August 16, 2023

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The highly anticipated Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix is still three months away, but the larger-than-life event is already making its impact felt throughout Sin City.

Today, we’re also taking the pulse of conference realignment’s effect on the College Football Playoff, how the Premier League’s punishment of referees could translate to U.S. sports, and the Rams’ further entrenchment in Los Angeles.

— David Rumsey [[link removed]]

Formula 1’s Las Vegas GP Triggers Unprecedented Disruption [[link removed]]

Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports

Formula 1’s upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix has arguably caused more large-scale disruption across a major U.S. city than any other sports event or stadium development project in recent memory.

Since F1 began preparatory work for the Las Vegas event in March and started street repaving in April, the event has caused [[link removed]] months of heavy traffic snarls and local frustration, particularly along and near the famous Las Vegas Strip.

Now, as the final phase of repaving has started [[link removed]], the F1 project can’t end soon enough for many area residents — to the point where some Uber and Lyft drivers are now refusing normally lucrative pickups along the Strip due to the lost time in construction-related traffic.

Dense paving, designed to withstand the extreme force of the F1 cars, is now set for completion in early October in advance of the Nov. 16-18 race.

“Give us a little more patience for the next couple of months as we wrap this thing up,” said Terry Miller, owner of Miller Project Management, which has led the repaving efforts and the construction of F1’s paddock. “The event is going to be spectacular. I know the summertime has been difficult at best.”

Lofty Ambitions

Despite the ongoing local frustration, F1, race, and tourism officials are reaping the benefits from the initial investment [[link removed]] of more than $500 million into the night-oriented street race, which has already created [[link removed]] ultra-luxury ticket packages and aggressively monetized [[link removed]] bar and restaurant views along the Strip.

The race “is going to be the biggest event in the world in 2023,” said [[link removed]] Steve Hill, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority president and CEO, to Autoweek.

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College Football Season Overshadowed By 2024 Changes, Playoff Uncertainty [[link removed]]

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Major changes are already set to upend the college football landscape in 2024 — with possibly more on the way.

As of now, 10 Power Five schools will be changing conferences next summer, and California, Stanford, Oregon State, and Washington State still need to solidify a permanent home.

Meanwhile, the College Football Playoff will expand from four to 12 teams — but how those postseason participants will be chosen is increasingly uncertain.

After CFP expansion was approved in 2022, the new format called for the six highest-ranked conference champions and the six highest-ranked remaining teams to qualify for the playoffs. But key college sports leaders like SEC commissioner Greg Sankey have been calling for changes [[link removed]] in light of recent conference realignment.

The CFP has a meeting of conference commissioners scheduled for Aug. 30. Previously thought to be largely a formality, the gathering could now change the playoff’s governance structure, revenue distribution model, and qualifying format, according [[link removed]] to Yahoo Sports.

Given the uncertain future of the Pac-12, it wouldn’t be surprising if the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12 push for just five automatically qualifying conference champions and seven at-large spots that will be worth millions.

This season, conferences will earn $6 million for each playoff team they have.

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NBA viewership was at an all-time high [[link removed]] this season and didn’t slow down for the playoffs. This year’s Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics vs. Miami HEAT and Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Lakers saw a combined 81.11 million viewers across the 11 games, a 10% increase year-over-year.

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Rams Take Crucial Next Step Toward New Headquarters [[link removed]]

Los Angeles Rams

The Los Angeles Rams have been back in California for more than seven years, built a new $5 billion stadium, and even won a Super Bowl since returning from St. Louis — but the NFL team is still working to establish more permanent roots.

The Stan Kroenke-owned team continues to press forward on its long-planned [[link removed]] development project in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, filing paperwork on an initiative to build a new team training facility and team headquarters in Woodland Hills, California.

The development — to be built on land assembled through three separate tracts costing a combined $650 million — would incorporate practice fields and offices, as well as restaurants, hotels, and residences.

“Our long-term goal is to build a facility that will include team headquarters and a practice facility in Woodland Hills,” said [[link removed]] a team spokesman.

It’s a major step up from the team’s current situation. The Rams practice at a temporary facility at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks — nearly 50 miles from SoFi Stadium as opposed to the 30-mile distance between the stadium and Woodland Hills — and now has its business offices in Agoura Hills.

An interim practice facility is projected for a January opening in advance of the larger, permanent phases of construction. The complex, however, isn’t projected to replace the Rams’ staging of training camp at the University of California-Irvine.

The new team headquarters will build on Kroenke’s existing $12.8 billion sports empire [[link removed]] that spans his ownership of the Rams, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids in MLS, and the National Lacrosse League’s Colorado Mammoth.

Premier League Refs Benching Signals Accountability Rise [[link removed]]

Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Three Premier League referees have been temporarily removed from duty after failing to award a stoppage-time penalty Monday — swiftly opening up a new level of accountability for game officials.

Referee Simon Hooper, video assistant referee Michael Salisbury, and assistant VAR official Richard West were each excluded from this weekend’s set of Premier League matches after the trio didn’t award a clear penalty to the Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 1-0 Manchester United win, instead booking Wolves coach Gary O’Neil for protesting the non-call.

The move is the first in a new Premier League season [[link removed]] in which the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, which oversees refereeing in English pro soccer, is vowing more accountability [[link removed]] and public transparency, including a monthly show explaining contentious decisions.

That referee clampdown is part of what is intended to be much stricter oversight [[link removed]] of Premier League game operations.

Structural Differences

Such rapid disapprovals of referee and umpire performances would likely be welcomed by many American sports fans, but the structure of refereeing is quite different in most U.S.-based leagues.

Not unlike the broader system [[link removed]] of promotion and relegation in international soccer, the PGMOL allows for some movement [[link removed]] between Select Group 1 referees working top matches and Select Group 2 referees overseeing lower ones. Meanwhile, U.S. referees are typically governed by labor unions and collective bargaining.

There is also much more public opacity surrounding referee performance. While each league strictly monitors its officials, statements about specific performances are typically limited to merit-based assignments for postseason work.

But there have been some specific incidents of discipline in extreme situations. In 2021, the NHL banned Tim Peel after he was caught saying he “wanted” to call a penalty against Nashville.

Conversation Starters Neymar’s $326 million Al-Hilal deal includes [[link removed]] a private jet, a mansion, and $546,220 for every social media post that promotes Saudi Arabia. Kansas Football has released the first look at its future stadium and KU Gateway District. Check it out [[link removed]]. Leading sports tech company WMT has launched ‘ The Six [[link removed]],’ an automated sports journalism software that increases the number of articles and stories for pro teams or college athletic departments — saving staff as many as 30 work hours per week.* Editor's Picks Jake Paul Discusses Business Beef With Brother Logan Paul [[link removed]]by Andrew Cohen [[link removed]]“I’ve wanted to give [Logan] equity in everything I’m doing," said Jake. New Balance Inks Stanford’s Brink As First Women’s Hoops Ambassador [[link removed]]by Andrew Cohen [[link removed]]Brink is New Balance's first women's basketball athlete endorser. BALCO’s Legacy Lives On, But the Damage Was Minimal [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]The BALCO investigation that kicked off a national conversation over steroids in sports profiled in the latest Netflix "Untold" documentary. Question Of The Day

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