April 16, 2024

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The end of the WNBA draft begins what will be a whirlwind period for these rookies. … The legendary radio voice of the Yankees retires and we’re not likely to see (or hear) another like him anytime soon. … Rory McIlroy sounds off on rumors connecting him to LIV Golf. … Plus: More on women’s boxing, the Houston Dash, Masters viewership, and NHL attendance.

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

For Caitlin Clark and Other Rookies: Now a 29-Day Sprint to WNBA Debut [[link removed]]

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

When players are drafted into leagues like the NBA, NFL, or NHL, they get several months to acclimate to their new team, city, and surroundings before any regular-season action. That’s not the case for first-year WNBA players, though. Not to mention the ensuing whirlwind for their new teams and the league’s broadcast partners looking to become familiar with the fresh talent.

There are only 37 days between the women’s NCAA national championship game, which featured No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark (Indiana Fever) and No. 3 selection Kamilla Cardoso (Chicago Sky), and the start of the WNBA regular season, with an even shorter 29-day sprint from the draft to debut day:

April 7: Women’s national championship game April 15: WNBA draft April 28: Training camps open May 3: Preseason begins May 14: Regular season starts

And from there, the drama is only getting started, with several eye-catching matchups involving Indiana slated for the first few weeks, across four different broadcast partners in Disney, Amazon, Ion, and NBA TV. Those broadcasters are no doubt hoping the interest in Clark that led to record viewership during March Madness translates to the professional ranks. Meanwhile, teams’ ticket offices will be working overtime to sell fans on the best matchups.

Clark’s second and third games in the league, on May 16 and 18, will be against Sabrina Ionescu and the New York Liberty, last year’s WNBA Finals runners-up. May 24 and 25 will bring an enticing back-to-back for the Fever: Visits to the Los Angeles Sparks, who used the No. 2 pick on Cameron Brink, and the defending champion Las Vegas Aces.

Finally, on June 1, Indiana will face Chicago in the first game of the Commissioner’s Cup, which awards $500,000 to the winning team. In that matchup, Clark will face two old collegiate rivals in Cardoso and former LSU star Angel Reese, who was taken with the No. 7 pick by the Sky.

What About This Expansion Talk?

At the WNBA draft, commissioner Cathy Engelbert (above, right) once again laid out [[link removed]] her goals for growing the league. With a Bay Area franchise becoming the 13th club next season, the hope is to now have a 14th by 2026, with 16 teams by 2028.

But this isn’t the first time Engelbert has offered an expansion timeline, and that hasn’t always panned out. Last May the commissioner’s plan [[link removed]] was to have multiple franchises in new cities by 2025. She reiterated that stance [[link removed]] in October, and for a time it looked like that was coming to fruition … but a bid in Portland eventually fell through [[link removed]].

As she has done previously, Englebert on Monday pointed to Philadelphia, Toronto, Denver, Nashville, and South Florida, in addition to Portland, as potential expansion candidates. Other markets mentioned in the past have included Austin and Charlotte. If a 14th team is to be added for the 2026 season, it will likely need to be announced sometime around the WNBA Finals this fall to give the incoming franchise a proper runway, like what the Bay Area team is getting.

The Yankees’ Radio Voice Retires, Ending an Era of Longevity [[link removed]]

The Record

Longtime Yankees radio play-by-play announcer John Sterling is retiring, and the circumstances that helped turn him into a team and sports broadcasting icon over three-plus decades are unlikely to be repeated.

Sterling, 85, is leaving a broadcasting career of more than 60 years, and a legendary run with the Yankees that began in 1989. Over that time, he became as much a part of the Yankees’ brand as many of their star players, not unlike how fans have bonded deeply with other teams’ radio voices, like Vin Scully and the Dodgers, Marty Brennaman and the Reds, and Jon Miller and the Giants.

But Sterling in many ways was an outlier, even among his peers, and it’s now virtually impossible to envision another like him emerging. What made Sterling’s run unique:

