Afternoon Edition

November 13, 2024

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Caitlin Clark brought her star power to the LPGA’s pro-am event Wednesday, drawing a notably large early-morning crowd at Pelican Golf Club in Florida. The WNBA Rookie of the Year played alongside LPGA icons Nelly Korda and Annika Sörenstam, captivating fans and giving the tournament a major boost in both attendance and media coverage. The Golf Channel even adjusted its schedule to broadcast Clark’s final hole live, highlighting her growing influence across sports.

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

Caitlin Clark Draws Huge Early-Morning Crowds at LPGA Event [[link removed]]

Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images via LPGA

Caitlin Clark drew large crowds Wednesday morning at the LPGA Tour pro-am event in Florida, as she played golf alongside No. 1–ranked Nelly Korda and tournament host Annika Sörenstam.

Despite Clark teeing off at 7 a.m. ET just after sunrise—and sending an early-round tee shot into the gallery [[link removed]]—fans followed her intently throughout the day at Pelican Golf Club in the Tampa Bay area. The Indiana Fever star and WNBA Rookie of the Year gave a big boost to the tournament [[link removed]], which is named The Annika driven by Gainbridge, including increased ticket sales and overall media exposure.

Golf Channel aired Clark’s 18th hole live, after moving up its studio show Golf Today by 90 minutes to an 11 a.m. ET start time. “She’s really elevated this event,” Sörenstam said from the fairway. Highlights of Clark’s round dominated social media Wednesday, with NBC Sports, Golf Channel, and LPGA accounts posting various shots, putts, and crowd interactions.

“It’s just great for women’s sports,” said Korda, who did a “jersey swap” with Clark [[link removed]] after finishing her nine-hole practice round. “I love that she has a love for the game of golf. I’ve never really tuned in to watching basketball before her, honestly. So, I think it’s just growing the interest in all women’s sports, and I hope that’s what grows from this relationship.” Several other LPGA pros were waiting at the 18th green to introduce themselves to Clark and take a photo with the WNBA phenom.

“I don’t get nervous for basketball, but I got a little nervous for this, because I don’t want to hit anybody,” Clark said during a walk-and-talk interview midway through her round [[link removed]]. “But honestly, I’m just trying to have fun. I don’t really care how I play.”

Clark has an endorsement deal with tournament sponsor Gainbridge, which facilitated the collaboration with the LPGA [[link removed]]. “Women’s sports is on the rise,” Clark said. “This is only the beginning. It’s only going to get better and better. I’ve been a fan for my whole life. So, it’s cool for it to be where it is now, but I know it can go to even better places.”

In her first WNBA offseason, Clark said she’s been in the weight room and hasn’t had that much downtime, as she continues to be courted by the Unrivaled 3-on-3 women’s basketball league [[link removed]]. “It’s nice, but at the same time, I’m still so busy,” she said. “I gotta get things done that I haven’t been able to do during basketball season. So, everybody thinks I have a bunch of free time, but I’ve been busy.”

Clark participated in a women’s leadership summit Tuesday but isn’t scheduled to be at the remainder of the tournament.

Joey Logano Defends NASCAR Playoffs As League Reviews Format [[link removed]]

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Joey Logano solidified himself as one of NASCAR’s all-time great drivers after his third NASCAR Cup Series Championship on Sunday. His win may have also been the tipping point for the league’s playoff format.

According to Sports Business Journal, NASCAR is expected to review its playoff format next year. However, it’s likely any changes to the format will only take place starting in 2026, since the 2025 season begins in February.

The NASCAR playoffs [[link removed]] consist of the 16 drivers who score the most points in a 26-race regular season. The playoffs are divided into four rounds over 10 races, with the first three rounds each consisting of three races and the championship round being a single race. Four cars are eliminated after each of the first three rounds.

The report comes just days after Logano, a Team Penske driver, triumphed with the lowest average finishing position for a champion in NASCAR history. He was also originally knocked out in the second round of the playoffs but rejoined the field due to a disqualification to another driver.

Logano, who also won championships in 2018 and 2022, spoke to Front Office Sports and defended the playoff format. He said the previous system often risked a lackluster end to the year as certain drivers would already clinch the title before the final races.

