Morning Edition

November 15, 2024

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Good morning. The SEC’s expansion is paying off for ABC, which is dominating college football viewership this season. Tennessee-Georgia is the latest must-watch, and we break down why the network is drawing massive audiences across all time slots.

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

Expanded SEC Is the Gift That Keeps Giving for ABC [[link removed]]

The Knoxville News-Sentinel

The game of the weekend for most casual college football fans will be No. 7 Tennessee at No. 12 Georgia—a matchup that has big implications around the new 12-team College Football Playoff [[link removed]], and yet again will likely drive a huge TV audience for ABC on Saturday night.

Through 11 weeks of the college football season, ABC has broadcast 12 of the top 15 most-watched games across all networks. That’s thanks to Disney’s new deal with the SEC, which expanded to 16 teams this year.

Georgia has played in the two highest-rated games so far this season [[link removed]]: 13.2 million viewers for a win over Texas (Oct. 19) and 12 million for a loss to Alabama (Sept. 28). Tennessee played in the third-most-watched game—a win over Alabama (Oct. 19). All three were on ABC.

The Volunteers (8–1) could likely suffer a loss and still keep their Playoff hopes alive, but a shot at the postseason would be all but over for the Bulldogs (7–2) with a third loss. That should create plenty of drama for CFB viewers, with no other matchups between ranked opponents happening Saturday night.

All Day Long

While ABC’s biggest CFB games have come in prime time, the network is also drawing big numbers in the late-afternoon window and even around noon ET kickoffs, despite tough competition from a rival network.

Fox’s Big Noon Saturday game window has drawn some monster TV ratings like 9.94 million viewers for Ohio State–Penn State and 9.35 million for Michigan-Texas, but ABC has six of the 10 largest noon ET audiences [[link removed]] this season, according to Sports Media Watch, albeit with much lower ceilings. Last Saturday, a 49–17 Texas victory over Florida was the most-watched noon game with 3.9 million viewers.

Rays to Call Yankee Territory ‘Home’ for 2025 Due to Tropicana Repairs [[link removed]]

Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Rays will be going into enemy territory, so to speak, to address their pressing facility issues for 2025.

The club said Thursday it will play home games next season at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the spring training home of the Yankees and the Tampa Tarpons, one of New York’s minor league affiliates. The decision arrived roughly 48 hours after the St. Petersburg, Fla., city council received an initial damage assessment on the hurricane-battered Tropicana Field, which will require about a year and nearly $56 million to repair [[link removed]]. The report provided confirmation that a full-year alternate stadium solution was needed.

That difficult situation has led the Rays, with MLB’s input, to look to their American League East division rival, the Yankees. Steinbrenner Field is the largest spring training facility in the Tampa area with a seating capacity of about 11,000, and it has an array of recently improved amenities, including an expanded home clubhouse, new training facilities, and upgraded lighting. Broadcast positions at the ballpark are also well established through years of prior telecasts by the Yankees’ YES Network, allowing Diamond Sports Group to operate there with minimal issue.

“The hurricane damage to Tropicana Field has forced us to take some extraordinary steps, just as Hurricanes Helene and Milton have forced thousands of families and businesses in our community to adapt to new circumstances as we all recover and rebuild,” said Rays owner Stu Sternberg.

The choice also addresses a pair of key factors previously mentioned by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred: keeping the Rays in the Tampa area [[link removed]] and making this decision by Christmas [[link removed]].

“Given the significant challenges caused by Hurricane Milton, I appreciate the hard work and collaboration between the two teams that allowed the Rays to make the best decision for next season,” Manfred said. “This outcome meets Major League Baseball’s goals that Rays fans will see their team play next season in their home market and that their players can remain home without disruption to their families.”

Logistical Issues

The Yankees will still train at Steinbrenner Field for the 2025 season, as they normally would, while the Rays will be at their complex in Port Charlotte, Fla. The Rays will then begin their home schedule for the regular season on March 27, three days after the Yankees break camp. The impact on the Tarpons has not yet been finalized.

Tampa Bay will then have a sizable challenge in getting its brand infused into Steinbrenner Field, which is modeled in part on Yankee Stadium and features extensive branding for that team. The Associated Press, meanwhile, reported the Yankees will receive about $15 million [[link removed]] for hosting the Rays. The ballpark’s capacity is not far removed from Tampa Bay’s 2024 per-game attendance average of 16,515. The outdoor setting will still leave the Rays exposed to summer heat and frequent rains, but any other local option involves those same factors.

But the Rays’ move across the bay to neighboring Hillsborough County, even temporarily, could anger officials in Pinellas County, who are already eyeing a $1.3 billion plan to build a new ballpark in St. Petersburg with greater skepticism [[link removed]].

As the stadium issue for next year was settled, the Rays also have resolved their local television situation for next year and will be returning to DSG in a revised deal [[link removed]]. The club will be the second in MLB to play next year in a minor league stadium, joining the A’s, who’ll be spending the next three years at Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park [[link removed]].

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Indy 500 Open for F1 Drivers After Monaco GP Date Shift [[link removed]]

Indianapolis Star

The Indianapolis 500 and Monaco Grand Prix, two of the three races in the “Triple Crown of Motorsport,” will no longer be on the same weekend.

