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Morning Edition

August 4, 2025

After a weather-delayed debut at Bristol Motor Speedway, MLB completed its most ambitious regular-season event to date. We break down how the Speedway Classic came together, what the league pulled off despite the rain, and the questions it leaves in its wake.

Plus: A Boston-based group wants to buy the WNBA’s Sun.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]] and Annie Costabile [[link removed]]

MLB’s Speedway Classic Breaks Record Despite Weather Woes [[link removed]]

The Knoxville News-Sentinel

After an overnight red flag, so to speak, the MLB Speedway Classic finally got done Sunday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway, but without much of the initial pomp and circumstance.

Completing the rain-suspended game from Saturday night [[link removed]], the Braves beat the Reds by a 4–2 score in the high-profile event that marked MLB’s debut effort playing in a racetrack, and its first regular-season game in Tennessee.

The game hit an announced attendance total of 91,032, surpassing the expectations last week of the establishment of a new league record [[link removed]] for a regular-season game. That figure, like any other MLB game, reflects tickets sold, but because of the weather delay, the actual turnout Sunday was considerably less.

Still, that figure is nearly 60% more than the largest crowd for the Dodgers, MLB’s perennial attendance leader, at Dodger Stadium.

Many of the pregame elements from Saturday, including a series of concerts led by country star Tim McGraw, were not repeated on Sunday. But there were many other continued nods to the event’s heavy interplay between baseball and auto racing, such as the home run car that circled the heavily embanked track after each of two homers hit by the Braves’ Eli White that paced Atlanta’s victory.

“It was a great experience,” White said about playing in the racetrack. “Even yesterday, it was disappointing with the rain, but all the pregame stuff, getting to ride around the track in front of all the fans was super cool, and will be something I’ll always remember.”

The Knoxville News-Sentinel Sense of Awe

What was also very clear throughout the two days in Bristol was the feeling of massive scale at Bristol Motor Speedway, one of the largest sports venues in the world.

The vastness of the facility, which normally seats about 165,000 people, was scarcely lost on anyone there.

“We’ve been in the cornfields [at the Field of Dreams complex]. We’ve been to Little League. We’ve been around the world. They’re all special, but this one was certainly unique,” Murray Cook, MLB’s official field consultant and president of the sports turf division for BrightView, tells Front Office Sports, recounting other special-event games. “What’s been so interesting is watching everybody—players included—just taking it all in.”

Breaking It Down

The 34-day sprint to construct the temporary baseball field at the speedway [[link removed]] involved nearly 18,000 tons of gravel, the removal of 1,000 feet of pit row walls, and a temporary repositioning of the venue’s “Colossus” jumbotron. The teardown, however, will be far quicker, with the dismantling slated to require about two weeks.

This won’t be the end of the field, though. MLB opted for turf instead of natural grass to enable a gift of the field to East Tennessee State University’s baseball program. The turf pieces—along with related infrastructure such as bullpens, the batter’s eye, and foul poles—will be shipped over to the Division I school in nearby Johnson City.

“It’s going to be a fantastic addition to Thomas Stadium. Having a game at BMS is going to be a wild experience,” East Tennessee coach Joe Pennucci said before the contest. “To have a small part in it is a cool opportunity for everyone involved.”

The uniqueness and scale of the MLB Speedway Classic, meanwhile, raise the bar substantially for future special-event games, even with the weather issues and some logistical problems in Bristol around elements such as food service. The league has not yet disclosed its future plans, and while the 2026 schedule is expected to be released later this month, MLB has given itself a particularly tough comparison.

Full viewership figures from the Fox Sports broadcast of the game, meanwhile, are anticipated early this week. The MLB Speedway Classic will be compared to last year’s game at historic Rickwood Field in Alabama, which averaged 2.35 million viewers, and two Field of Dreams games from Iowa, which averaged 3.1 million viewers in 2022, and 5.9 million viewers the year before—all of which were played at night.

The postponement and move to a daytime slot, however, is almost certain to cut noticeably into the final viewership figure.

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Commissioners Adam Silver and Rob Manfred will join Front Office Sports’s editorial team to discuss the latest moves in media and what’s on the horizon.

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This must-see lineup is worth tuning in for. Rates increase soon, register today [[link removed]].

Boston Group Has Deal to Buy Sun For WNBA-Record $325 Million [[link removed]]

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

A Boston-based group led by Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca has reached a record deal valued at $325 million to buy the Connecticut Sun from the Mohegan Tribe and move the team to Boston by 2027, a league source confirmed to Front Office Sports.