Longevity. Putting even Cal Ripken Jr. to shame, Sterling called 5,060 consecutive games between 1989 and 2019. Such a lengthy, uninterrupted run is almost unfathomable now, given many teams’ use of scheduled talent breaks and announcer rotations during a season. That longevity and consistency allowed Sterling to call every single game in the Hall of Fame careers of Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, which stretched for 20 and 19 seasons, respectively. Team success. Sterling was at the microphone for the entirety of the Yankees’ dominant 1990s run, in which they won four World Series in five seasons (and reached six World Series in eight seasons). In today’s MLB, marked by a heightened degree of competitive balance, such a dynasty happening again is much harder to envision, as seen by the league’s lack of a repeat champion since the 1998–2000 Yankees’ three-peat. Even the Dusty Baker-era Astros don’t quite compare, having reached four World Series (and winning two) between 2017 and ’22. Colorfulness and frankness. Two key components of Sterling’s aura were his personalized home run calls (“It’s an A-bomb! From A-Rod!” or “All rise! Here comes the Judge!” to name a couple) and his willingness to point out subpar play by the Yankees when warranted. Both elements are now in shorter supply in the industry, when the trend elsewhere has gravitated toward more neutral broadcasting styles. Other teams have also been known to punish announcers upon making the slightest critical comment, with the Orioles and Kevin Brown last year serving as a recent example [[link removed]]. Able partnership. Sterling worked with six different main color commentators over his Yankees tenure, including current YES Network announcer Michael Kay and, most recently, Suzyn Waldman. Each of them has built noteworthy broadcasting careers of their own, in part through their work with Sterling. The chemistry he had with Waldman was a particular fixture.

The Yankees will recognize Sterling at a pregame ceremony on Saturday. In a lengthy statement, the team acknowledged the rare talent they had with Sterling, saying: “John Sterling used his seat in the broadcast booth to bring Yankees fans the heartbeat of the game, employing an orotund voice and colorful personality that were distinctly, unmistakably his own. John informed and entertained, and he exemplified what it means to be a New Yorker with an unapologetic and boisterous style.”

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LOUD AND CLEAR Rumor Mill

Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports

“I honestly don’t know how these things get started.”

—Rory McIlroy on reports that he is close to signing with LIV Golf for $850 million. The London-based financial newspaper City A.M. [[link removed]] cited two sources in a story published Sunday claiming a deal was near. On Tuesday, McIlroy, speaking to the Golf Channel [[link removed]] from the RBC Heritage tournament on Hilton Head Island, S.C., said that he has never received an offer from LIV, nor has he ever contemplated one—and he plans to play on the PGA Tour for the rest of his career.

STATUS REPORT Two Up, Two Down

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Women’s boxing ⬆ Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, who in 2022 were the first women to headline a fight at Madison Square Garden, will square off in a rematch on July 20 as the co-main event to the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight on Netflix.

Houston Dash ⬇ Star winger Maria Sanchez (above), who four months ago signed a then-NWSL record $1.5 million contract, has requested a trade, sources tell ESPN [[link removed]]. Through four matches Sanchez has yet to score a goal, and Houston is in 11th place in the league.

Masters viewership ⬇ Sunday’s final round, which saw Scottie Scheffler run away from the field to win his second green jacket by four strokes, drew an audience of 9.6 million viewers [[link removed]]. That’s down almost 21% from last year’s 12.1 million final-round audience [[link removed]], which was part of a supersized day of golf that featured the conclusion of a rain-delayed third round.

NHL ⬆ One day after the NBA announced a record total season attendance [[link removed]] number, so did North America’s top hockey league. With 18 total games still to play as the regular season concludes this week, the NHL has already drawn 22,560,634 fans, breaking last season’s record of 22,436,532. Hockey attendance has been benefiting from the addition of a 32nd team, the Seattle Kraken, which began play in the 2021–22 season, but has been hurt by the Arizona Coyotes playing in the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena since ’22. For comparison, the NBA’s 30 teams drew 22,538,518 fans this season.

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Conversation Starters An appearance at Monday night’s WNBA draft capped a busy several months for Kevin Miles, the actor who stars in the State Farm insurance TV commercials. See which other major sporting events [[link removed]] he’s appeared at recently. Speaking of the WNBA draft: Should the event, which this year was held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with only 1,000 seats available, move to a larger venue? FOS reporter Alex Schiffer, who was in Brooklyn for the festivities, breaks down the potential for a shift [[link removed]]. Twenty-year-old Chelsea defender Alfie Gilchrist signed with the Premier League club’s academy back when he was 11, which pleased his father and grandfather, both season-ticket holders. Now Gilchrist has scored his first goal with the senior team. Check it out [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks WNBA Draft Fashion Has Come a Long Way From ‘Most Athletic Accountants’ Era [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]The WNBA draft used to have a strict dress code, a former top pick tells FOS. O.J. Simpson Lawyer Says He Won’t Shield Estate From Goldman, Brown Families [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]The executor of Simpson's will had previously said the Goldmans would get 'zero.' Jontay Porter Bet ‘Millions’ on FanDuel Account: Report [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]The Raptors forward is currently under league investigation. 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]], Adam Duerson [[link removed]]

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