Sport & Story Daily January 3, 2024

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January 3, 2024

Good morning! Will he or won’t he? Many are asking if Jim Harbaugh will return as Michigan HC

Jim Harbaugh Continues to Remain Elusive When Asked About His Future
After repeatedly exceeding expectations all year long—including defeating an SEC team with the recent win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl—everyone wants to know—will he or won’t he return as Michigan HC?

Harbaugh was asked about whether the championship game will be his last one at Michigan. “My future consists of a happy flight back to Ann Arbor, Michigan.”

As Michael Cohen writes on Twitter, “#Michigan AD Warde Manuel when asked if he'll try to have Jim Harbaugh to sign a contract extension on the flight home: ‘Hey brother, I’m working on it. Believe me. I’ve been working on it.’"
^twitter.com

Panthers' David Tepper Fined $300K for Tossing Drink at Fans
Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper was fined $300,000 by the NFL for what the league called "unacceptable conduct" during Sunday's 26-0 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Tepper was caught on video throwing a drink in the direction of Jaguars fans from his open-air suite at Jacksonville's EverBank Stadium.

"I should have let NFL stadium security handle any issues that arose," Tepper said. "I respect the NFL's code of conduct and accept the League's discipline for my behavior."
^espn.com

Mtn Dew Returns To Super Bowl With Baja Blast Commercial
Mtn Dew is back in the Super Bowl for the first time since 2021 with a commercial for its cult-favorite Baja Blast flavor, which used to only be sold at Taco Bell.
^adage.com

2024 Australian Open Qualifying to Stream Exclusively on ESPN+ Four Days of Coverage, Starting Sunday, at 6 p.m. ET
The Australian Open, tennis’ first major of 2024, commences Sunday, Jan. 7, at 6 p.m. ET, with all qualifying matches streaming live and exclusively on ESPN+ from Melbourne Park, Australia. Daily coverage will be available at 6 p.m. Sunday to Tuesday and at 7 p.m. on Wednesday through the conclusion of play.
_{espnpressroom.com}

Why the Patriots’ Bill Belichick-Robert Kraft Partnership is On the Verge of a Breakup
The Athletic’s Chad Graff writes, “Since [Tom] Brady’s departure, though, Kraft has grown frustrated as his team, once a model of success, has cratered into one of the NFL’s worst.

Belichick, meanwhile, has expressed irritation that all the success he’s helped provide hasn’t garnered more deference during this decline. When asked before the 2023 season why fans should still be optimistic about the Patriots, Belichick quipped, ‘I don’t know — the last 25 years?’”
^{theathletic.com}

Harris, Blitzer Take $10M HOF Village Stake In Youth Sports Push
Billionaire sports owners have acquired a majority stake in the ForeverLawn Sports Complex at the Hall of Fame Village in Canton, Ohio, continuing their momentum in the youth sports market. Harris and Blitzer plan to use their roughly $10 million purchase to create more youth sports programming at the 115-acre campus centered around the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The duo acquired snowboarding camp We Are Camp earlier this month with help from Shaun White and also bought Ripken Baseball earlier this year before merging it with their other youth baseball brand, Cooperstown All Star Village.
^sportico.com

Predicting How the NFL Divides Super Wild Card Weekend Between NBC, ESPN, FOX, and CBS
As Barrett Sports Media’s Moses Massena writes, “Since the NFL expanded to 14 teams in the postseason, it created ‘Super Wild Card Weekend’ with the games spanning three days, rather than two…So with one week to go in the NFL regular season, I figured I would take my time and predict where the games will be for Super Wild Card Weekend.”
^{barrettsportsmedia.com}

Seattle Shines in Spotlight During NHL Winter Classic
Seattle “showed out” yesterday for the Kraken-Golden Knights matchup in the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park , according to Ben Gotz of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. The stands were “packed, the breeze was light”
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

Construction to Begin on CBS's Vegas Super Bowl Set
A portion of the Fountains of Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip "will begin to be transformed into a television set for Super Bowl broadcasts on CBS" starting this week. The buildout of the stage will begin Friday and run through Feb. 2…
^{sportsbusinessjournal.com}

Will 2024 Be The Year Colin Cowherd Reunites With ESPN?
As Barrett Sports Media’s Demetria Ravanos writes of Colin Cowherd, “He will turn 60 years old this week. His name has been pretty ubiquitous at the top of the BSM Top 20 National Sports Radio Shows since it began. Leaving FOX to start all over again, even if it is a return to somewhere he knows well, would require a serious commitment. Is signing a deal to do sports radio for another seven to ten years really interesting to Cowherd at this point?”
^{barrettsportsmedia.com}

Deion Sanders Wants ‘More Privacy’ as He Reflects on ‘Adversity’ in First Season with Colorado (Exclusive)
“You always wish that you had a little more privacy,” Deion Sanders said in an interview with PEOPLE Magazine. “But the same thing that makes you shine will show your blemishes. [The season] was a whirlwind early on. Then it calmed down to a halt. We’re going to show you how we dealt with that adversity, it was tough because I’ve never lost pretty much in life, and in the last several years of my life, 10 years, decade, I’m a darn winner, so dealing with losses was tough.”
^people.com

The NCAA ‘Rich Institution’ Subdivision: Will Baker Address Embarrassing Absence Of Higher Education Leadership?
As Forbes Contributor Donna Lopiano writes in reference to NCAA President Charlie Baker’s “strawman” proposal that D-I schools would be allowed to provide at least $30,000 per year to at least half of all eligible male and female athletes, “Did anyone share what should be a required history lesson for any NCAA president — that the NCAA membership has always failed to stand up to ‘rich institution’ threats to leave the NCAA?”
^forbes.com

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