“It used to be 36 weekends and it was just whoever scored the most points. So with three or four races to go, they’re crowning the champion and the last three races a year don’t matter,” Logano said on The FOS Interview [[link removed]]. “No one’s gonna watch that. … It’s over, or the guys [are] so far checked out that no one’s even thinking about it.”

Logano acknowledged he benefited from the format this year, but he also reminded critics the structure before the playoffs wasn’t perfect, either.

“I think you got to take a step back sometimes because it’s easy for us to look back at things to say, ‘The good old days. Oh, in the good old days, it was like this. The good old days, it was like that. Was it, though?’” Logano said.

The first iteration of the playoff structure started in 2004, following a 2003 season that saw Matt Kenseth clinch the title despite winning just one race. That initial version was a 10-week-long “Chase for the Cup,” which also received backlash after Jimmie Johnson won five years in a row.

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DSG Introduces NBA, NHL Single-Game Streaming Despite Bankruptcy [[link removed]]

Jessica Alcheh-Imagn Images

Diamond Sports Group doesn’t yet know for certain if it will be able to emerge from bankruptcy. But it’s already beginning to act as if it’s on the other side of its reorganization process.

The embattled regional sports network operator introduced a single-game streaming option for the 21 total NBA and NHL teams in its portfolio, with those contests available to viewers starting at $6.99 each starting Dec. 5. Monthly and annual subscriptions will remain available.

Several other networks and leagues across the sports streaming landscape already offer similar, single-game options. But for DSG, the timing is notable as its announcement of the new offering arrived less than 48 hours ahead of a critical hearing before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court starting Thursday [[link removed]] to confirm its reorganization plan, and the start date for the slimmed-down streaming is after that court appearance.

“This is yet another example of how we remain committed to delivering an array of viewing options and features to make it easier for our viewers to watch their favorite teams,” said Michael Schneider, FanDuel Sports Network COO of direct-to-consumer, in a statement.

DSG has also been busy elsewhere in recent days, striking a revised rights deal with MLB’s Cardinals [[link removed]], and nearing similarly reworked agreements with the Angels and Marlins. MLB, however, has formally objected to the company’s reorganization [[link removed]], and the single-game viewing option, at least for now, does not apply to this league.

Document Dump

Over the final two days before the confirmation hearing, DSG filed a series of updated documents with the court in preparation for that session. The latest filings are part of the company’s attempt to present a new-look, streamlined version of itself that includes restructured debt, a new name for the RSNs, and a retooled programming portfolio.

To that end, DSG contended its “plan is feasible and that there is a reasonable prospect of the post-effective date debtors being able to meet their financial obligations under the plan and in the ordinary course of business, and that confirmation of the plan is not likely to be followed by liquidation or the need for further financial reorganization.”

A Done Deal With Amazon

DSG also announced on Wednesday afternoon a long-expected, multiyear distribution agreement with Amazon that will make FanDuel Sports Network content available through the online retail and streaming giant.

Individual RSNs will be available through Amazon Prime Video as “an add-on subscription for customers living within each team’s designated geographic area.”

The pact has been in the works for months [[link removed]]. While it does not include an equity component that had been originally contemplated it does widen the footprint for DSG content considerably, and helps forge a different type of business model in an industry still facing large-scale challenges. The agreement is not exclusive, and DSG is expected to seek out other distribution partners.

DSG CEO David Preschlack said the Amazon deal “creates a tremendous opportunity for us to expand our reach and better connect with viewers.”

Why Liberty Media Spun Off Assets, Shook Up Leadership [[link removed]]

Austin American-Statesman

Arguably the only constant is change for one of the most prominent companies across the business of sports, as Liberty Media is undergoing another major corporate shift.

The parent of Formula One and MotoGP said Thursday that president and CEO Greg Maffei will step down at the end of 2024 after nearly two decades in that position and shift into an advisory role. John Malone, Liberty’s 83-year-old chairman, will be the interim CEO.

The company, meanwhile, is also spinning off most of its assets outside of F1 into a separate entity called Liberty Live, and Charter Communications is acquiring Liberty Broadband in an all-stock transaction. Those moves are aimed at “simplifying Liberty Media’s capital structure,” the company said.

