Week in Review

Basketball

  • The NBA revealed details about the format for its upcoming 2020-21 season, including the implementation of a play-in tournament on a one-year basis to determine the final two playoff teams in each conference, as well as plans to release the regular-season schedule in two parts to account for potential postponements related to the coronavirus pandemic. The regular season, which tips off Dec. 22 and includes an All-Star break from March 5-10, will run through May 16, with the play-in tournament set for May 18-21 and the playoffs scheduled to run from May 22 through July 22, one day before the start of the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.
  • The league held its 2020 draft virtually at ESPN’s campus in Bristol, Conn., five months after it was postponed due to COVID-19, and the short timeline means rookies will be dropped almost immediately into the season action with training camps set to kick off on Dec. 1. The Minnesota Timberwolves selected guard Anthony Edwards, a freshman out of the University of Georgia, with the first pick of the draft.

Football

  • The NFL instructed all teams to tighten their COVID-19 safety protocols as cases continue to mount across the United States. The new guidelines, which are similar to measures put into place on a temporary or case-by-case basis so far this season, effectively ban indoor team meetings and limit the number of players allowed in the weight room.
  • The Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Football Team all scrapped plans to host fans at upcoming home games amid the rise in cases. The Eagles had 7,500 total people — including players, staff and media — at three games this season, while the Ravens held one game in front of approximately 4,300 fans and Washington hosted 3,000 attendees at one game this season.

Media

  • Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. sold the naming rights for the 21 regional sports networks it acquired last year from 21st Century Fox Inc. to Bally’s Corp., a casino brand based in Providence, R.I. In addition to the undisclosed naming rights fee, Sinclair will also receive shares in Bally’s and a commitment from the casino to spend some of its interactive advertising budget on Sinclair’s 190 broadcast-TV stations as part of the nonexclusive agreement, while Bally’s brand will appear on Sinclair’s stations, its sports streaming service, Stadium, and on the Tennis Channel.
  • Atlanta Braves and Formula 1 owner Liberty Media Corp. informed the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has formed a special purpose acquisition company with the aim of raising $500 million to acquire a business in the “media, digital media, music, entertainment, communications, telecommunications and technology industries.” Liberty, which also owns Sirius XM Radio, is expected to seek a business that complements its existing portfolio, and the company told the SEC that in the event of an acquisition, it plans to commit another $250 million of its own capital as additional financing.

College sports

  • The NCAA is in preliminary discussions with the state of Indiana and city of Indianapolis about holding all 67 games of its 2021 men’s Division I Basketball Tournament in and around the capital city, which was already scheduled to host the Final Four from April 3-5, due to concern about holding tournament games at 13 different sites across the country amid the worsening coronavirus pandemic. Dan Gavitt, senior vice president of basketball for the NCAA, said the organization hopes to confirm Indianapolis as the host city for all of March Madness by Jan. 1, and there is no word yet about whether games will be open or closed to fans.
  • Bill Hancock, the executive director of the College Football Playoff, said this season’s schedule for games and semifinal selections will go on as planned following discussions of a potential delay by the CFP management committee. Hancock said conference athletic commissioners who manage the playoff were not supportive of lengthening the regular season, and the semifinal pairings will be announced on Dec. 20 followed by games on Jan. 1 and the national title matchup on Jan. 11.
  • The Pac-12 announced it will change course and allow its teams to play nonconference football as long as member schools’ opponents are following Pac-12 safety and testing protocols on COVID-19, and those contests are hosted by the member schools and carried by ESPN or Fox Sports, the conference’s media partners. The change comes after the conference saw a number of revenue opportunities pass by as coronavirus cases nixed matchups, and as a scheduling safeguard, Pac-12 teams that schedule out-of-conference opponents early in the week will be forced to renege and play another member school if that opponent becomes available by Thursday of that week.

Baseball

  • Theo Epstein stepped down as president of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs, ending a nine-year stint with the organization highlighted by a World Series title in 2016 that ended the franchise’s century-old championship drought. Epstein, who had one year remaining on his contract with the Cubs when he decided to leave, said he plans to stay in baseball and will listen to offers, but does not expect to take a new job right away.

Soccer

  • MLS downsized its workforce by roughly 20 percent through an elimination of open positions and layoffs that affected most departments — including a number of high-ranking executives — in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which continues to eat into the league’s bottom line. The layoffs come several months after MLS instituted salary reductions for most of its staffers in April, belt tightenings that will persist for the approximately 270 remaining employees, according to a person with knowledge of the league’s plans. 

Golf

  • Dustin Johnson completed a historic victory at the 2020 Masters, finishing with a best-ever total score of 268, or 20 under par, breaking the previous record of 270 held by Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth. The 84th edition of the Masters was an unusual one: It was postponed from April to November due to the coronavirus pandemic, requiring the final round to be held four hours earlier than usual due to the diminished amount of daylight in the fall, and played without fans for the first time.

What’s Ahead

  • Thursday: Thanksgiving, featuring an NFL triple-header of Houston at Detroit, Washington at Dallas and Baltimore at Pittsburgh.
  • Dec. 19: The CBS Sports Classic college basketball tournament tips off in Cleveland, featuring Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA and Ohio State.

Events Calendar (All Times Local)

11/26/2020
Sportel – Zoom in on Esports – Virtual
View full calendar

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