March 31, 2023
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The MLB season is two days old, but it’s already made some history thanks to the first-ever collective bargaining agreement with minor league baseball players. On Front Office Sports Today, we talk to the man who broke the news — The Athletic’s senior writer, Evan Drellich — then preview a big Final Four weekend.
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College Athletics At Final Four, Top-Ranked South Carolina Is Also No. 1 In Spending [[link removed]]
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
DALLAS — Every women’s Final Four team this year hails from a Power 5 conference. But just because they come from the richest conferences doesn’t mean they spend the same amount of money on their women’s basketball teams.
South Carolina spends the most of the Final Four contenders by far — on both its team and head coach.
The Gamecocks shelled out a whopping $9.5 million last year, according to Department of Education data from the 2021-22 season. In addition, coach Dawn Staley, who makes [[link removed]] close to $3 million annually, is the second-highest-paid women’s basketball coach in the country.
The LSU Tigers came in second, with $8.3 million in expenses last season. The Iowa Hawkeyes were slightly farther behind, with $6 million. The Virginia Tech Hokies, who will appear in their first Final Four on Friday night, spent only $3.4 million.
Those figures don’t include coaching salaries, though head coaching contracts follow the same rankings as overall team budgets.
LSU coach Kim Mulkey makes $2.6 million per year, third in the nation. Iowa coach Lisa Bluder earns $1.1 million, ranking eighth. Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks, who reportedly [[link removed]] makes well under $1 million, isn’t even on the list for the top 25 highest-paid coaches.
Despite the discrepancy, all four have earned a trip to Dallas — and will face off on Friday night.
Real Estate Oakland, A’s Pick Up Big Win in Court For $12B Stadium Proposal [[link removed]]
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland A’s celebrated Opening Day with victories on the field and in the courthouse.
On Thursday, the Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 to start the season.
Meanwhile, a California appeals court panel upheld [[link removed]] an Alameda County Superior Court judge’s decision [[link removed]] that the A’s and the city of Oakland weren’t violating environmental standards under the California Environmental Quality Act with their plans to build a new $12 billion stadium district on the Howard Terminal waterfront.
Last April, a coalition [[link removed]] including truckers, port workers, and cargo operators sued the team and city over the supposed environmental violations.
In the fall, Alameda Superior Court judge Ronald Seligman ruled that the A’s weren’t in the wrong, rejecting claims that a new waterfront stadium would cause aquatic traffic on the grounds that the nearest water would be 700 feet from the park — further than any player has ever hit a home run.
The question now is whether the A’s will continue with plans to build a $1 billion, privately financed ballpark in Oakland — or depart for Las Vegas [[link removed]], as heavily rumored.
If the Oakland plans do indeed move forward, a new ballpark can’t come soon enough: A fan survey [[link removed]] taken ahead of Opening Day ranked Oakland Coliseum the worst MLB park in the country.
SPONSORED BY WWE
WrestleMania Returns This Weekend
This Saturday and Sunday, emanating live from Los Angeles, the red carpet gets rolled out when WrestleMania Goes Hollywood [[link removed]]!
“The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes challenges Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Social media superstar Logan Paul takes on Seth “Freakin” Rollins.
Bianca Belair defends the Raw Women’s Championship against Asuka. Rhea Ripley looks to take the SmackDown Women’s Championship from Charlotte Flair. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn reunite to battle The Usos for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships.
John Cena returns to face Austin Theory for the United States Championship. It’s The Beast vs. The Giant as Brock Lesnar and Omos go head-to-head. Plus, so much more!
Watch WrestleMania [[link removed]] exclusively on Peacock in the U.S. and on WWE Network everywhere else.
World Wimbledon Will Allow Russians to Compete Under Neutral Flag [[link removed]]
Peter van den Berg-USA TODAY Sports
Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, Wimbledon will allow Russian players to compete in this year’s tournament.
Tennis players from Russia and Belarus will compete under a neutral flag at this summer’s tournament from July 3-16. They were banned in 2022 due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But Russian players aren’t exactly getting free reign to play politics at Wimbledon this summer. The players “will not be allowed to express support for the invasion,” wrote the Washington Post [[link removed]].
“Any player who receives funding from the Russian or Belarusian governments, including sponsorships from state-controlled companies, will not be allowed to play.”
Russian players are allowed to compete in tennis’ other Grand Slam events as neutral athletes.
Despite the decision, Ian Hewitt, chairman of the All England Club, still condemns Russia’s “illegal” invasion.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision, not taken lightly or without a great deal of consideration for those who will be impacted,” he said. “It is our view that, considering all factors, these are the most appropriate arrangements for The Championships for this year.”
The ban prevented stars such as Daniil Medvedev of Russia and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus from playing last year. This latest decision was condemned by both Russia and the Association of Tennis Professionals, according to the Post.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The U.K. has condemned the “Russian government’s unprovoked and premeditated war against Ukraine.”
Conversation Starters Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland has been connected [[link removed]] to Nike since he was 14. Now, the Norwegian striker has officially re-signed with the apparel giant — who beat out both Adidas and PUMA. The University of Colorado officially sold out [[link removed]] its spring game, which will easily be the school’s largest edition ever — with more attendees than the last nine combined. Former Dodgers outfielder Andrew Toles, who hadn’t played [[link removed]] baseball since 2018 and was homeless and diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2020, may never play again. But the Dodgers continue to re-sign Toles to $0 contracts — allowing him to keep using mental health services and insurance.
SPONSORED BY ANHEUSER-BUSCH
Rising 25 Nominations Are Here!
Rising 25 is back and it’s time to nominate an up-and-coming young professional changing the game in the business of sports!
The Front Office Sports Rising 25 Award [[link removed]], presented by Anheuser-Busch, celebrates the careers of the brightest young stars in the business of sports. To date, we’ve honored 150 individuals and we’re looking for our next group of young stars.
Nominations are open NOW through Tuesday, May 2. Winners will be announced in June.
Nominate [[link removed]] today!
SPONSORED BY POINTSBETWhat To Watch
The Denver Nuggets will take on the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Arena on Friday night.
How to watch: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV
Betting odds [[link removed]]: Nuggets +10 || ML +350 || O/U 226.5
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