May 3, 2024

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This year’s Kentucky Derby arrives as all of the Triple Crown locations undergo a long-overdue facility upgrade boom. … A lot of mint will be consumed Saturday at Churchill Downs. … MLB makes official the expected correction to its much-criticized uniforms. … The forthcoming demolition of RFK Stadium could add a further dose of urgency to the Commanders’ pursuit of a new stadium. … There’s plenty of money up for grabs this weekend across golf, tennis, and NASCAR. … Plus: More on Caitlin Clark, golf’s U.S. Open, NASCAR team charters, and MLB Sunday morning broadcasts.

Also: Be sure to check out Michael McCarthy’s exclusive [[link removed]] on the media fallout surrounding the Bucks’ Patrick Beverley and ESPN.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], and Owen Poindexter [[link removed]]

Kentucky Derby Begins New Wave for Triple Crown Race Tracks [[link removed]]

The Courier-Journal

The first leg of the Triple Crown begins Saturday at the Kentucky Derby, and with it a new era for facilities tied to horse racing’s biggest and most important events. Churchill Downs is unveiling a brand-new paddock after $200 million worth of renovations were completed in time for the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby.

“The experience is going to be drastically different if you haven’t been here in a couple of years,” Churchill Downs president Mike Anderson tells Front Office Sports. The track’s famous twin spires, originally constructed over the grandstands in 1895, are now much more visible for spectators. “Before, when you walked through the front entrance, there was a building right smack in front of you, a hundred feet, that really kind of blocked the view,” Anderson explains. Churchill Downs also added about 3,000 more seats to the main paddock ring, which has been depressed by about seven feet, to give the area a more coliseum-like feel.

For Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby, this marks the conclusion of a project announced nearly three years ago. But for the other two legs of the Triple Crown, major facility work is just getting started. Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course, home of the Preakness Stakes, appears to be getting closer [[link removed]] to receiving $400 million in funds to rebuild the 153-year-old track, pending approval from the Maryland legislature. And the Belmont Stakes is being held in Saratoga, N.Y., this year and next as its Long Island home, Belmont Park, undergoes a $455 million renovation project [[link removed]] that is set to be completed by 2026. If everything goes as planned, all three legs of horse racing’s Triple Crown could be fully modernized by the end of this decade.

Ugly Side of the Sport

Last year, 12 horses died at Churchill Downs around the Kentucky Derby, as the entire industry faced horse deaths head-on, resulting in extended closures of many tracks. An investigation into the deaths at Churchill Down, specifically, found no singular cause, it was announced last fall. “Unfortunately, there was no kind of, aha, that’s it, and that’s our fix,” says Anderson, who also points out that the track has emphasized new screening measures to ensure horse safety.

Meanwhile, this Kentucky Derby won’t feature any horses from legendary trainer Bob Baffert, who last summer had his initial two-year ban related to a failed drug test extended another 12 months by Churchill Downs, despite now being eligible to compete at the other two Triple Crown events. “I do think there has been a division within the industry,” FanDuel TV anchor Todd Schrupp said on Front Office Sports Today. [[link removed]] “Some who believe that Bob Baffert has paid his penalty, that his transgressions are not as egregious as what has been portrayed.”

ONE BIG FIG Drink Up

The Indianapolis Star

1,000

Pounds of mint—yes, the herb—that will be on hand at Churchill Downs to supply the Kentucky Derby’s signature cocktail. Roughly 120,000 mint juleps, which cost $22 on-site, are expected [[link removed]] to be sold this weekend, also requiring more than 10,000 bottles of bourbon and 60,000 pounds of ice. At that price point, Churchill Downs would rake in $2.64 million in mint julep sales alone.

SPONSORED BY DICK’S SPORTING GOODS

Journey to the Starting Line

For this year’s 128th running of the Boston Marathon [[link removed]], 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 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.

Watch John, Carly, and CJ’s journeys to the starting line here [[link removed]].

MLB, Nike to Revamp Uniforms After Backlash: Here’s What’s Changing [[link removed]]

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The much-anticipated changes to MLB’s highly debated new uniforms are officially coming.

