May 23, 2024

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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has more sharp words for Diamond Sports Group’s already-troubled bankruptcy reorganization plan. … Fox Sports’ new Friday night college football schedule has some big teams notably absent. … ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit details the loss of previously awarded Emmys. … Plus: More on the NBA salary cap, the Premier League, the Pelicans, and Scottie Scheffler.

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

MLB Weighs Media Overhaul As Manfred Deals With DSG Turmoil [[link removed]]

Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

Make no mistake: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred (above) is certainly no fan of Diamond Sports Group, the bankrupt parent of Bally Sports. But Manfred and the league are still keeping their powder dry on taking formal action against the regional sports network operator.

Speaking Thursday, the conclusion of owners meetings held this week in New York, Manfred said there has been no decision made yet about whether there will be a formal objection from MLB to DSG’s already-troubled [[link removed]] reorganization plan. But to the commissioner, that indecision stems from an uncertainty about what the league would actually be objecting to, particularly in light of DSG’s current carriage standoff [[link removed]] with Comcast, the country’s second-largest cable distributor.

“It’s hard to comment on whether we’re going to object or not, because there is no [reorganization] plan at this point, if you think about it,” Manfred said. “Their whole plan is ‘we’re going to get deals with distributors.’ We know they don’t have one [major provider]. And it’s ‘we’re going to continue with the leagues.’ They don’t have a deal with the NBA. They don’t have a deal with the NHL. And they don’t have a deal with us.”

Manfred said he still anticipates DSG will pay out the rest of its outstanding rights payment obligations to MLB clubs this year. Still, he added, “There’s not much good about Diamond, actually, right now. They remain bankrupt, in case any of you have missed that.”

While DSG is still bankrupt, a new set of crucial dates in the case hit the court docket on Thursday. A prior June 5 deadline to object to the organization plan is now set for July 18. And a confirmation hearing on the plan previously set for June 18 has been shifted to either July 29 or 30.

As that situation continues to unfold, MLB is also actively considering a dramatic, long-term reorganization of its media rights to a nationally focused structure, similar to what the NFL has used for decades. Such a move would avoid thorny entanglements like the one with DSG, but it’s also fraught with complications, both internally and externally from a labor perspective with the MLB Players Association.

“There is a continuing conversation about a national media strategy, a national control of rights,” Manfred said. “That’s obviously a complicated topic,” citing separate but interrelated issues surrounding the assembling of rights and how revenue flows among the teams.

“Right now, we’re really focused on the strategic part, how we respond to the changes in the local media environment in a way that increases our reach and fan access to games. We’d like to get into a model … where there is a frictionless opportunity to watch the game you want to watch,” he said.

The Swoosh Falls on Its Sword

Representatives from Nike, meanwhile, briefed the assembled MLB team owners about their remediation plans for the much-maligned uniforms [[link removed]] from the sports apparel and footwear giant. Those previously announced repairs [[link removed]], many of which are set to take effect next season, include better color matching of road gray uniforms, improved sweat wicking, larger letters on the backs of jerseys, and more customization of players’ uniform pants.

“Let me say it this way: I think they appropriately took responsibility for the issues with respect to the new uniforms and the rollout of those uniforms,” Manfred said.

More Happenings

In other news from the owners meetings:

MLB’s initiative to implement an automatic ball-strike system in the major leagues is “unlikely” for next year, due largely to a lack of hoped-for progress with the technology during testing in the minor leagues. The league continues to be enthused about its growth in attendance, which is tracking at more than 2% so far this season, building off last year’s gain [[link removed]] of nearly 10%. Houston, Miami, San Juan, and Tokyo have been officially confirmed as competition sites for the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Efforts are underway to upgrade Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, which will be the temporary home [[link removed]] of the A’s during the 2025–27 seasons. Work includes construction of a new home clubhouse, renovation of the visitor’s clubhouse, setup of additional camera positions for TV broadcast, and installation of a new field surface and club seats.

“There’s a lot going on there,” Manfred said of the Sacramento situation.

Fox Reveals Its Friday Night CFB Slate With a Few Notable Teams Absent [[link removed]]

Mark Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this year, Fox Sports announced an expansion [[link removed]] of its college football coverage that would include games in prime time on Friday nights, featuring schools from the Big Ten, Big 12, and Mountain West. Now, we know the full 12-game slate for this fall, and there are some notable omissions as the network’s strategy around the new broadcast window is coming into focus.

Fox is clearly saving its biggest TV draws for its Big Noon Saturday slot, as no Friday night games will feature defending national champions Michigan, fellow Big Ten bluebloods Ohio State and Penn State, or Colorado, which is entering its second season under head coach Deion Sanders and first as a member of the Big 12.

