February 16, 2024

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Tiger Woods played his first round on the PGA Tour since the 2023 Masters on Thursday—without his famous “TW” logo. … We may be getting closer to actually seeing what the A’s Las Vegas ballpark could look like. … NBA All-Star weekend is here. Will it deliver? … And we look back at the financial implications of a lost professional hockey season.

— David Rumsey [[link removed]]

Tiger Says He ‘Doesn’t Want’ Iconic ‘TW’ Logo. Could He Get It Back? [[link removed]]

Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Walk into any golf pro shop or just watch a Masters highlight reel on YouTube, and you’ll be sure to come across the iconic “TW” logo that Tiger Woods made famous with Nike. But that moniker was nowhere to be found when Woods unveiled his new TaylorMade-backed brand [[link removed]], Sun Day Red, which sports a brush-drawn tiger logo.

“I don’t want it back; I’ve moved on,” Woods said when asked about the logo at this week’s Genesis Invitational, where he is making his return to the PGA Tour. That was interesting phrasing by Woods, whose company ETW Corp owns the “TW” logo, according to filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Trademark attorney Josh Gerben, the founder of Gerben IP, tells Front Office Sports that there are likely practical and legal issues at play. Woods could just want to start over with new branding, but it may also be out of his hands. “You could see where Nike would have issues in how much time and effort and money they spent creating the brand awareness,” Gerben says. Contractual details from Nike’s endorsement deal with Woods could be preventing any further use of the logo.

When tennis legend Roger Federer split from Nike, it took him two years to obtain [[link removed]] the rights to his “RF” logo, which he now uses on merchandise from Uniqlo. Clippers star Kawhi Leonard wasn’t as fortunate, ultimately losing [[link removed]] a lawsuit over the copyright for his Klaw logo, after he left Nike for New Balance. “There’s definitely this history of Nike saying, wait a second, you all can’t just walk out the door with all the value we helped you create,” says Gerben.

Without seeing the details of Nike’s contract with Woods, it’s impossible to know whether the golfer could ever be allowed to use the “TW” logo again, according to Gerben. Sun Day Red merchandise doesn’t go on sale to the public until May 1, but on Thursday, a search on Nike’s website showed 18 items still available for purchase under the Tiger Woods Collection.

New A’s Renderings May at Last Be Near. One Exec Says He’s Seen Them [[link removed]]

Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports

One of the most heavily anticipated sets of sports facility renderings is perhaps nearing a release after months of delays, and a major gaming and resort executive claims to have seen them.

The A’s were due to release in December the latest set of drawings for their planned Las Vegas ballpark. But while team owner John Fisher recently said [[link removed]] the renderings are still being finalized, MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle said he’s viewed several different site plans for the ballpark. The stadium is set to be built on the current site of the Tropicana Las Vegas, and MGM owns several adjacent properties, most notably its flagship MGM Grand resort.

“We’re waiting to see where that lands. I have to believe in the next 30 to 60 days we should find out more,” Hornbuckle said of the A’s stadium in an earnings call with financial analysts. “I’ve been shown three different versions of [the ballpark] in terms of where it will actually sit on the site and how it will connect [with Las Vegas Boulevard]. Once it settles in, we’ll get serious about what we might want to do and how we might want to communicate with it, if you will, in terms of pedestrian traffic.”

Hornbuckle also plans to use the stadium as a catalyst to upgrade the 30-year-old MGM Grand, saying “it needs some love.”

Many sports facility renderings fail to live up to their initial hype, and the A’s admitted the first batch of drawings for their planned ballpark in Las Vegas were garbage [[link removed]], acting largely as just a tool to win $380 million in public funding toward the $1.5 billion stadium project. But in this case, the new A’s renderings could go a long way toward answering how the team will try to make work a nine-acre site—which will be one of the very smallest among MLB ballparks—located along a very busy thoroughfare.

Already, there are serious doubts it can work. Earlier this month, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said [[link removed]] on the Front Office Sports Today podcast that the current ballpark plan “does not make sense.”

