• National Football League games during the 2021 regular season averaged 17.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen, marking a 10 percent year-over-year increase and the league’s best average audience since 2015. Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN saw a 16 percent bump in average viewership to 14.2 million for its “Monday Night Football” package, the biggest lift among the league’s broadcast partners, followed by Comcast Corp.’s NBC (up 11 percent to 19.3 million), ViacomCBS Inc.’s CBS (up 9 percent to 18 million) and Fox Corp. (up 2 percent to 18.6 million). (The Wall Street Journal)
• According to sources, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. is expected to announce today that its regional sports network subsidiary, Diamond Sports Group, has obtained in-market direct-to-consumer streaming rights for 16 NBA teams’ local broadcast games, a key step toward launching its direct-to-consumer streaming service later this year. Sinclair also holds direct-to-consumer streaming rights for 12 NHL and four MLB teams, and the local market streaming service is expected to cost subscribers more than $20 a month. (Sports Business Journal)
• College football reporter Pete Thamel is moving from Yahoo Sports to ESPN, sources said, to serve as the network’s college football insider, joining a stable of plugged-in breaking news specialists that includes Adam Schefter for the NFL, Adrian Wojnarowski for the NBA and Jeff Passan for MLB. (New York Post) Schefter and Wojnarowski will both be free agents this summer, and The Athletic is reportedly among the outfits that have expressed interest to their representatives. (Front Office Sports)

Mahomes Tops List of NFL’s Most-Liked Skill Players; Rodgers Plummets

Morning Consult

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DAZN nears deal to buy BT Sport for an estimated $800 mln – sources

Dawn Chmielewski and Paul Sandle, Reuters

Sports streaming service DAZN is nearing a deal to acquire Britain’s BT Sport in an estimated $800 million transaction that will give it access to sought-after rights to the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League matches, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Confirmed players for Netflix series features A-list of PGA Tour stars

Adam Woodard, Golfweek

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a member of the PGA Tour, the folks at Netflix are about to show you. On Wednesday it was announced that Netflix would air a PGA Tour docuseries that would take fans behind-the-scenes and show what life on Tour is really like.

WarnerMedia, Turner a quiet candidate for next MLS rights

Kartik Krishnaiyer, World Soccer Talk

Our sources at World Soccer Talk indicated that WarnerMedia and its subsidiary, Turner Sports, are dialed-in on MLS. The current MLS rights deal expires at the end of the 2022 season. WarnerMedia eyes up at least a piece of the rights starting in 2023.

NFL Network signs Kimmi Chex to an extension, also plans to feature Mike Yam more following his relocation to LA

Andrew Bucholtz, Awful Announcing

The network announced Tuesday that they’ve signed host Kimmi Chex to a multi-year extension, and that they also have more plans to use Mike Yam more on network programming following his relocation from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Here’s How You Can Watch the 2022 Winter Olympics Across NBCUniversal Platforms

Mollie Cahillane, Adweek

NBCUniversal is gearing up for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, which will be held Feb. 2-20, and will present a Winter Olympics-record amount of programming across its linear, digital and streaming platforms. The company will air more than 2,800 hours of coverage on the NBC broadcast network, USA and CNBC cable networks, Peacock and its digital platforms.

Super Bowl Alert: Food Brands Make Comebacks, Avocados Get Shoppable And Travel Returns

Jeanine Poggi, Ad Age

Lays will air its first Big Game commercial in 17 years. Ahead of the in-game commercial, Lays is releasing a limited edition NFL-inspired potato chip called Lay’s Golden Grounds.

Eagles’ Catherine Raîche candidate to be second-ever woman GM as Vikings request interview: Reports

The Athletic

The Vikings have requested to interview Raîche for their open general manager position, according to multiple reports early Thursday morning. This is believed to be the first GM interview request for a woman in NFL history.

NBA’s ‘COVID referees’ stay under the spotlight as league tries to endure omicron

David Aldridge, The Athletic

A lot of people have been on edge about the league’s officials for a minute, as the ranks of NBA referees — like everyone else in the workplace — have been thinned as the omicron variant of COVID-19 swept through the country in December.

If Nets and the NBA really want to, they can let unvaccinated Kyrie Irving play in Brooklyn — for a small fine

Stefan Bondy, New York Daily News

In the theoretical world occupying this column space, the Nets break that rule. They play Irving in Brooklyn starting next week with the league’s blessing, or maybe wait until the postseason and pay fines amounting to lint inside Joe Tsai’s lacrosse bag.

MLBPA takes stand with agency that bought minor league teams

Evan Drellich, The Athletic

The Major League Baseball Players Association warned WME Sports player representatives that they risk losing their certification as agents unless they divest themselves from the company, multiple people with knowledge of the situation told The Athletic.

New NHL investigation will likely delay Kane signing anywhere in short-term

Sportsnet

The NHL is investigating how Evander Kane crossed the border from the United States to Canada on Dec. 29, a process which will likely prevent the embattled forward from signing in the short-term as teams await the league’s findings. Kane tested positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 21 and then flew to Vancouver on the 29th.

Big Ten releases revised 2022 football schedule; Penn State, Ohio State among teams most impacted

Scott Dochterman, The Athletic

The Big Ten rearranged its 2022 football schedule to accommodate six location switches and in the process balanced and dispersed its marquee matchups throughout the season. Most schedules changed considerably, especially for Penn State and Ohio State.

