• Alabama is the top overall seed in the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament after winning the Southeastern Conference tournament, while the remaining No. 1 seeds include defending national champions Kansas, Houston and Purdue, which won the Big Ten tournament. (The Associated Press) Meanwhile, undefeated South Carolina will try to defend its 2022 national championship after the program secured the top overall seed in the NCAA women’s college basketball tournament, with Indiana, Stanford and Virginia Tech, which won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, being named the other No. 1 seeds. (ESPN)
• Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.-owned Diamond Sports LLC, which operates the Bally Sports local regional sports networks, reportedly failed to make a scheduled media rights payment to MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks but the company said it continues to pay fees to other teams. (Reuters) Diamond Sports is reportedly expected to file for bankruptcy on Friday and will reject the contracts and subsequent rights fees of other MLB teams such as the Cleveland Guardians and San Diego Padres, but MLB plans to fill in and broadcast games of about a half dozen teams amid the possible absence of a local regional sports network provider. (New York Post)
• The Utah Royals will become the NWSL’s newest expansion team beginning in 2024, led by Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils owner David Blitzer and Ryan Smith, owner of the Utah Jazz, while Philadelphia 76ers executive Daryl Morey also joined the new ownership group. Sources confirmed the expansion fee for the Royals, which previously competed in the NWSL from 2018 to 2020, is between $2 million and $5 million, with former Harvard soccer player Michelle Hyncik set to run day-to-day operations as president. (ESPN)

In post-Roe world, college coaches search for middle ground

The Associated Press

ESPN’s direct-to-consumer expansion plan not a matter of if, but when for Disney CEO Bob Iger

Andrew Marchand, New York Post

ESPN’s expansion into a direct-to-consumer offering is ‘inevitable,’ but will everyone need to get it?

ESPN Brings Back ‘The Bird and Taurasi Show’ For Women’s Final Four

Amanda Christovich, Front Office Sports

The show, which was so popular that it attracted a sponsor in AT&T, will be broadcast live from American Airlines Center during both semifinals and the championship game. Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi will host the “Manningcast”-style show on ESPN2 for all three games, with guests and game analysis.

Britain’s BBC agrees star soccer host Gary Lineker can return to air after impartiality dispute

Sam Meredith and Hannah Ward-Glenton, CNBC

The BBC, Britain’s public service broadcaster, agreed on a deal with star soccer presenter Gary Lineker on Monday.

Sources: Rams trading star CB Jalen Ramsey to Dolphins

Marcel Louis-Jacques and Sarah Barshop, ESPN

The Los Angeles Rams have agreed to trade star cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the Miami Dolphins for a 2023 third-round pick (No. 77 overall) and tight end Hunter Long, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Sunday.

The No. 1 pick in the NFL draft is a ‘dream.’ So is the chance to trade it.

Adam Kilgore, The Washington Post

General Manager Ryan Poles had told reporters at this month’s league scouting combine that the Bears were considering trading the first pick, a signal of his intention to turn one of the most powerful assets in the NFL into a haul that, in Poles’s vision, could make the Bears a contender.

Marriott releases details of woman’s accusation against former NFL star Michael Irvin

Scooby Axson, USA Today

Marriott International provided its own account of what happened during an encounter between Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin and a hotel female employee last month. The employee accused Irvin of inappropriate behavior and he was subsequently removed from assignments covering the Super Bowl by the NFL Network and ESPN. 

Bengals aim to alter worker’s comp laws in Ohio, NFLPA says

Ben Baby, ESPN

The National Football League Players Association has warned members that the Cincinnati Bengals are looking to alter workers’ compensation laws in Ohio.

Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill runs blazing 60m at USATF Masters event

Marcel Louis-Jacques, ESPN

Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill, nicknamed Cheetah, ran a blazing 6.7-second 60 meters at the USA Track and Field Masters Indoor Championships on Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky.

Former Louisville standout, NBA center Felton Spencer dies at 55

Ryan Young, Yahoo Sports

Spencer played at Louisville from 1986-1990. He helped lead the Cardinals to three consecutive Metro Conference tournament wins and a pair of Sweet 16 appearances.

‘New Wave’ part of rising tide of MLB’s unscripted programming

Erik Bacharach, Sports Business Journal 

The success of the Netflix series “Drive To Survive” caused other leagues to take notice of the impact it had on Formula One’s popularity. Major League Baseball was no different.

Interim GM Daniel Briere says Flyers won’t be a ‘quick fix’

Greg Wyshynski, ESPN

Philadelphia Flyers interim general manager Daniel Briere acknowledged the team needs a multiyear rebuild as he campaigns to earn the job on a permanent basis.

The Impossible Allure of the Perfect Bracket

Andrew Keh, The New York Times

College basketball fans are on the hunt for the perfect bracket every year. The odds are not in their favor.

Real Madrid Is Joining a Legal Case Against FC Barcelona on Referee Bribery

Irene Garcia Perez, Bloomberg

Real Madrid will join a legal case against FC Barcelona that says the club paid millions of euros to a former referee to influence the outcome of its soccer matches.

Scheffler turns in masterpiece at Sawgrass to win Players

Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press

Scheffler ran off five straight birdies in the middle of his round, built a six-shot lead and left all the drama to everyone else on his way to a 3-under 69 to win the richest prize on the PGA Tour by five shots.

Madison Square Garden Sues New York Liquor Authority in Escalating Spat

Shiyin Chen, Bloomberg

Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. said it filed a lawsuit against the New York State Liquor Authority, accusing the regulator of threatening a ban on the consumption of alcohol at its venues. The lawsuit escalates a spat between MSG and the SLA, which is probing the company after a complaint from lawyers engaged in litigation with MSG who said they had been prevented from entering its properties. 

Betting on WWE matches? ‘NFW!’ say gaming operators and regulators

Contessa Brewer, CNBC

Gaming operators and regulators smack down a reported effort by the WWE to enter the gambling fray.

South Carolina No. 1 overall seed in women’s NCAA Tournament

Doug Feinberg, The Associated Press 

Dawn Staley has South Carolina six wins away from finishing off a historic season. The Gamecocks are looking to become the 10th women’s basketball team to go undefeated for an entire season as the they enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed.

Seoul to bid for 2036 Games without North Korea’s Pyongyang: mayor

Hyonhee Shin, Reuters

Seoul will pursue a bid for the 2036 Summer Games without reviving efforts to co-host an Olympics with the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon told Reuters. Amid hopes for better relations with the nuclear-armed North, Seoul sent a proposal for co-hosting the 2032 Olympics with Pyongyang to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2021, before Brisbane was named as host city.

What Is Pickleball, And How Did It Become So Popular?

Jacob Feldman, Sportico 

As spring emerges, the pop-pop-popping of pickleballs around the country shows little sign of letting up. Here’s more on where the craze came from and where it could be headed.

NASCAR Cup Phoenix: Byron repeats Las Vegas charge to win again

Jim Utter, Autosport.com

William Byron rallied in overtime for a second consecutive NASCAR Cup race to reclaim a lead he lost and grab victory at Phoenix.

ATP Taps Sportradar For New Six-Year Gambling Data Deal

Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams Sportico 

The ATP has chosen Sportradar as its next global gambling data and streaming partner, according to multiple people familiar with the six-year agreement. The selection comes following an auction run by Tennis Data Innovations, a joint venture launched in 2020 by the ATP and ATP Media to manage and commercialize tournament data.