The news was first reported by The Boston Globe [[link removed]].

The Globe also reported that the deal includes a future $100 million commitment for a practice facility.

Though Pagliuca plans to move the team to Boston, the WNBA says no such move has been approved yet.

“Relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams,” a league spokesperson told FOS in a statement.

“As part of our most recent expansion process, in which three new franchises were awarded to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia on June 30, 2025, nine additional cities also applied for WNBA teams and remain under active consideration.

“No groups from Boston applied for a team at that time and those other cities remain under consideration based on the extensive work they did as part of the expansion process and currently have priority over Boston.

“Celtics prospective owner Bill Chisholm has also reached out to the league office and asked that Boston receive strong consideration for a WNBA franchise at the appropriate time,” the statement said.

Pagliuca and Chisholm both bid for the Celtics when the team was up for sale, with Paglicua criticizing the financing of Chisholm’s bid [[link removed]] when he won out.

Pagliuca issued his own statement Sunday evening [[link removed]] in which he confirmed that an investor group led by his own PagsGroup, with the support of the governors of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, has offered to buy the team. “No transaction has been agreed to yet,” he said. He added the group aims to have the Sun “play in larger capacity arenas in New England.”

The Sun hired investment bank Allen and Company [[link removed]] to search for a potential buyer earlier this year. In July, the Sun sent out an email to season ticket holders pledging to remain at Mohegan Sun for the 2026 season.

After the end of last season the Suns saw a mass exodus of star players and head coach Stephanie White. Despite still being under contract, White left the organization to coach the Fever. In the new year, the Sun lost all five starters in free agency.

The team is currently last in the league with a 5-21 record under first year coach Rachid Meziane and general manager Morgan Tuck.

The Mohegan Tribe purchased the Sun—originally the Orlando Miracle—in 2003 and relocated the team to Uncasville, Connecticut. They were the first Native American tribe to own a professional sports team. But over the years, the franchise has drawn stark criticism from players for failing to provide a satisfactory training environment.

The Sun played a game at TD Garden in 2024 against the Sparks and again this season against the Fever on July 15, selling out both games. Players from all three teams expressed their appreciation for the Boston fan base and the environment. Sun rookie Saniya Rivers told reporters, “If it was up to me, we might relocate here.”

Rivers went on to praise the city, saying, “I love Connecticut. It’s fine, but I think the marketing here itself is just going to be better for a women’s basketball program.”

The sale, pending approval by the WNBA’s board of governors, could land the team in Boston by 2027, sooner than some of the WNBA’s planned expansion teams will launch.

In a statement to FOS, Mohegan Tribe leadership said they are continuing “to run their process of looking at different avenues of investment opportunities for the Connecticut Sun.”

Regarding news of the sale to Pagliuca, they said they could not comment on the specifics of a sale, which would be subject to non-disclosure terms.

Bengals Extend Stadium Lease After $350M in Public Funds for Renovation [[link removed]]

The Enquirer

One of the NFL’s more austere stadiums is getting a $470 million upgrade after the Bengals finalized a lease extension deal with Hamilton County, Ohio, that includes a substantial renovation to Paycor Stadium.

The 11-year extension will keep the Bengals at the publicly owned venue through at least 2036, and calls for a series of improvements such as new scoreboards, improved suites and club lounges, a replacement of all general seating, new retail spaces, and revamped elevators and escalators.

There are also five sets of optional two-year deals that could further extend the lease to 2046. Hamilton County will contribute $350 million toward the renovations, while the Bengals will pay $120 million.

“This new lease keeps Paycor Stadium on par with other communities around the country and a focal point for Cincinnati’s riverfront,” Bengals EVP Katie Blackburn said. “More importantly, it solidifies the future of the Bengals in Cincinnati, our beloved home, for many years to come.”

Earlier this week, Bengals owner Mike Brown conveyed confidence that the agreement would get done [[link removed]], and it ultimately did after a flurry of last-minute changes.

“I believe it will be finished off in the right way and we’ll go forward together,” Brown said then. “It’s been a tough negotiation. There have been conflicting voices sometimes, and all that has been part of it. But at the end of the day, the county and the Bengals are in a partnership.”

Paycor Stadium is 25 years old, but similarly aged NFL facilities in markets such as Washington [[link removed]], Cleveland [[link removed]], Denver [[link removed]], and Philadelphia [[link removed]] are either being replaced or under consideration for that. The Bengals’ deal, meanwhile, is also a significantly scaled-down version of a $830 million plan that had been previously proposed.