Maffei has been a key driver in Liberty’s growth over the years, and most specifically, helped lead the company’s 2017 acquisition of F1, a deal that has since seen the motorsports property massively expand its global presence [[link removed]]—particularly in the U.S.

“All the Liberty acquisitions completed during my tenure are now in structures where shareholders can have more direct ownership in their upside. The corporate structure is optimized,” Maffei said. “While it’s never easy to leave an organization as dynamic as Liberty, I am confident that this is the right time.”

The latest changes arrive about 16 months after MLB’s Braves split from Liberty [[link removed]] into a separate, publicly traded company, involving a franchise that remains one of the league’s top performers [[link removed]] on and off the field.

More news on Liberty’s future direction is expected Thursday as the company is scheduled to hold an investor meeting in New York. That session will include both Malone and Maffei.

STATUS REPORT Two Up, Two Push

Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Twins ⬆⬇ Minnesota announced a large-scale executive transition that includes longtime president and CEO Dave St. Peter moving to an advisory role beginning in the first quarter of 2025, extending a period of marked change for the club [[link removed]]. St. Peter, with the Twins since 1990 and president since 2002, will become a strategic advisor. Derek Falvey, the club’s existing president of baseball operations, will also take over leadership of the club’s business side. Vice president and assistant GM Jeremy Zoll is being promoted to SVP and GM. The shifts arrive as the Pohlad family who owns the Twins have put the franchise up for sale [[link removed]]. In a public letter [[link removed]], St. Peter thanked the many constituencies connected to the Twins as he said it was “simply time to hand the baton to someone else.” But the change will ultimately see one of MLB’s longest-tenured and most highly regarded executives stepping back from day-to-day operations.

Ryder Cup ⬆⬇ Players for the U.S. team are expected to be paid for the first time [[link removed]] in the nearly 100-year history of the event, according to The Telegraph. The team will split a pot of about $5 million in next year’s event, which will be held in New York once the team’s organizing body ratifies the proposal. The European team is not expected to receive compensation.

Berlin ⬆ The city launched its official bid to host an NFL game, and it aims to host at least one game over a five-year period starting next year. Munich and Frankfurt are the cities in Germany that have hosted a regular-season NFL game. A game in Berlin would be played at the Olympiastadion, which hosted NFL exhibition games in the 1990s and can hold nearly 75,000 fans.

Formula One ⬆ For the first time in history, the motorsport is hosting a joint event with all 10 teams to launch the 2025 season and the new liveries of all cars called F1 75 Live in February at the O2 Arena in London. In the past, teams would stage their own events to launch car designs for the upcoming season. “We were thinking quite significantly about what to do around the 75th [anniversary] that’s quite unique,” F1 chief commercial officer Emily Prazer told FOS. “And a lot of people have talked about us doing a livery launch all together.”

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS AWARDS

Survey Closes This Evening

The Front Office Sports Best Employers in Sports Award [[link removed]] is an employee-driven award that recognizes organizations that do right by their employees through great leadership, focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, commitment to employee well-being, and more.

The award is based entirely on anonymous survey results from sports industry professionals. Responses will be evaluated in collaboration with our primary research partner, Canvs [[link removed]], using patented AI technology free from all subjectivity and human bias.

Today is your final chance to complete the survey [[link removed]] and recognize your employer. The survey closes tonight at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Conversation Starters Around 400 Warriors employees gave Klay Thompson a warm welcome as he entered the Chase Center on Tuesday night for the first time since his move to the Mavericks. Take a look [[link removed]]. Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 women’s basketball league launching in January, announced plans to create a 130,000-square-foot facility in Miami which will have a court with an 850-seat capacity [[link removed]]. The NBA debuted the second year of its Emirates NBA Cup court designs. Check out [[link removed]] how the Celtics’ court was put together before Tuesday’s game. Editors’ Picks WNBA Raids College Coaching Ranks As Atlanta Dream Hire Karl Smesko [[link removed]]by Colin Salao [[link removed]]Smesko is regarded as one of the top coaches in women’s college basketball. PLL Launches New Women’s Lacrosse League With 6-on-6 Format [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]The league will begin with a two-week tournament in February. Unrivaled Leaning In to TNT Deal With 850-Capacity Arena [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]The facility will have training, childcare, and content areas. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Written by David Rumsey [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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