WNBA Refs Lax, Games Run Amok

“When the officials don’t get control of the ball game, when they allow that stuff to happen — and it’s been happening all season long … this is what happens.” - Fever head coach Stephanie White

Also, Lakers to be sold for $10 billion!

June 19, 2025

WNBA Players, Fans Deserve Better Than Fever-Sun Disaster, But Will the League Finally Take Action?
Yahoo Sports’ Cassandra Negley writes, “They [WNBA players] all deserve better. WNBA referees are often letting games get so far out of hand that the scuffle to end Indiana Fever’s blowout over the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday night was far from a surprise. It was expected.”

“I think it was pretty obvious that stuff was brewing, right?” Fever head coach Stephanie White said. “When the officials don’t get control of the ball game, when they allow that stuff to happen — and it’s been happening all season long … this is what happens.”
^{Yahoo! Sports}

Liberty CEO: Caitlin Clark ‘Expedited’ WNBA Growth but Won’t Sustain It
“She’s absolutely been a catalyst for the notoriety and popularity of this league at a really special time,” Clarke said during a women-in-sports event co-hosted by Liberty Media, Fanatics and Barclays at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Tuesday night. “She came in and lit a fire, but there was already a significant level of talent and relishing of players becoming influencers and cultural icons. It’s all those things meshed … [Clark’s arrival] just expedited what was going to happen over time.”
^Sportico

And in breaking news that you’ve surely heard due its seismic nature…👇🏼

Los Angeles Lakers to Be Sold for $10 Billion Valuation, Becoming Most Valuable Sports Franchise in the World
Mark Walter, Chief Executive Officer of Guggenheim Partners, will assume majority ownership over the iconic franchise once the deal is made official. Current owner Jeanie Buss will retain the title of governor, meaning she'll continue to represent the team in league matters. She's ran the team since her father Jerry's death in 2013.

The expected sale is valued at about $10 billion, first reported by ESPN, shattering the current record for the largest sale of a sports team in history. The previous record was last year's $6.1 billion sale of the Lakers' rival Boston Celtics. When the sale goes official, the Lakers will be the most valuable franchise in sports by nearly $4 billion.
^{CBS News}

Donald Trump Made $354M From Golf in 2024—Below His Previous High
Sportico’s Daniel Libit reports: “Newly released financial disclosures reveal that President Donald Trump brought in over $600 million in 2024, buoyed in part by fresh ventures in the cryptocurrency space. Yet one of his traditionally robust revenue sources—his golf course empire—appears to have seen a dip.

“The latest disclosures represent a notable decrease from the $555 million in golf-related receipts Trump disclosed for the period spanning January 2022 to April 14, 2023, though the figure remains proportionately consistent in the broader scale of his financial activity.”
^Sportico

Earthquakes Owner John Fisher to Put Team Up for Sale
The Earthquakes have started the process to sell a controlling interest in the club, with the ownership group -- led by Managing Partner John Fisher -- hiring Moelis & Co. to lead the effort. Fisher has served as the principal owner of the Earthquakes since 2008, when he and partner Lew Wolff helped bring the team back to MLS after a two-year hiatus.
^{San Jose Mercury News via Sports Business Journal}

Dana White: TKO’s New Boxing Venture to Be Named Zuffa Boxing
The name of TKO Group Holdings’ new boxing venture will be Zuffa Boxing, Dana White confirmed to SBJ, fulfilling a long-held desire to have that be the title of his venture into the sport. There have been few additional announcements to come out of TKO about the boxing venture since it was announced, but White said so far things are going “awesome, everything is going good – we had a great call yesterday with Netflix; I’m excited to work with them.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

What the NBA’s New TV Deal Means for Viewership and National, Local Markets
The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov writes, “This paradigm shift is a result of the media rights deals the NBA signed last summer, when it agreed to 11-year contracts with Disney, Amazon and NBC, worth a total of $75 billion. Next year, the NBA will have two new viewing homes, a larger presence on broadcast television and the option to stream any nationally televised game.

