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Afternoon Edition

March 13, 2025

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The Rays spent a decade looking for ballpark funding, then spent months seeing it fall apart. On Wednesday, they abandoned the plan, making their future—in Tampa or elsewhere—uncertain.

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

Rays Abandon $1.3B Stadium Plan, Leaving Their Future in Doubt [[link removed]]

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays’ days in the Tampa area could now be numbered as the MLB club said Thursday it is not moving forward with a plan to build a $1.3 billion ballpark in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The franchise had a March 31 deadline to meet certain obligations to release $600 million in public funds toward the planned stadium. The Rays, however, would be responsible for cost overruns beyond its $700 million contribution, and say that delays in the legislative approval of those public bonds introduced additional costs they cannot bear alone.

The city and Pinellas County refused to discuss supplemental funding, particularly in the wake of devastating hurricane damage to the area last year, and insisted they had met their obligations [[link removed]] in a ballpark deal originally struck last summer [[link removed]].

As a result, the Rays said they are not proceeding with the ballpark and mixed-use development plan.

“After careful deliberation, we have concluded we cannot move forward with the new ballpark and development project at this moment,” said Rays owner Stu Sternberg in a statement. “A series of events beginning in October that no one could have anticipated led to this difficult decision. Our commitment to the vitality and success of the Rays organization is unwavering. We continue to focus on finding a ballpark solution that serves the best interest of our region, Major League Baseball, and our organization.”

The decision, although increasingly likely in recent days, will almost certainly raise already growing pressure on Sternberg to sell the franchise [[link removed]]. Frustration with the team owner has been rising in recent weeks, particularly after MLB commissioner Rob Manfred personally and successfully lobbied to get the stadium bonds approved. Multiple groups have already begun to form that have expressed interest in buying the Rays.

“When Stu sells, perhaps he can pay back the taxpayers of Pinellas/St. Pete for all the money that was spent on this deal,” said Pinellas County commissioner Chris Latvala in a social media post [[link removed]]. Latvala voted last year for the stadium bonds, but has since been a frequent and outspoken critic of Sternberg.

The Rays will play this season at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the spring training home of the Yankees, and are aiming to return to hurricane-damaged Tropicana Field in 2026. The club’s long-term future, however, is as murky as perhaps any point in its history.

“While the decision of Tampa Bay Rays ownership to terminate the agreements for a new stadium and new development is a major disappointment, it is not unexpected. Nor is it the end of the Historic Gas Plant District story,” said St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch. “The city will continue to pursue all avenues that will help us deliver on our ultimate goal: utilizing the HGPD property to benefit the community and fulfilling the 40-year-old promises of economic development and opportunity made to the African-American community.”

SPONSORED BY UBS

Welcoming Kimi Antonelli!

The 2025 Formula One season kicks off tomorrow with the Australian Grand Prix. As Team Partner of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, UBS is proud to welcome F1 newcomer Kimi Antonelli as he takes on his first race as an official driver for the team.

At just 18, Kimi is the third-youngest F1 driver in history, and he will be the youngest driver on the grid this year. Read more [[link removed]] about Kimi as he shares stories from on and off the track, and keep an eye out for him this season.

Duke Star Cooper Flagg Out for ACC Tournament With Ankle Injury [[link removed]]

Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Late in the first half of Duke’s ACC tournament game against Georgia Tech, Cooper Flagg went up for a rebound and came down awkwardly on his left ankle. He immediately went down to the floor and clutched his leg.

Flagg, 18, the presumptive top pick in this summer’s NBA draft, was helped to the locker room by teammates, unable to put weight on his left leg. In the tunnel, he was taken in a wheelchair for further evaluation.

Head coach Jon Scheyer said after the game that X-rays on Flagg’s ankle were negative.

He is averaging 19.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game this season [[link removed]].

The severity of the injury has not yet been reported. The NCAA tournament kicks off next week, and before the injury, Duke was favored to win the national championship.

Maliq Brown, a forward on Duke’s bench, also reaggravated a shoulder injury Thursday.