Just days after the MLB Players Association informed [[link removed]] its membership that a series of modifications would be arriving, the league announced that it, along with official uniform supplier Nike, has indeed started the process to make a series of changes. Among them:

Larger letters on the back of jerseys and individual pant customization, both set to be implemented for the 2025 season Correction of color differences between the jerseys and pants of some clubs’ gray road uniforms, with that change due to arrive as soon as the second half of this season A fix to the uniform discoloration that also can result from player perspiration (above), with that change also slated for as soon as the latter half of the season

The shifts follow more than two months of turmoil [[link removed]] that had dogged the league since the much-debated introduction of Nike’s Vapor Premier jerseys in spring training, as well as pants with fewer customization options for players. Since that initial rollout, problems have included the see-through nature of the pants, a pooling of sweat on some players’ uniforms during games, names that are more difficult to read, and pants that have more easily ripped after sliding on the base paths.

MLB said the changes were made following “conversations with players, clubs, and their equipment managers.”

“Player and club feedback is extremely important to us,” said league commissioner Rob Manfred. “Together with Nike, we listened to our players, and as a result, we are addressing their concerns. We continue to work with Nike to make adjustments with the goal of delivering a uniform that looks good and helps MLB players perform at their best.”

Fanatics, essentially acting as a subcontractor in the production of the jerseys and pants to Nike’s design specifications, was not mentioned in MLB’s announcement.

RFK’s Demolition Could Fast-Track Commanders’ Return to D.C. [[link removed]]

USA TODAY Sports

RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., is now officially coming down, and that step could become an accelerant to the Commanders’ long-running efforts to develop a new stadium.

The National Park Service said Thursday that the 62-year-old stadium, last used in 2019, can be demolished without negative environmental effects. A study undertaken by the NPS found [[link removed]] that the stadium is “in a state of disrepair,” but that demolition would have “no significant impact” on the “natural, cultural, and human environment.” A timetable for the actual work to be done will be set as the NPS issues a permit to D.C.

The facility sits on federally owned NPS land but is controlled by D.C. Because of that unusual structure, a bill is now in front of the U.S. Senate [[link removed]] that would transfer the land to D.C. That measure has already cleared the House of Representatives.

If that were to happen, a clean RFK Stadium site owned fully by D.C. would provide mayor Muriel Bowser even more momentum to pursue a stadium deal with the Commanders. The NFL team is also evaluating potential options in Maryland, where the franchise currently plays, and in Virginia, with that process stretching back many years and long before the current ownership group led by Josh Harris. But given RFK Stadium was where the franchise had its greatest success, including three Super Bowl–winning seasons, fan sentiment has leaned hard toward returning to that site.

“We’re excited that the process is moving forward and taking us one step closer to the District putting the land at RFK to a higher and better use,” said Nina Albert, D.C. deputy mayor for planning and economic development.

Bowser also recently struck [[link removed]] a deal [[link removed]] with Monumental Sports & Entertainment to keep the NBA’s Wizards and NHL’s Capitals in D.C. through a long-term lease extension at Capital One Arena.

Keeping Up

Though the active pursuit of a new Commanders stadium deal stretches back nearly a decade, going back to the franchise’s prior name and ownership, several other NFL teams have moved ahead in their own facility development efforts, including the Bills, [[link removed]] Titans [[link removed]], and potentially now the Bears [[link removed]], Chiefs, and Browns [[link removed]].

In part because of the rising urgency around the stadium situation, the Commanders recently hired [[link removed]] Capitol Hill insider Kirtan Mehta to help deepen the team’s ties to area political leaders.

WEEKEND PRIZE POOL The Run for the Roses

USA TODAY

Front Office Sports tees up every weekend sporting slate with a ledger of the purses and prize pools at stake. Here’s what’s up for grabs this weekend:

LIV Golf, Singapore, Sentosa Golf Club

When: Friday to Sunday Purse: $25 million First place: $4 million (individual), $3 million (team)

PGA Tour, The CJ Cup Byron Nelson, McKinney, Texas

When: Thursday to Sunday Purse: $9.5 million First place: $1.71 million

ATP Tour and WTA Tour, Mutua Madrid Open, Caja Mágica

When: April 23 to Sunday Purse: $16.7 million (combined) First place: $1.03 million (each for men’s and women’s champion)

Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs

When: Saturday Purse: $5 million (distributed to the top-five finishers) First place: $3.1 million Second place: $1 million Third place: $500,000

NASCAR Cup Series, AdventHealth 400

When: Sunday Purse: $7,894,315 First place: Individual payouts are no longer disclosed AWARD

Sustainable practices make a lasting impact.

