Sport & Story Daily March 29, 2024

Stay Ahead of the Game

March 28, 2024

Good morning! MLB is Back + NCAA in Hot Water

Latest Class-Action Lawsuit Facing NCAA Could Lead to Over $900 Million in New Damages
The NCAA and its Power 5 conferences could be facing more than $900 million in additional damages as a result of a class-action lawsuit seeking academic achievement payments to athletes dating back to the 2019-2020 school year.

The suit — filed in April 2023 — followed a ruling upheld by the Supreme Court in 2021 in the case of former West Virginia football player Shawne Alston that prevents the NCAA from having limits on the education-related compensation athletes can receive from their schools.
^usatoday.com

Why the Dodgers Have Made Salary Deferrals a Common Part of Contract Negotiations
As The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and Ken Rosenthal write, “The deferment of salaries has become an increasingly common practice for the Dodgers in recent years, most vividly demonstrated in Shohei Ohtani’s landmark 10-year, $700 million contract, almost all of which will be paid from 2034 to ‘43. The deal thrust deferrals into the grander conversation of the sport, raising concern about a “tax dodge.” The annual present-day value of Ohtani’s contract for luxury tax purposes is around $46 million — the highest in major-league history, but much lower than $70 million.”
^{theathletic.com}

Planned T-Wolves, Lynx Sale Turns Bitter As Teams Pulled Off Market
As reported by FOS: “[Timberwolves and Lynx owner Glen] Taylor, who has owned a majority stake in the Timberwolves since 1994, plus the Lynx since its ’99 debut, took the teams off the market after claiming Rodriguez and Lore failed to meet a Wednesday deadline to buy a 40% equity stake in the teams, adding to a separate 40% the former MLB star and his business partner already own.”
^{frontofficesports.com}

Longtime ESPN Host John Anderson Leaving Network This Summer
Longtime “SportsCenter” host John Anderson announced that he will be leaving ESPN at the end of June when his contract expires, according to Chris Bumbaca of USA TODAY. Anderson has been with ESPN since 1999 and typically sits behind the desk for the 11PM ET show of “SportsCenter.”

In a clip posted by “The Inside Wisconsin” show, Anderson said, “The operation has changed” around doing the nightly show, but he also said, “I don’t know that it’s passed me by. But it’s taken its toll, and I still want to be able to do the best shows I can, and I don’t know that in years 26 or 27 that I have the stamina to go through it again. So I’m done.” Anderson said that he “doesn’t know what his future holds.”
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

One Bold Prediction for Every MLB Team on Opening Day
The Athletic Staff writes, “Baseball is hard. Predicting it is even harder. But why let that pesky reality stand in the way of a fun exercise? Leading up to Opening Day, we asked our writers for their bold predictions, and they came through.

“We went through this process last year, too. It turns out we had a few pretty good prognosticators in the house, though they proved to be the exception.”
^{theathletic.com}

New UW AD Pat Chun: ‘We Will Not Take a Back Seat to Anyone’
Said Chun: “This is a unique moment in time for UW and college athletics. As college sports continues to go through dynamic change, Washington and the Big Ten Conference should be leaders, not followers. We will not take a back seat to anyone, and we will ensure that our voices are heard at the highest levels of college athletics.”
^{seattletimes.com}

David Rubenstein Sets Vision After Officially Taking Over Orioles
David Rubenstein said that his “first priority” as new owner of the Orioles will be to “support the ascent of an organization that was torn down to the studs and built back up through one of the best player-development operations in the sport,” according to Andy Kostka of the BALTIMORE BANNER.
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

Big East’s March Madness Wins Key to Keeping Up With Football Powers
Sportico’s Jacob Feldman and Eben Novy-Williams write, “So where does a dominant basketball conference that doesn’t offer football fit into the economics of college sports? The Big East reported $88 million in revenue in 2021-22, according to its tax filings, well below even the lowest Power Five conference (the Big 12 at $481 million). It also trailed the American ($183 million), but was the next richest NCAA conference by revenue, coming in ahead of the Mountain West ($79 million).”
^sportico.com

Why is Michigan Hiring a GM for NIL? ‘Everyone’s Feeling Like They’re Behind’
As Austin Meeks of The Athletic writes, “Having an on-campus general manager for NIL has become increasingly common as schools try to keep tabs on NIL opportunities for hundreds of athletes in a fiercely competitive market. Altius hires and places GMs at the schools that sign up for its services, collecting a consulting fee from the school as well as the equivalent of the GM’s salary. Though the GMs aren’t university employees, most have offices on campus and work with school officials to tailor an NIL strategy to the specific institution.”
^{theathletic.com}

In Wake of Brooks Exit, Babcock Ways Virginia Tech Has 'Limitations'
“Our resources were good enough to get to the Final Four and be one quarter away from playing for a national championship,” Tech athletic director Whit Babcock said Wednesday on a video conference. “If all it was [was about the] budget, then Ohio State and Texas would be in that thing every year.

“Having said that, … I guess Kentucky’s budget may be $30- or $40-million more than ours. Yeah, they can push some more into it.
^roanoke.com

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