• The CW Network’s inaugural broadcasts of LIV Golf averaged 286,000 viewers on Saturday and 291,000 on Sunday, according to Nielsen, while Perry Sook, chief executive of the CW Network’s parent company, Nexstar Media Group Inc., said on an earnings call that more than 1.4 million people watched the three-day tournament across the network and digital media platforms. By comparison, NBC’s broadcasts of the PGA Tour Honda Classic drew 1.61 million viewers on Saturday and 2.38 million on Sunday. (Reuters)
• Former MLB player Alex Rodriguez and business partner Marc Lore raised a $20 million round for Jump, a new ticketing and fan experience business, bringing the total funding to date at $30 million. Forerunner Ventures led the new round, while firms such as Courtside Ventures, Will Ventures and Mastry Ventures also contributed. (Bloomberg)
• An employment discrimination lawsuit against the NFL filed on behalf of former league human resources staffer Victoria Russell over how she was treated as a Black woman includes allegations that NFL Films maintains an archived catalog of lewd shots of women at games, which include timestamps on the footage and descriptions of the women like “cheerleaders rear end” and “female fan in bikini top.” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said the images were logged as “sensitive” so they would not be used in the future, and that Russell, who also alleged she was denied a dedicated workspace and pay raises that other white and male colleagues received, inaccurately described the images. (The Wall Street Journal)

How College Athletics Impacts University Trust

Morning Consult

Exclusive: former MLB stars A.J. Pierzynski, Erik Kratz, Todd Frazier, and Adam Jones launch live daily ‘Foul Territory’ show

Andrew Bucholtz, Awful Announcing 

Foul Territory will also feature Scott Braun as a co-host and Ken Rosenthal as a regular contributor.

XFL sees big drop in Week 2, but on par with last year’s USFL

Paulsen, Sports Media Watch

Week 2 of the XFL averaged 655,000 viewers on ESPN, ESPN2 and FX, down about 50% from Week 1 on ABC, ESPN and FX (1.3M) and down 68% from Week 2 of the prior XFL three years ago (2.05M).

WBD Sports EVP/GM Tina Shah leaves after 21 years

Andrew Bucholtz, Awful Announcing 

Tina Shah is exiting WBD Sports. Shah was cited by many as key in their rights deals, including with the NBA.

Ahmad Rashad Launching New Interview Series On NBA App

Michael McCarthy, Front Office Sports

Longtime NBA broadcaster Ahmad Rashad is going back to the future, this time to the redesigned NBA app. 

Boston Celtics & Brooklyn Nets Score Podcasts As Part of NBA & iHeartMedia Deal

Peter White, Deadline

The NBA and iHeartMedia are expanding their slate of basketball podcasts with new shows about teams including Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Hornets. 

AP source: NFL owners to discuss Snyder at upcoming meeting

Rob Maaddi and Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press 

Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder’s future is on the agenda for discussion at upcoming committee meetings in Florida ahead of the annual NFL meeting in Arizona in late March, according to a person familiar with the docket.

Buccaneers to release RB Leonard Fournette

Jenna Laine, ESPN

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers plan to release running back Leonard Fournette, a key contributor in their Super Bowl LV victory. 

NFL’s Top Talent Agency Gets New Owners

Abigail Gentrup, Front Office Sports 

Mastry Ventures and General Catalyst have acquired a stake in Athletes First, an agency that has represented eight Super Bowl MVPs and the most first-round NFL Draft picks for three consecutive years. The pair have bought out Dentsu, which purchased one-third of the agency in 2015 at a $50 million valuation. 

Ex-NFL groundskeeper George Toma: Super Bowl LVII field was overwatered

Josh Weinfuss, ESPN

George Toma, the longtime groundskeeper who prepared and then advised the preparation of every Super Bowl field, believes the issues that plagued the field at Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, could have been avoided. 

Bills GM: Hamlin’s return hinges on his medical progress

John Wawrow, The Associated Press

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin has a few more visits to doctors before determining whether he can pursue his goal of returning to play football after going into cardiac arrest and having to be resuscitated on field in January.

