April 11, 2024

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O.J. Simpson leaves a scarred and tragic legacy, his prior fame in football and Hollywood forever altered by his civil liability for the deaths of two people. But more than a generation removed from the “trial of the century,” and more than 50 years since the peak of his NFL career, it’s still hard to overstate how Simpson both captivated and divided the country. Here is Front Office Sports’ look [[link removed]] at the life of an athlete who ultimately lived in every facet of the public eye. … Shohei Ohtani is “considered a victim” as federal charges are levied upon former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, giving a rare dose of good news for MLB. … Talk about Salt Lake City is rising very quickly around the Coyotes. … Sixteen pro golfers are making their Masters debut this week, but they come in with a serious pedigree of purses. … Plus: More on the Savannah Bananas, the Sacramento River Cats, Peyton Manning, and Inter Miami.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]] and David Rumsey [[link removed]]

Following a Long List of Blows, MLB Walks for a Change [[link removed]]

David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

When not a lot else has necessarily gone well lately for MLB, the league can now breathe a sigh of relief as Shohei Ohtani, baseball’s biggest star, is not facing criminal charges from the gambling scandal that has surrounded him.

As Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, now the subject of felony federal bank fraud charges [[link removed]] stemming from more than $16 million in theft from Ohtani, U.S. attorney Martin Estrada said the Dodgers’ phenom is “considered a victim in this case.” To that end, Mizuhara is alleged to have used a series of tactics to hide a serious gambling addiction and his theft from Ohtani, including identifying himself as the Dodgers’ phenom to “trick and deceive” bank employees into authorizing transfers.

“Our investigation has revealed that due to the position of trust he occupied with Mr. Ohtani, Mr. Mizuhara had unique access to Mr. Ohtani’s finances,” Estrada said. “Mr. Mizuhara used and abused that position of trust in order to take advantage of Mr. Ohtani.”

This Isn’t Rose, A-Rod, or Bauer

Over its long history, MLB has seen some of its biggest stars tainted, often irreparably, by various scandals, whether it be Pete Rose and gambling, Alex Rodriguez and performance-enhancing drugs, or Trevor Bauer and domestic violence, to name a few. But Ohtani threatened to top all those prior situations and render unfathomable damage upon the sport had he been implicated, given his unique two-way abilities, global fan appeal, and record-setting $700 million contract.

Even compared to the last six months, Ohtani’s clearance by federal authorities represents a dose of good news for the league. Just since the end of last season, MLB has grappled with an ongoing uniform debacle [[link removed]], disruption [[link removed]] in the regional sports network space, a spate of pitcher injuries [[link removed]], tension with the MLB Players Association, and the ongoing A’s saga [[link removed]] that is now extending to Sacramento, among other issues.

MLB, however, has not detailed where its own internal investigation of Ohtani stands, though it said Thursday that it “will wait until resolution of the criminal proceeding to determine whether further investigation is warranted.” Serious questions also remain about how Ohtani or his accountants did not detect earlier that so much money was going missing. But critically for the league, the federal charges from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California show no culpability for Ohtani and no wagering by Mizuhara on baseball. Ohtani has claimed [[link removed]] innocence and has been cooperating with investigators.

Mizuhara’s Many Issues

Previously considered one of Ohtani’s closest friends, Mizuhara could receive a fine of up to $1 million and/or 30 years in prison. Among the key details in the federal complaint [[link removed]] against Mizuhara:

Mizuhara generated a total of $142.3 million in winning bets and $182.9 million in losing ones and, as a result, amassed a gambling debt of nearly $41 million. His average bet was about $12,800, and over roughly a 25-month period, he was placing an average of nearly 25 bets per day. Mizuhara was fully aware of the lack of winning, and even allegedly joked at one point to a bookmaker—not named in the complaint but previously reported to be Mathew Bowyer—in 2022, “I’m terrible at this sport betting thing, huh? Lol.”

“Technically, I did steal from [Ohtani],” Mizuhara is alleged to have told the bookmaker. “It’s all over for me.”

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Is Your Company Changing the Game?

In the last decade, emerging technologies have transformed the sports media landscape, driving teams, leagues, and sports media organizations to continually evolve.

Front Office Sports and WSC Sports have joined forces to honor the remarkable work of content and product teams shaping the future of fan engagement with the 2024 Tech Playmakers Award [[link removed]]. Here’s how it works:

If you work for a sports team, league, broadcast company or other organization that is creating award-worthy sports video content or digital products, enter your nomination [[link removed]]. Share an example of your work, your company logo, and a brief description about what made this product, service, or content a success. Front Office Sports will recognize one winner each month from now through September. In October, the grand winner of the 2024 Tech Playmakers Award will be selected from the pool of monthly winners.

Learn more [[link removed]] about the award and nominate your team today.

Hello, Goodbye: Coyotes’ Future in Flux As Relocation Rumors Ramp Up [[link removed]]

Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Despite the Coyotes’ continual efforts to secure a long-term future in their current market, the team’s local situation is seemingly devolving in near–real time, perhaps marking the beginning of the end of a 28-year stint in the desert.

Just since Monday, when Scottdale mayor David Ortega blasted [[link removed]] the team’s plans [[link removed]] to build a $3 billion arena and mixed-use development in north Phoenix, the Coyotes have been beset with a dizzying series of developments, many of which suggest a lack of confidence in the franchise.