ESPN cameras showed Flagg walking on both feet back to Duke’s bench—without a walking boot. Brown is also out for the rest of the game.

It is unknowable how Flagg’s injury would affect TV ratings, but Duke making a run would undoubtedly be great for March Madness broadcasters CBS and WBD Sports, both because of the school’s legacy brand and Flagg’s star power. For example, Duke vs. North Carolina averaged three million viewers on ESPN [[link removed]] this past Saturday, one of the most-watched college basketball games this season.

Sports Rebundling Continues As DirecTV, Roku Bet on Live Rights [[link removed]]

Russell Lansford-Imagn Images

The pace of sports-centric skinny bundles hitting the market continues to accelerate, further showing the importance of live games to attract and keep viewers.

Less than two months after DirecTV introduced its MySports streaming package [[link removed]], building meaningfully off the aborted vision of Venu Sports [[link removed]], the distributor is rolling out MyHome Team, an add-on option that offers 20 regional sports networks and covers nearly half of the U.S.-based teams in the NBA, NHL, and MLB.

In several key markets such as Chicago and Detroit, MyHome Team will include all the leading RSNs, and in many locales will allow DirecTV to cater to a more ardent sports fan than the national-level broadcasts core to the MySports offering.

MyHome Team will carry a $19.99 monthly cost beyond the $69.99 base monthly fee for the MySports package. DirecTV, however, is betting that a combined expense of about $90 to get a full range of national and regional sports will be a more attractive option than other competing television and streaming providers. That includes DirecTV itself, which has a standard cost of more than $100 per month for an entry-level television package with a broad array of sports channels and streaming capabilities.

New outlets such as the Rangers Sports Network created by the MLB club [[link removed]] will additionally be part of MyHome Team’s distribution.

Comcast, the No. 2 U.S. cable carrier, also recently introduced a sports-oriented bundle [[link removed]], and others are expected to follow suit.

Women’s Soccer Focus

Roku, meanwhile, is introducing the NWSL Zone, a dedicated area within its platform that will collate live coverage of the National Women’s Soccer League, whether it be on Amazon Prime Video, CBS Sports, ESPN, or Scripps Sports’ Ion [[link removed]], and include a mix of free and paywalled games.

The effort feeds into multiple trends at once. In addition to furthering Roku’s sports-focused zones that include a general Sports Zone, Soccer Zone, and Women’s Sports Zone, the NWSL tie-in is the company’s first such area dedicated to a specific women’s league, showing the continued escalation of women’s sports more broadly.

Live games in the NWZL Zone will be supplemented by other programming including highlights, game replays, and short-form content. The introduction of the new Roku area is timed specifically to Friday’s start of the 2025 NWSL season.

“With the popularity of women’s sports soaring, we’re focusing on amplifying the talent that makes it all happen,” said Roku head of sports Joe Franzetta. “Curating a dedicated zone for the NWSL is another step in our mission to champion female athletes.”

49ers Lead Adjusted NFL Salary Cap List As Seven Teams Exceed $300M [[link removed]]

Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The NFL’s 2025 salary cap is $279.2 million [[link removed]], but none of the league’s 32 franchises are operating at the exact number this coming season.

That’s because the NFL annually adjusts each team’s cap figure based on the amount of money it carried over—or lost—from the previous season, mostly from performance incentives that players did or didn’t meet.

After the new league year officially began at 4 p.m. ET Wednesday, this year’s numbers are now available.

The biggest carryover belongs to the 49ers, who will have an adjusted cap of $341.4 million, roughly $62 million higher than the standard NFL number. That should come in handy for San Francisco, as the club has been cleaning house [[link removed]] by trading, releasing, and not re-signing many key players—likely ahead of a contract extension for quarterback Brock Purdy that could cost more than $50 million annually.

For the majority of teams, the adjusted cap brings a modest gain. Almost half the NFL, 15 franchises, gained less than $10 million, while eight teams gained between $10 million and $20 million.

