Top Stories

  • Rapper Jay-Z reportedly will have a “significant ownership interest” in a NFL franchise in the “near future,” though it’s unclear exactly which team. The business mogul previously held a minority ownership stake in the Brooklyn Nets, which he sold in 2013. (TMZ Sports)
  • Former NFL running back and Texas Longhorn great Cedric Benson died in a motorcycle accident in Texas, his lawyer said. The 36-year-old Benson, who played under coach Mack Brown from 2001-2004, was the only player in Longhorn history to rush for at least 1,000 yards in four seasons, and his 5,540 yards were good for second-best all-time at Texas. (The Associated Press)
  • ESPN is reportedly dropping Michelle Beadle from the hosting chair of “NBA Countdown,” marking the second high-profile ESPN job she’s lost in the past year after her exit from the morning show “Get Up” in August 2018. Rachel Nichols, current host of “The Jump,” and Maria Taylor, who is an integral part of the company’s college football coverage, will split time hosting “NBA Countdown,” sources said. (New York Post)

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Understanding Gen Z: The Definitive Guide to the Next Generation

Based on nearly 1,000 survey interviews with 18-21 year-olds, Morning Consult’s ‘Understanding Gen Z’ report digs into the values, habits, aspirations, politics, and concerns that are shaping Gen Z adults and the ways they differ from the generations that came before them.

Download the full report →

General

Howard University to add golf teams after receiving sponsorship from NBA star Stephen Curry
Wesley Lowery, The Washington Post

Following a January screening of “Emanuel,” a documentary about the deadly 2015 shooting of nine black worshipers at a church in Charleston, S.C., a throng of Howard University students jockeyed for handshakes and selfies with the film’s executive producer, NBA star Stephen Curry. Otis Ferguson, then a junior at Howard, hung back for a moment before catching the ear of the Golden State Warriors guard.

Disney Plans UFC Broadcast for FX
Brian Steinberg, Variety

UFC matches will return to FX – but not on a permanent basis. ESPN has been showing preliminary bouts to UFC pay-per-view events for the last while on ESPN and ESPN2, and then showing the main card on its ESPN+ subscription video service.

Nike Removes Contract Reductions for Pregnant Athletes After Backlash
Chris Chavez, Sports Illustrated

Nike Executive Vice President of Global Sports Marketing John Slusher issued a letter to the company’s sponsored athletes this week detailing changes that have been made to their respective contracts in an effort to support them through pregnancy.

A Cover Without a Magazine: ESPN’s Post-Print Storytelling Plans
Jacob Feldman, Sports Illustrated

The week after Labor Day, ESPN the Magazine will roll out its final issue. Then the company will turn the page.

Kirk Minihane Appears to Believe His Time at Barstool Is Likely Already Over
Bobby Burack, The Big Lead

Kirk Minihane says it seems his days with Barstool Sports are already over. But when reached by text, company founder Dave Portnoy said Minihane has not been fired and he has not informed him he has quit.

NFL

Colin Kaepernick Calls For Continued Protests In Wake Of Jay-Z’s NFL Deal And Comments
Bruce Haring, Deadline Hollywood

The National Football League may believe it has bought peace in our time by aligning with rap mogul Jay-Z and his Roc Nation for various social justice initiatives and entertainment. But the shadow of Colin Kaepernick still looms over the league, and some players are listening to his siren calls for continued protests.

To get into NFL, sportsbooks will have to play ball
Ben Fischer and Bill King, Sports Business Journal

When the NFL opens up the sportsbook category for team-level sponsorships, clubs expect their choices will be limited to companies that buy their data from Sportradar, sources said. That requirement is one way the NFL will seek to spur adoption of its official in-game data streams, to be distributed exclusively by the Minneapolis-based company under its groundbreaking NFL deal announced Aug. 12.

‘We Ready’ Chant Builds to a Dramatic Crescendo as the NFL Kicks Off Its 100th Season
Erik Oster, Adweek

Ready or not, it’s football season. While the NFL preseason has been going strong for a couple weeks now, the league is celebrating its impending 100th season with a new campaign from 72andSunny Los Angeles.

Raiders GM: Time for Antonio Brown to be ‘all-in or all-out,’ get past helmet issue
Des Bieler, The Washington Post

It turns out that Antonio Brown’s helmet saga has not quite run its course. However, the Oakland Raiders appear to have run out of patience with their star wide receiver, who skipped training camp Sunday.

NBA

After Gloomy Talk of No-Shows, Signs of Optimism for U.S.A. Basketball
Marc Stein, The New York Times

Marc Gasol maintains a mostly detached relationship with the N.B.A.’s social media machine. Yet as he trained with the Spanish national team in Southern California last week, Gasol’s exposure to the gloom-and-doom talk around the United States team ahead of the FIBA World Cup was unavoidable.

With new commitment to sports science, Wizards eye their own version of load management
Candace Buckner, The Washington Post

Near the end of the 2018-19 season, as the Washington Wizards’ playoff hopes faded but Bradley Beal’s minutes remained one of the highest averages in the NBA, the team attempted to lighten his load away from games. Beal was held out of shoot-arounds on the mornings of games and, if the team conducted a rare practice, Beal did not participate in contact drills.

Lakers granted permission by Memphis Grizzlies to speak to Dwight Howard, per report
Michael Kaskey-Blomain, CBS Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers are in need of a center following the ACL injury that DeMarcus Cousins suffered earlier this week, and they apparently have one in mind. That would be Dwight Howard, who is currently a member of the Memphis Grizzlies thanks to a recent trade.

