July 29, 2024

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MLB’s upcoming trade deadline brings a sense of confusion for many clubs. … The Paris Olympics showcases both a rising global presence for basketball, as well as changing of the guard. … Louisiana and Massachusetts are imposing restrictions on Olympics-related betting. … And Bally’s Corp. gets a big valuation as hedge fund and major shareholder Standard General is acquiring the casino operator.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]], A.J. Perez [[link removed]], and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

MLB Trade Deadline: Will Teams Push for October or Plan for Future? [[link removed]]

Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

Go all-in or play for next year? MLB’s trade deadline is approaching Tuesday, but the highly anticipated date is likely bringing an extra dose of confusion for clubs this year.

Every season, some teams struggle with whether to commit additional resources toward a late-season push for the playoffs or pivot toward a longer-term organizational rebuild. But this year’s standings reveal a particularly muddled situation. Entering Sunday’s games, 21 of MLB’s 30 teams were within five games of a playoff spot, including three with losing records. As a result, many of those clubs are just one significant winning streak away from solidifying their chances of playing in October, and equally, one meaningful losing streak away from a very different situation.

Those numbers are similar to this point last season. But there is now the additional complication of what MLB’s near- and long-term local media situation is going to be, and adding to the complexity of how teams choose to budget their player spending both now and in the future.

MLB is particularly entangled in the ongoing bankruptcy [[link removed]] of regional sports network operator Diamond Sports Group, and commissioner Rob Manfred has often spoken of a desire to overhaul [[link removed]] that critical revenue stream through a new, league-controlled offering.

“With just very few exceptions right now, almost everybody is on hold,” said Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto recently on KIRO-AM. “What you see when you pick up a paper, look at the standings, or flip on a site and check out where teams stand, almost everybody in baseball is within three games of a playoff spot, it seems.”

‘We are open to doing something that has the potential to be dynamic. [I] don’t know if that’s going to be available. Right now, it’s not, and this is as late as we’ve ever gone into a deadline where I can honestly say it’s not,” he said.

Subsequent to those comments, Dipoto and the Mariners have been particularly active as the deadline nears, making trades for outfielder Randy Arozarena and reliever Yimi García. Whether either player proves to be “dynamic” in Seattle is still unknown. Other trade movement began to emerge over the weekend, led in part by the Yankees’ deal with the Marlins to acquire former All-Star Jazz Chisholm Jr.

There is some additional help coming on the TV front, though, as The Athletic reported [[link removed]] that MLB and the MLB Players Association have agreed to direct some luxury-tax money toward teams that have lost local TV revenue. Those funds, termed a “media-disruption distribution,” are limited to $15 million per team, $75 million across the league, and will be available for just one year.

“We believe this agreement should positively affect the player market by softening the impact of revenue declines, by increasing the number of clubs who have monies to spend, and by undermining the ability of clubs to weaponize recent developments in RSN markets,” the MLBPA wrote in the memo to players.

Player Demands

Meanwhile, this year’s trade deadline is also arriving with a heightened level of player advocacy for their futures. According to multiple reports, one such notable case involves White Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet (above), who does not want to pitch in the postseason if he is traded without first signing a long-term contract extension.

The 25-year-old, the White Sox’ lone All-Star this year and Fangraphs’ major-league leader in pitching wins above replacement [[link removed]], has already experienced a massive increase in his workload this season, having thrown more than 111 innings compared to after posting fewer than 13 last year. Such a jump already places Crochet at a sharply elevated risk of serious elbow injury in the future, and with the demand, is clearly looking to solidify his financial future. Crochet already has undergone Tommy John surgery in 2022.

There have been some similar demands made in recent years by other pitchers on the trading block, but involving much more accomplished ones than Crochet, still in his first year as a starter.

SPONSORED BY NIELSEN

The Impact of Olympic Sponsorships

[[link removed]]

The Olympic Games deliver some of the world’s most thrilling sports moments. For brands and advertisers, the Olympics provide the perfect confluence of mass global audience and fan fervor, creating the ultimate opportunity [[link removed]] to connect with consumers. The popularity of different Olympic sports shifts based on country and age, creating a chance for brands to create authentic connections.

