• The NHL denied telling players that it would ease coronavirus safety protocols for vaccinated players after Vegas Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner accused the league of breaking a promise to release a new set of regulations when certain vaccination thresholds were met. The NBA, NFL and MLB each have plans to relax some protocols, such as mask-wearing and bans on outdoor dining, when a certain share of team personnel are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but only the NHL currently has teams playing in Canada, where access to vaccines is more limited than in the United States. (The Associated Press)
• Indianapolis Motor Speedway will host 135,000 spectators for the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 30, likely making it the largest crowd at a sporting event worldwide since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic more than a year ago. Track officials said they consulted with a wide range of public health officials in determining the attendance figure, which represents 40 percent of the track’s normal capacity, after being pressured to scrap plans to host fans for last August’s running of the IndyCar race. (Indianapolis Star)
• NFL owners ratified proposals to expand the duties of the replay assistant on a limited scope of calls and to allow players at more positions to wear single-digit jersey numbers, while rejecting a proposal to overhaul the format of its overtime period. The replay measure is more limited than the “sky judge” favored by many NFL coaches, which would allow an off-field official to overturn incorrect calls by on-field officials. (The Washington Post)

70% of U.K. Soccer Fans Opposed European Super League Plan Prior to Collapse
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Jeff Bezos, Drake and more invest $80 million in sports media company Overtime

Jabari Young, CNBC

Sports media company Overtime has secured an $80 million fundraising round with investors including Jeff Bezos’ investment firm, global entertainer Drake, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and several National Basketball Association players. Overtime distributes original sports content on social media outlets, including Snapchat, YouTube, and Facebook.

Julian Edelman Joins ‘Inside The NFL’ This Fall On Paramount+; Part Of Overall ViacomCBS Deal For His Coast Productions

Mike Fleming Jr., Deadline Hollywood

Wide receiver Julian Edelman and his Coast Productions partner Assaf Swissa have made an overall deal at ViacomCBS. As part of that, Edelman will joining the Inside The NFL team as an analyst alongside James Brown, Phil Simms and Brandon Marshall.

NBC Sports Seeks New U.S. TV Deal with English Premier League

Michael McCarthy, Front Office Sports

“We certainly want to continue our great relationship with the Premier League,” an NBC spokesman told Front Office Sports. Negotiations are expected to heat up over the next several months as NBC nears the end of its six-year deal worth $1 billion in May of 2022.

NASCAR scores largest audience at Richmond since ’17

Sports Media Watch

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race from Richmond (Va.) averaged a 2.0 rating and 3.32 million viewers on FOX, marking the highest rating and viewership for any race at the venue since 2017 (2.9, 4.58M). Ratings increased 18% and viewership 19% from the last time the spring race was run in 2019 (1.7, 2.79M).

Source: NFL exploring changes to scouting combine

Rob Maaddi, The Associated Press

The NFL is exploring changes to the annual NFL scouting combine to improve the professional and medical experience for draft prospects, a person familiar with those discussions told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The combine in Indianapolis was canceled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, so prospects displayed their talents for scouts, coaches and general managers at their college pro days instead.

Wizards welcome back fans, fend off Warriors on eventful night at Capital One Arena

Ava Wallace, The Washington Post

Capital One Arena opened its doors to fans for the first time since March 10, 2020. Fans were back after a long hiatus, filing into the arena in groups of four or fewer: Families with young children, post-work pairs in button-downs and slacks and groups of young people sporting jerseys from a multitude of NBA teams populated sidewalks on F and Seventh streets.

Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse joins sports data company used by top NBA teams

Jabari Young, CNBC

Noah Basketball was formed in 2002 under CEO John Carter and analyzes shooting arcs and performances of basketball players. Noah’s basketball tracking systems are used by various NBA teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors.

Cavaliers Test Heated Food Lockers

Don Muret, VenuesNow

The Cleveland Cavaliers are testing the newest generation of food locker delivery systems as they jump back into mobile concessions ordering at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The Fahrenheit Mobile Locker Room is named after the 84-seat arena restaurant tied to local celebrity chef Rocco Whalen.

