April 5, 2023

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WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu joins FOS editor-in-chief Ernest Baker to discuss her journey as a basketball player and how she grew her personal brand on the latest episode of Front Office Sports Today. Plus: FOS reporter Amanda Christovich’s takeaways from UConn’s men’s title — and how the popularity of the women’s tournament is skyrocketing.

Listen and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Google [[link removed]], and Spotify [[link removed]].

Deals Jeff Bezos Could Be Biding His Time On Commanders Bid [[link removed]]

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Jeff Bezos hasn’t entered the bidding for the Washington Commanders, but the Amazon founder will be given every opportunity to do so.

Sources told Front Office Sports that the current deadline for Commanders owner Dan Snyder to pick a winning bidder remains weeks — not days — away.

In the meantime, Josh Harris’ group remains the frontrunner.

Harris, who owns the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, fell short in his effort to purchase [[link removed]] the Denver Broncos last year, but a source described his Commanders bid as “very strong.”

Harris teamed [[link removed]] with billionaire industrial firm co-founder Mitchell Rales and NBA legend Magic Johnson to submit [[link removed]] a bid of nearly $6 billion [[link removed]] for the Commanders. Meanwhile, Canadian businessman Steve Apostolopoulos has spent recent days trying to buttress his reported [[link removed]] $6 billion bid, another source said.

Sources said the current target to select a bidder is ahead of the start of the next owners meetings on May 22 — a day before the Commanders start their voluntary offseason workouts, also known as organized team activities.

There had been some speculation that May 12 was a target date after The Athletic reported [[link removed]] that players signed this offseason had their signing bonuses pushed back to that date.

But a source told FOS that it’s not unusual for teams to pay out signing bonuses in May: “People are guessing.”

Puck News reported [[link removed]] Monday that Snyder spoke with Bezos, the world’s third-richest human, over the holidays.

“If Jeff really wants it, he will win it,” a source told the outlet.

AWARDS

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. Established in 2017, the Rising 25 Award has become one of the most competitive and prestigious awards in the industry.

Know someone who deserves to be recognized? Nominate [[link removed]] them today! Nominations are open NOW through Tuesday, May 2. Winners will be announced in June.

Deals Fanatics Acquires Merchandiser of Italy’s Top Soccer Teams [[link removed]]

Fanatics

Fanatics is expanding its global reach.

The company announced Wednesday it has acquired Milan-based sports merchandising company EPI, which will rebrand as Fanatics Italy.

EPI is an omnichannel licensed sports retailer that manages the physical and online stores for many of Italy’s top soccer clubs including AC Milan, Atalanta, Bologna, Fiorentina, Inter Milan, Juventus, and Lazio, as well as the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).

The company also works with Italian basketball team Olimpia Milano and runs the NBA’s satellite store in Milan.

Fanatics will also acquire The Pitch Football Store — a soccer-specialist omnichannel retailer — as part of the deal, which was facilitated by the Quadrivio Group’s Industry 4.0 Fund.

All of EPI’s approximately 150 employees will stay on with the newly named company, and current CEO Lorenzo Forte will remain as head of Fanatics Italy.

“Fanatics is one of the fastest-growing and most exciting companies in sport, and we are ready to tap into its increasingly global presence and bring a more extensive digital sports experience to global fans, both here in Italy and across the world,” Forte said.

The new Italian outpost is the latest global footprint for Fanatics, which has offices, manufacturing, and distribution facilities in Spain, France, Germany, the U.K., Netherlands, Japan, and Australia.

It remains to be seen how or when Fanatics will expand its manufacturing empire: Last month, it became [[link removed]] the official on-ice uniform supplier for the NHL beginning with the 2024-25 season.

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Leagues Big Offseason, New CBA, Lead to 11% Increase in MLB Salaries [[link removed]]

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

A new collective bargaining agreement and a star-studded free-agent class contributed to MLB’s biggest salary increase in a generation.

The average MLB season salary leapt 11% to $4.9 million at the start of this season, according [[link removed]] to the Associated Press — the largest increase since 2001 (13.9%).

The new CBA, which was reached after a 99-day lockout that delayed the start of the 2022 season, raised both the floor and ceiling on player salaries.

The minimum salary for players on the 40-man roster jumped from $563,500 in 2020 to $700,000 in 2022, with $20,000 increases each year to 2026.

The threshold at which teams must start paying MLB’s competitive balance tax increased from $210 million to $230 million in 2022, then to $233 million in 2023.

The most recent offseason was the first full one under the new agreement (most big signings prior to the 2022 season occurred before the lockout), and free agents enjoyed higher-than-expected contracts from the top levels down.

Seven teams are expected to cross the threshold this season, led by the New York Mets, who are on pace to top $100 million in luxury tax payments.

MLB’s average salary hit $2 million in 2000, growing to $3.3 million in 2010.

The modern record for year-over-year salary increase is unlikely to be beaten anytime soon: MLB salaries exploded by 53.9% to $891,188 heading into 1991.

Conversation Starters CBS Sports’ telecast of Monday’s men’s basketball championship game between Connecticut and San Diego State averaged [[link removed]] 14.69 million viewers — a 14% drop from last year’s edition and the lowest viewership on record for a men’s final. However, UConn’s win over San Diego State was still the most-viewed [[link removed]] basketball game of the past year. On Tuesday night, Pittsburgh approved [[link removed]] plans for Pitt athletics’ $240 million ‘Victory Heights’ project, which is set to be completed by 2025.

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What to Watch

The Los Angeles Lakers will battle the Los Angeles Clippers at crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night.

How to watch: 10 p.m. ET, ESPN

Betting odds: Lakers – 2 || ML Lakers -126 || O/U 230.5

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