Sport & Story Daily May 7, 2024

Stay Ahead of the Game

May 7, 2024

Good morning! Playfly Sports Inks Snoop Bowl

Snoop Dogg to Sponsor Arizona Bowl With Gin & Juice Brand
“I’ve sent many players through my SYFL to colleges and the NFL, so it’s only fitting that I bring the 'juice' back to college football,” Snoop Dogg said in a statement to Yahoo Sports. “With Gin & Juice By Dre and Snoop, we’re going to make the Arizona Bowl into a gameday experience like never before.”

One of the game’s consulting partners, Playfly Sports, arranged the marriage between the bowl and Snoop Dogg, an avid football fan whose Los Angeles-based Snoop Youth Football League (SYFL) has provided opportunities for more than 60,000 inner-city children over its 18-year existence.
^{Yahoo! Sports}

Kentucky Derby Winner Mystik Dan Might Be Skipping Preakness Stakes
The LA Times’ John Cherwa writes via Yahoo! Sports, “Mystik Dan’s road to the Triple Crown might be taking a detour before the Preakness Stakes. Kenny McPeek, trainer of the Kentucky Derby winner, said Sunday morning that he has not committed to going to Baltimore to race May 18 after the horse seemed a little off after Saturday’s victory. One thing that trainers use to gauge a horse’s fitness is how they eat. In short, an empty feed bucket means a happy horse.

“‘Most trainers don’t talk about all this,’ McPeek said. ‘Look, cards on the table, face up. He left three-quarters of his feed.’”
^{Los Angeles Times via Yahoo! Sports}

Can ESPN Bet Get on Solid Footing Before Football Season Kicks Off?
As FOS’ David Rumsey reports, “ESPN Bet isn’t even six months old yet, but with the biggest sports gambling events of the first half of the year having yet to produce a major boost for the platform, a crucial summer lies ahead for the product and brand born out of a $2 billion partnership between Disney and Penn Entertainment. Last week, Penn’s stock tumbled more than 10% and, at one point reached a 52-week low…”
^{Front Office Sports}

Angel Reese’s WNBA Preseason Debut Racks Up Millions of Views on Phone Stream
As FOS’ Alex Schiffer writes, “Angel Reese’s WNBA debut drew an enormous audience—from a fan’s cellphone. The Chicago Sky’s Friday preseason game against the Minnesota Lynx was unavailable to the masses after the WNBA mistakenly said it was available on its League Pass service. So a random fan took matters into her own hands.” 
^{Front Office Sports}

NBC Going With Four-Man Booth at U.S. Open, Including Chamblee, Faxon as Analysts
SBJ’s Josh Carpenter reports, “One of golf’s most controversial voices will be added to NBC Sports’ U.S. Open booth next month at Pinehurst, as Brandel Chamblee will join a four-man booth and be one of two lead analysts at the No. 2 course. Chamblee will serve as an analyst alongside play-by-play man Dan Hicks for even holes during the Open, while analyst Brad Faxon and Mike Tirico will pair up for the odd holes at the No. 2 course.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Maple Leafs Eyeing Murky Future After Another Playoff Exit Under Shanahan
Another year with another playoff disappointment has “become a rite of spring that cannot please the folks who control the Maple Leafs,” according to Dave Feschuk of the TORONTO STAR via SBJ. The Maple Leafs are now "0-5 in Game 7s in the Shanaplan era,” including the latest heartbreaking loss in overtime on Saturday night to the rival Bruins. Roster moves are likely necessary to improve the team's chances next year.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Baylor’s Big Dave Aranda Bet: Can Another Offseason of Change Save a Sputtering Program?
As The Athletic’s Sam Khan Jr. writes, “Aranda entered Rhoades’ office in Baylor’s Simpson Center carrying a paper-clipped two-page document with notes, bullet points and highlighted text. For the next 90 minutes, he detailed a plan to revive a league-worst defense, retool on offense and alter the program’s roster-building approach. He delivered his vision with an edge and confidence that reminded Rhoades of his initial interview with Aranda four years ago, one day after Aranda had won the national championship as LSU’s defensive coordinator.”
^{The Athletic}

Jets Coach Rick Bowness Retires After 38 Years in NHL
As ESPN’s Ryan S. Clark reports, “Winnipeg Jets coach Rick Bowness has retired after spending 38 seasons behind an NHL bench…The 69-year-old Bowness is retiring after having one of the best seasons of his career. He guided the Jets to a 52-win campaign that saw them finish with 110 points before they lost in the Western Conference quarterfinal round to the Colorado Avalanche in five games.”
^ESPN

Mavericks Extend Head Coach Jason Kidd After Defeating Clippers in Round 1
"We are excited to have Coach Kidd continue to lead our team throughout the coming years with this well-earned contract extension," Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont said in a statement. "Kidd led our team to two playoff appearances in three seasons, and we are looking forward to his leadership in continuing to build and grow this already great franchise."
^{Yahoo! Sports}

College Basketball is in a State of Chaos, But It's Not Beyond Fixing
As Fox Sports’ John Fanta writes, “The bottom line is that the money has led more than 1,800 men's college basketball players to enter the transfer portal this year. It's smart to enter and capitalize on your value. In today's college basketball landscape, there is no longer anything keeping a player from leaving a program for the opportunity to make more money. Players can transfer as many times as they'd like without the penalty of having to sit out a year. So, with the lack of guardrails in place, can you really blame an athlete for switching schools if a better financial opportunity presents itself?”
^{Fox Sports}

USC Professor Notes: “FSU Boosters Have Plenty of Cash Flow to Support the Bonds.”
USC Public Policy professor Bill Farley points out Florida State’s financial details for $327M worth of revenue bonds include a noticeable increase in “Membership Fee Revenue” from FY25 ($18.46M) to FY26 ($33.29M), which “can be tied back to The Project Osceola/Private Equity documents.”
^Twitter

ACC Mailbag: Ramifications of Potential Clemson, FSU Departure, Plus North Carolina Politics
The Athletic College Football Staff writes, “I believe the official date for Clemson and FSU to inform the ACC of their intended departures for the 2025 season would be this Aug. 15. So, that would mean we’d either have some form of resolution in court regarding the grant of rights by then (not likely considering it potentially affects conferences across college football and not just the ACC) or the schools and league settle out of court on exit fees (more likely).”
^{The Athletic}

Union-Free NCAA Collective Bargaining Idea Gains Backers
Sportico’s Michael McCann writes that CFBPA executive director Jason Stahl
“envisions non-employee bargaining for college athletes as compatible with modern employment trends. He sees the gig economy, with Uber drivers and similar arrangements, as reflecting Americans choosing “new types of work lives.” These lives, Stahl believes, preserve an independent status while incorporating opportunities to “collectively” seek the betterment of working conditions.”
^Sportico

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