Pro Basketball Player Wilson Chandler Signs a Virtual Shoe Deal With NFT-Based Fashion Brand CryptoKickers

Peter Verry, Footwear News

As the NFT market continues to heat up, pro basketball player Wilson Chandler — who played 12 seasons in the NBA before signing with the Zhejiang Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association — has signed a completely virtual shoe deal with NFT-based fashion brand CryptoKickers, the company announced. CryptoKickers stated the deal is the first of its kind.

LeBron James explains why he deleted tweet on police shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant

Dave McMenamin, ESPN

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James posted and later deleted a tweet on Wednesday about the fatal police shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old Black girl in Columbus, Ohio. The since-deleted tweet by James showed a photo of officer Nicholas Reardon, who is white, with an accompanying caption, “YOU’RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY,” along with an hourglass emoji, on Wednesday.

Atlanta Dream fire president and GM Chris Sienko

Doug Feinberg, The Associated Press

Sienko came to the team in 2017 as general manager and was promoted to president the following year. The team underwent a highly publicized ownership change in February, when former Atlanta guard Renee Montgomery purchased the team as part of a three-member investor group. 

Dodgers offering ‘fully vaccinated fan section’ for Saturday’s game vs. Padres

Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times

For Saturday’s game, the Dodgers are opening what they’re calling a “fully vaccinated fan section.” If Saturday’s test run goes well, the Dodgers will consider adding sections for vaccinated fans at other games.

How the Arizona Diamondbacks could change the way pro sports teams finance stadium renovations

Brandon Brown, Phoenix Business Journal

The Arizona Diamondbacks are lobbying the state’s Legislature to pass a last-minute bill that could create a whole new mechanism for the team’s owner – and the owners of any professional sports team – to finance costly renovations to its stadium. The Diamondbacks say the legislation will make it so the team can borrow the money to make $500 million-worth of renovations, but it won’t come at the general taxpayer’s expense — just those who attend games at Chase Field.

NHL GMs updated on 2021-22 season start date, Olympics, draft

Pierre LeBrun, The Athletic

The NHL for the first time shared on the general managers’ call Wednesday its hopeful target date to start the 2021-22 season next fall: Oct. 12. Which is about a week later than normal. Training camps would open Sept. 22, sources on the call confirmed.

Sources: Significant Changes Coming to Fall Camps After February Concussion Study

Ross Dellenger, Sports Illustrated

In response to results from a five-year concussion study released earlier this spring, an NCAA legislative committee is deeply exploring ways to make the annual August camp a safer place, officials told Sports Illustrated in interviews this week. The Football Oversight Committee (FOC), college football’s highest policy-making group, plans to present recommendations soon that will significantly change one of football’s most grueling traditions.

Amid Scandal, LSU’s Title IX Consultant Makes His Business Pitch

Daniel Libit, Sportico

Amid the wreckage of LSU’s escalating Title IX scandal—which has so far spawned a $50 million lawsuit and implicated at least two other universities in the mishandling of alleged sexual assaults by athletes—is a five-year-old consulting contract that was supposed to provide the school’s athletic department protection against just this sort of event.

FC Cincinnati sell stadium naming rights to Total Quality Logistics

Sam Carp, SportsPro Media

Major League Soccer’s (MLS) FC Cincinnati have found a naming rights partner for their US$250 million home ground due to open next month. The 26,000-seater venue will be called TQL Stadium as part of a multi-year sponsorship deal with freight brokerage firm Total Quality Logistics (TQL), whose headquarters are in Cincinnati.

Heineken Responded Perfectly to the Implosion of the European Super League

David Griner, Adweek

Now, Heineken and agency Publicis have cheekily marked the misguided attempt at a new soccer league with an Instagram post that bears a simple warning: Don’t drink and start a league. As a longtime sponsor of the UEFA Champions League, Heineken obviously had a clear side in the debate, but it’s also one that the brand could rest comfortably knowing would be shared by most fans.

