General
CMB could be forced out of WFAN by Mike Francesa’s indecisiveness
Andrew Marchand, New York Post
The future of WFAN’s “Carlin, Maggie & Bart” is in question, The Post has learned. In an odd situation, CMB’s status for the fall is unclear, even as they generate very strong ratings, including being tied for first in their time slot two-thirds of the way into the latest ratings book.
Khabib: McGregor doesn’t deserve a rematch
Greg Rosenstein, ESPN
UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov shot down the possibility of a Conor McGregor rematch at a news conference in London on Wednesday morning. Nurmagomedov, who was promoting his upcoming fight with interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier, questioned why McGregor merited a second chance at the belt.
NFL
Pats file tampering charges vs. Texans
Adam Schefter, ESPN
The New England Patriots filed tampering charges Wednesday against the Houston Texans for the attempted general manager hire of Nick Caserio, league sources told ESPN. The league now is expected to gather relevant information to open its investigation against Houston, sources said.
NBA
Cavaliers make history by hiring Lindsay Gottlieb as an assistant
Mia Berry, Los Angeles Times
The Cleveland Cavaliers hired Lindsay Gottlieb, the women’s basketball coach at the University of California, to be an assistant to John Beilein. The decision by Beilein, the former Michigan coach who was hired by the Cavaliers last month, is historic.
Kyrie splits with agent, eyes Roc Nation
Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN
Boston Celtics star Kyrie Irving is changing representation and is expected to partner with Roc Nation Sports, league sources told ESPN. Irving parted ways with longtime agent Jeff Wechsler on Wednesday, clearing the way for him to ultimately work with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation prior to the start of NBA free agency on June 30, sources said.
A Basketball Mecca That Just Needed a Name
Benjamin Hoffman, The New York Times
It was the unexpected gift that helped set the stage for one of the greatest runs in N.B.A. history. On Oct. 20, 2006, the Golden State Warriors announced that Oracle, a Bay Area software behemoth, had purchased the naming rights to the team’s arena.
MLB
Suspects in David Ortiz Shooting Were Paid $7,800, Authorities Say
James Wagner and Dionisio Soldevila, The New York Times
Six people have been arrested in connection with the shooting of the former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz — including one suspected of being the gunman — the authorities in the Dominican Republic said on Wednesday. The six men, one of whom was detained immediately after the shooting on Sunday night, received 400,000 Dominican pesos, or about $7,800, to kill Ortiz, according to the director of the national police.
NHL
What’s It Like to Turn $400 into $100K? Blues Fan Speaks After Longshot Bet Cashes
Darren Rovell, The Action Network
There have been bigger wins in sports gambling history, but what Blues fan Scott Berry pulled off Wednesday night, as his team won the Stanley Cup, will definitely go down in betting lure. Berry passed and passed and passed on the many opportunities to hedge his $400 ticket from back in January, and it paid off as he won $100,000.
Blues’ Binnington goes from castoff to Stanley Cup champion
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
Jordan Binnington’s storybook ride from fourth stringer to Stanley Cup-winning goaltender was fueled by a few free meals. The best came last weekend at Brio Tuscan Grille, one of his favorite spots as St. Louis began to feel like home.
Soccer
Women’s World Cup ratings take a hit as U.S. stomps Thailand 13-0
Anthony Crupi, Ad Age
At some point during the U.S. women’s soccer team’s 13-0 demolition of Thailand, perhaps in the interval between Alex Morgan’s third and fourth goal, it became apparent that Fox was going to have a hard time keeping viewers from straying. The ruthlessness with which the Americans took apart their overwhelmed opponents was such that even diehard soccer fans could be forgiven for looking elsewhere for a fairer fight—say, Indiana Jones vs. the fancy guy with the sword in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” or Sonny Corleone taking on Carlo Rizzi in “The Godfather.”
The Biggest Threat to U.S. Women’s Soccer Dominance: the European Superclubs
Joshua Robinson, The Wall Street Journal
For two decades, the U.S. dominance of women’s soccer was built on higher investment, superior infrastructure, and greater professionalism than its European rivals. Or, put another way, the U.S. dominance was built on many countries across the Atlantic simply not caring as much.
FIFA withdraws claim of 1 million tickets sold at World Cup
The Associated Press
FIFA has withdrawn a claim that 1 million tickets have been sold for the Women’s World Cup and now says the total includes people paying nothing to attend games, including VIPs and even medical staff. FIFA deleted a tweet posted on Tuesday that said: “One million tickets for the @FIFAWWC 2019 have now been sold!”
Ligue 1 orders up ‘€32m’ Uber Eats naming rights deal
Sam Carp, SportsPro Media
Uber Eats will serve as an official partner of French soccer’s top flight next season before putting its name to the competition for the following two years, with the league set to be known as Uber Eats Ligue 1 until the end of the 2021/22 campaign. According to French daily newspaper Le Figaro, Uber Eats will pay the LFP €32 million (US$36.1 million) over the course of the agreement, marking a significant increase on the reported €20 million paid by furnishing and household appliances retailer Conforma, Ligue 1’s previous title sponsor.