Kobe Bryant family settles photo lawsuit for $28.5 million

Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press

The family of the late Kobe Bryant has agreed to a $28.5 million settlement with Los Angeles County to resolve the remaining claims in a lawsuit over deputies and firefighters sharing grisly photos of the NBA star, his 13-year-old daughter and other victims killed in a 2020 helicopter crash, attorneys and court filings said Tuesday.

The NBA Rookie Who Got Weird to Make His Free Throws

Robert O’Connell, The Wall Street Journal 

San Antonio rookie Jeremy Sochan was one of the worst free throw shooters in the NBA. Then his coaches told him to try them one-handed.

After Three Decades of Waiting, Dana Brown Gets His Shot

Tyler Kepner, The New York Times

Brown helped Atlanta win a World Series and fostered the careers of other baseball executives. Now he will lead Houston as M.L.B.’s only Black general manager.

MLB Average Salary Hits Record $4.2M But Disparity Issues Linger

Owen Poindexter, Front Office Sports

Major League Baseball’s average salary is as high as it has ever been, but concerns remain about how payroll is distributed. MLB saw player salaries rise 14.8% in aggregate in 2022 to $4.2 million, reversing a four-year trend of declining player salaries.

Rangers acquire star winger Patrick Kane from Blackhawks

Jay Cohen, The Associated Press

The New York Rangers acquired Patrick Kane in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, reuniting the star winger with former teammate Artemi Panarin and stamping themselves as a Stanley Cup contender in the loaded Eastern Conference.

Four Former UT Football Staffers Receive NCAA Penalties for Recruiting Violations

Ross Dellenger, Sports Illustrated

These coaches are expected to receive multi-year showcause penalties stemming from their roles in recruiting violations committed under former coach Jeremy Pruitt.

NCAA panel eyes shorter football games, cites player safety

Heather Dinich, ESPN

College football leaders are meeting this week in Indianapolis to consider three rules changes that could shorten game times and reduce the number of plays during games this upcoming season, a continued push to monitor player safety as the sport prepares for a 12-team College Football Playoff beginning in 2024.

Player revolts plunge Women’s World Cup buildup into turmoil

Lori Ewing, Reuters

Player protests and high-level resignations are dominating headlines amid a growing sense of reckoning in women’s soccer less than five months before the World Cup kicks off.

Fearless Alcaraz can show next-gen how to topple Djokovic, say sports psychology experts

Shrivathsa Sridhar, Reuters

As the all-conquering Novak Djokovic continues to cast a shadow on the next generation, teenager Carlos Alcaraz’s fearless approach marks him out as a player with the potential to dethrone him, sports psychology experts have told Reuters.

Fanatics Hires Klutch’s Wilkes to Head Athlete Relations

Eric Jackson, Sportico 

Omar Wilkes, one of the NBA’s most prominent agents, is leaving his post at sports agency Klutch Sports Group, founded by super-agent Rich Paul, to join digital sports platform Fanatics Inc. as the head of athlete relations at Fanatics Collectibles, the company’s trading card and collectibles business.

The next big Olympics esports competition will feature chess and Just Dance

Jay Peters, The Verge

The International Olympic Committee is taking its next steps into esports competitions, and it’s adding chess and Just Dance to the mix.

Wall Street Wary of Man United, WWE Deals as Sports Stocks Slump

Brendan Coffey, Sportico

The hotly anticipated deals that powered sports stocks to start the year have cooled down, nudging the Sportico Sports Stock Index down 6% in February.

Meet Iseolupo Adepitan, the man scouring Nigeria for the next generation of NBA and NFL talent

Leonard Solms, ESPN

Iseolupo Adepitan, born in London and raised in Houston, Texas, has dedicated his career to finding Nigerian talent who can achieve their sporting dreams, while his own ambitions were left unrealised after he lost sight in one eye as a child.