October 25, 2023

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Once again, Charles Barkley has shown why he’s such a unique talent in sports television — and why “Inside The NBA” stands alone among major studio shows. The Basketball Hall of Famer pressed [[link removed]] NBA commissioner Adam Silver about the league’s handling of domestic violence issues, veering far from the safe, prepackaged topics of many other shows and raising an important concern for the league. Viewers were richer for the exchange.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

Number Of Cities Vying For New Bears Stadium Hits Seven [[link removed]]

Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

Add yet another stop to the Chicago Bears’ ongoing tour of potential stadium site candidates.

Already encompassing the city of Chicago and five suburbs, the Bears’ search to build their planned domed stadium and mixed-use development has now brought the team to Country Club Hills, Illinois.

Leaders for the southern suburb — located about 25 miles from downtown Chicago — have sent a letter to team president and CEO Kevin Warren, along with owner Virginia McCaskey, asking them to consider the town.

“Country Club Hills’ strategic location near three major highways, the Metra Electric line, and the Indiana border gives the Bears the opportunity to develop a world-class stadium and experience that management purports to want for the team’s future growth,” said Monica Gordon, Cook County commissioner.

The town’s pitch to the Bears is specifically centered on modeling the SoFi Stadium development in California. “[We] are asking Warren and McCaskey to look to Inglewood in Los Angeles as a roadmap for transforming a predominantly Black area into a thriving residential, business, and entertainment district,” Gordon said.

It is uncertain how seriously the Bears will consider the latest outreach. But a tax dispute [[link removed]] with Arlington Heights — where the team owns the site of the former Arlington International Racecourse — has delayed the beginning of construction there, as originally intended. Leaders in Arlington Heights are now attempting [[link removed]] to break that logjam.

As that happens, Aurora [[link removed]], Naperville [[link removed]], Richton Park [[link removed]], and Waukegan [[link removed]] have all thrown their hats in the ring to host the Bears. The city of Chicago [[link removed]], site of the Bears’ current home of Soldier Field, also remains engaged in the stadium site deliberations.

The team envisions a domed facility anchoring a large-scale complex capable of hosting major events such as the Super Bowl and Final Four. Initial cost estimates in Arlington Heights hovered around $5 billion.

A-Rod, Lore Timberwolves Takeover Likely Delayed Over Payment Deadline [[link removed]]

Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Timberwolves begin their 2023-24 NBA season on Wednesday against the Toronto Raptors — in what should be the final season opener before Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore become the franchise’s majority owners. But when exactly the duo will officially take the team over remains up in the air.

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor recently said he expects Rodriguez and Lore to push back a Dec. 31 deadline for their next payment, which could be as high as $600 million and would give them majority ownership of the NBA club and WNBA team Minnesota Lynx.

Rodriguez and Lore currently own [[link removed]] 40% of the teams, while Taylor and other limited partners hold the remaining 60%.

Taylor said he will continue running the team until Rodriguez and Lore take over. The Dec. 31 deadline appears to be flexible, as Taylor said he isn’t worried about finances right now.

“I asked them, ‘Are they set?’ And (if) they got everything — and they said they do — so I take them for their word,” he said [[link removed]] on SKOR North’s “The Scoop” podcast. “It doesn’t make much difference to me if it’s December, March, or July. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing.”

The $1.5 billion valuation [[link removed]] of the Timberwolves and Lynx at the time of the sale agreement would make the purchase of 40% of the clubs worth about $600 million. The second payment for a further 20% of the teams reportedly [[link removed]] cost $290 million — about 19.3% of a $1.5 billion valuation. There could be escalators in the exact price of payments throughout the deal.

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Tune in for our next webinar, The New Era of Women’s College Sports [[link removed]], presented by Magnifi, for a discussion about how women’s college sports have gained momentum in recent years and how content and marketing can impact its growth in the future.

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ACC Defends ‘National’ Expansion Plan Despite Football Concerns [[link removed]]

Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

The ACC was the last major college sports conference to get in on this summer’s expansion and realignment mania — but league leadership is confident that its moves will be positive in the long term.

“We are a national conference,” commissioner Jim Phillips said [[link removed]] on Wednesday at the ACC Tipoff event in Charlotte ahead of the upcoming college basketball season. “We’ve been a regional conference. Two years ago, would we have done this? Probably not. But times have changed, and you either get on the offensive, or you don’t.”

In 2024, the SEC will add Oklahoma and Texas, the Big Ten will bring in Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington, and the Big 12 will welcome Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah. After all of the moves were made, the ACC voted to expand to 18 members (17 playing football) by adding California, Stanford, and SMU.

Phillips said getting to 18 “protects” the ACC should any of its members go elsewhere and puts the conference “right where we should be.”

SMU has secured [[link removed]] $200 million from donors to help it compete in football, but Cal and Stanford have much lower athletic budgets and haven’t produced a winning record or any bowl appearances this decade. “You can look at a moment in time … But in totality, I feel really good about what they can do in the ACC, and so does the membership,” Phillips said.

Army Taking SMU’s Spot

When SMU leaves the American Athletic Conference next year, the void will reportedly be filled [[link removed]] by Army, which will join the Group of 5 conference as a football-only member. The Army-Navy game will continue at the end of the season as a non-conference game, as both schools will now be AAC members.

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