Formula One announced a six-year deal [[link removed]] with the Automobile Club of Monaco to keep the iconic Monaco race on the calendar until 2031—though the GP will move to a June weekend starting in 2026. The race was previously held in May, the same day as the Indy 500, which takes place during Memorial Day weekend.

While it’s unclear whether F1 will put a different race on Memorial Day weekend, a potential free weekend during the Indy 500 opens the door for active F1 drivers to take part in the iconic race.

Formula One did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Setting the Precedence

It may be unlikely that an active F1 driver pushes to race the Indy 500 given the 24-race schedule that F1 instituted this year. However, it has been done recently—and by a driver still on the grid.

The last active F1 driver to race the Indy 500 was Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, back when he was still with McLaren, which also has an IndyCar team. Alonso infamously decided to skip the Monaco GP [[link removed]] in 2017 to attempt the Indy 500. He placed 24th, but he didn’t finish the race due to an engine failure in lap 179 out of 200.

Alonso is the only active driver on the F1 grid to have participated in the Indy 500. He has yet to win the annual race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and it’s the only race of the “Triple Crown of Motorsport” that he has yet to win. Alonso has won both the Monaco Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice.

However, the two-time Formula One drivers’ champion said in 2020 [[link removed]]—after racing at the Indy 500 during a sabbatical from F1—that winning the Indy 500 is “less of a goal.”

“There is the danger factor,” Alonso said. “In the Indy 500, there are a couple of big crashes every year. Now I am fully focused on F1. And when I stop F1, I don’t know if I will be tempted to try again. … It is not a complete no, but I would say it is less of a project.”

2025 Ryder Cup Tickets Sell Out Despite Outcry Over $750 Price [[link removed]]

Lucas Boland-Imagn Images

Tickets for the 2025 Ryder Cup have sold out despite complaints of extreme price-gouging around the biennial team golf event set to be played just outside New York City on Sept. 26–28.

The PGA of America, which operates the Ryder Cup when it is played in the U.S. every four years, said there were more than 500,000 registrants [[link removed]] for the random selection process to buy tickets, which cost $750 for each of the three competition days Friday through Sunday. A limited number of practice-round tickets (Sept. 22–24) remain available at prices between $255 and $370.

That $750 price tag is more than double the $350 high point of tickets to the previous Ryder Cup played Stateside—in Wisconsin in 2021 (delayed one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Next year’s event will see Team USA try to take back the cup from Team Europe at Bethpage Black Golf Course, which has previously hosted men’s major championships, including the U.S. Open and PGA Championship, in Farmingdale, N.Y.

In 2019, tickets to the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black cost $110 for competition days, with more than 200,000 people attending through that tournament.

Golf fans and media personalities voiced their concerns about Ryder Cup ticket prices earlier this fall, but the PGA of America defended the high rates, citing a combination of the event’s increased demand and big-market location.

“We view ourselves as a tier one event that’s on par with a World Series or with an NBA Finals Game 7,” PGA of America championship director Bryan Karns said during an interview on SiriusXM [[link removed]]. And organizers are not being shy about leaning in to that premium feel. “There are people who have the Ryder Cup on their bucket list in the same way that someone would have a Yankees opening game [of the] World Series on their bucket list,” Karns said.

LIV Golf players are allowed to compete in the Ryder Cup, but the controversial tour’s lack of world ranking points accreditation will make it difficult to qualify [[link removed]] for either team. Six players will automatically qualify, with captains Keegan Bradley [[link removed]] (U.S.) and Luke Donald (Europe) each getting six selections of their own.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY NBA and TNT Want to Make It Work

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The NBA and TNT could be approaching a legal settlement, according to Front Office Sports senior reporters A.J. Perez and Michael McCarthy. Perez joins the show with the latest in this rights saga and an expected timeline for its resolution.

Plus, we speak with Bills pass rusher Greg Rousseau ahead of the anticipated matchup against the unbeaten Chiefs this Sunday. Also, Diamond Sports Group emerges from bankruptcy, the Rays have a new home, and there’s a billion-dollar lifeline for Houston’s iconic Astrodome.

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

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Conversation Starters Joey Logano sat down with FOS reporter Colin Salao to discuss his third NASCAR Cup Series championship, the controversial playoff format, and his potential career path after racing. Watch it here [[link removed]]. Kirk Herbstreit is #Globetrotting again this week and will log about 2,200 miles between Thursday Night Football and Saturday night’s Tennessee-Georgia football game. Take a look [[link removed]]. Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki is available to sign with an MLB team this offseason. The 23-year-old helped lead Japan to the World Baseball Classic title. Learn more [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Lawsuit Seeks to Bar Volleyball Player From Mountain West Conference Tournament [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]The suit comes after several San Jose State opponents have forfeited. Former Suns Employee Sues Team Over Wrongful Termination, Retaliation [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Andrea Trischan was the team’s former DEI program manager. How International Sports Streaming Rights Is ‘Trench Warfare’ Now [[link removed]]by Jeff Benson [[link removed]]Netflix’s WWE deal could be a template for other leagues looking to go global. Question of the Day

Do you think a Formula One driver will race in the Indianapolis 500 in 2026?

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Thursday’s result: 60% of respondents said they do not like the look of their favorite NBA team’s in-season tournament court.

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