocates payment units to conferences for every team that qualifies for the men’s tournament, and each subsequent round they advance to up until the Final Four. How much the 2024 units are worth won’t be known until schools report financials from this year, but in recent seasons their value has been about $2 million each, and they are paid out to conferences over six years. In total, 132 units (worth, one can guess, at least $264 million) will be handed out, meaning that $128 million is still up for grabs via the 64 available units this month, in addition to the $136 million already set for the 68 tournament teams.”
frontofficesports.com


NWSL's Wave Sold for $113M to Levine Leichtman
Lauren Leichtman and husband Arthur Levine "will initially join as significant minority investors" and "acquire a majority stake at the end of the season. The NWSL San Diego Wave "will have new owners by the season's end."
sportsbusinessjournal.com
Steelers Plan to Sign QB Russell Wilson to Long-Term Contract, per Report
The Pittsburgh Steelers would reportedly like to keep quarterback Russell Wilson in Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future. Wilson, entering his 13th NFL season, is slated to earn the league’s veteran minimum, $1.21 million, in his 2024 contract with Pittsburgh.
si.com


TREVOR RUSZKOWSKI-USA TODAY SPORTS
Would Stephen A. Smith Make It On Late Night TV?
FOS’ Michael McCarthy writes, “During Smith’s appearance at the BSM Summit Wednesday, I asked him about Jimmy Kimmel’s comment last month that the late night host might retire after his current contract expires in 2026. Fifteen months ago, Smith told Sean Hannity that he’d ‘love’ to be considered ‘heir’ to Kimmel—so I asked Smith, whose current ESPN contract expires in July, 2025: Is that still the case?”
frontofficesports.com


Photos: First Game in CPKC Stadium Thrills With a Big Win For the Kansas City Current
The Kansas City Current became a part of history Saturday when the NWSL team became the first to play in a stadium built and dedicated to a women’s professional sports franchise.
CPKC Stadium on the banks of the Missouri River near downtown Kansas City was opened to a sold-out crowd that came to see the Current take on the Portland Thorns. Co-owners Angie and Chris Long, along with co-owners Brittany and Patrick Mahomes, took part in a ribbon cutting and other ceremonies to celebrate the opening of the stadium.
yahoo.com


Rams’ Future Hall of Fame DT Aaron Donald Retires After 10 Seasons
Los Angeles Rams star defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who made the game-sealing plays in Super Bowl LVI, is retiring from the NFL at 32.
“For 10 years, I have been fortunate to play the game at the highest level,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I’m thankful for the people I have met along the way, the relationships I have built, and the things I have accomplished with my teammates and individually.”
theathletic.com
6 Candidates (Jay Wright?) to Replace Juwan Howard at Michigan Now That He’s Out, According to Twitter
USA Today’s Charles Curtis writes, “What you might describe as a very uneven tenure for former Fab Five legend Juwan Howard is over. The former Michigan star is out as head coach of the Wolverines after five seasons that included just two NCAA men’s tournament appearances, with a loss to Villanova in the Sweet Sixteen in 2022 and a regional final loss to UCLA in 2021.
Fans on X (formerly Twitter) had the same thought and jumped in with some ideas for the athletic department…
ftw.usatoday.com


Eakin Howard - Getty Images
Selection Sunday is Over—Men’s and Women’s Brackets Complete
👉🏼 Women’s Bracket
👉🏼 Men’s Bracket
theathletic.com
How Dan Monson Led Long Beach State to Men's March Madness ... Despite Being Fired
As USA Today’s Charles Curtis writes, “You want to talk about March Madness? This is literally it. Long Beach State will be dancing in the 2024 men’s NCAA tournament … with a fired coach at the helm.”
The program had announced Dan Monson would no longer be the head coach, but that it would let him finish out the season. Well, you can guess what happened next: the 49ers won out, and now they’re headed to the tourney.
ftw.usatoday.com
The Future Of College Athletics With NCAA President Charlie Baker
NCAA President Charlie Baker sits down with ADU’s Jason Belzer to discuss the future of college athletics, including the development of the NCAA’s fan database, transparency issues in NIL, the impact of sports wagering on the integrity of competition and his belief in the power of the student-athlete voice.
athleticdirectoru.com
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