Brown open to idea of third full-time Arrow McLaren SP entry

David Malsher-Lopez and Steve Wittich, Motorsport.com

Zak Brown, McLaren CEO, says the Arrow McLaren SP team would welcome the chance to add a third full-time car but says it would need to be for a “championship-caliber” driver rather than a “rent-a-driver”. This year, the team has taken on Felix Rosenqvist to partner incumbent ace Pato O’Ward full-time, and will run a third car in the Indianapolis 500 for two-time winner Juan Pablo Montoya.

Did a man sell a golf travel company fake Masters badges? That’s what a new lawsuit alleges.

Sandy Hodson, Augusta Chronicle

An Arizona company specializing in selling golf vacations has filed suit against Joe Mullins, alleging he provided bogus tickets to the Masters Tournament in 2018 and failed to come through with badges in 2019. Golf Travel LLC filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Augusta on April 9. The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages of hundreds of thousands of dollars, more than $1.5 million in future earnings and punitive damages.

International Olympic Committee unveils Olympic Virtual Series

Cody Luongo, Esports Insider

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has partnered with five international sports federations and video game publishers to produce the Olympic Virtual Series (OVS), the first Olympic-licensed event for virtual sports. DreamHack Sports Games, MTG’s sports simulation business unit, has been selected to handle OVS’ marketing and production.

In-game monetization could be in Overwatch’s future

Adam Stern, Sports Business Journal

The Overwatch game title does not currently have in-game ads, which rival publisher Riot Games introduced for League of Legends esports. Kaplan’s departure could hasten the adoption of such monetization methods.

100 Thieves collaborates with Cash App to launch Cash Card

Igor Pontes, Esports Insider

North American esports organisation 100 Thieves has collaborated with Cash App to launch the 100 Thieves Cash Card. 100 Thieves’ card is expected to include ‘exclusive boost incentives’ tied to the product, which will be announced at a later date.

Athlete protests remain banned at Tokyo Olympics, IOC says

The Associated Press

Athlete protests and political messages will remain banned at the Olympics, the IOC said Wednesday, after a survey found that a majority of competitors were in favor of keeping the ban in place. The IOC said it surveyed more than 3,500 athletes over the past year and that 70% said it was “not appropriate to demonstrate or express their views” on the field of play or at the opening or closing ceremony.

CFL delays start of season to August, cuts schedule to 14 games

Devin Heroux, CBC Sports

The Canadian Football League is pushing back the start of its season to August and is also cutting down the 18-game schedule to 14 games. That means the Grey Cup is also being pushed back, now scheduled to be played on Dec. 12 in Hamilton, Ont.

Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul planned for June 5: Sources

Mike Coppinger, The Athletic

The exhibition between Hall of Fame boxing champion Floyd Mayweather and Internet personality Logan Paul is tentatively planned for June 5 on Showtime pay per view, sources tell The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger. The site of the bout is to be determined, but Mayweather posted on Instagram on Tuesday that five cities — Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas and Atlanta — are under consideration. 

IIHF Women’s Worlds cancelled; new date sought

The Canadian Press

All systems seemed go for the women’s world hockey championship in Nova Scotia when the premier pulled the plug. The May 6-16 championship in Halifax and Truro, N.S., was cancelled Wednesday because of COVID-19 after initially being delayed from April.

SeatGeek launches event experience platform Rally

Bret McCormick, Sports Business Journal

SeatGeek announced the official launch this morning of Rally, a personalized event experience platform contained within the SeatGeek app and connected to a fan’s mobile ticket for a sporting event. Rally was supposed to launch in March ’20 but has been in live beta test for a year due to the pandemic.

BetMGM revenues set to soar to $1bn after rapid US growth

Alice Hancock, Financial Times

BetMGM forecast that its revenues next year would rise by more than 400 per cent to $1bn, reflecting the rapid growth of the US gambling market after the pandemic. The company said it expected to have operations in 20 states covering around 40 per cent of the US adult population by the end of the year as crisis-hit state governments rush to benefit from the tax receipts generated by gambling.