UEFA launches streaming service of archive footage
Brian Homewood, Reuters
European football’s governing body UEFA said on Thursday it is launching an Internet-based streaming service that will give people access to a ‘gold mine’ of archive footage. UEFA said it was launching an Over The Top (OTT) platform dubbed UEFA.tv, which would also allow it to show live coverage of UEFA youth, women’s and futsal competitions.
Racing
Baltimore withdraws lawsuit against owner of Preakness track
David McFadden, The Associated Press
Baltimore announced Wednesday that it has withdrawn a lawsuit against the owner and operator of the historic city racetrack that hosts the Preakness Stakes, the Triple Crown series’ middle jewel and the second-oldest track in America. Earlier this year, Maryland’s biggest city had asked a court to grant ownership of the Pimlico Race Course and the Preakness race to Baltimore through condemnation.
Santa Anita, CHRB unveil enhanced safety measures to combat horse deaths
John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times
The California Horse Racing Board and Santa Anita, at odds over the weekend because of the CHRB’s desire to immediately suspend racing at the track, announced enhanced protocols designed to keep unsound horses from running. A panel of five, including Dr. Rick Arthur, equine medical director of the CHRB, and Darrel McHargue, CHRB chief steward, will review the medical, training and racing history of each horse before it can run.
Golf and Tennis
Brooks Koepka’s Winding Path to Become Golf’s No. 1 Player
Brian Costa, The Wall Street Journal
More than any other major championship, the U.S. Open is designed to instill fear in players. Yet no matter how fast the greens or how high the rough, nothing about this week is likely to make Brooks Koepka as anxious as he was one night before the 2013 Kenya Open.
Pebble Beach might be Phil Mickelson’s last shot to win U.S. Open, career grand slam
Tod Leonard, Los Angeles Times
For a guy trying to complete the career majors Grand Slam on a golf course he dearly loves, Phil Mickelson could not be more under the radar this week at the 119th U.S. Open. Mickelson didn’t come to the media center at Pebble Beach for a formal pretournament interview, as he has for probably two decades.
The Best Short Story of the 2019 U.S. Open? The No. 7 Hole at Pebble Beach
John Branch, The New York Times
It is the shortest hole that most of the world’s best golfers ever play. At barely 100 downhill yards from tee to green, it consumes just one-seventieth of the overall length of Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Amazon Inks Deal With WTA For UK Rights To Women’s Tennis
Denise Petski, Deadline Hollywood
Amazon is making a further push into live sports in the UK, netting a four-year deal with the Women’s Tennis Association to show the top women’s tournaments. The pact will kick off in 2020 with a minimum of 49 tournaments in the first year.
LPGA partners with Genius to implement betting integrity programme
Ben Cronin, SportBusiness Group
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) has announced it is partnering with Genius Sports to implement a sports betting-related monitoring, education and investigation programme. The partnership suggests the LPGA is preparing the way for there to be more in-play betting markets around the sport, as live betting is more open to match fixing and manipulation.
College Sports
Ex-Stanford coach avoids prison time in college bribery scam
Alanna Durkin Richer, The Associated Press
A former head sailing coach at Stanford avoided prison time when a judge sentenced him Wednesday for his role in a sweeping college admissions scam at elite U.S. universities. John Vandemoer is the first person to be sentenced in the case that exposed the lengths that some wealthy parents will go to get their children into the nation’s top schools.
Esports
Immortals officially acquires Infinite Esports & Entertainment
Adam Fitch, Esports Insider
Immortals Gaming Club has officially acquired Infinite Esports & Entertainment, the parent company of OpTic Gaming and Houston Outlaws. Neil Leibman and Ray Davis of Texas Esports, the company that owned majority share in Infinite Esports & Entertainment, will become shareholders in Immortals Gaming Club.
PUBG Mobile Tops 400M Downloads, 50M Daily Active Users
Andrew Hayward, The Esports Observer
PUBG Mobile, Tencent Games’ iOS and Android adaptation of PC and console battle royale shooter PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS, has set new milestones in terms of total downloads and daily active users. According to a release, PUBG Mobile has now been downloaded more than 400M times across platforms, and has surpassed the mark of 50M daily active users.
Opinions, Editorials, Perspectives and Research
The USWNT Score, Score and Score, and Are Loved, Loved and Loved
Jason Gay, The Wall Street Journal
They scored a goal, then a goal, then a goal, then a goal, then a goal, then another goal, then another, and another, and another, and then one more goal, and a goal after that, and then even one more, and don’t forget the last one, and I will get to the 13-0, and the animated discussion that followed over what is the appropriate level of goalage in a World Cup—if, perhaps, they over-goaled—but before any of this, I want to talk about the scene around the U.S. Women’s National Team’s opener Tuesday night in Reims, France, because it was special.
Los Angeles Angels? Disingenuous team name is as laughable as ever
Arash Markazi, Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The most confusing and contradictory name in professional sports has been dead for six years now.
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