Celebrate the good your organization is doing and complete your nomination for the Front Office Sports Most Sustainable Award [[link removed]].

Backed by Sports Innovation Lab, the Most Sustainable Award utilizes data-driven methodology to identify organizations leading the charge in sustainable operations.

STATUS REPORT Two Up, One Down, One Push

USA TODAY

Caitlin Clark ⬆ The WNBA’s No. 1 draft pick will make her professional debut of sorts Friday night during the Indiana Fever’s preseason game at the Dallas Wings. The sold-out matchup will not be broadcast nationally, but it is available to stream on WNBA League Pass.

U.S. Open ⬆ For the first time in his career, Tiger Woods (above) has accepted a special exemption into the national championship that he has won three times previously. Woods wasn’t qualified via any recent major victories or world ranking, so he would have had to attempt to qualify with the 10,000 other golfers that enter the open process each year.

NASCAR ⬇ Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing team is finding success [[link removed]] early into this season, but the Basketball Hall of Famer turned NASCAR owner isn’t happy with the lack of permanent team charters, the sport’s version of franchises. “That’s a big, big miss right there,” Jordan said in an interview with The New York Times [[link removed]]. “If you don’t correct that, this sport’s going to die not because of the competition aspect, but because economically it doesn’t make sense for any businesspeople.”

MLB Sunday morning broadcasts ⬆⬇ According to multiple reports, the league is nearing a deal with Roku in which the streamer will be the new home of this small package of nationally aired games. These rights had previously been on NBCUniversal’s Peacock in a two-year deal expiring after the 2023 season, but a renewal did not happen as the streaming platform had been seeking to cut [[link removed]] a fee reportedly tagged at $30 million annually. An MLB deal would be a sizable boost for Roku and also allow the league to continue experimenting with various streaming outlets. But the late timing of this pact, already more than a month into the season, would require an uphill climb to renew awareness of the revived time slot.

SPONSORED BY DICK’S SPORTING GOODS

Celebrating National Runners Month

Gear up for the 15th annual National Runners Month [[link removed]] at America’s No. 1 Running Destination, Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Get your next pair of running shoes fast with One-Hour Pickup, Same-Day Delivery, and more convenient ways to shop. Plus, enjoy the latest launches [[link removed]] from top running brands like Hoka, On, Nike, Brooks, ASICS, New Balance, Adidas, and more.

So, get ready for your next mile [[link removed]] this May with a fresh pair from Dick’s Sporting Goods in celebration of National Runners Month.

Conversation Starters Formula One has reached its maximum capacity of 24 races, but more than 35 new venues are eager to host if an opportunity arises. F1’s CEO has identified [[link removed]] 11 “realistic” contenders, including New York, Chicago, South Korea, India, China, Rwanda, and South Africa. In a mere 24 hours, Topps managed to sell [[link removed]] 16,946 cards featuring bee specialist Mike Hilton, the man who cleared a swarm of bees at a Diamondbacks game earlier this week in a viral moment that led to the team running a ticket promotion around this weekend’s series at Chase Field. Super pricey: Fox plans to charge advertisers [[link removed]] a minimum of $7 million for a 30-second spot during the upcoming Super Bowl. Editors’ Picks At the Mighty NFL, Job Cuts and Lineup Changes, Including the End of ‘NFL Total Access’ [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]Half a dozen employees were laid off while the league clears $20B in annual revenues. Why Hasn’t Marvin Harrison Jr. Signed an NFLPA Licensing Deal? [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Harrison can’t appear in video games and on trading cards without a deal. ‘A Swoosh Affair’: Nike Accused of Undue Influence on Picking Olympics’ Toughest Marathon Team [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]The last spot on the Nike-sponsored team controversially went to a Nike athlete. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Sports Careers [[link removed]] Written by David Rumsey [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Owen Poindexter [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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