The Mavericks are one step closer to building a new casino and arena in Irving, Texas—though the team’s departure from Dallas is far from settled.

The Irving Zoning Commission approved a zoning change via a 5–4 vote Tuesday that turned a 1,001-acre development area near the former Texas Stadium site into a mixed-use development.

The zoning change must still be approved by the Irving City Council, which meets Thursday.

The Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which is owned by the Adelson family who purchased the Mavericks from Mark Cuban in 2023, expressed plans to build a resort on the land that would include an arena that would fit at least 15,000 people and a theater that would have at least 4,000 seats.

Casinos are still illegal in Texas, save for a handful of tribe-owned operations. Most forms of gambling, including sports betting, are also illegal, and it’s unclear whether there will be any legislative changes in the near future.

Mavs on the Move?

The arena plans in Irving present an option for the Mavericks to move out of Dallas, especially considering their lease at American Airlines Center ends in July 2031. However, Mavericks CEO Rick Welts told The Dallas Morning News last week that the team intends to stay in Dallas and wants to build its own arena.

“What we’re saying to the city is we want to exhaust every possible option in the city of Dallas before considering pivoting to another location in the Metroplex,” Welts told The DMN.

There have been conspiracy theories that the team is looking to move to Las Vegas, a favorite to be the home of the NBA’s next expansion team, following the shocking trade of superstar Luka Dončić in February. 

Team governor Patrick Dumont has shut down the rumors of a relocation, and Welts doubled down. Sands Corp. is based in Las Vegas but no longer operates any resorts in the city.

As college football spring games are at risk of extinction at some major programs, Deion Sanders is unsurprisingly going against the grain at Colorado.

Texas, USC, and Nebraska are among the biggest Power 4 schools to cancel their 2025 spring games. Cornhuskers coach Matt Rhule cited the disadvantage of letting other teams scout his players, given the loose rules of the transfer portal. Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said he’s planning a more NFL-driven style of spring practices akin to OTAs.

But Sanders has announced Colorado’s 2025 spring game will be held April 19 in Boulder, and once again be nationally broadcast, on ESPN2. Last year’s spring game was not televised, but the 2023 edition, the first with Sanders as head coach, was the only spring game to air on ESPN’s flagship network, drawing 551,000 viewers.

“We got to sell this thing out and pack this thing, because the way the trend is going, you never know if this is going to be the last spring game,” Sanders said at a press conference Monday. “I don’t believe in that, and I don’t really want to condone that, and I would like to play—I actually would like to play against another team this spring, that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Syracuse coach Fran Brown tweeted that he would be willing to take Sanders up on the spring game idea. A rule change would be needed for Sanders to get his wish, though, as current bylaws prevent college football teams from playing against one another in the spring, an NCAA spokesperson told ESPN. 

“I would like to style it like the pros,” Sanders said. “I would like to practice against someone for a few days, and then you have the spring game. I think the public will be satisfied with that tremendously.”

In 2023, Colorado sold out its spring game at Folsom Field for the first time, drawing more than 47,000 fans—a dramatic spike from the attendance of 1,100 for the 2022 spring game. Last year, the Buffaloes drew roughly 28,000 fans.

Jimmy Pitaro does not want to go from leading Bristol to Burbank at this time. 

That’s according to a report from Lucas Shaw of Bloomberg, who wrote earlier this week that the ESPN chairman “has communicated to both friends and the board that he’s not interested in the role” of succeeding Bob Iger as Disney’s CEO. 

Iger’s contract is up at the end of next year, and he has emphasized that he will be gone for good this time. 

Several media insiders with a keen understanding of ESPN and Disney spoke to Front Office Sports after the Bloomberg story came out. They did not claim to have communicated with Pitaro about why he apparently pulled his hat out of the ring to be Iger’s successor, but one pointed out that replacing Iger has already proved to be hazardous.

Bob Chapek became Disney’s CEO in February 2020, and he was ousted when Iger came roaring back in November 2022. Iger joined ABC in 1974 and rose up the ranks by the time Disney acquired it in 1995. He became CEO of Disney in 2005 and has held the job ever since except for his brief first retirement. 

While on the job, he gobbled up assets like Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, and Fox’s entertainment properties for inclusion in Disney’s empire.  

To borrow a sports analogy, it’s like succeeding Bill Belichick in New England. As the saying goes: “You don’t want to replace the guy—you want to replace the guy who replaces the guy.” 

Last year, Disney’s board appointed former Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman to find Iger’s successor. The Bloomberg report said parks boss Josh D’Amaro and entertainment co-chair Dana Walden were the likeliest candidates to become the next CEO. 

During ESPN’s media day event last year, Pitaro told the audience of reporters how excited he was about his current role. 

“I’ll tell you without any hesitation that I’m sitting at my dream job,” Pitaro said. “I literally love going to work here, even the years that I was competing against this place [while at Yahoo Sports] I wanted to work here. I’m very fortunate and blessed to be surrounded by the best executives in the industry, starting with my direct reports, and every day I get out of my bed and say to myself one thing … I have to earn this today. I feel fortunate to be here.”

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Rory McIlroy’s star power was on display at the Players Championship, which saw its final-round TV ratings increase from 2024, despite a four-hour weather delay, with the Northern Irishman surging up the leaderboard Sunday en route to victory.

NBC averaged 3.6 million viewers for Sunday’s broadcast, up from an audience of 3.5 million last year when Scottie Scheffler won his second straight Players Championship. In 2023, NBC averaged 4.1 million viewers.

Golf Channel averaged 908,000 viewers for the first portion of the final round from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (all times ET); tee times were moved up several hours in an attempt to conclude play before rain. NBC picked up coverage for only 45 minutes before play was suspended at 1:15 p.m. The final round resumed at 5:15 p.m. and ended just after 7:30 p.m. with McIlroy and J.J. Spaun tied at 12 under par. 

On Monday morning, Golf Channel aired the three-hole playoff that McIlroy won, which earned him a record-tying $4.5 million first-place prize. TV ratings for the playoff are not yet available.

The Rory Bump

McIlroy’s other victory on the PGA Tour this season also brought a spike in TV ratings. 

Last month, CBS drew 3.33 million viewers for the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which McIlroy won by two shots over Shane Lowry. That was up 47% from the final round in 2023; the 2024 final round was canceled due to weather. It’s also the biggest TV ratings increase for any of the PGA Tour’s four signature events so far this season.

After the victory at TPC Sawgrass, McIlroy has the second-best betting odds at most sportsbooks to win the Masters next month, behind Scottie Scheffler. In 2024, TV ratings for the final round at Augusta National dropped 20% year over year, as 9.59 million viewers watched Scheffler win his second Green Jacket by four shots over Ludvig Åberg.