Sport & Story Daily May 24, 2024

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May 24, 2024

Good morning! NCAA, Robot Umps + T-Swift!

SEC Latest to Approve Terms of Multi-Billion Settlement in House v. NCAA Class-Action Lawsuit: Sources
The Athletic is reporting that SEC presidents and chancellors voted to approve terms of what is expected to be a multi-billion-dollar settlement in the House v. NCAA class-action lawsuit on Thursday, a source briefed on the decision confirmed to The Athletic. This comes on the heels of the Big 12, ACC, Big Ten and NCAA Board of Governors doing the same earlier this week. The Board of Governors is the NCAA’s highest governing body. The Pac-12 is expected to follow suit as well. The votes are another step toward finalizing a settlement in the landmark case that is likely to reshape the college sports business model.
^{The Athletic}

Taylor Swift Ticket Fiasco Could Rock Sports As Feds Step In
FOS’ Margaret Fleming writes, “Though the lawsuit is primarily focused on live music, sports are a big part of Ticketmaster’s business. Roughly 60–70% of ticket volume on the platform is for sports events, but the concert business makes more money, Live Nation president and CEO Michael Rapino said in 2021. And in the sports industry, Ticketmaster is king. The company controlled more than 70% of primary ticketing for NBA and NHL arenas in ’22, the suit claims.”
^{Front Office Sports}

WNBA Officially Names Toronto Its First International Franchise, Will Start Playing in 2026
Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced Thursday morning that Toronto is the home of the newest team to join the WNBA. It will be the league's first international franchise and will begin playing in 2026.
^{Yahoo! Sports}

MLB Says Robot Home Plate Umpires Unlikely for 2025
“We still have some technical issues,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday at a news conference following an owners meeting. “We haven’t made as much progress in the minor leagues this year as we sort of hoped at this point. I think it’s becoming more and more likely that this will not be a go for ’25.”
^{Yahoo! Sports}

Bowlsby Bonanza: Big 12 Paid Commish $17.2M After Retiring
As Sportico’s Daniel Libit writes, “In the wake of former commissioner Bob Bowlsby’s retirement in 2022, the Big 12 Conference created an award for athletes named in his recognition.

“But perhaps Bowlsby’s ultimate honor was revealed Thursday, when the conference publicly released its fiscal year 2023 tax returns. The filings showed that Bowlsby, who ran the Big 12 for a decade, received $17.2 million from the league in FY23.”
^Sportico

Apple Picks Up U.S. Open Cup Streaming Rights
Apple TV will stream the final three rounds of the 2024 U.S. Open Cup for free on MLS Season Pass under a one-off agreement with U.S. Soccer. Early round matches this year were only available on USSoccer.com, MLSSoccer.com and USLSoccer.com. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.  
^{Sports Business Journal}

‘Morale Sucks’: Charles Barkley Blasts David Zaslav’s Historic Bungling of NBA Rights
Barkley called his employers “clowns” and “fools” and directly cited Zaslav’s infamous claim that his company didn’t need the league. (Zaslav backtracked on that earlier this spring and was spotted sucking up to the league by wearing a stiff Knicks cap courtside at Madison Square Garden during the team’s playoff run.)
^{Front Office Sports}

MLB Announces 2026 World Baseball Classic Host Sites: Houston, Miami and More
LoanDepot Park in Miami will host the finals of the sixth edition of the World Baseball Classic when the competition returns in March 2026, Major League Baseball announced Thursday.

The three other venues for the tournament will be the Tokyo Dome in Japan, Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Minute Maid Park in Houston. The semifinals will take place in Miami and Houston, which will host WBC games for the first time.
^{The Athletic}

Cavaliers Fire Coach J.B. Bickerstaff After Five Seasons
Per ESPN, despite the franchise's first berth in the Eastern Conference semifinals in six seasons, the Cleveland Cavaliers dismissed coach J.B. Bickerstaff on Thursday morning. As Adrian Wojnarowski writes, “Bickerstaff, 45, ushered the Cavaliers through a rebuild, winning 99 regular-season games in the past two seasons, but the franchise now embarks on a search that it hopes will land a coach to take Cleveland deeper into the Eastern Conference playoffs.”
^ESPN

Longtime NFL Reporter Ed Werder Leaving ESPN
One of the "most familiar presences" in NFL coverage at ESPN is leaving the network, as longtime reporter Ed Werder announced today his time at ESPN "had ended and that he is looking for his next landing spot." Werder's contract was expiring and "was not renewed."
^{Sports Business Journal}

U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte Sweeney Has Denied the NCAA’s Request to Move Fontenot v. NCAA to California
Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger tweeted, “A Colorado judge has denied the NCAA’s motion to transfer the Fontenot antitrust case to California. The NCAA was/is hoping to consolidate the case with the current settlement agreement - something Fontenot lawyers are vehemently opposing. This is worth monitoring.”
^Twitter

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