The Human Rights Commission holds a hearing Tuesday on “China, Genocide and the Olympics.” Why it’s worth watching: A number of U.S. lawmakers are already calling for a boycott of next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing, given the Chinese government’s alleged detainment and abuse of Uyghurs in the region of Xinjiang, and the HRC’s virtual hearing could further amplify those appeals. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has sought to dissuade Congress from taking such measures.

The NBA’s inaugural play-in tournament begins Tuesday. Why it’s worth watching: Matchups for the first State Farm Play-In Tournament will be set following the conclusion of tonight’s final slate of regular-season games and, depending on how things shake out, the pair of single-elimination matchups in both the East and West have the potential to generate monster viewership numbers for ESPN and TNT. The traditional first round begins Saturday, with the winners of the play-in games occupying the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds.

The NCAA Division I Council reportedly meets Wednesday to discuss name, image and likeness. Why it’s worth watching: With less than two months until several state laws take effect, the NCAA is scrambling to enact its own set of rules governing how college athletes can profit from the use of their names, images and likenesses. Shane Lyons, the athletic director at West Virginia University and member of the Division I Council, said Wednesday’s meeting will focus on choosing a third-party administrator to manage NIL deals from three remaining finalists — CLC, Opendorse and Salesforce — after a fourth contender, INFLCR, removed itself from consideration last week.

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BeIN Bows Out, ESPN Moves In on La Liga Media Rights
About a year ago, I asked La Liga North America CEO Boris Gartner why Spain’s top soccer league had months earlier extended its U.S. media rights agreement with beIN Sports through 2024. After all, beIN’s English- and Spanish-language cable networks had failed to regain significant distribution after being dropped from the country’s two largest pay-TV providers, meaning La Liga matches would continue to reach tens of millions fewer American households than the other top European soccer leagues. 

The decision, he said, hinged in part on a trade-off between distribution and economics. 

“Philosophically, all the clubs are going to tell you more distribution: ‘We’re in this for the long run and we just need exposure,’” Gartner explained. “But when you say you’re going to get 30 percent less on your check next year, it’s, ‘well, I actually need the money.’”

Now, by moving on from beIN and signing a new deal with The Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN, La Liga has the best of both worlds: a reportedly record-setting $1.4 billion rights fee over eight years and the reach of the country’s most robust sports media company. 

Under the new deal, most of La Liga’s 380 matches each season will be available exclusively on the ESPN+ streaming service, whose 13.8 million subscribers might actually exceed the number of homes reached by beIN’s cable networks. The games that Disney does decide to air on either its ESPN cable networks or its ABC broadcast network, however, have the potential to rank among the most-watched club soccer matches on U.S. television each year.

In recent years, Hispanics have propelled Liga MX playoff matches on Univision to the largest club soccer audiences with virtually no attention from English-speaking audiences. Given the popularity of La Liga’s top clubs — FC Barcelona and Real Madrid — among both English- and Spanish-speaking fans, it stands to reason that El Clásico could quickly become the most-watched soccer telecast on American television.

Other top stories from the week that was:

• Rombauer won the 146th running of the Preakness Stakes, ending Medina Spirit’s Triple Crown bid after the Bob Baffert-trained colt failed a drug test following his Kentucky Derby victory.
• Marv Albert will retire after the NBA playoffs, sources said. TNT and Albert are expected to announce his retirement Monday.
• The Pac-12 Conference signed a five-year contract making George Kliavkoff, president of entertainment and sports for MGM Resorts International, its next commissioner beginning July 1, a choice that surprised many in the industry given the executive’s lack of experience in college athletics.
• The MLB Players Association filed a grievance accusing the league of not making a good faith effort to play as many games as possible last season amid the COVID-19 pandemic and is seeking $500 million in damages, according to sources, and the league subsequently filed a counter-grievance.
• Former MLB player Alex Rodriguez and former Walmart Inc. e-commerce chief Marc Lore reached an agreement to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves from owner Glen Taylor for $1.5 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiation.
• The NFL and its clubs announced the schedule for the first 17-game regular season, which begins Sept. 9 with the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosting the Dallas Cowboys on NBC and will see the league return to London for two games: Atlanta Falcons vs. New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Miami Dolphins.

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The pay cut ESPN personality Kenny Mayne said he was asked to take in order to stay with the sports network beyond the expiration of his contract at the end of the month.

1) Secret Documents Reveal Learfield IMG’s Take From College Deals

Daniel Libit and Emily Caron, Sportico

2) Many Vaccinated Americans Are Still Uncomfortable Returning to Public Activities. The U.S. Economy Needs Them

Alex Silverman, Morning Consult

3) Kenny Mayne unplugged: On why he’s leaving ESPN, what the future holds and a business pitch for Michael Jordan

Richard Deitsch, The Athletic

4) ESPN legend Kenny Mayne out after 27 years

Zach Braziller, New York Post

5) DraftKings Media Ambitions Could Include OTT Streaming Service

John Wall Street, Sportico

6) Inside the meeting where Columbus Crew fans were shown the club’s rebrand: ‘I’m just shocked and appalled’

Sam Stejskal, The Athletic

7) ESPN expected to announce LaLiga rights acquisition this week, say sources

Christopher Harris, World Soccer Talk

8) Ohio State investigation: Massage therapist targeted football players for sex

Bill Rabinowitz, The Columbus Dispatch

9) Nielsen Likely Undercounted Some Pandemic Audiences, Media Review Finds

Brian Steinberg, Variety

10) A startup thinks it can do analytics better than any one team — in MLB, soccer and, soon, the NBA

Evan Drellich and Seth Partnow, The Athletic

• Disney in Discussions With NFL for ‘Sunday Ticket’ Franchise, Renews MLB Deal (Variety)
• Mike Polisky resigns as Northwestern athletic director after continued criticism of his hiring: ‘I do not want to be a distraction’ (Chicago Tribune)
• Sen. Jerry Moran says federal college-athlete name, image, likeness law by July 1 unlikely (USA Today)
• Nielsen Likely Undercounted Some Pandemic Audiences, Media Review Finds (Variety)
• Oakland Athletics to start looking at relocating elsewhere (ESPN)