October 3, 2024

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Shohei Ohtani has never played in an MLB postseason game. That will change Saturday, and the league is doing everything it can to maximize fans’ awareness of the sport’s brightest star as he nears the game’s biggest stage.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

As Shohei Ohtani Enters First Postseason, MLB Goes All In on Him [[link removed]]

MLB

MLB finally has Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani in the playoffs, and he will be very hard to miss in the league’s promotion of the postseason.

Ohtani toiled over the first six seasons of his MLB career for the lowly Angels [[link removed]] before shifting to the crosstown Dodgers [[link removed]], where he made history as the league’s first player with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season [[link removed]]. Now the phenom is a central figure of league marketing—both in the U.S. and in his native Japan.

The league is featuring Ohtani within the latest installment [[link removed]] of its “Baseball Is Something Else” brand campaign featuring actor Brian Tyree Henry.

In Japan, meanwhile, MLB has implemented an out-of-home takeover across Tokyo, setting up 113 billboards around the megacity that feature each individual homer and stolen base for Ohtani during the regular season. In addition to spotlighting Ohtani’s historic season and promoting the playoffs, the Japanese effort serves as a forerunner for March, when the Dodgers and Cubs begin the 2025 MLB season with two games in Tokyo [[link removed]]. The two-game set will be part of the ongoing MLB World Tour of international games and bring Ohtani back to his home country for regular-season games.

By that point, Ohtani is also expected to resume pitching and again become a two-way player.

“Certainly having Ohtani on this stage is great for the game, great for the fans, and he’s having such a historic season,” MLB deputy commissioner Noah Garden tells Front Office Sports. “For everybody to be able to see him on that big [posteason] stage is good and important. … We’re using this opportunity to make sure from a global perspective that all our fans are connected to the game, and in certain areas where it makes sense to promote Ohtani front and center, we’re doing just that.”

The Dodgers, the top seed in the National League playoffs, will begin the Division Series on Saturday at home against the Padres, who eliminated the Braves with a 5-4 win Wednesday night to complete a two-game sweep in the wild-card series. Given the long malaise of the Angels, also the team of star outfielder Mike Trout, MLB had not had its unofficial “best player in the game” in the postseason at any point in the last decade—a streak now broken by Ohtani.

Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing Fights for Bigger Slice of NASCAR’s $7.7B Pie [[link removed]]

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NASCAR is about to get a $7.7 billion cash injection from its new media-rights deals, and Michael Jordan wants a piece of the pie—or at least a bigger one.

The NBA legend’s 23XI Racing is part of an antitrust lawsuit that was filed against NASCAR [[link removed]] on Wednesday, centered on how the sport’s revenue is distributed.

Last month, Jordan’s team and Front Row Motorsports (the other party of the lawsuit) were the only two to not sign NASCAR’s charter agreement—the sport’s version of franchises—for 2025 to 2031, which is also the time frame of $1.1 billion annual TV contracts with Amazon, Fox Sports, NBC Sports, and Warner Bros. Discovery. “We did not have an opportunity to fairly bargain,” a 23XI statement [[link removed]] said at the time.

The current split for the sport’s media-rights revenue is roughly:

Tracks: 65% Teams: 25% NASCAR: 10%

The catch is that 18 of the 36 Cup Series races on the 2025 schedule will be held at NASCAR-owned tracks. That means NASCAR would effectively take in 42.5% of TV money, or an average of $467 million each year, while the teams (there are 17 full-time squads with between one and four cars) would split $275 million.

Denny Hamlin, a co-owner of 23XI Racing who still drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, has previously said teams asked for closer to 50% [[link removed]] of that media-rights money. Tuesday’s lawsuit labeled the France family, which owns NASCAR, “monopolistic bullies.”

23XI driver Tyler Reddick won the Cup Series regular-season points championship, culminating Jordan’s most successful NASCAR season yet [[link removed]], after already helping bring an added spotlight to the sport [[link removed]]. Reddick now sits ninth out of 12 in the ongoing playoffs.

Front Row and 23XI plan to ask for a preliminary injunction that would allow them to compete in 2025 without charter agreements.