“The league’s future is far murkier when it comes to games broadcast in local markets, which make up the vast majority of the schedule and how most fans watch their favorite team. The long-term local broadcast situation for many NBA teams remains in flux heading into this summer…”
^{The Athletic}

NBA Finals Remain Down 19% Ahead of Game 6
The NBA Finals are now averaging 9.2 million viewers ahead of tonight’s Pacers-Thunder Game 6 on ABC, which has the league eyeing its least-watched Finals since Lakers-Heat from the bubble in the fall of 2020 (7.5 million over six games). Pacers-Thunder is down 19% from the 11.6 million that the five-game Celtics-Mavericks series drew last year.
^{Sports Business Journal}

NASCAR Near Deal for Cup Series Street Course Race in San Diego Area: Sources
The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi writes, “NASCAR is working toward finalizing a deal to race on a street course next year in the San Diego area, multiple industry sources told The Athletic, which would return its premier Cup Series to the Southern California market after a multi-year absence.

“Adding a race in San Diego would accomplish NASCAR’s stated goal of returning to Southern California, a move likely to be popular in the garage and throughout the sport’s landscape.”
^{The Athletic}

Rays Reportedly in Talks to Sell Team to Florida Home Developer in Deal Valued at $1.7 Billion
The Tampa Bay Rays are reportedly in "advanced talks" to sell the team to a group led by Florida home developer Patrick Zalupski, according to Sportico via Yahoo Sports. The team is reportedly valued at roughly $1.7 billion in the deal. Zalupski has reportedly signed a letter of intent to purchase the franchise. That does not guarantee the sale will happen, however.

Zalupski is the CEO of Dream Finders Homes, a company that builds and designs homes. His net worth is valued at $1.4 billion, per Forbes.
^{Sportico, Yahoo! Sports}

Memphis AD Says School Has Raised $201M for Liberty Stadium Renovations
Univ. of Memphis AD Ed Scott said that the school has raised $201M toward a $226M “goal for renovations to Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium,” according to Jonah Dylan of the Memphis COMMERICAL APPEAL via SBJ. The department is “still on track to finish the project before the 2026 football season.”
^{Memphis Commercial Appeal via Sports Business Journal}

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Mizzou Spent Over $31M on NIL for Athletes in 2024
The Univ. of Missouri athletic department has spent “more than” $31M on NIL compensation for its athletes during the past year, according to Eli Hoff of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH via SBJ. The records show nearly “two-thirds of the money in 2024 went to football players” and “about a fourth to men’s basketball.” The remainder was “split among baseball, women’s basketball and lower-profile programs.”

Missouri AD Laird Veatch has “declined to specify how his department will share” $18M of revenue with athletes under the terms of the recent House settlement. But Mizzou’s NIL spending breakdown “provides a window into how it has distributed money to this point and how it may share revenue with athletes moving forward.”
^{St. Louis Post-Dispatch via Sports Business Journal}

Storey Lee, Vandy Celebrate Success and Look to Bright Future
Nashville News Channel 5’s Steve Layman writes, “Coming off a banner year in 2024-25, Vandy athletics appears to be in as good a position as it has been in some time. Credit much of that success to Storey Lee. She has overseen more than $300 million in fundraising associated with the Vandy United campaign that is reimagining the athletic footprint on campus. The school has further emphasized its commitment to its athletic programs, and that paid off last year with football’s first bowl trip in six years, both basketball programs reaching the NCAA Tournament and baseball winning another SEC Tournament title.”
^{Nashville News Channel 5}

Senate Budget Suggests Sports Has Chance to Evade New Taxes
Sportico’s Brendan Coffey writes, “The 549-page Senate proposal, which largely consists of proposed additions and deletions to the Internal Revenue Code, only addresses sports specifically in one instance, in which the Senate expands educator deductions for unreimbursed teaching expenses to include coaches and sports administrators, but only for non-athletic supplies … That lack of attention to the industry by the Senate suggests that proposed changes to franchise ownership write-offs and collegiate licensing taxation may not make the final budget, saving owners and schools many millions of dollars in new levies.”
^Sportico

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