In recent years, athletes such as Simone Biles and Tom Daley have catapulted into the influencer category [[link removed]]. Their ability to connect with audiences on a genuine level, build a loyal fan base, and inspire communities makes these athletes incredibly valuable to brands.

Check out Nielsen’s data [[link removed]] behind the fans, brands, and athletes at the 2024 Paris Games.

Passing the Torch: The Olympics Will Reveal the Next Face of Basketball [[link removed]]

Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

LeBron James (above) is back with Team USA for the first time since the London Games in 2012. He had handed off his duties as the country’s lead dog to the likes of Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant.

While this is likely the 39-year-old’s swan song with Team USA, he returns at a time when the country’s supremacy in men’s basketball is at its most precarious. The U.S. has won Olympic gold in men’s basketball in all but one year since professionals were allowed to play in 1992.

Team USA trotted out the Dream Team that year—but that crew faced fewer than 10 NBA players en route to the gold. This year, outside of Team USA, there are 39 current NBA players on Olympic rosters and several more who have some form of NBA experience. The wellspring of talent across the globe is a reason why the U.S. has failed to medal in the last two FIBA World Cups.

The U.S. has always valued the Olympics over FIBA, and this year’s team includes the best talent the country has to offer. The team should still win—FanDuel Sportsbook gives them -400 odds to take gold—and at the center of it all would be James, the country’s flag bearer and the face of basketball for the last two decades.

The King’s Impact

James’s reign atop the basketball world ushered in the era of player empowerment. His decision to move from the Cavaliers to Heat in 2010 inspired more players to make decisions they felt were best for them rather than their employers. His legacy off the court grew even further, establishing an empire at Nike while also helping agent Rich Paul build up Klutch Sports, one of the sports world’s most influential agencies.

A gold medal would be a fitting cap to James’s career, but win or lose, the Games could turn into a passing of the torch to the next face of the sport. And in a generation moving more and more toward international stars, the impact of the next torch-bearer could simply be as the first non-American face.

The face of basketball has always been an American—from Bill Russell, to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, to Michael Jordan, to Kobe Bryant, and now, to James—in large part because of the country’s dominance. But while Team USA has a few young stars in its core, these Olympics are a showcase of the rest of the world.

More International Talent

Other countries are littered with NBA superstars like Serbia’s Nikola Jokić, perhaps the best player in the league right now. It’s worth noting that the United States coasted to a win over Serbia 110-84 Sunday, as Kevin Durant led the way in scoring without missing a shot in the first half. James was excellent as well, contributing 21 points, seven rebounds and nine assists.

Greece boasts Giannis Antetokounmpo and Canada is led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Luka Doncic is one of the world’s best players, though Slovenia didn’t qualify for the Paris Olympics. As of now, none of them have made a compelling case to overthrow James. Jokić has won three of the last four NBA MVP awards, but he has not been embraced as the “guy” in basketball, in part because his personality does not lend itself to the attention. Antetokounmpo has the personality but has lacked the sustained dominance.

However, perhaps the prime candidate to take The King’s crown, and a fitting one given the Olympics’ setting, is French phenom Victor Wembanyama. France has the third-best odds to win gold, behind the U.S. and Canada, and an upset of the U.S. or strong performance from the 19-year-old in a championship game could vault him straight to the top of the food chain.

Wembanyama taking over for James atop the basketball world at this point in the legend’s career would mirror James’s arrival in the NBA in 2003, the season following the retirement of Jordan. The Frenchman has the moxie, the potential for dominance, and the youth to take over for James once he decides to hang it up.

So while Team USA looks to keep Olympic gold from falling into another country’s hands, it should also be a test to see the reception of the superstars who line up across from them, and whether the basketball world is ready for an international player to be its next torch-bearer.

Want to Bet on Olympic Gymnastics? Not in These Two States

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Paris Games are expected to be the most heavily bet Olympics in U.S. history, but a few of the most popular sports are off the board in two of the 38 states (plus Washington, D.C.) with legalized betting.

Louisiana and Massachusetts don’t allow betting on judged events, meaning betting operators can’t accept wagers on gymnastics, equestrian, breakdancing (official name is breaking), surfing, and BMX freestyle.