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NHL Labor Talks Set to Open During Unprecedented Growth and Stability [[link removed]]

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The National Hockey League’s labor deal with the NHL Players’ Association doesn’t expire for nearly two years. But talks on a new collective bargaining agreement are set to open soon, and the two sides will do so in a period of historic strength for the sport.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said following board of governors’ meetings this week in New York that talks will open toward an agreement to succeed the current one expiring in September 2026. The league and union last reached a labor deal in July 2020 [[link removed]], while dealing with the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the NHLPA has transitioned from former executive director Donald Fehr to current leader Marty Walsh. But as the sport enjoyed record attendance [[link removed]] and historically strong ratings last year [[link removed]], serious friction is likely to be minimal.

“In terms of the relationship, we think we’re in a good place,” Bettman said.

To that end, Bettman said the salary cap for the 2025–2026 season could jump to $92.5 million, a 5% jump from the current $88 million [[link removed]], though the commissioner called that projection “way, way, way, way preliminary.” A $4.5 million jump, if it happens, would equal the increase from last season to the new one starting this week.

Issues on the Table

In addition to the core economic framework of the league, the two sides will consider a potential reduction of the preseason schedule to expand the current 82-game regular season, not unlike what the NFL is now evaluating [[link removed]]. An NHL schedule expansion would also help facilitate more regional rivalry games.

There isn’t a specific timetable to reach a new labor deal, beyond the obvious expiration of the current pact. But Bettman said he is loosely targeting June 2025 to reach an agreement.

“If we had it done by media availability at the Stanley Cup Final, everybody would be very happy,” Bettman said. “But that’s not a discussion, in terms of timetable, I’ve had with Marty Walsh, so I don’t want to put any unfair parameters on it. It’ll be what it’ll be, but I think based on the status of our relationship, this will be fine.”

That tone remains a massive change from three prior lockouts in Bettman’s tenure, including a dispute that wiped out the entire 2004–2005 season.

Carson Beck Among Four Georgia Players Teaming Up With Chipotle [[link removed]]

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Front Office Sports keeps you updated on the latest NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals shaping college sports. Here’s who is cashing in now:

Athletes: Carson Beck, Tate Ratledge, Dillon Bell, Nate Frazier Sport: Football School: Georgia Brand: Chipotle

The deal: Days before Saturday’s heartbreaking defeat to Alabama, several Georgia football stars partnered with Chipotle for an ad campaign [[link removed]] called “Two-a-Days.”

Beck, the Bulldogs quarterback who is 10th in On3’s NIL 100 list [[link removed]] with a valuation of $1.8 million, was joined by Ratledge (offensive lineman), Bell (wide receiver), and Frazier (running back). Ratledge has an NIL valuation of $550,000, while Bell and Frazier have a valuation of more than $200,000.

Chipotle has done several NIL deals, including giving free Chipotle to all Ohio State athletes [[link removed]] during their respective seasons.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY Domantas Sabonis on Life Behind the Scenes of NBA Stars

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Domantas Sabonis is one of five NBA stars featured in the new Netflix docuseries, Starting 5. He joins the show to discuss how the NBA is changing and what it was like to have a camera following him at all times.

We also hear from NFL insider Jordan Schultz on constantly chasing scoops and how the lifestyle can lead to burnout. He also opines on whether Adam Schefter could hold his own job and replace Adrian Wojnarowski at ESPN, the difficult relationship between the Raiders and Davante Adams, and how Haason Reddick ended up in his increasingly expensive holdout.

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

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Conversation Starters The NWSL unveiled redesigned trophies for the regular-season MVP and NWSL Shield, which is given to the best regular-season team. Check it out [[link removed]]. The drivers of the truck carrying Miami’s football equipment more than 3,000 miles to Cal are vlogging their journey, which will last several days. Take a look [[link removed]]. NBA agent Mark Bartelstein joined Front Office Sports Today [[link removed]] to discuss the ramifications of the league’s new CBA. Editors’ Picks Private Equity Firms Buy Rival Hockey Brands CCM and Bauer [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Both brands have been around for decades and changed ownership in the same week. How the Calgorithm Turned College Football Twitter Into Real Life [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]“College GameDay” makes its first trip to Berkeley on Saturday. TNT Has Staked Its Claim in College Sports Broadcasting [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]The network has quietly amassed a portfolio of NCAA rights. Question of the Day

Do you plan on watching Shohei Ohtani's first postseason game?

YES [[link removed]] NO [[link removed]]

Wednesday’s result: 22% of respondents have watched a second-round WNBA playoff game.

Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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