July 10, 2023

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Good morning, David Rumsey [[link removed]] here. The 2023 College World Series champion LSU Tigers dominated the top of last night’s MLB Draft [[link removed]] — with pitcher Paul Skenes going first overall to the Pittsburgh Pirates before the Washington Nationals selected outfielder Dylan Crews second. The event at Lumen Field kicked off this week’s MLB All-Star Festivities in Seattle ahead of tonight’s Home Run Derby.

Meanwhile, the PGA Tour had an eventful weekend with its commissioner announcing his return from medical leave and a key board member stepping down. As the Tour de France heats up, the top two riders are separated by mere seconds. But we start this morning with what the NBA’s new In-Season Tournament will bring to the league.

NBA Eyes Global Boost With In-Season Tournament [[link removed]]

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

NBA commissioner Adam Silver believes the league’s global aspirations will be significantly aided by the introduction of the new In-Season Tournament — an effort [[link removed]] specifically designed to resemble international sports.

The league on Saturday introduced the new competition, which was a key component of the newly signed labor deal [[link removed]] with the National Basketball Players Association. Starting on Nov. 3, the tournament will involve a group stage of six five-team groups, with the six group winners and two wild cards advancing to an eight-team knockout stage in early December. The semifinals and final will be held Dec. 7 and 9 in a Final Four-type event set [[link removed]] for Las Vegas as teams compete for the new NBA Cup.

Aimed partly at boosting the relatively slower early part of the regular-season schedule, the In-Season Tournament takes sizable influence from Cup events in European soccer.

“It’s not a new concept in sports. For those that follow, particularly international soccer, there’s a long tradition of having in-season tournaments,” said Silver, who was part of a special edition of ESPN’s “NBA Today” to unveil the competition. “So we thought, ‘what a perfect opportunity for a global league like the NBA,’ and it’s a perfect fit for our game.”

Players will compete for a prize pool of about $18 million, with championship team members receiving $500,000 each. Payouts will reach $200,000, $100,000, and $50,000 for players on teams losing in earlier rounds.

Specific games and broadcast plans for the In-Season Tournament will be announced next month.

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🎙️ They Said What?

“[Stephen A. Smith has] been number one for 10 years. Maybe he feels like he doesn’t have any more hills to climb at ESPN. He’s talked about running for president. He’s talked about hosting a Jimmy Kimmel-type late night show. He’s talked about going into acting. I think Stephen A. is, like ESPN, at a crossroads and figuring out what he wants to do next.”

— Front Office Sports senior writer Mike McCarthy on “First Take” host Stephen A. Smith’s future at ESPN during the latest episode of Front Office Sports Today.

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

Jay Monahan Returning To PGA Tour Amid Major Resignation [[link removed]]

Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan will return from his medical leave next week to a new landscape as the fallout from the Saudi Arabia PIF deal continues.

On Sunday — two days after Monahan announced his intentions to re-assume his full duties on July 17 — PGA Tour policy board member ​​Randall Stephenson resigned, according [[link removed]] to the Washington Post. Stephenson, the former CEO of AT&T, said concerns over the Tour’s bombshell agreement led him to step down from the post he had had since 2012.

In his resignation letter, Stephenson said he intended to step down earlier but delayed his departure due to Monahan’s absence. Stephenson’s exit will be one of many major issues Monahan will face when he returns ahead of next week’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.

On Tuesday, a Senate hearing will examine [[link removed]] the PGA Tour-PIF partnership. Neither Monahan nor PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will be in Washington, D.C., to testify. According [[link removed]] to the New York Times, Monahan would have considered testifying if the Senate agreed to postpone the hearing, but the committee declined.

In announcing his return, Monahan provided no more details on what initially caused him to step away [[link removed]] on June 13, only that his health had “improved dramatically.” During Monahan’s absence, the Tour and PIF’s full framework agreement was revealed, but most questions raised by the bombshell announcement on June 6 remain unanswered. The two sides also filed a motion to dismiss [[link removed]] their lawsuits.

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Home Run Derby Looks To Repeat Recent Fireworks [[link removed]]

Gary Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The most prominent MLB All-Star Week festivities get underway Monday night with the Home Run Derby at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Two-time winner Pete Alonso is back in the bracket-style event at T-Mobile Park, but MLB’s top two home run hitters this season, Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani and Braves first baseman Matt Olson, aren’t part of the field.

While the derby’s top four seeds — Luis Robert, Alonso, Mookie Betts, and Adolis Garcia — are in the top six of home run leaders, the other participants are much further down the list. Randy Arozarena is 26th, while Julio Rodríguez (last year’s runner-up), Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Adley Rutschman are outside the top 50. Defending champion Juan Soto elected not to participate this year — but even he’s down to 31st in home runs.

Monday night’s winner will take home a $1 million prize and the Home Run Derby Chain — a three-pound necklace [[link removed]] with 75 carats of white and yellow Swarovski Crystal embellishments.

Big Business

The popular StatCast alternate feed of the derby will return to ESPN2 with analytics-driven graphics and data, along with real-time ball-flight animations.

ESPN’s major effort has helped the Home Run Derby to strong ratings in recent years — last year’s coverage was down just slightly from the record [[link removed]] seven million-plus in 2021. Those numbers aren’t far off from the 7.51 million viewers Fox drew [[link removed]] for the 2022 All-Star Game itself.

Tour De France Heating Up As Race Nears Halfway Point [[link removed]]

Tour de France/Twitter

The 172 participants in this year’s Tour de France get their first rest day on Monday after completing nine of 21 stages across the country.

The two men who have won the last three editions — Jonas Vingegaard (2022) and Tadej Pogačar (2020, 2021) — sit atop the field, battling yet again for the most prestigious title in cycling.

This year’s champion will win nearly $550,000 — more than a fifth of the total prize pool of $2.52 million.

Each year, the exact route changes, but the Tour de France has finished at Paris’ Avenue des Champs-Élysées since 1975. This year’s race actually started in Spain, with the famous Grand Depart commencing from Bilbao — race organizers reportedly [[link removed]] charged more than $13 million to begin the event there.

By the end of the 23-day span, riders will have covered 2,115 miles and visited 12 new host towns — some paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to attract the race.

Eyes On The Road

The Tour de France has a global media presence with hundreds of broadcast partners, but NBC Sports has the U.S. rights and has extended its contract through 2029 ahead of this year’s race. While financials weren’t released, NBC had reportedly been paying [[link removed]] $8 million per year under its previous deal.

This year, most of the live coverage is streamed on Peacock, with encore presentations on USA Network and NBC.

Conversation Starters Allisen Corpuz bested the field at the first U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach [[link removed]] to win her first major championship and second tournament on the LPGA Tour. Due to the writer’s strike, the ESPYs won’t have a host [[link removed]] for the first time in the award show’s 30-year history. The $500 million Omni PGA Frisco Resort — “the future of golf” in Texas — is now open [[link removed]]. The property features two 18-hole courses, a 2-acre putting green, a 10-hole par-3 course with lights, and a TopGolf Lounge, plus bars and restaurants, swimming pools, and a shopping district.

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The MLB Draft has major challenges and huge potential.

Deion Sanders Is Reportedly Getting Back Together with Nike [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]

The two have apparently reconciled their relationship.

Historic Rise of Threads Creates Big Questions For Sports [[link removed]]by Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

The meteoric rise of Meta’s Threads has presented a pressing dilemma for sports properties

Question Of The Day

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68% of respondents travel 1-3 times a year for vacation and 23% travel 4+ times.

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