The Top 5 Most Creative NBA Schedule Reveals for the 2019-20 Season
Mitch Reames, Adweek

What do Legos, magic tricks and graffiti have in common? They are some of the many ways NBA franchises’ social media teams have introduced their game schedules for the 2019-20 season.

MLB

Dodgers Pitcher Julio Urias Suspended 20 Games After Domestic Violence Allegations
Anita Bennett, Deadline Hollywood

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias has been suspended 20 games after he was accused of shoving a woman to the ground at an L.A. shopping mall in May.

What the Toronto Blue Jays can teach us about long-term thinking
Mark Miller, Fast Company

After a 24-year run with the Cleveland Indians, where he helped to turn a smaller market team into a perennial contender, two-time Sporting News MLB Executive of the Year Mark Shapiro left to take on a daunting new challenge: transforming the Toronto Blue Jays, Canada’s only remaining professional baseball team, into a durable champion.

NHL

The All-Decade Team for all 31 NHL clubs
Greg Wyshynski, ESPN

In 2009-10, the New Jersey Devils were confident that 25-year-old Zach Parise would help define their next decade in the NHL. Ditto the Washington Capitals, and their 25-year-old, 40-goal scorer Alex Semin.

Soccer

When Soccer Is a Family Business
Jack Williams, The New York Times

The list in the files at the headquarters of England’s Football Association is peppered with surnames familiar to soccer fans: Rashford, Alexander-Arnold, Pulisic, Özil, Gundogan. But this is not a list of Premier League players.

Puma’s Soccer Athletes Find Their Flow With Spotify
David Cohen, Adweek

Athletic gear maker Puma incorporated music-streaming platform Spotify into the rollout of its Anthem Pack football boots. In what Spotify called a first-of-its-kind partnership, Puma’s Find Your Flow initiative included playlists from soccer stars including Antoine Griezmann, Romelu Lukaku and Luis Suárez.

Racing

A Teenage NASCAR Driver Is Content to Go Slow for Now
Dave Caldwell, The New York Times

Hailie Deegan was puzzled. She had come to stock-car racing from the rough-and-tumble world of off-road racing, where she considered herself to be just one of the guys. Off-road racers slammed into one another and knocked each other over, then left the track and laughed about it.

Golf and Tennis

Tiger Woods Watches His Season End at BMW Championship
Karen Crouse, The New York Times

With a tip of his hat and a modest wave, Tiger Woods exited the BMW Championship, ending a season that delivered at once more and less than he could have envisioned when he hit his first shot of 2019 in January in San Diego. Woods closed with an even-par 72 on Sunday at Medinah Country Club for a 72-hole total of seven-under 281 in the penultimate playoff event.

In conversation with WTA president Micky Lawler
Sam Carp, SportsPro Media

To cap off Women in Sport Week, Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) president Micky Lawler opens up about equal prize money, the challenge of growing the profile of female athletes, and offers advice on the commercial opportunity in women’s sport.

College Sports

Nick Saban Wins National Titles. He Loses Assistant Coaches.
Laine Higgins, The Wall Street Journal

Early on the morning after last season’s Orange Bowl, Alabama coach Nick Saban assembled his staff to dissect the Tide’s 45-34 win over Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff semifinal. The victory was not even 12 hours old, but Saban was obsessing over the Tide’s mistakes.

Game day reimagined: Texas style
Michael Smith, Sports Business Journal

For an athletic director who made his reputation on big ideas, Chris Del Conte obsesses about the details. Each morning on a Texas football game day, Del Conte inspects the grounds in and around the stadium. If it’s a home game, the Texas AD is hyperfocused on the setup of Bevo Blvd., the Longhorns’ supersized fan festival that stretches the length of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium and then some.

College Football Turns to an Unlikely Savior: Beer, Beer and More Beer
Brian Costa, The Wall Street Journal

There are still prohibition laws banning the sale of alcohol in many places in Arkansas, but the state university’s football stadium is no longer one of them. Beginning this fall, beer and wine will be sold in general seating areas of Razorback Stadium, where the announced attendance is down 14% over the past two years.

Esports

Sports Titles Keep Gamers on Digital Playing Field
Sarah E. Needleman, The Wall Street Journal

Electronic Arts Inc. kicked off the videogame industry’s annual sports season with a strong start for Madden NFL, showing the resilience of decades-old franchises as technological strides enable game developers to engage players with new modes and online competitions. The latest installment, “Madden NFL 20,” was the best-selling game in the four weeks that ended Aug. 3, even though it was only released on Aug. 2, market-research firm NPD Group said in a report last week.

Esports Team Echo Fox Lays Off All ‘League of Legends’ Players Amid Financial Dispute
Patrick Shanley, The Hollywood Reporter

Following threats of legal action and a contentious back-and-forth between former NBA star Rick Fox and his Echo Fox venture partners over the sale of their slot in a major gaming competition, the esports organization has terminated the contracts of its current League of Legends players.

Opinions, Editorials, Perspectives and Research

We’re all asking the wrong questions about the Jay-Z and NFL partnership
LZ Granderson, Los Angeles Times

Ever since Roc Nation and the NFL announced its partnership around social justice earlier this week, I’ve been trying to find answers for all of the wrong questions. I’ve spent days peeling back the layers enveloping the tweets of Carolina Panther defensive back Eric Reid and Colin Kaepernick’s girlfriend, Nessa.

Morning Consult