Media
ESPN Hikes Streaming Service Price by $1, With Sports Returning
Christopher Palmeri, Bloomberg
Walt Disney Co. is raising the price of its ESPN+ streaming service for new subscribers by $1 to $5.99 a month, starting Aug. 12. It’s the first price increase since the launch of the product in April 2018.
TV Viewership Slides Despite Return of Sports Programming
Anthony Crupi, Sportico
As much as the return of sports programming has proven to be an all-you-can-eat buffet for fans who’d been starved of live action for so many months, the gluttonous spread that’s been laid out by Major League Baseball, the NBA and the NHL may be a bit too much for viewers to swallow. According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, the sudden bounty of games available for consumption across the Disney, NBCUniversal, Fox and Turner Sports properties hasn’t had a significant impact on overall TV viewership trends, which are in a midsummer swoon.
College-Sports Media Company Learfield Explores Restructuring Amid Coronavirus
Andrew Scurria and Alexander Gladstone, The Wall Street Journal
Learfield IMG College, the multimedia business that owns broadcast rights for many of the country’s leading collegiate sports programs, is preparing for a possible financial restructuring as the coronavirus pandemic curtails athletics nationwide, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has tapped law firm King & Spalding LLP for advice on renegotiating its obligations, these people said. Backed by entertainment giant Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. and investment firm Atairos Group Inc., Learfield relies on collegiate sports competitions that are sure to draw fewer fans and dollars in the fall season, if they are held at all.
NFL
Washington owner Daniel Snyder sues media company over baseless stories
Will Hobson, The Washington Post
Daniel Snyder, the owner of Washington’s NFL franchise, filed a lawsuit Friday against an online media company for publishing stories the suit says falsely suggested he had engaged in sex trafficking and consorted with Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced multimillionaire financier and convicted sex offender. The lawsuit — filed in court in New Delhi, along with supporting paperwork filed in federal court in California — accuses the news site, Media Entertainment Arts WorldWide, of publishing defamatory stories based solely on rumors spread on social media.
NBA
Mark Cuban Wants to Fix Health Care, the N.B.A and Maybe Everything Else
David Marchese, The New York Times
When Mark Cuban bought a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks in 2000, he was a brash new kind of team owner: quick to criticize the N.B.A. status quo, unafraid of the spotlight and a member of the exotic class of young tech moguls (albeit one with strong regular-dude vibes). Since then, the billionaire investor and ‘‘Shark Tank’’ star has become an unlikely éminence grise.
It’s official: NBA will have a play-in series in the West
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
It’s now official: There will be a play-in series to determine the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Memphis’ 108-99 loss to Toronto on Sunday means that it’s no longer possible for more than a four-game difference in the standings between the eighth- and ninth-place finishers in the West when the seeding game schedule ends later this week.
Ben Simmons to leave bubble for knee surgery with playoffs approaching
Ben Golliver, The Washington Post
As the Philadelphia 76ers gear up for the start of the playoffs, Ben Simmons will depart the NBA bubble to have left knee surgery. The 24-year-old guard, who was selected to the all-star team in both of the past two seasons, injured his left kneecap during his third bubble game, a 107-98 win over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.
What If the NBA Had Started a Football League?
Rachel Bachman and Ben Cohen, The Wall Street Journal
In the 1990s heyday of the NBA, as the Chicago Bulls won six titles, Michael Jordan became the most famous athlete on earth and basketball spread to the far corners of the globe, a dozen executives gathered every week in Midtown Manhattan over sandwiches to discuss how they could take advantage of the sport’s ascendance. The lunch crew would gather on Thursdays in the office of NBA commissioner David Stern or a few blocks away in the office of NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol—and they would immediately get to work on an unlikely project.
MLB
Indians send Zach Plesac home for violating health and safety protocols
Ken Rosenthal and Zack Meisel, The Athletic
The Indians’ decision to send right-hander Zach Plesac back to Cleveland on Sunday is the most vivid example yet of how major-league teams are growing increasingly vigilant about self-policing their rosters. Plesac upset teammates and club officials by going out with friends in Chicago on Saturday night in violation of team rules and the league’s health and safety protocols, sources told The Athletic.
Buffalo Blue Jays to Debut Tuesday Amid MLB Season in Flux
Barry M. Bloom, Sportico
When Don Mattingly was asked about Buffalo, he pondered football and films. “The one thing I think about is the Bills, and The Natural. Wasn’t that filmed in Buffalo? Are we playing in that same stadium?” asked the onetime American League batting champ, with the New York Yankees, and now manager of the Miami Marlins.
Thanks to a stubborn tarp, a weird Nationals season gets even weirder
Jesse Dougherty, The Washington Post
Mike Rizzo, the architect of a team lumbering through the oddest of title defenses — not to mention working amid the novel coronavirus pandemic — isn’t worried. Or, at the very least, the Washington Nationals’ general manager is not projecting worry in public.
Terry Cannon, Creator of an Alternative to Cooperstown, Dies at 66
Richard Sandomir, The New York Times
Terry Cannon, who created a waggish alternative to the Baseball Hall of Fame with artifacts like a cigar partly smoked by Babe Ruth and inductees like Dock Ellis, who claimed to have pitched a no-hitter on LSD, died on Aug. 1 at his home in Pasadena, Calif. He was 66.