College football head coaches end season at $13.6 million in bonuses from public schools

Steve Berkowitz, USA Today

The outcomes of bowl games, the College Football Playoff and final poll rankings released Tuesday gave public-school head coaches just over $1.8 million in bonuses. That increased the head coaches’ total for the season to nearly $13.6 million, a figure that does not include forfeited amounts or the value of automatic contract extensions and pay increases that coaches picked up.

Florida NIL Rules Draw Lawsuit From High School, College Players

Michael McCann and Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico

In a lawsuit filed in Miami on Monday, Sal Stewart, a third baseman at Westminster Christian School in Florida, and Gilbert Frierson, a safety/linebacker at the University of Miami, are challenging a Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) bylaw that prohibits high school athletes from “capitalizing on athletic fame.”

Atlantic 10 pursuing waiver allowing redshirted basketball players to fill in with limited rosters

Dana O’Neil, The Athletic

As COVID-19 continues to affect player availability and subsequently leads to game cancellations, the Atlantic 10, eyeing up a season filled with disruptions, has requested a blanket waiver to adjust the redshirting rules, commissioner Bernadette McGlade said.

San Jose State settles retaliation lawsuit, apologizes to swim coach who blew the whistle on trainer sex scandal

Eliyahu Kamisher, The San Jose Mercury News

San Jose State University has quietly settled a retaliation lawsuit with swim coach Sage Hopkins and published a formal letter praising and apologizing to him, 12 years after he first brought forward the sexual harassment claims of more than a dozen female swimmers against an athletic trainer who went on to abuse more athletes over the next decade.

Todd Boehly withdraws from negotiations to purchase Washington Spirit: Sources

Pablo Maurer et al., The Athletic

Todd Boehly has withdrawn from negotiations to purchase a controlling interest in the NWSL’s Washington Spirit, sources said. Current Spirit owner Steve Baldwin was previously reported to be in “exclusive negotiations” with Boehly’s group.

Audi to decide whether to enter Formula One by second quarter – source

Reuters

Volkswagen’s Audi will make a decision on whether to enter Formula One towards the end of the first quarter or beginning of the second quarter of this year, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. The subject will be discussed at a supervisory council meeting at the end of February but a decision will not be made until later, the source said, declining to be named.

Novak Djokovic drawn against Miomir Kecmanovic at Australian Open amid visa uncertainty

CNN

The Australian Open draw took place after an unexplained delay of more than an hour on Thursday, with top seed Novak Djokovic facing fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round. Djokovic, looking to win his 10th Australian Open title in Melbourne this month, is waiting for Australia’s immigration minister Alex Hawke to decide whether to revoke his reinstated visa ahead of the tournament.

Naomi Osaka Shows Off Creative Chops With Nike Apparel Collection

Anna Tingley, Variety

Naomi Osaka is flexing new, more creative muscles since taking time off the court. The latest creative venture from the four-time Grand Slam winner is a Nike apparel collection, which dropped on Tuesday and marks Osaka’s third collaboration with the sportswear company.

World and Australasian tours strengthen links through 2026

The Associated Press

The deal will provide members of the Australasian tour more opportunities, such as two additional cards and further exemptions to compete on the rebranded World Tour, as well as an increase in prize money for some tournaments.

ESL extend Louvre Agreement with partner teams to 2025

Adam Fitch, Dexerto

ESL have extended the Louvre Agreement, a partnership between the tournament organizers and 14 major teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, until the end of 2025. The German company has re-committed to the agreement, which came into effect in February 2020 and was built on the premise of providing security and revenue share for the ESL Pro Tour with partnered teams.

Sponsors line up for new League of Legends season

Trent Murray, Sports Business Journal

Global competition for League of Legends returns this week, and big-name brands are back as sponsors in places like North America and Europe. Mastercard has the payments category in both regions, while crypto exchange FTX is in its first full year as an LCS sponsor, signing on for a seven-year pact with the North American region in the middle of 2021.

Lawmakers seek ‘assurances’ Olympic uniforms not linked to forced labor

Mychael Schnell, The Hill

A bipartisan trio of lawmakers are asking the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for “assurances” that uniforms for the 2022 Games in Beijing are not linked to forced labor, after reports surfaced that the IOC entered into contracts with two groups that use cotton produced in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, Anta Sports and Hengyuanxiang Group.

Nike, Columbia Sportswear plan to start firing unvaccinated employees

Mike Rogoway and Jeff Manning, The Portland Oregonian

Nike has notified some employees that it plans to fire them on Saturday because they haven’t met the company’s deadline to verify their vaccination against COVID-19 and haven’t received an exemption for religious or medical reasons. Columbia Sportswear says it plans to take similar measures and will begin firing unvaccinated corporate employees Feb. 1.

PHF All-Star Showcase relocated to Buffalo amid Toronto’s restrictions

Sportsnet

The Premier Hockey Federation’s All-Star Showcase has been relocated from Toronto to Buffalo’s Northtown Center, home of the Buffalo Beauts, as a result of COVID-19 restrictions in Ontario, the league announced Wednesday. The PHF said Toronto will now be scheduled to host next year’s event.

New Fan Controlled Football Teams Tackle Metaverse After $40M Raise

Jacob Feldman, Sportico

Following a $40 million Series A funding round, the experimental sports startup is taking a big step into the metaverse, handing management responsibilities for two of its eight teams to existing NFT communities: the Bored Ape Yacht Club and the Gutter Cat Gang.