June 20, 2024

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The memory of the late Willie Mays will be top of mind as MLB plays its special-event game tonight at historic Rickwood Field in Alabama. … JJ Redick is continuing the trend of sports media analysts becoming head coaches. … The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship teed off Thursday morning with a record-level purse and the tournament’s first-time use of ShotLink technology. … The Pistons have a lot of dead money tied up in fired coach Monty Williams. … Plus: More on Tiger Woods, March Madness, the Commanders, and the FIFA Club World Cup.

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

MLB’s Rickwood Game Plans Change Significantly After Passing of Mays [[link removed]]

USA TODAY Sports/Malcolm Emmons

Major League Baseball’s strategy for staging special-event games is taking a new and dramatic turn with Thursday’s game at Rickwood Field in Alabama, but the league’s leaders are doing so with heavy hearts after the death this week of one of the game’s all-time greats.

The league will host a game between the Giants and Cardinals tonight at the historic Birmingham park that opened in 1910 and hosted Negro Leagues games for decades. The event, announced [[link removed]] last year, marks MLB’s first competition at a historic Negro Leagues field and extends a recent run of U.S.-based games held at nontraditional locations, including the Field of Dreams movie site in Iowa, the Little League complex in Pennsylvania, Fort Liberty in North Carolina, and the College World Series site in Nebraska.

A Legend Passes

Willie Mays (above), one of the foremost icons of baseball, played as a teenager at Rickwood, the oldest professional ballpark in the U.S. When the game was first scheduled, part of the idea was to celebrate the Hall of Famer. But he issued [[link removed]] a statement Monday saying he would not be able to travel from California to Alabama. The following day, he died [[link removed]] at the age of 93 of heart failure. Mays’s Baseball Hall of Fame plaque is on display [[link removed]] at Rickwood, a move planned before his death, and memorializing his legacy will be a central part of both the in-venue game operations and the national broadcast coverage on Fox.

“Thursday’s game at historic Rickwood Field was designed to be a celebration of Willie Mays and his peers,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “With sadness in our hearts, it will now also serve as a national remembrance of an American who will forever remain on the short list of the most impactful individuals our great game has ever known.”

Bigger Showcase

The Rickwood game required an extensive overhaul [[link removed]] by MLB and field consultant BrightView, stretching more than a year, to bring the aging facility up to league code for a regular-season game. The event is also the centerpiece of a much larger recognition by MLB of the often-overlooked contribution of the Negro Leagues to baseball. Last month, the league formally incorporated [[link removed]] former Negro Leagues players into its official statistics, allowing players who were banned from MLB due to segregation to be considered in the same way as white players.

Since the history and statistics of baseball are integral to the overall fandom and culture of the sport, a move such as this arguably resonates much more than if it happened elsewhere. This also likely will have significant impacts on future inductions to the Hall of Fame, which also can produce a sizable influx of income for those players and the Cooperstown, N.Y., shrine itself.

The Hall of Fame has also been an active participant in the broader commemoration, recently holding [[link removed]] its Hall of Fame East-West Classic, a tribute to the Negro Leagues East-West All-Star Game that ran annually from 1933 to ’62.

More Change On and Off the Field

MLB, meanwhile, continues to push for greater diversity, both on the field and off. Black people comprise 6% of major league rosters, down from 18% 30 years ago, and standing at the lowest level since the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport began tracking this data in the early 1990s.

But people of color such as the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Dodgers’ Mookie Betts represent some of the sport’s biggest stars. Recent draft classes have also shown [[link removed]] greater percentages of Black people, suggesting improvement to come at the major league level in future years.

NEWS

The Lakers Land Their Next Head Coach

JJ Redick, an ESPN commentator who recently launched a podcast with LeBron James, reportedly agreed to a four-year contract with the Lakers on Thursday. The 39-year-old Redick has no prior coaching experience and will be one of the youngest coaches in the NBA. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla just won the NBA title at age 35.

Front Office Sports reporter Alex Schiffer has more on this developing news [[link removed]] story.

Women’s PGA Championship Tees Off With a Big Investment, Record Purse [[link removed]]

John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

The third women’s golf major championship of the year is underway, with significant new financial investment in LPGA players and fans, as the trend of spending more money on women’s sports in general continues.

This year’s purse at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, which teed off Thursday morning at Sahalee Country Club just outside Seattle, is increasing 4% to a record $10.4 million. But an even bigger boost is coming through the addition of a novel, expensive service that had been almost exclusively reserved for men’s golf.

The Women’s PGA Championship will feature ShotLink technology for the first time, something that is primarily used at men’s majors and more than 90 PGA Tour–operated events each year. For those unfamiliar, imagine if the Hawk-Eye replay system at Wimbledon was only used for men’s and not women’s tennis (this is not apples to apples but the same idea).

