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- Sport & Story Daily April 24, 2024
Sport & Story Daily April 24, 2024
Sport & Story Daily April 24, 2024

Stay Ahead of the Game
April 24, 2024
Good morning! WNBA Boom Goes Beyond Clark

JEROME MIRON-USA TODAY SPORTS
The WNBA Boom Goes Beyond Caitlin Clark
As FOS’ Margaret Fleming reports, “On March 7, the reigning back-to-back champion Las Vegas Aces announced they had sold out of season tickets, an apparent first in the WNBA. On Monday, the Dallas Wings and Atlanta Dream both announced they’d done the same.”
And while Clark has created a ton of buzz, Fleming notes, “The WNBA notched its best Finals viewership since 2003 with October’s series between the Aces and the New York Liberty, up 36% from the year before. Last year’s regular season was the most watched in 21 years and best attended in 13 years.”
Front Office Sports
NFL: Falcons, Eagles Tampering Probes Won't Conclude This Week
This news means that if either team is found to have violated the league's tampering rules and loses draft picks, those selections will not come from this week's draft. The Eagles and Falcons each have eight picks in the 2024 draft.
The Falcons are being investigated for allegedly being in direct contact with Kirk Cousins, formerly with the Minnesota Vikings, before they were legally allowed to, according to league rules. The Eagles are being investigated for alleged tampering regarding their signing of Saquon Barkley, who had previously played for the New York Giants.
ESPN

Range Media Gets Investment From Billionaire Bonderman, Liberty
Talent representation and content production firm Range Media Partners has announced that it has received a minority investment from a group of investors, including private equity billionaire and Seattle Kraken owner David Bonderman, the John Malone-led Liberty Global, and Rick Hess, best known for founding Evolution Media.
Range was founded in 2020 by Hollywood agents from CAA, UTA, and WME in what Variety termed “the biggest startup in Hollywood’s talent representation sector in years.”
Sportico
Infinite Reality Acquires Drone Racing League For $250 Million
Per Sportico, Infinite Reality, a creator of AI-powered experiences, has acquired the Drone Racing League for $250 million. The acquisition, which increases the company’s valuation to $3.5 billion, further expands its portfolio in the virtual reality space.
Sportico


BRAD PENNER-USA TODAY SPORTS
Caitlin Clark and the Fever to Receive Even More TV Coverage
Eric Fisher of FOS writes, “One week after the Iowa superstar was drafted by the Fever with the No. 1 pick—fueling record ratings for the WNBA draft and meteoric rises in ticket sales—the team struck a deal Monday with Tegna to place 17 of the team’s games on the media company’s over-the-air stations in Indianapolis. Those games, beginning with a May 16 contest against the 2023 league runner-up Liberty, will be shown on either WTHR, the NBC affiliate, or WALV, the MeTV affiliate.”
Front Office Sports
ESPN, TNT Can Match Any New Deal NBA Reaches With Third Party
SBJ’s Austin Karp reports: “NBA media rights incumbents ESPN and TNT have the right to match any new deal that the league may strike with a third party, according to a source familiar with the existing contract terms. This could manifest itself in two key ways. One, should the NBA look to bring in a third party like Amazon, NBC/Peacock or otherwise on a streaming package, ESPN or TNT would have the right to match that sort of deal. Second, should another company like NBC look to take over an existing linear TV deal held by ESPN or TNT, those incumbents also would have the right to match that deal.”
Sports Business Journal


Brian Cassella - Chicago Tribune
Bears to Unveil Plans for Domed Lakefront Stadium
The Bears will unveil plans for a "new enclosed stadium on the Chicago lakefront" during a news conference tomorrow at Soldier Field. The Bears are planning for "a state-of-the-art, publicly owned enclosed stadium, along with additional green and open space with access to the lakefront for families and fans, on the Museum Campus."
Sports Business Journal
Moody's Signs Cornerstone Deal at MetLife Stadium
Per SBJ, Pepsi is out, and credit-rating agency Moody’s is in as a cornerstone sponsor at MetLife Stadium. Under the deal, Moody’s gets branding on one of the four stadium gates and entitlement to the Commissioners Club high-end hospitality suites section, along with bowl signage and digital display advertising in the stadium.
Sports Business Journal


Chiefs.com
Chiefs Make Andy Reid NFL's Highest-Paid Coach, Sign President Mark Donovan, GM Brett Veach to Extensions
Yahoo! Sports’ Jason Owens reports, “The Chiefs didn't announce terms of the deals but vowed in the announcement that ‘the leadership team of the Chiefs will remain in place for the long-term future.’ NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports that Reid's extension runs through 2029 and makes him the NFL's highest-paid head coach.”
Yahoo! Sports
Missouri Names Laird Veatch New Athletic Director
Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Missouri has named Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch as the school's next athletic director, the university announced Tuesday. The terms of Veatch's contract were not disclosed but sources told ESPN that he received a five-year deal. Veatch has been at Memphis since October 2019 and brings SEC experience from his time at Florida from 2017 through 2019, when he was an executive associate athletic director.
ESPN

Division I Board of Directors Ratifies Transfer, NIL Rule Changes
The NCAA reports: Effective immediately, Division I student-athletes have access to additional school assistance with name, image and likeness activities and more flexibility to transfer, the Division I Board of Directors decided Monday when it affirmed action taken last week by the Division I Council.
NCAA
What it Means for Pac-12 to Be Classified as ‘Nonautonomous FBS Conference’
As a result, the Pac-12 will lose representation on the Board of Directors. It will retain representation and voting rights on the Division I Council, the Football Oversight Committee and the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee when applicable, but the weight of its Council vote will be diminished.
The Athletic
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