“Regulators don’t like operating in a gray area—and these kinds of sports present a gray-area problem,” said Ronnie Jones, a former chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board. “If we make a decision in Louisiana, I am sure the other 38 jurisdictions might go, ‘What are they thinking?’ But at the end of the day, the chairman and that gaming control board are responsible for what happens in that jurisdiction.”

The ban on judged sports in the two states shows the patchwork of regulations that have arisen since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down [[link removed]] the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018. The decision cleared states to offer legalized sports betting that Nevada had the exclusive lock on for decades. In turn, it has resulted in differing standards in each jurisdiction.

Louisiana gambling regulations [[link removed](ver.9).pdf] spell out that results must be “determined on the field of play and can be proven by a box score or statistical analysis” in order for bets to be taken in the state. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission voted in January 2023 “to exclude Olympic events [whose] outcome relies primarily on the assessment of a judge or panel of judges,” a spokesperson for the body told Front Office Sports.

But the two states have differing views on boxing. Louisiana allows Olympic boxing bets, while Massachusetts does not.

And just because states allow betting on sports and events, that doesn’t necessarily mean operators like DraftKings and FanDuel will offer such bets. At best, bettors in states that allow betting in judged competition will be able to wager on only about 60% of the 329 medal events at the Paris Games.

“The sports that are most popular are the ones that are truly American sports, like men’s and women’s basketball,” said Jay Kornegay, a longtime VP at Las Vegas’s SuperBook at Westgate. “Events like running and swimming events receive very, very little action.”

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY Bright Horizons

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Front Office Sports has a new editor-in-chief. Daniel Roberts joins Front Office Sports Today to take a look at what’s on the horizon for Front Office Sports and what’s coming next in the business of sports.

Plus, the Olympics got underway Friday with a record-breaking opening ceremony along the Seine. We sat down with Bill Kirk, CEO of Weather Trends International, to discuss the dangers of the river and how climate patterns are impacting the games.

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

ONE BIG FIG A’s Stadium on Deck?

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

$4.6 billion

The valuation placed on casino operator Bally’s Corp. as it is being acquired by hedge fund Standard General, the largest common stockholder in Bally’s. As part of the deal, Bally’s will combine with Queen Casino & Entertainment, also majority-owned by Standard General. The agreement is primarily aimed at boosting shareholder value and responding to an evolving gaming market, but there are some sports connections to the reformed Bally’s.

The company is already in the midst of exiting its naming agreement for regional sports networks owned and operated by Diamond Sports Group [[link removed]], and a new name for those channels is forthcoming. The agreement is also aimed at improving the Bally’s balance sheet while it seeks to build a new casino on site of the Tropicana Las Vegas (above), where it would be part of a planned stadium [[link removed]] for MLB’s A’s. Standard General’s managing partner and chief investment officer is Soo Kim, also the chairman of the Bally’s board.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS EVENTS

Tune In This September

Tuned In [[link removed]], Front Office Sports’ media franchise, led by senior media reporter Mike McCarthy, appears across FOS platforms through editorial coverage, social storytelling, and newsletter segments.

On Sept. 10, Tuned In will come to life as a one-day event in New York City with the biggest newsmakers in sports media.

The daylong 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 who are instrumental in shaping the future of how fans view sports.

Check out the full lineup for the event and request to attend here [[link removed]].

Conversation Starters Olympians were all dressed up during the opening ceremony, and they donned a wide variety of different brands. Check out [[link removed]] the list. Nike dropped a new ad after Spanish tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz won their first match in the Olympics. Take a look [[link removed]]. The Paris Olympics cost $9.7 billion to put together, but they are not even close to the most expensive version of the Games. See the list here [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Paris Offers the Biggest Betting Opportunity in Olympic History [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]‘If you put a line on anything that’s televised, people will bet.’ The NCAA League That Could Save the Olympic Pipeline [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]An under-the-radar league has become a ‘catch-all’ for niche Olympic sports. Landmark Settlement Proposal Filed in House v. NCAA Case [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]The NCAA is one step closer to allowing schools to pay their players. Question of the Day

Do you think the U.S. men’s basketball team will win gold at the Paris Olympics?

Yes [[link removed]] No [[link removed]]

Friday’s result: 89% of respondents said they plan on watching the Paris Olympics.

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