Sport & Story Daily June 11, 2024

Stay Ahead of the Game

June 11, 2024

Good morning! NBA Expansion + Hurley Stays

Adam Silver Teases Three Potential NBA Expansion Cities
NBA commissioner Adam Silver joined NBC Sports Boston's Celtics Pregame Live on Sunday at TD Garden ahead of Game 2 of the NBA Finals and confirmed the league will look at the possibility of expanding from its 30 current teams after it finalizes new media rights deals.
^{NBC Boston via Yahoo! Sports}

Pinehurst Marks Start of USGA Strategy to Focus on Three Primary Hosts for U.S. Open
The U.S. Open returns to Pinehurst No. 2 this week for the first time in a decade, and it marks the start of a new way of thinking for the U.S. Golf Association.

This week’s Open is the first such event to be held at one of the USGA’s new anchor sites, which include Pinehurst, Oakmont Country Club and Pebble Beach Golf Links. As SBJ notes, the USGA tabbed those courses as anchors two years ago, with a goal of building continuity at courses for its top championships.
^{Sports Business Journal}

U.S. Open Is Making Changes On and Off the Course
A source tells Front Office Sports those sales will total just over $23 million. As FOS’ David Rumsey writes, “Large companies with strong contingents in nearby Raleigh and Charlotte are responsible for most of those incoming dollars, but organizers are also benefiting from the growing trend of some golf fans becoming more and more willing to spend ultrahigh dollar amounts on premium tickets.”
^{Front Office Sports}

USGA Renews With Amex Ahead of U.S. Open
The USGA has signed a multiyear renewal with longtime partner Amex ahead of the U.S. Open getting underway this week at Pinehurst No. 2. Financials were not disclosed. Amex and the USGA first partnered in 2006.
^{Sports Business Journal}

DAZN to Air Washington Spirit Matches Against Arsenal, Chelsea
As SBJ’s Mollie Cahillane reports, “Streaming platform DAZN has partnered with the NWSL’s Washington Spirit for international broadcasts of matches against Arsenal and Chelsea of the Women’s Super League.

“The Spirit are hosting the European clubs at Audi Field for a pair of international friendlies. The Spirit will play Arsenal on Aug. 18 at 2 p.m., and Arsenal and Chelsea will face off Aug. 25 at 4 p.m. The occasion marks the first time Arsenal has played in the U.S.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Lucas Oil and Water: Indy’s NFL Venue Sops Up Olympic Swim Trials
Per Sportico, Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, has hosted a swath of sporting events from the Super Bowl and the Final Four to the NFL Combine and Monster Jam. This month, it adds the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials to that list.
^Sportico

Sources: Dan Hurley Rejects Lakers’ Offer, Stays at UConn
Dan Hurley has turned down the Los Angeles Lakers' six-year, $70 million offer and will return to chase a third straight national title at UConn, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Lakers would have made Hurley one of the NBA's six highest-paid coaches. But before opening talks with the Lakers, Hurley already had an offer from UConn to become one of the highest-paid NCAA coaches, and those talks will continue, sources told Wojnarowski.
^ESPN

College Football’s 2024 All-‘Wait, They’re Still Playing College Football?!’ Team
The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel and Max Olson of The Athletic write, “The NCAA’s decision during the early months of the pandemic to grant a free year of eligibility for the 2020 season opened the door for a generation of players to extend their careers interminably. And now, thanks to increased transfer freedom, they can even do so at three or more schools. All of which has created endless headaches for coaches but absolute gold for those of us who produce college football content for a living.

“We are thrilled to unveil our fourth annual ‘Wait, They’re Still Playing College Football?’”
^{The Atlantic}

Thanks to NIL, Local Car Dealers Are Out of the Shadows and Landing Star College Athletes
For decades, these were shifty conversations [between car dealerships and student-athletes]. Local car dealerships had long been conduits for the whispered inducements coaches or boosters promised talented players. When discovered, scandal erupted. Repercussions were often stark. Then came the seismic summer of 2021, when changes to Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rules allowed college athletes to earn money without fear of NCAA sanctions.
^{The Atlantic}

Increased NIL Deals Executed at a Faster Pace? Learfield’s Compass Has a New App for That
“[This] represents Compass’ biggest stage of evolution,” said Cole Gahagan, Learfield’s president and CEO. “Things are moving pretty quickly. More than ever, schools and student-athletes alike are going to be focused on how to create more NIL revenue opportunities, and the faster we can put the Compass platform in the hands of our property sellers, the faster we can accelerate NIL dealmaking.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

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