“This agreement strikes the balance we needed—protecting public dollars while ensuring Paycor Stadium remains the home of the Cincinnati Bengals,” Hamilton County commissioner Stephanie Summerow Dumas said. “It’s a deal that begins to right the wrongs of the past.”

More Tough Negotiations

As one complex deal is now done for the Bengals, another is still outstanding as the team remains at a contract impasse with star defensive end Trey Hendrickson. The NFL’s 2024 sack leader reported to training camp this week [[link removed]] after amassing $450,00 worth of fines in a holdout, but the contract situation remains unresolved.

Hendrickson will likely be monitoring a similarly fractious situation between the Cowboys and Micah Parsons [[link removed]], another standout defensive end. Any resolution that may surface with Parsons will likely influence a final deal for Hendrickson, as guaranteed pay for NFL players at positions besides quarterback continues to soar.

LOUD AND CLEAR No Rest in Dallas

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

“I would say to our fans, don’t lose any sleep over this.”

—Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on the trade request from pass rusher Micah Parsons [[link removed]]. The three-time All-Pro went to social media Friday [[link removed]], stating his frustrations negotiating a long-term contract extension. Jones’s desire to negotiate with the player rather than Parsons’s agent rekindled a previous contract negotiation with former Cowboys star Dez Bryant from 2015, with Jones claiming Bryant’s agency, Roc Nation Sports, was ineffective in responding to contract differences [[link removed]]. Roc Nation refuted Jones’s claims [[link removed]]. Parsons, who is entering his fifth season and the last year on his contract, is slated to earn $24 million. The current market for pass rushers has been reset twice this offseason. Myles Garrett agreed to a four-year $160 million extension [[link removed]] after he requested a trade out of Cleveland, and T.J. Watt recently signed a three-year, $123 million deal [[link removed]] with the Steelers.

STATUS REPORT One Up, Three Down

Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Nelly Korda ⬇ After finishing tied for 36th in the AIG Women’s British Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales, Korda’s 17-month reign as the No. 1 golfer in the world came to an end. After a seven-win season in 2024, Korda has not found the top of the podium yet in 2025. Jeeno Thitikul [[link removed]], 22, returns to the No. 1 spot in the world rankings for the first time since 2022.

Weber State ⬆ Nine-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard is returning to his alma mater [[link removed]] as the men’s basketball team’s general manager. The news comes two weeks after Lillard signed a three-year $42 million deal with the Trail Blazers. Lillard joins other NBA players returning to their colleges, including the Hawks’ Trae Young, who joined Oklahoma’s staff as an assistant general manager in March. Terance Mann, also on the Hawks, joined Florida State’s program in the same role as Young [[link removed]].

WNBA fans⬇ An individual who tossed a sex toy onto the court during last Tuesday’s Golden State Valkyries and Atlanta Dream game in College Park, Ga., was arrested. The WNBA announced that the punishment for any fans throwing objects onto the court will be an ejection and a minimum one-year ban. Another sex toy was thrown onto the court during a Chicago Sky game on Friday, though it is not known if there has been an arrest.

Bills’ backfield⬇ Star running back James Cook chose to sit out of a mandatory practice Sunday as negotiations for a long-term contract extension have yet to be finalized. Cook is entering the final year of his four-year rookie contract and is slated to make $5.346 million this season. When asked by reporters about why he is sitting out, Cook responded, “business.” On Instagram back in February [[link removed]], Cook indicated that he was seeking a contract paying nearly $15 million per year. That number would place him tied for third in the league with Ravens running back Derrick Henry.

Editors’ Picks How the New York Liberty Became the Hottest Ticket in Town [[link removed]]by Annie Costabile [[link removed]]Once banished to the burbs, the Libs are now Brooklyn’s marquee attraction. Inked Under Anesthesia: Athletes Getting $50,000 Tattoos [[link removed]]by Hilary George-Parkin [[link removed]]High-end studios, elite artist teams, and hours under anesthesia. Luka Dončić Signs 3-Year Lakers Extension On 1st Day Of Eligibility [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Dončić can opt out after two seasons and sign a record deal. Question of the Day

Should MLB make the Speedway Classic an annual event?

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

Friday’s result: 45% of respondents had planned to watch the MLB Speedway Classic.

Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Annie Costabile [[link removed]], Andrew Goodrich [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]]

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