Led by the 49ers, seven clubs topped $300 million with their adjusted numbers:

49ers: $341.4 million Browns: $325.9 million Patriots: $322.6 million Raiders: $314.9 million Cowboys: $306.9 million Lions: $306.4 million Titans: $300.7 million

There were only two teams that actually lost money relative to the $279.2 million salary-cap figure. The Ravens landed just below at $278.4 million, while the Bills lost more than $6 million, ending up at $273.1 million.

STATUS REPORT Two Up, One Down, One Push

Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Big Ten ⬇ Northwestern head coach Chris Collins criticized the conference [[link removed]] for the hotel that the Wildcats are staying in, a Sheraton, during the men’s basketball tournament in Indianapolis. Collins complained that the air conditioning didn’t work in the rooms, which were too hot. “We’re used to being treated like this by this league,” he said Wednesday. “They’ll put us in one that’s hotter if we leave it up to the league.”

Comcast ⬆ The NBCUniversal parent company will continue its long-term hold on U.S. media rights to the Olympics, striking a four-year, $3 billion extension that covers the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City and the 2036 Summer Olympics at a location to be determined. The Olympics have been a substantial business driver for all of Comcast [[link removed]], and the new term contemplates collaborating on “new, innovative joint strategic initiatives and projects.” “This agreement with Comcast is groundbreaking because it goes far beyond the traditional media rights agreement which we have had for many years with our valued partner,” said International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.

YouTube golf ⬆ The PGA Tour’s Creator Classic event at TPC Sawgrass on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the Players Championship drew strong crowds on-site, and at one point had more than 80,000 people livestreaming on YouTube. Grant Horvat won the 8-hole tournament that included some viral moments [[link removed]] and featured top golf-focused content creators, who have been growing in popularity [[link removed]], competing against one another. It was also simulcast on ESPN+ and Golf Channel, but those viewership figures are not available.

NASCAR ⬆⬇ Sunday’s race in Phoenix averaged 2.82 million viewers [[link removed]] on FS1, marking the largest Cup Series audience on cable in nearly four years, but also a decline of 30% compared to last year’s race on the Fox broadcast network.

SPONSORED BY COMCAST BUSINESS

Keeping Fans Connected at THE PLAYERS

TPC Sawgrass is built for unforgettable fan experiences, [[link removed]] and Comcast Business is ensuring those moments are more connected than ever. As a Proud Partner of THE PLAYERS Championship [[link removed]] and the PGA TOUR, Comcast Business delivers the advanced network solutions that keep the tournament running— powering everything [[link removed]] from broadcast feeds to concession payments.

This year, fans at TPC Sawgrass can engage like never before with Game the Green [[link removed]] at the iconic 17th hole, using real-time analytics to predict shot placements and climb the leaderboard. The Comcast Business Pavilion also provides a seamless blend of work and play with high-speed WiFi, live tech demos, and meeting spaces.

With cutting-edge connectivity supporting PGA TOUR’s digital innovations, Comcast Business is redefining the fan experience [[link removed]].

Conversation Starters Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki used a samurai sword for batting practice ahead of the team’s Tokyo Series against the Dodgers next week. Check it out [[link removed]]. Kansas tied the NCAA Division I record by hitting five straight home runs against Minnesota. Only three other teams have accomplished the feat. Watch it here [[link removed]]. A Sacramento Kings fan nailed the “perfect pump” halftime game by stopping the gas pump at exactly $25. Take a look [[link removed]?]. Editors’ Picks Shaka Smart Is Telling Players They Don’t Need Agents at Marquette [[link removed]]by Dennis Young [[link removed]]Smart’s best player lists his coach as his agent. UNLV AD Says School Can’t Afford Back Half of Football Coach Contract [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]The Running Rebels can currently pay for the first two years of a five-year deal. From Rather to Romo: How Sportscasters Replaced Anchors As Network Faces [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]Anchors were once among America’s biggest names. Sportscasters took over. Advertise [[link removed]] Honors [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Ryan Glasspiegel [[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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