NHL
Hockey, Rocked by Racist Acts, Embraces Black Lives Matter Campaigns
Morgan Campbell, The New York Times
Minnesota Wild forward Matt Dumba walked to center ice before an N.H.L. game this month and addressed the television audience, not about the game but the need for the sport to fight racism. “The world woke up to the existence of systematic racism and how deeply rooted it is,” Dumba said during a speech before two other teams, the Chicago Blackhawks and the Edmonton Oilers, took to the ice.
How the Kraken’s Everett Fitzhugh became the NHL’s first Black team broadcaster
Ryan S. Clark, The Athletic
The backstory of how the Seattle Kraken made Everett Fitzhugh the first Black team broadcaster in NHL history started with a reply to an unlikely email. In February, Fitzhugh, the radio play-by-play announcer for the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones and the only Black broadcaster at any professional level of North American hockey, was the subject of a profile story in The Athletic.
Puncher’s chance: Fighting is up during unique NHL playoffs
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
The Toronto Maple Leafs’ season was hanging by a thread from one of Jason Spezza’s gloves when he dropped them to the ice to fight Dean Kukan. “I just tried to spark the guys, just trying to show some desperation and have some push-back,” Spezza said after Toronto’s emotional comeback victory against Columbus he played a substantial role in.
College Sports
The Machinery Is in Motion to Postpone the 2020 College Football Season
Ross Dellenger and Pat Forde, Sports Illustrated
After an arduous summer of trying to push the 2020 college football season through a pandemic and toward kickoff, conference leaders abruptly hit the brakes on a chaotic Saturday that felt like the beginning of the end. First, the Mid-American Conference announced that its presidents unanimously voted to postpone fall sports until the spring.
Cost of Testing, Supply Chain Limitations Makes Compliance with NCAA Testing Protocol Difficult
JohnWallStreet, Sportico
Late last week NCAA President Mark Emmert introduced a new COVID-19 testing protocol that collegiate conferences will need to abide by if they wish to hold fall sports in 2020. “Every school [must] test every athlete going forward into competition at least once a week, and no more than 72 hours before any competition,” he said.
Players unite in push to save college season, create union
Ralph D. Russo, The Associated Press
Michigan defensive back Hunter Reynolds saw the tweets from Trevor Lawrence and other college football players, pushing for the opportunity to play this season, despite the pandemic. Reynolds, one of the organizers behind a players’ rights movement in the Big Ten, didn’t like the way some on social media seemed to be pitting Lawrence’s message against the efforts of #BigTenUnited and #WeAreUnited.
Pac-12 Players Say Commissioner Was Dismissive of Their Virus Concerns
Billy Witz, The New York Times
When a group of Pac-12 Conference players who are threatening to opt out of the football season met with Commissioner Larry Scott on Thursday night, they had two primary objectives: pushing for more-frequent coronavirus testing and protecting the eligibility and status of players who choose not to play for health reasons. On both fronts, the players said, they made little progress.
Soccer
Atlético says 2 group members test positive for coronavirus
Tales Azzoni, The Associated Press
Two members of Atlético Madrid’s group set to travel to Portugal for the Champions League quarterfinals tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday — the first pandemic-related setback among clubs participating in the final stage of Europe’s top club competition. The last eight is scheduled to begin in Lisbon on Wednesday amid tight health safety protocols to prevent a coronavirus outbreak from derailing the competition’s finale.
A Brazilian Soccer Mine Strikes Gold at Last
Tariq Panja, The New York Times
In many ways, there is nothing extraordinary about Renan Lodi. A defender at the Spanish soccer club Atlético Madrid, Lodi is among the hundreds of Brazilian players who have crossed the Atlantic to play for European clubs in elite competitions like the Champions League.
Racing
A Formula 1 Season Like No Other
Ian Parkes, The New York Times
Five months ago, Formula 1 came within two hours of starting its season. The coronavirus was spreading globally, and when a member of McLaren tested positive and the team withdrew from the Australian Grand Prix in mid-March, the event was canceled before the first practice session on a Friday morning.
Golf and Tennis
In Women’s Golf, Virus Upends the Typical Paths to a Pro Career
Brendan Porath, The New York Times
The Jacksonville Amateur Championship in Florida is not a typical stop on the summer circuit for the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion. But Gabriela Ruffels wanted competitive tournament rounds ahead of her title defense, so in July she joined two others as the first women to play in the men’s event.
Esports
This Is Not a Desk Chair
Sanam Yar, The New York Times
In a rented home on a sunny street in Los Angeles, a team of professional gamers sat hunched over in swivel chairs while a pair of ergonomic specialists observed their posture, asked questions and took notes. The gamers reported pain in their necks, their lower backs, their hips, wrists and shoulders.
General
XFL Sale Meets Court Approval With Closing Date in Two Weeks
Michael McCann, Sportico
The pending sale of the XFL met a crucial benchmark on Friday as U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein approved the transaction. The approval follows a brief hearing at the federal bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Del.
‘When You Say Badminton, You Say Indonesia’
James Hill, The New York Times
Raja Sapta Oktohari, the muscular and youthful president of the Indonesian Olympic Committee, was finding it hard to contain his enthusiasm. Badminton, he explained in an interview early this year, is more than a casual pastime in his country.
Opinions, Editorials, Perspectives and Research
College sports embraced reckless greed. With the coronavirus crisis, the bill has come due.
Sally Jenkins, The Washington Post
The pandemic has subjected the NCAA to radiographical exposure. Every crooked vertebra of the system is on glowing fluorescent display. It’s similar to the sensation when you view an X-ray that shows your cat swallowed your favorite fountain pen. You can see all the things that don’t belong in the guts of a university.
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