April 7, 2022

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The Atlanta Braves might be offering a $151 World Championship Burger at Truist Park, but which MLB team has the best prices for a simple hot dog and a cold beer? Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. According to Cheapism, fans can get a hot dog for $2 and a beer for $4.

A’s Make Progress in Vegas, Face Hurdles in Oakland

Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

As the A’s face new hurdles in Oakland, they are making progress toward securing land — and a new home — in Las Vegas.

The MLB team is simultaneously pursuing both options as it seeks to move from the 56-year-old RingCentral Coliseum.

A’s team president Dave Kaval said [[link removed]] a decision could come by May on a Las Vegas site for a potential $1 billion domed stadium.The timing is partly based [[link removed]] on the number of proposed stadium renderings to be included in the site announcement. The team has made bids on at least five locations in Vegas alone.

“We’ve been going back and forth on term sheets with the owners of the land or with the potential partners, and making a lot of progress,” Kaval said.

“There’s been a tremendous amount of negotiation in a positive way, and we hope to have a final one shortly here that we can announce and really move forward to the next stage.”

Lawsuits Not a Joke

Meanwhile, the A’s are facing a new challenge in their bid for a $12 billion stadium and development area on the Oakland waterfront.

The Union Pacific Railroad Company and a coalition of marine, port, and transportation groups under the banner of the Oakland Stadium Alliance filed [[link removed]] separate lawsuits challenging the city council’s certification of the environmental impact report for a potential new ballpark.

“I thought it was an April Fool’s Day joke, but I guess the joke was on me,” Kaval quipped.

Six Attorneys General Warn NFL To Improve Treatment of Women

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Six state attorneys general have sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell threatening to investigate allegations of mistreatment of female employees.

Wednesday’s letter [[link removed]] was sent by the attorneys general offices in Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, and New York — where the NFL is headquartered.

The letter was based primarily on allegations from more than 30 women detailed in a New York Times investigation [[link removed]]from February. It noted the NFL’s poor handling of the Ray Rice domestic abuse case in 2014 and cited the NFL’s promise to “improve” — though reports suggest it hasn’t.

“Pink jerseys are not a replacement for equal treatment and full inclusion of women in the workplace,” the letter stated.

Team-Specific Allegations

Several other reports suggest discrimination against women and people of color exists not only at NFL headquarters, but at the team level.

Pittsburgh Steelers assistant coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the Dolphins, Broncos, Giants, Texans, Titans, Cardinals, and 26 other “John Doe” NFL teams alleging teams engage in racially discriminatory hiring practices. Two more coaches — Steve Wilks and Ray Horton — joined the suit Thursday, according [[link removed]] to ESPN.

There have been several stories detailing an alleged culture of harassment at the Washington Commanders, including a Washington Post story [[link removed]] from 2020.

Now, the House Oversight Committee is investigating the team. The probe has recently been expanded to include allegations that the Commanders also used “ two books [[link removed]]” to report finances and withheld ticket revenue [[link removed]] from other teams, as Front Office Sports first reported.

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Blockchain Meets Metaverse In Improbable Worlds’ $150M Round

Improbable

Gaming startup Improbable Worlds has raised $150 million for its new project, M², which is now valued at $1 billion, according to the company.

M² is a blockchain-enabled system that connects to the metaverse. Improbable, which received a roughly $2 billion valuation in 2018, says [[link removed]] M² is an independent entity.

Led by longtime Improbable backers Andreessen Horowitz and SoftBank Group, the round will help the startup focus on the future.

The company, which provides software supporting online multiplayer games, has seen high turnover from its top leaders.Multiple games using Improbable’s technology have reportedly failed.

“We’ve basically deep-pivoted our tech and R&D and other stuff toward Web3 over the last year, and this is a product of that,” Improbable co-founder and CEO Herman Narula said about M².

How It Works

Improbable launched Morpheus last year, a product allowing more than 10,000 players to be in a virtual space together — a significant hike from the 100-person limit on “Fortnite.” Morpheus and M² will go together, allowing users to move between virtual worlds.

Crypto investors Digital Currency Group, Ethereal Ventures, and CMT also participated in the round. Because of the influence venture capitalists can have over projects similar to M² — they receive large amounts of crypto tokens that grant them votes — Narula made it clear that the investors won’t have majority control.

“We want to get to a place where the communities that make up the network have a lot more say,” he said.

Conversation Starters In The Leadoff, the NFL led a $1.5 billion funding round in Fanatics to the tune of $320 million, Oura is valued at $2.55 billion after its latest funding round, MLB players set new earnings records, and Topps scored a deal with UEFA. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. Peacock and MLB announced [[link removed]] the broadcast schedule for the network’s exclusive streaming deal for 18 Sunday games, reportedly worth $30 million. The first will be May 8, when the Boston Red Sox host the Chicago White Sox. Kansas’ NCAA Men’s Championship victory has come under scrutiny [[link removed]] as the team is part of an FBI investigation, but Dick Vitale expressed confidence that the title won’t be vacated because none of the team’s current players were involved in the inquiry. Opening Day is here and the New York Yankees are still at an impasse with Aaron Judge. The slugger is likely seeking a deal worth over $200 million, which would be the storied franchise’s largest extension in its history. Subscribe to Scoreboard for more [[link removed]] on the high stakes negotiations.

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Two Weeks Left to Nominate!

Know an up-and-coming young professional changing the game in the business of sports?

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Market Movers

While the DOW and S&P rose, the NASDAQ experienced a drop. Here’s a look at how sports-related stocks performed on Thursday:

ATVI [[link removed]]

Activision Blizzard Inc

[[link removed]]

$80.13

[[link removed]]

+0.02%

[[link removed]] DIS [[link removed]]

Walt Disney Co (The)

[[link removed]]

$131.95

[[link removed]]

-0.30%

[[link removed]] VFC [[link removed]]

VF Corp.

[[link removed]]

$56.11

[[link removed]]

-0.39%

[[link removed]] T [[link removed]]

AT&T, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$23.75

[[link removed]]

-0.73%

[[link removed]] MTN [[link removed]]

Vail Resorts Inc.

[[link removed]]

$249.07

[[link removed]]

-0.91%

[[link removed]] LVS [[link removed]]

Las Vegas Sands Corp

[[link removed]]

$36.15

[[link removed]]

-2.31%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 4/7/22) What to Watch

The Milwaukee Bucks (49-30) host the Boston Celtics (50-30) tonight at Fiserv Forum.

How to Watch: 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT

Betting Odds: Bucks -6 || ML -250 || O/U 228

Pick: Expect the Bucks to win at home. Take Milwaukee to cover.

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Written by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]], Amanda Christovich [[link removed]], Abigail Gentrup [[link removed]]

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