Among the latest events to surround the team:

The NHL has developed a contingency plan to move the team to Salt Lake City, according to multiple reports, a market that has openly coveted [[link removed]] landing a team. In addition to drafting an alternate schedule for the 2024–25 season that would involve the team being placed in Utah, multiple reports also pointed to a two-stage process in which Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo would sell the franchise back to the NHL for $1 billion, and then Ryan Smith, owner of the NBA’s Jazz and co-owner of two pro soccer teams in Salt Lake City, would buy the team for as much as $1.3 billion. Other NHL team owners would split the difference. Smith went as far to post [[link removed]] a survey on X in which he is soliciting potential names for an NHL team in Utah. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly issued a statement that certainly didn’t throw any cold water on the Salt Lake City chatter, instead saying, “The league is continuing to work on a solution to what has been a challenging and difficult situation. But we are not in a position to comment beyond that.” Before Wednesday’s game in Vancouver, Coyotes coach André Tourigny (above, standing) said relocation rumors surrounding the team since January helped prompt a 14-game losing streak and derail the season. “We cannot pretend it did not affect our team,” Tourigny said. “That had a huge impact on our season. We did not deal with it the right away at the time.” Ortega walked back some of his prior opposition to the Arizona proposal, saying he’s now in favor of the project, so long as its primary access point faces Phoenix instead of Scottsdale, in order to alleviate traffic concerns. Ortega’s recommendation would be a shift from how the planned development was presented [[link removed]] in original renderings.

Though a relocation to Utah is far from certain, the rising noise surrounding the Coyotes perhaps prompted the team to post [[link removed]] a video on X on Wednesday in which the team reiterated it was “committed to keeping Coyotes hockey in the desert and building an arena in Phoenix.” The Coyotes are aiming to win a June 27 auction for a 110-acre parcel of state-owned land in north Phoenix, initially appraised at $68.5 million.

The various moves and comments raise plenty of questions, including why the NHL would want to trade down from the No. 11 media market to the No. 27 one, before even knowing what will happen with the land auction. The Delta Center, where the Coyotes would play temporarily in a move to Utah, also was not designed for hockey, a facility situation that impaired the team’s early years in what is now the Footprint Center in Phoenix. But such is the uncertainty and fluidity currently surrounding the Coyotes.

ONE BIG FIG Earning Power

Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Network

$112.9 million

Amount in total career earnings of the 16 professional golfers making their Masters debut this week. The highest earner by far is Wyndham Clark, last year’s U.S. Open champion, who has raked in $23.63 million through 151 tournaments. On the other end of the spectrum, Nick Dunlap, who won on the PGA Tour as an amateur in January, has earned $318,965. There are four amateurs playing in their first Masters, but they haven’t won any money yet.

STATUS REPORT Three Up, One Down

The Indianapolis Star

Savannah Bananas ⬆ The fun-loving baseball team [[link removed]] has new streaming deals [[link removed]?] with Stadium and Bally Live, which will offer game broadcasts for free.

Sacramento River Cats ⬆ The Triple-A baseball team recently broke [[link removed]] its highest single sales day on record for tickets, in the wake of the Oakland A’s announcing they would play at the club’s Sutter Health Park starting in 2025.

Peyton Manning ⬆ Omaha Productions, owned by the Pro Football Hall of Famer (above), has signed a 10-year extension with ESPN to keep projects like the ManningCast and other content on the network’s platforms.

Inter Miami ⬇ The MLS club has been eliminated from the Concacaf Champions Cup, which will award $5 million to the tournament’s winners. Lionel Messi returned to Miami’s lineup Wednesday night, but Liga MX side Monterrey still came out victorious.

SPONSORED BY DICK’S SPORTING GOODS

See You at the Starting Line

For this year’s 128th running of the Boston Marathon, the cutoff time was 5 minutes, 29 seconds faster than the qualifying standards, unfortunately resulting in more than 11,000 runners being turned away. But Dick’s Sporting Goods jumped in to give three of them a second chance [[link removed]] to run Boston.

Dick’s Sporting Goods teamed up with Front Office Sports and the Boston Athletic Association to identify and chronicle three deserving athletes [[link removed]] to receive race bibs: John Neusch, Carly Curcuru, and CJ Reuland. These Boston locals, all of whom have qualified but have never run in the Boston Marathon, will now have the opportunity to achieve their long-sought-after goal.

Learn more [[link removed]] about John, Carly, and CJ’s stories.

Conversation Starters There’s a new No. 1 atop the list of free sports apps in the iOS store. Here are the top five [[link removed]]. Augusta National Press Building at the Masters is considered to be one of the most technologically advanced media centers in sports. Check it out [[link removed]]. Athletic Bilbao, a soccer club in Spain’s Basque Country, has a unique tradition of exclusively signing players from or trained in the Basque Country, a practice it has maintained for 125 years. Its recent victory in the Spanish Cup marks its first trophy win in 40 years. The team celebrated with a massive parade [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks As Coaching Salaries Soar, He Sells to Soothe Sideline Stresses [[link removed]]by Daniel Kaplan [[link removed]]This salesman’s pitch: The average NFL coach earns more than $6 million per year—but that could all go up in smoke with one sideline collision. Wrestler Says He Was Offered $300K to Throw Match, Calls Judges ‘Corrupt’ [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Frank Chamizo said the offer was made the morning of the match. O.J. Simpson Dies of Cancer at 76, Family Says [[link removed]]by Dennis Young [[link removed]]The family said that Simpson ‘succumbed to his battle with cancer.’ Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Sports Careers [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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