Last year, the U.S. Women’s Open became the first women’s event to use the service at Pebble Beach Golf Links [[link removed]] (and did so again at last month’s major). Players benefit from the quick stats immediately after rounds, and fans are aided during the golf as they can track the information from hole to hole.

On the LPGA Tour, the KPMG Performance Insights program provides some similar golf shot data for players. But unlike men’s events, where dozens of cameras and radars automatically record stats, LPGA caddies often record things manually, like how far a drive went or how long a putt is throughout the round, which is then compiled afterward.

Equal Spending

The PGA Tour spends millions of dollars annually on operating ShotLink at tournaments, so putting the technology in requires major monetary commitments. But now, brands are allocating more dollars to women’s sports than ever before. KPMG has been the title sponsor of the Women’s PGA Championship since 2014, and this year the PGA of America signed up another new sponsor, T-Mobile, to help fund the ShotLink implementation.

“We have an opportunity to take women’s major championship golf to the same level as the men,” Jeff Price, the PGA of America’s chief commercial officer, tells Front Office Sports. In addition to this week’s move, the PGA of America will be hosting several future men’s and women’s championships at a new flagship course in Frisco, Texas, which should facilitate further equalization of the games.

LPGA Eyes Investment

As women’s golf majors continue to lead the way, the LPGA has its eye on key upgrades like ShotLink and others for week-to-week events. “There’s conversations with these partners about this stuff all the time,” Matt Chmura, the tour’s top marketing executive, tells FOS. “We’re pushing harder and harder to expand that to other tournaments and eventually to get it throughout the whole field.”

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ONE BIG FIG Paid Time Off

Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports

$65 million

Buyout that the Pistons owe [[link removed]] to Monty Williams (above, right) after firing the coach following just one season with the team. Last summer, Detroit made Williams, at the time, the highest-paid head coach in the NBA with a six-year, $78.5 million contract. The Pistons finished with a league-worst 14–68 record this past season, which included a 28-game losing streak [[link removed]] that is tied for the longest in NBA history.

EVENT

Tuned In, Front Office Sports’ media franchise, will come to life as a one-day event in New York City this September. Led in part by senior media reporter Mike McCarthy, this event will feature intimate discussions with leaders within the sports media space—ranging from athletes and on-air talent, to media moguls and league executives.

Learn more [[link removed]] or request to attend.

STATUS REPORT Two Up, Two Down

John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Tiger Woods ⬆ The PGA Tour is creating a special exemption [[link removed]] for the golfer (above) so that he can compete in the eight annual signature events that feature increased purses of at least $20 million. Woods, who has won 82 times on the tour, previously said he would like to play one event per month if healthy enough, but this year he has made just four starts, which have included one withdrawal and two missed cuts.

March Madness expansion ⬆ NCAA officials have presented more proposals to the Division I conference commissioners for expanding the current 68-team field to potentially 72 or 76 schools, according to Yahoo! Sports [[link removed]].

Commanders ⬇ The NFL team will pay $1.3 million [[link removed]] in a settlement over allegations that it improperly withheld deposits from season-ticket holders under former owner Dan Snyder.

FIFA Club World Cup ⬇ Talks with Apple about a potentially $1 billion global media-rights deal for the revamped tournament [[link removed]] that is set to be played in the U.S. next year have stalled, according to Bloomberg [[link removed]].

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We Love Leading the Game

The PGA of America [[link removed]] is an association of more than 30,000 trained golf professionals dedicated to elevating and advancing the game for the enjoyment of everyone.

For more than 100 years, it has helped create, develop, and bolster golf’s presence in the United States and around the world, furthering the love of the game for all.

From club owners and managers to coaches and merchandisers, PGA of America Golf Professionals work at more than 10,000 facilities worldwide. They’re the essential fabric of the Association, the heartbeat of the $105 billion golf industry [[link removed]], and a golfer’s guide to the game.

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Conversation Starters The Los Angeles Kings have unveiled a new primary logo as part of a two-year brand evolution, with new jerseys set to be released next week. Check it out [[link removed]]. The U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium set a world record [[link removed]] Wednesday night by drawing 22,209 fans, making it the largest swimming event. Game 5 of the Oilers-Panthers series averaged [[link removed]] 4.1 million viewers on ABC, and the Stanley Cup Final is up 31% from last season, averaging 3.4 million viewers to date. Editors’ Picks New Koch Stake Values Nets, Liberty Parent at $6 Billion [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]The Koch family is well known for its conservative political donations. SMU Raises Whopping $159 Million for Sports Ahead of ACC Move [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]SMU boosters cover the gap between the Mustangs and current ACC schools. The NFL Could Be the Key to Stephen A. Smith’s ESPN Future [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]Can Stephen A. Smith become the next Howard Cosell? 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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