May 21, 2024

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A verbal brushback to TNT Sports’ Charles Barkley is now a foundational element for Minnesota’s tourism department. … The already-combative realm of name, image, and likeness payments in college sports is hitting another level with Jaden Rashada’s lawsuit against Florida coach Billy Napier. … The Big Ten’s latest financial report reveals the truth in the first part of its name. … Plus: More on the PGA Championship, the University of Colorado, Angel Reese, and the Falcons.

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

‘Bring Ya Ass’ to Minnesota: Star’s Quip Sparks Viral Tourism Campaign [[link removed]]

Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

A heat-of-the-moment retort to TNT Sports broadcaster Charles Barkley has quickly gone viral and is becoming one of the most powerful tourism campaigns ever for the state of Minnesota.

Immediately after the Timberwolves clinched a spot Sunday in the NBA’s Western Conference finals—the team’s first such berth since 2004—Minnesota star guard Anthony Edwards (above) told [[link removed]] Barkley to “bring ya ass” to the North Star state.

The comment, however, did not stay in sports, and has become a major rallying cry. Explore Minnesota, the state’s department of tourism, quickly seized upon the remark and turned it into its own tweet [[link removed]] that has generated more than 310,000 views as of Tuesday afternoon, with companion posts on Instagram and Facebook. The bringyaass.com website address, which was quickly acquired [[link removed]] by comedian Jon Savitt, also now redirects to Explore Minnesota’s page. The department is now in discussions to purchase the website registration permanently from Savitt, who doesn’t have a prior relationship with Explore Minnesota.

Even state Gov. Tim Walz has given significant visibility to the issue, retweeting [[link removed]] a call to turn “bring ya ass” into a state tourism slogan that has brought in more than 900,000 more views.

In keeping with the state’s “Minnesota Nice” image [[link removed]], though, the tourism department lightly sanitized the original remark from Edwards to have North Star–shaped asterisks for the “s” letters.

“We’re trying to capitalize on this as much as we can,” Chris Morgan, Explore Minnesota spokesman, tells Front Office Sports. “We have a group chat among the staff, and immediately after the game and well into the late hours of Sunday night, we were all saying, ‘We have to do something with this.’ We already have a Star of the North campaign where visitors’ own experiences in Minnesota are central in that, and Ant’s comment was just such a genuine exchange that really fit into the broader narrative.”

Capturing the Moment

A sizable part of the energy from the “bring ya ass” movement comes from the Timberwolves themselves as the team enjoys a historic level of success and will now face the Mavericks for a bid to the NBA Finals, despite an ownership feud [[link removed]] still ongoing. To that end, Morgan said Explore Minnesota is discussing further collaborations with the team as the playoff run continues.

In the meantime, the department’s web traffic has more than doubled in the immediate period following Edwards’s comment, and Morgan said a “bring ya ass” T-shirt is now in development. Even before that release, unofficial products with the remark are already available from numerous providers.

The Twin Cities community, meanwhile, is also leaning in to a broader sports rivalry with Dallas as MLB’s Rangers will play a road series against the Twins from Friday to Sunday at Target Field, a period of time coinciding with Game 2 of the Western Conference final on Friday at the neighboring Target Center.

NIL’s Next Frontier: Players Suing Coaches and Boosters [[link removed]]

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

As college sports approach the third anniversary of the NCAA allowing college athletes to benefit from their name, image, and likeness, the landscape continues to deal with new legal challenges away from the field of play nearly every day.

The latest example of the turbulent space comes via the first known lawsuit by a college player suing a booster and coaches over unfulfilled NIL collective promises. A full breakdown of the lawsuit from Front Office Sports reporter Margaret Fleming can be found here [[link removed]], but this is the gist of it: Florida football coach Billy Napier, a university booster, and a former NIL staffer are being sued by Jaden Rashada (above), a 20-year-old quarterback who now plays for Georgia, and claims he was assured $13.85 million for signing with the Gators.

Rashada was originally a Miami recruit, but wound up at Arizona State for the 2023 season before transferring to Georgia this offseason.

Another Day, Another Problem

If Rashada ends up getting any significant payment from his lawsuit, other disgruntled college athletes will undoubtedly take their shot in court, too. But that’s just the latest unprecedented development this year, among others:

The NCAA and power conferences are mulling [[link removed]] a revenue-sharing agreement with players. Reggie Bush is still suing [[link removed]] the NCAA, despite getting his Heisman Trophy back. John Calipari left Kentucky to coach Arkansas, with a promise [[link removed]] of a $5 million annual NIL budget. Nick Saban and other college leaders blasted [[link removed]] the current college sports landscape at an NIL roundtable in Washington, D.C. A federal judge said the NCAA can’t enforce [[link removed]] any NIL rules at all.

