May 21, 2024

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The NBA’s conference finals tip off with an unlikely grouping of teams. Is that a good thing? … Dallas is becoming the epicenter of the postseason for basketball and hockey. … Front Office Sports Today explores the Harlem Globetrotters 100 years in. … MLB’s attendance growth continues early into the season. … And FIFA celebrates a monumental anniversary.

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

The NBA’s Final Four May Not Be Exactly What the League Envisioned [[link removed]]

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA’s conference finals begin Tuesday night as the Pacers visit the Celtics to tip off the action in the East, before the Mavericks and Timberwolves begin their series in Minnesota on Wednesday. But without some of the league’s top media markets, highest-paid players, and last year’s NBA Finals participants, this final four will need to lean on its own unique drama to draw big audiences as this year’s champion is eventually crowned.

What Could Have Been

On Sunday, a pair of dramatic Game 7s saw the Timberwolves knock out the defending champion Nuggets, and the Pacers eliminate the Knicks, denying New York—and its huge fan base—the franchise’s first conference final appearance since 2000.

Meanwhile, only one player with a top-15 salary in the NBA this season made it to the conference finals: Rudy Gobert. The Minnesota center ranked 13th this season, with a salary of $41 million, according to Spotrac [[link removed]]. So, without high-priced MVP winners like Steph Curry, Joel Embiid, LeBron James, and Nikola Jokić, the NBA will instead rely on new stars like Luka Dončić, Jayson Tatum, and Anthony Edwards to create and sustain fan interest.

Don’t Look Now

Perhaps the most intriguing team off the court still alive this postseason is the Timberwolves. Having won their first playoff series in two decades, Minnesota is now the betting favorite to advance to the first NBA Finals in franchise history, all while a messy ownership transition plays out. Majority owner Glen Taylor continues to feud [[link removed]]—and battle in court—with minority investors Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, who were supposed to have full control of the organization at this point as part of a $1.5 billion deal agreed to in 2021.

This postseason also marks the first under new ownership for the Mavericks, after Mark Cuban sold his majority stake in a deal [[link removed]] that values the franchise at $3.5 billion. For the Pacers, even though they’re huge underdogs (at least +700 at most sportsbooks) to the Celtics while playing in their first conference final in a decade, the guarantee of at least two home games will add to the hype and revenue machine [[link removed]] that their WNBA counterpart, the Fever, have turned into thanks to the addition of rookie Caitlin Clark.

Sports World’s Ground Zero: Dallas to Host NBA and NHL Conference Finals [[link removed]]

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The center of the sports world, at least for the next week or so, will largely be the American Airlines Center in Dallas, highlighting a unique confluence among two of the city’s major pro teams.

The NHL’s Stars and NBA’s Mavericks, who share the 23-year-old arena, have each reached the conference finals in their respective leagues. That’s the first time [[link removed]] that’s happened in the same year with NHL and NBA teams that share a building since 2003, when the Devils and Nets each advanced to the league finals, and New Jersey winning the Stanley Cup, while playing at the now closed Meadowlands Arena (then known as Continental Airlines Arena).

A somewhat similar situation happened [[link removed]] just a year ago when the NHL’s Panthers and NBA’s Heat in South Florida also made joint finals appearances. But those teams play in separate arenas more than 30 miles apart.

The situation in Dallas, conversely, has been a jam-packed one in which three concerts there have already been rescheduled due to the ongoing playoff runs, with more shifts likely to come. Such movement on the venue calendar is typical at this time of year as concerts booked for May and June frequently contain additional contingencies to account for newly scheduled playoff games in basketball and hockey.

Boom Times in Big D

Upcoming games at American Airlines Center will be held May 23, 25, 26, and 28, with more possible depending on the outcome of the two series. But arena leaders are attempting to normalize the situation, and highlighted the frequent operational turnovers all year long between the two sports and other events.

“This is really about the teams and the fans,” Dave Brown, American Airlines Center general manager, tells Front Office Sports. “This is what we do and what we prepare for. It’s very exciting, obviously, but we are ready for this.”

A similar shared-arena situation for the conference finals was one game away from also happening at New York’s Madison Square Garden, and it would have extended what’s been a historically resonant spring [[link removed]] for the NBA’s Knicks and NHL’s Rangers. But the Knicks fell to the Pacers on Sunday in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Both the Stars and Mavericks have previously won league championships, but never at the same time. But the latest success extends a local run that has included MLB’s Rangers winning [[link removed]] last year’s World Series and that team’s Globe Life Field hosting the league All-Star Game in July. The NFL’s Cowboys, by far the most popular team locally, have been left out of this and haven’t reached the NFC championship game since 1995.

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FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY The Globetrotters’ Next 100 Years

The Des Moines Register

The Harlem Globetrotters remain unique in the sports entertainment landscape. As the brand approaches its 100th anniversary—making it 23 years older than the NBA—it is looking to tap into multiple generations of fans in a more cluttered media landscape. President Keith Dawkins joins the show to discuss the past, present, and future of the iconic team.

🎧 Watch, listen, and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Google [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], and YouTube [[link removed]].

ONE BIG FIG Another Hit

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

2.1%

MLB’s overall attendance lift for the 2024 season after a May 17–19 weekend that averaged 34,465 per game and was the league’s best before the end of May since ’14 (excluding season openers). MLB last week also had its best pre-June Tuesday and Wednesday attendance totals since ’16 as fans continue to embrace elements introduced last year such as the pitch clock. After prior gains at the gate this season were largely the work of a small handful of clubs, 18 of 30 teams are now showing attendance growth.

TIME CAPSULE May 21, 1904: A Global Giant Is Born

Courtesy of FIFA

On this day 120 years ago: FIFA was officially founded, creating a true governing body for soccer. The global aspect of the organization did not arrive immediately, as its formation involved representatives from only eight European countries. But FIFA soon expanded to other continents, and the U.S. joined in 1914. The foremost manifestation of FIFA, the World Cup, then began in ’30, and quickly rose to become one of the biggest sports events in the world.

Like many large sports entities, FIFA has certainly not been without its controversy, and its history includes multiple episodes of bribery, corruption, and fraud. But World Cups in both men’s and women’s soccer enjoy unprecedented levels of relevance [[link removed]]—despite hosting [[link removed]] and commercial [[link removed]] challenges—and the organization has even been able to bend [[link removed]] NFL team owners to its will.

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Conversation Starters At the PGA Championship, Bryson DeChambeau tossed a ball to a young fan, but it was intercepted by a man. DeChambeau remained until the ball was returned to the boy. Watch here [[link removed]]. Topps has created a special trading card [[link removed]] for Liz McGuire, the fan who took a 110-mph foul ball to the head at the Blue Jays game and stayed. They are giving her all 110 copies. The Cincinnati Open is investing $260 million in a major campus renovation [[link removed]], which includes reimagined stadiums, a brand-new player building, 12,000 new seats in center court, and oversize premium seats equipped with cooling technology and built-in mini-fridges. Editors’ Picks ‘This Is Semi-Pro’: Inside One Arena Football League Team’s Collapse [[link removed]]by Robert Silverman [[link removed]]The collapse of the Georgia Force, as told by the players who lived it. WNBA Investigating Las Vegas Tourism Arm’s $100K Payments to Aces Players [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]The sponsorship is worth more than several players’ salaries. New Stadiums, New Hurdles: Coyotes and A’s Face High Stakes [[link removed]]by Eric Fisher [[link removed]]The former Coyotes owner takes further steps to try to advance his proposed arena project. 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]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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