New York Mets owner Steve Cohen’s vision to remake the Citi Field neighborhood is increasingly coming into focus.

The billionaire has teamed up with Hard Rock International on a bid to build a $8 billion casino and entertainment complex adjacent to Citi Field — a key element in the effort to remake the long-derided area of large parking lots and a glut of auto repair shops.

Hard Rock and Cohen are one of nearly a dozen applicants for one of three highly coveted state licenses to build a casino in downstate New York. Cohen’s desire to build a casino has been well known, but Tuesday marked the first detailed release of his plans for what he’s calling Metropolitan Park, which will include a gaming center, hotel, music venue, food hall, green space, a renovated mass-transit station, community athletic fields, and playgrounds.

Cohen himself has criticized the Citi Field area, saying “there’s nothing going on” there — and that “it’s time the world’s greatest city got the sports and entertainment park it deserves.”

Tough Road Ahead

There are still numerous hurdles for the plan. 

In addition to winning the gaming license, which itself faces stiff competition, Cohen and Hard Rock will need to secure new legislation to allow for commercial development on what is currently designated as parkland — and political support for that is currently uncertain at best. A lengthy announcement heralding the project included several statements of support from local business and community leaders, but not elected officials.

Exact funding numbers haven’t been revealed, but Cohen is in line to save more than $200 million over the next quarter-century through a prior refinancing of the Citi Field construction bonds.

The Cohen-Hard Rock proposal also adds to additional development coming to the area via NYCFC’s separate plans to develop a $780 million soccer-specific stadium adjacent to Citi Field. 

The NBA has a clear goal this season: tying up all its loose ends before negotiations for its next set of media rights officially begin in Spring 2024.

Hoping to maximize value for broadcast partners to bring in what could be as much as $75 billion with new contracts, the league has already begun to crack down on load-management issues and just launched the inaugural in-season tournament.

Next on the agenda appears to be shoring up the NBA All-Star Game, which drew a record-low number of viewers earlier this year on TNT and TBS with an audience of 4.59 million. 

The league has already announced that the game will return to its classic East-West format with four 12-minute quarters. Recent years had seen team captains draft players and the games ending with a target score in the fourth quarter.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver is taking responsibility for the declining interest in the All-Star Game, citing too much fanfare around introductions and halftime performances, and not enough focus on the product. “We’re sending mixed signals,” he told ESPN. “And if we want guys to treat this like a real game … we have to treat it that way.”

At February’s All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, Saturday’s festivities will be held at the Colts’ Lucas Oil Stadium, while Sunday’s game will take place at the Pacers’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Bay Area will host the 2025 All-Star Weekend.

The Denver Broncos have the richest owners in the NFL, and they continue to invest their personal funds into the franchise midway through their second season in charge.

Plans have been unveiled for a new $175 million training facility and team headquarters that the team says will be 100% privately funded. Construction is expected to begin in the spring, with an expected opening before the 2026 NFL season. 

When completed, the project will include a new three-floor headquarters that will connect to the Broncos’ existing fieldhouse, creating a 320,000-square-foot facility featuring an expanded locker room, meeting rooms, and sports performance areas. More than 70 employees will move from Empower Field at Mile High to the Broncos’ new facility.

Big Business

The move marks the latest major investment from the Walton-Penner group, which paid a then-record $4.65 billion for the Broncos in 2022. 

Ahead of this season, the Broncos unveiled $100 million of upgrades to Empower Field at Mile High — and ownership was responsible for nearly $90 million of those funds. Before the 2022 season finale, Broncos ownership paid $400,000 to install a new playing surface for just one game. The Broncos are reportedly paying head coach Sean Payton nearly $20 million annually.

Meanwhile, the Broncos recently transferred controlling ownership from Rob Walton — the 79-year-old Walmart heir with a net worth of nearly $70 billion — to his son-in-law, Greg Penner.

Tiger Woods will launch his new golf league in January — not only as a co-founder of the competition, but also as a team owner.

The sixth and final TGL franchise, Jupiter Links Golf Club, will be owned by Woods’ investment entity TGR Ventures and David Blitzer, co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils, Cleveland Guardians, Washington Commanders, Real Salt Lake, Utah Royals, and several other European soccer clubs.

Woods and Blitzer round out a star-studded list of team owners that also includes Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, multi-team owner Fenway Sports Group, former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, Stephen Curry, and Serena Williams and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.

It marks one of the final pieces of the puzzle for TGL, which has recently been unveiling aspects of its competition format and has a major media rights deal in place with ESPN.

Woods will of course play for his team, but TGL still hasn’t announced complete team rosters. 

With two months before its debut, TGL is finishing testing at its South Florida venue, which will host two teams each week for primetime matches. The league is in the process of finding a replacement player for Jon Rahm, who had originally committed to playing but announced last week he would not participate in the first season. Besides McIlroy, Rahm had been the highest-ranked player committed to TGL.