On the outset, some of the most intriguing Friday night matchups for Fox include Michigan State at Oregon on Oct. 4, and UCLA at Washington on Nov. 15. Those four schools will also be featured twice each on the Friday night slate.

USC is on the docket only once, and it’s perhaps the most head-scratching matchup on Fox’s schedule. Rutgers will visit the Trojans on Oct. 25, with the game’s kickoff set at 8 p.m. PT. That’s an 11 p.m. ET start time for Scarlet Knights fans back on the East Coast. And that’s the new reality for the expanded, coast-to-coast Big Ten Conference.

Last year, games in Fox’s Big Noon Saturday slot averaged 6.74 million viewers, making it the most-watched college football TV window of the season. It looks like Fox is hoping to keep that going this fall, and its venture into Friday nights will have to settle for the best of the rest each week.

Countdown to Kickoff

Fox will release its full early-season college football schedule next week, but some details already emerged.

The network participates in a preseason draft with the Big Ten’s other broadcast partners, CBS and NBC. Michael Mulvihill, Fox’s president of insight and analytics, said [[link removed]] on The Joel Klatt Show that Fox had selected the annual Michigan–Ohio State game, as well as a Michigan-Texas matchup Sept. 7 with its first two picks.

However, it traded its third pick with another network, which he couldn’t reveal. “We ended up with five of the top seven picks in the draft,” he said.

SPONSORED BY MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY

The Rapid Rise of Major League Rugby

Rugby is celebrating a momentous occasion—the 150th anniversary of its first recorded game on U.S. soil.

It’s also experiencing an American renaissance. And Major League Rugby [[link removed]] is leading the charge.

MLR is the premier professional rugby league [[link removed]] in the U.S., growing from seven to 12 teams in four short years. But with freshly inked partnerships with Sportable and Gilbert, a significant commercial deal with Globant, and the launch of its own OTT network, this is only the beginning.

The U.S. is set to host the 2031 and ’33 Rugby World Cups, a glowing testament to World Rugby’s trust in the American market and MLR’s progress in growing the sport.

Read the full article [[link removed]] to learn more.

LOUD AND CLEAR This One Actually Counts

USA TODAY

“I had eight taken out of my house.”

—ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit (above, right), on the Emmys scandal [[link removed]] in which he and other on-air talent received trophies that they shouldn’t have as part of awards given to College GameDay. Speaking this week on The Pat McAfee Show [[link removed]] after GameDay won its ninth Sports Emmy for Outstanding Weekly Studio Show, Herbstreit made light of the tricky situation. “I think technically it’s our ninth, but it would be our first one that we’re supposed to actually have in your house,” he said.

STATUS REPORT Two Up, One Down, One Push

The Courier-Journal

NBA salary cap ⬆ The league’s new media-rights deals, once completed, should directly translate to some immediate increases in player salaries. That means the cap, which was roughly $136 million this season, could top $200 million by 2028, according to some projections [[link removed]].

Premier League ⬆ U.S. viewership on NBC Sports platforms averaged a record audience [[link removed]] of 546,000 per game this season, up 4% from last year and surpassing the previous mark of 541,000 set during the 2015–16 season.

Pelicans ⬇ Plans to determine upgrades for the NBA team’s arena, Smoothie King Center, have been stalled [[link removed]] because franchise owner Gayle Benson is not paying bills on time to the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District. The NFL’s Saints, which Benson also owns, have an outstanding balance of $11.5 million for their share of Caesars Superdome upgrades.

Scottie Scheffler ⬆⬇ Louisville police released two videos showing blurry footage of the scene where the golfer (above) was arrested outside Valhalla Golf Club last Friday before his second round at the PGA Championship. The arresting officer did not record bodycam footage of the incident and has been reprimanded for that mistake. The four charges against Scheffler have not been dropped, and he is still scheduled to be arraigned June 3.

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Conversation Starters The Washington Mystics have sold out of “Brunch & Basketball” tickets to several upcoming games. Beyond bottomless mimosas, see what else [[link removed]] the $105 tickets get you. Longtime ESPN reporter Ed Werder, known for his extensive coverage of the NFL, said his time with the network has come to an end [[link removed]] after 26 years. Charles Barkley took some time during a recent NBA on TNT broadcast to call out some perceived “haters” of Caitlin Clark. Check out [[link removed]] what he said. Editors’ Picks The WNBA Is Coming to Toronto—and Vancouver and Montreal [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]The team is the league’s first outside of the United States. All-NBA Voting Brings and Costs Young Stars $40 Million Raises [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Two stars of the playoffs are now eligible for much larger extensions. Coliseum Site Sale a ‘Headache Off of Oakland’s Plate’ [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]The city announced plans to sell its stake for a minimum of $105 million. 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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