June 5, 2023

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It is nice work if you can get it. Legendary soccer striker Karim Benzema [[link removed]] is expected to sign a three-year, $643 million deal with a Saudi club. The five-time Champions League winner is leaving Real Madrid after 14 years.

Bears Make Surprise Move, Open Stadium Talks With Naperville [[link removed]]

Jon Durr-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Bears’ seemingly inevitable move from Soldier Field to Arlington Heights has taken a massive turn, as the NFL team has entered separate talks with another suburban Illinois locale.

Scott Hagel, the team’s senior vice president of marketing and communications, claimed [[link removed]] that long-running efforts to build a $2.2 billion domed stadium in Arlington Heights — including a large land deal [[link removed]] and the start [[link removed]] of racetrack demolition — are now “at risk.” Hagel’s comments arrived as senior Bears executives met on Friday with Naperville mayor Scott Wehrli.

“We will continue the ongoing demolition activity and work toward a path forward in Arlington Heights, but it is no longer our singular focus,” team officials wrote. “It is our responsibility to listen to other municipalities in Chicagoland about potential locations that can deliver on this transformational opportunity for our fans, our club, and the state of Illinois.”

The team’s surprise move to open talks with Naperville arrives amid a new dispute [[link removed]] over the tax assessment on the Arlington Heights Racecourse property the Bears purchased from Churchill Downs for $197.2 million. The still-pending issue could dramatically alter the economics of the proposed stadium and mixed-use development project.

The Arlington Heights plan originally carried a projected cost of $5 billion, including both the stadium and adjacent development. More dramatically, its domed stadium, if completed, would put Chicago in the mix for major events such as the Super Bowl and Final Four, which aren’t possible at Soldier Field.

Arlington Heights said it isn’t surprised by the Bears’ move and that village officials “always expected that the club would explore any and all viable locations.”

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“I thought it was always better not having an owner when I worked for the Packers … not having to respond to a big personality who’s used to getting what they want because they’ve got billions of dollars — there are advantages to that.”

— Andrew Brandt, former VP of player finance for the Green Bay Packers, on working for the only publicly owned organization in the NFL. Hear more insider thoughts from Brandt on today’s episode of Front Office Sports Today.

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R&A Beef With Trump Costing Turnberry Golf Club, Scotland Millions [[link removed]]

Simon Stacpoole/Offside Sports via USA TODAY Sports

Scotland stands to potentially miss out on hundreds of millions of dollars due to the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews’ unwillingness to bring the Open Championship back to a venue owned by Donald Trump.

A new report likely confirms that Turnberry Golf Club, which has hosted the men’s major championship four times previously, will not do so again while Trump owns the property.

The main concerns for the R&A are security risks and potential protests, according [[link removed]] to The Telegraph.

The Trump family says it has invested nearly $200 million into Turnberry with the intention of once again hosting the Open — which it last did in 2009, before Trump’s $60 million purchase of the property in 2014. At one time, the course was viewed as likely to stay in the Open rotation.

Last year’s Open Championship at St. Andrews generated [[link removed]'s%20Sport%20Industry%20Research%20Centre.] a total economic impact of $132 million for Scotland and nearly $400 million in economic benefits and global marketing for the region.

Turnberry is one of seven Scottish courses to have hosted the Open. Royal Troon, about 25 miles north up the country’s western coastline, will host the championship in 2024. In 2015, Turnberry hosted the Women’s British Open, which was awarded to the club before Trump’s purchase.

In the U.S., Trump Bedminster was scheduled to host the 2022 PGA Championship until the PGA of America changed course after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Trump’s New Jersey property did host the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open.

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Churchill Downs Suspends Race Operations Amid Safety Crisis [[link removed]]

Matt Stone/Courier Journal /USA TODAY NETWORK

Churchill Downs is suspending race operations at the famed racetrack for nearly a month, marking the most dramatic response yet to an ongoing crisis in which 12 horses have died there in the last two months.

Live racing from June 7 until at least July 3 – representing the remainder of the Churchill Downs Spring Meet – will be moved to Ellis Park Racing & Gaming in Henderson, Ky., another Churchill Downs Inc.-owned facility.

Scheduled races on Saturday and Sunday were still held at Churchill Downs. But the four-week suspension arrives as track officials and equine experts continue their search for the cause of the deaths.

“Despite our best efforts to identify a cause for the recent horse injuries, and though no issues have been linked to our racing surfaces or environment at Churchill Downs, we need to take more time to conduct a top-to-bottom review,” said Bill Carstanjen, Churchill Downs Inc.’s president.

The suspension of race operations – following last week’s [[link removed]] emergency summit by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) – adds to a series of newly imposed health and safety measures at Churchill Downs, including additional post-entry screening of horses, a restriction on horses to four starts in a rolling eight-week period, ineligibility standards on poor-performing horses, and a limit on purse payouts to top-five finishers.

Those measures – aimed at discouraging trainers from running unsound horses – will also apply at Ellis Park.

Despite the ongoing safety issues, the 2023 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs still drew [[link removed]] an announced crowd of 150,335 and generated a record-level betting handle of $288.7 million last month.

NFL Boosts Efforts To Prevent Cardiac Arrest Deaths [[link removed]]

Jack Gruber-USA TODAY

Five months after the on-field collapse [[link removed]] of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, the NFL is expanding its efforts to prevent cardiac arrest fatalities among athletes.

The league has increased membership of the The Smart Heart Sports Coalition — the group it formed in March to advocate for widespread adoption of policies to prevent sudden cardiac arrest among athletes — to 26 organizations. Major properties joining the coalition include the NWSL, WNBA, WTA, and USTA.

The NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS have been coalition members with the NFL from the outset as the group works with lawmakers in pursuit of policy improvements, particularly those geared toward high school athletes.

“The addition of new partners to the coalition means more action, more impact, and wider reach,” said Jeff Miller, NFL executive vice president of communications, public affairs, and policy.

The NFL has created a CPR Education Grant program that will supply $20,000 in funding to each NFL team for CPR and AED training and equipment, to be followed by a broader commitment to contribute more than $1 million to high schools around the country.

Those grants will be supplemented this summer by a new partnership between the NFL and American Red Cross to offer CPR education and certification opportunities to the public at league and team facilities.

In April, Hamlin was cleared to resume his NFL playing career, advancing his remarkable comeback from the near-death experience.

Conversation Starters The Premier League averaged [[link removed]] 527,000 viewers on NBC Sports in 2022/23 — the league’s second most-watched season ever in America. Jamal Murray’s path to the NBA Finals with the Denver Nuggets had one unique stop [[link removed]] — he actually lived in the Rose Motel from the hit series “Schitt’s Creek” when it houses Canadian prep students. Ever watch the NHL Playoffs on a 40-foot screen by the pool? Take a look [[link removed]].

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Weekend's Best You Love The Women’s College World Series. You Just Might Not Know It Yet [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]How the WCWS became one of the most popular NCAA events. Why the NHL Is Trusting a Cable Channel with the Stanley Cup [[link removed]]by Doug Greenberg [[link removed]]TNT is televising its first-ever major sports championship. Emily Kaplan Knows the Assignment [[link removed]]by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]]As a sideline reporter, Emily Kaplan keeps things open, lean, and neutral. Question Of The Day

Does a limited time offer help you decide on what fast-food restaurant to try?

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Friday’s Answer

25% of respondents are interested in participating in a running group or already have.

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