Back to the Table

As A’s officials met [[link removed]] with Oakland city officials Thursday about a potential lease extension—marking a surprising revival of talks between the two sides—sources close to the FOS Today podcast said that A’s senior adviser and former head of baseball operations Billy Beane leaned on Fisher to meet again with city officials. Both the city and team described the meeting as a positive session and plan to continue negotiations, according to the San Francisco Chronicle [[link removed]].

U.S. Rep Barbara Lee (D., Calif.), whose district is based in Oakland, has even bigger aspirations for the session.

“I hope this meeting signals a willingness to reignite conversations about keeping the A’s in Oakland long term,” Lee tweeted [[link removed]]. “It’s become abundantly clear that the A’s are valued in the East Bay more than anywhere else.”

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FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY Three All-Star Weekend Questions for the NBA

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

It’s NBA All-Star weekend, with the annual celebrity game and Rising Stars competition tipping off the action Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home of the Pacers.

Ahead of the festivities, NBA senior vice president and head of event strategy and management Joey Graziano caught up with Front Office Sports to preview the weekend and talk about what the league is doing to keep its biggest events relevant. Below are a few excerpts from the conversation, some of which have been edited for brevity and clarity.

What has the NBA done to try to keep players engaged with the All-Star Game itself?

We have a really authentic, honest relationship and dialogue with our players but also ourselves. We recognize that this All-Star weekend in order to have the core of it is still a basketball game. That’s why this year we went back to that East-West format. This has to be, at its core, a basketball game, where you’re putting the best players in the world together on the court, and we’ve got to be able to compete. And so I think you’re going to see that this year.

What will the impact of Steph Curry–Sabrina Ionescu three-point contest be?

What this is about is competition. Whether you’re a great male or female star, there are multiple levels and platforms to compete. What they’re showcasing is that no matter who you are, there’s something about authentic competition and being your best version of yourself.

This past fall, the In-Season Tournament had a European soccer feel to it. Was that intentional?

We’re a global brand. Our teams are global brands. We have a global fan base. It’s one of the real differentiators we think of the NBA, compared to some other leagues. We want to be for every fan. So, of course, I think we take inspiration from all of the leagues around the world.

🎧 Listen and subscribe to Front Office Sports Today on Apple [[link removed]], Google [[link removed]], and Spotify [[link removed]].

TIME CAPSULE Feb. 16, 2005: Dark Day for Hockey

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

On this day 19 years ago: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the entire 2004–05 season was canceled. Centered on team owners wanting to implement a salary cap, the league initially locked players out Sept. 16, 2004, delaying the start of the season. But negotiations couldn’t save the season, resulting in the first time since 1919 that no Stanley Cup champion was crowned. The lockout finally ended July 22, 2005, with the NHL’s first salary cap in place: $39 million for the ’05–06 season.

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Conversation Starters MLB commissioner Rob Manfred says that he will step down [[link removed]] at the end of his five-year term, in January 2029. The 65-year-old Manfred officially took over from Bud Selig on Jan. 25, 2015. TNT Sports has reached a multiyear deal [[link removed]] with Reggie Miller that will extend the Hall of Famer’s time with the network to more than 25 years. The leaders behind Salt Lake City’s bid for an MLB team—The Larry H. Miller Company—have unveiled [[link removed]] a $3.5 billion, 100-acre development plan. The Power District could feature a new MLB ballpark and begin construction later this year. NWSL expansion club Bay FC has paid $789,000 for Zambian forward Racheal Kundananji—the highest transfer fee [[link removed]] in women’s soccer history. Get ready to hit the slopes in Breckenridge with the ultimate ski and snowboard giveaway valued at more than $3,000! Win top-of-the-line gear and essentials to elevate your winter adventures! Enter here [[link removed]].* Editors’ Picks EA Sports Announces Summer Release for ‘College Football 25,’ Its First College Game in Over 10 Years [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Ed O’Bannon’s historic lawsuit led to the shuttering of EA Sports’ popular college games. Suns Announce G League Team, Becoming 30th NBA Team to Have One [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Mat Ishbia made his latest move a year into owning the Suns. Manchester United Created Europe’s Most Expensive Team Ever [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]The team cost a record $1.531 billion in transfer fees. DISCLAIMER

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