When the NCAA first adopted its initial NIL policy June 30, 2021, no one really knew what to expect next. Nearly 36 months in, that still appears to be the case.

SPONSORED BY TELEVISAUNIVISION

One Month: The Countdown to Copa America

The countdown has officially begun. With one month until the most anticipated tournament in the U.S. this summer, TelevisaUnivision is preparing for wall-to-wall coverage [[link removed]] of CONMEBOL Copa America 2024.

From June 20 through July 14, TelevisaUnivision [[link removed]], the world’s leading Spanish-language media company, will air all 32 matches across its networks, showcasing the biggest and best stars in the Americas—Messi and Argentina, Vinícius and Brazil, Giménez and Mexico, and Pulisic and the U.S. The marquee tournament, the oldest national team competition in the world, features the reigning champion of the ’22 FIFA World Cup and ’21 Copa America, Argentina, as it looks to win its third consecutive title.

Tune in [[link removed]] for all the action starting June 20 on Univision, TUDN, UniMás, and streaming on ViX.

ONE BIG FIG Cashing In

Detroit Free Press

$880 million

Total revenue generated by the Big Ten in its most recent fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2023. The conference distributed roughly $60.5 million to each of its 12 longest-standing schools, according to USA Today [[link removed]]. Meanwhile, the SEC generated $853 million in revenue and shelled out $51.3 million to each of its 14 members.

STATUS REPORT Three Up, One Down

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

PGA Championship ⬆ The tournament’s final-round broadcast on CBS averaged 4.95 million viewers, up 10% from Sunday’s telecast in 2023. Xander Schauffele won his first major championship by one stroke over LIV Golf star Bryson DeChambeau. Meanwhile, ESPN averaged an audience of 1.6 million during its second-round coverage Friday afternoon. Buoyed by its reporting around Scottie Scheffler’s arrest earlier that morning, the network was up 18% over the comparable period last year.

Colorado ⬆ The school’s football program has sold out its allotment of season tickets for the second consecutive year, as hype around head coach Deion Sanders continues to grow in Year 2. The Buffaloes didn’t say how many season tickets they sold, but last year the school told Front Office Sports [[link removed]] it had sold close to 20,000, and was planning to add to that number for 2024.

Angel Reese ⬆ The WNBA rookie (above), drafted last month by the Chicago Sky with the No. 7 pick, has become the first member of the ownership group [[link removed]] of DC Power Football Club, a new women’s soccer team in the USL Super League that is set to launch in August. Reese, the former LSU star, is from Randallstown, Md.

Falcons ⬇ The NFL team announced it won’t host fans during training camp this summer due to construction at its practice facility and team headquarters. Atlanta will host two open practices—at Seckinger High School in Buford, Ga., and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

SPONSORED BY TELEVISAUNIVISION

La Cultura del Fútbol

There’s nothing better than live sports [[link removed]], and that includes soccer (or fútbol to many).

TelevisaUnivision is the soccer leader [[link removed]] in the U.S., regardless of language, accounting for more than 50% of all soccer viewing on television. Its soccer portfolio is unmatched, with rights to Liga MX, the most-watched soccer league in the U.S., Liga MX Femenil, Leagues Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Mexico men’s national football team, Concacaf Nations League, 2025 Gold Cup, UEFA European Qualifiers, Colombian Football League, and the two biggest soccer tournaments this summer—UEFA Euro ’24 and CONMEBOL Copa America ’24.

The cultural celebration and vibrancy of everything soccer has to offer lives on TelevisaUnivision [[link removed]] networks.

Conversation Starters Caitlin Clark has officially launched [[link removed]] her own signature basketball collection with Wilson, which features three limited-edition basketballs. A member of the Pacers’ PR staff tried to discreetly remove Tyrese Haliburton’s bottle of Prime, a non-NBA sponsor, during a press conference. Upon removal, Pascal Siakam joked, “That was not subtle.” Watch here [[link removed]]. EA Sports recorded its theme music and college fight songs with an ensemble in Nashville for the new College Football 25 video game. Listen here [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Don’t Count Out TNT for NBA Rights Just Yet [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]WBD is still very much alive at the negotiating table, sources tell ‘FOS.’ Josh Hader Was the Rare MLB Player Who Could Fight Back [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]The Astros reliever privately held teams to certain rules when using him the past four seasons. Power Conferences, NCAA Mull Historic Settlement to Share Revenue With Players [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]The agreement would include $2.7 billion over 10 years to former D-I athletes. 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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