Week in Review
Basketball
- NBA Commissioner Adam Silver defended the league’s plans to hold an All-Star Game in Atlanta on March 7 amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, despite criticism from several prominent players, acknowledging the risk associated with holding any event amid the pandemic, but calling the decision to move forward with the “global event” as “the right thing to do.” In its official announcement, the league outlined the condensed schedule of events, including the game and several skills competitions, and said it will donate $2.5 million to historically black colleges and universities, and advocate for equity and access to COVID-19 care, relief and vaccines.
- Alex Lasry, senior vice president of the Milwaukee Bucks and son of co-owner Marc Lasry, entered the race for the U.S. Senate seat held by Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), which will be up for election in 2022, and said he will take a leave of absence from his role with the NBA team for the duration of the campaign. Lasry, a 34-year-old Democrat who previously served as an aide in former President Barack Obama’s White House, leaned into his role with the Bucks in his announcement video, which shows Lasry marching in support of Jacob Blake after he was shot by police in Kenosha, Wis., in August.
- The NBA had a good sense of which way the wind of public opinion was blowing when it declared that all teams would continue playing the national anthem prior to tipoff, overruling a decision made by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. In a new Morning Consult poll, 76 percent of U.S. adults said the national anthem should be played prior to professional sporting events, including 60 percent who said it should “definitely” be part of the pregame routine.
Football
- The NFL informed teams via memo that it reached an agreement with the NFL Players Association to raise the minimum salary cap for the 2021 season to at least $180 million from the previously agreed upon floor of $175 million. While the league cautioned that this is not the final salary cap figure, something that must be determined prior to the start of free agency next month, the news provides some certainty to teams planning their offseason moves and ensures the cap will fall no more than 9.1 percent from $198.2 million in 2020.
Olympics
- The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee tapped former Olympian Seiko Hashimoto, who had been serving as the Olympic minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, to replace Yoshiro Mori as its president following his forced resignation amid backlash from derogatory remarks about women. Suga, a woman with experience dealing with gender equality and women’s empowerment, stressed gender equality repeatedly in her introductory press conference, which comes just over five months from the scheduled start of the Tokyo Games.
Winter weather
Tennis
- Naomi Osaka won the Australian Open final against Jennifer Brady on Saturday after defeating Serena Williams, 6-3, 6-4, in their semifinal match on Wednesday, signaling a passing of the torch atop women’s tennis and prompting questions about whether Williams is nearing the end of her unparalleled career. Williams, who is one Grand Slam title shy of Margaret Court’s record, said in a post-match news conference that she “wouldn’t tell anyone” when she plans to retire, before eventually cutting the press availability short when she became emotional.
Soccer
- Chelsea Clinton and Jenna Bush Hager, the daughters of former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, respectively, joined a group investing in the NWSL’s Washington Spirit, which also includes former Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes and former U.S. World Cup goalkeeper Briana Scurry. Spirit managing partner Steve Baldwin and co-owners Bill Lynch and Michele Kang will maintain most of their ownership stake in the club, but the Spirit’s addition of new minority partners continues a recent trend of high-profile women investing in NWSL clubs.
- The San Jose Earthquakes are finalizing a naming-rights deal for its 18,000-seat stadium with locally based financial services company PayPal Holdings Inc., according to multiple people familiar with the negotiations, under which the facility would be known as PayPal Park. The facility has been known as Earthquakes Stadium since technology company Avaya Inc. prematurely ended its 10-year, $20 million deal with the MLS club in 2018 when it filed for bankruptcy protection.
Baseball
- Three women formerly employed by the New York Mets reportedly spoke with a member of the team’s human resources department in the summer of 2018 about alleged sexual harassment by hitting performance coordinator Ryan Ellis, whom the team quietly parted ways with last month in the wake of its firing of general manager Jared Porter for sexual harassment. The team, which underwent an ownership change last year, said it disciplined Ellis following an investigation based on a 2018 complaint, but received new information about his behavior in the 2017-2018 timeframe that led to his dismissal.
Media
- Playfly Sports, the fast-growing Philadelphia-based agency formed in September by Michael Schreiber with backing from Sinclair Broadcast Group and Access Holdings, is close to acquiring Fox Sports’ national sales agency, Home Team Sport, which includes some top college properties and a global naming-rights division, according to sources. In addition to operating a TV advertising sales agency that represents every regional sports network in the country, Home Team Sport also holds collegiate multimedia rights at seven schools and operates Impression Sports & Entertainment, a marketing agency best known for selling naming rights and sponsorships.
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