April 20, 2022

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The Los Angeles Rams will once again be making their NFL Draft selections from the comfort of a luxurious “draft house” — this time in the Hollywood Hills. The 2022 Draft House — which costs $9,500 per night to rent — has 14,000 square feet of living space and includes a pool, skate ramp, game room, and golf simulator. The three-day event kicks off April 28.

MLB Ownership Group Eyes South’s Fastest-Growing Sports Hub

Music City Baseball

Major League Baseball has not announced any expansion plans beyond its current 30 teams, but a group headed by retired ace Dave Stewart is ready for the moment it does.

Stewart was tapped [[link removed]] by Music City Baseball to helm a group looking to bring an MLB team to Nashville.

Stewart is prioritizing minority investors, saying [[link removed]], “The time has come for Black ownership in Major League Baseball.”He said the group plans to raise $2 billion to purchase an expansion team.MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said [[link removed]] last year that $2.2 billion would be “a lodestar in terms of evaluating expansion opportunity.”

The league’s current priority is to find new homes for the Oakland A’s and Tampa Bay Rays, but once those situations are settled, it is widely believed that the league will look to add teams.

The planned name for the Nashville team is the Stars, an homage to the Negro League team that played there in the 1940s and 1950s.

Music City Moves

Nashville has quickly become one of the South’s major sports hubs.

The city gained the NHL’s Nashville Predators in 1998 and the NFL’s Tennessee Titans the following year. Nashville Soccer Club joined MLS in 2020. The city played host to the NFL Draft in 2019 and hopes to do it again in 2024 or 2025.

Meanwhile, the Titans are in negotiations with the local government on a new stadium, and in August, the city will host IndyCar’s Music City Grand Prix, which debuted last year.

PGA Tour Member Could Be First Heading To Rival Saudi League

Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

Robert Garrigus could be the first PGA Tour member to play in the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational — if he’s approved.

Garrigus, who has one PGA Tour win under his belt, has reportedly [[link removed]] requested a release from the organization to play in the London tournament, a requirement for all overseas competitions. More golfers are expected to do the same, but as of Tuesday, Garrigus was the only player who has.

Players must request the release at least 45 days before the first round, and the Tour is required to make a decision at least 30 days prior to the event.

The LIV Golf Invitational is scheduled for June 9-11. Players are required to submit requests by April 25, and the Tour must decide by May 10.

LIV Golf, an organization backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, has announced seven other events this year. Each of the eight tournaments will offer $25 million purses, with the winner receiving $4 million.

Since his last top-10 finish in 2018, Garrigus has reportedly earned around $320,000, with total PGA Tour earnings reaching $14.9 million.

Still Controversial

Saudi Arabia has been in hot water for alleged human rights abuses including [[link removed]] unlawful killings, forced disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrest, and more. Some have accused [[link removed]] the country of “sportswashing,” or using sports to distract from such abuses.

The country’s sovereign wealth fund previously tried to launch a rival tour, but top players refused [[link removed].] to join, leading it to focus on independent tournaments instead.

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News Corp Enters Burgeoning Online Sports Betting Industry

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News Corp is joining a consortium that plans to launch an online sports betting brand in Australia, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The consortium includes [[link removed]] Las Vegas-based digital gaming investor and advisor Tekkorp Capital and former BetEasy CEO Matthew Tripp.

A formal announcement could come this week, with a goal to officially launch the service before the Australian spring horse racing season, which begins in August and runs through November.

The pending brand, which has a working title of BetR, will be powered by BetMakers Technology Group, an Australia-based wagering data and analytics provider.

News Corp, the owner of Dow Jones & Co., has been targeting [[link removed]] the sports betting market for more than a year.Its media assets will promote the brand, including Foxtel and streaming service Kayo Sports.The brand will help offset [[link removed]] declines in revenue within News Crop’s print media assets.

The decline in revenue from its print media assets hasn’t hampered News Corp’s recent financial success. The media conglomerate generated [[link removed]] $2.72 billion in revenue in fiscal Q2, a 13% increase year-over-year. News Crop’s probability nearly reached $1 billion in H1 FY2022.

Promising Venture

News Corp tapping into the sports betting market stands to be a promising venture as the global online gambling market is projected [[link removed]] to reach $131.4 billion by 2027.

The company faces stiff competition in a mature Australian sports betting market led [[link removed]] by Sportsbet, which holds a 50% market share and handled $15.6 billion in wagers in 2021.

Conversation Starters In The Leadoff, Disney and Amazon are among bidders for Indian Premier League media rights, the number of bidders for the Denver Broncos sale is down to five, the Cleveland Browns are investigated by the NFL following tanking allegations, and the Carolina Panthers terminate a $800 million headquarters development project. Click here to listen [[link removed]]. Wimbledon has announced that players from Russia and Belarus will not [[link removed]] be allowed to compete in this year’s tournament, which begins June 27. The oldest tennis tournament in the world has attributed Russia’s “unjustified” invasion of Ukraine for the bans on players from those countries. A Miami judge has reportedly [[link removed]] ordered a group of residents to show proof that noise generated by Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix in May would “cause severe disruption and physical harm.” The NFL’s wide receiver frenzy just got a little crazier. Entering the final year of his rookie contract, Deebo Samuel has requested a trade [[link removed]] from the San Francisco 49ers, per ESPN’s Jeff Darlington. Further thickening the plot, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that money is not the main reason why Samuel requested the trade. Subscribe to Scoreboard for more [[link removed]].

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Market Movers

U.S. stocks were mixed on Wednesday following a session of gains. Here’s a look at how sports-related stocks performed:

FWONA [[link removed]]

Formula One Group

[[link removed]]

$62.21

[[link removed]]

+0.24%

[[link removed]] MCRI [[link removed]]

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc.

[[link removed]]

$92.24

[[link removed]]

+0.53%

[[link removed]] MANU [[link removed]]

Manchester United Plc.

[[link removed]]

$14.06

[[link removed]]

+0.86%

[[link removed]] RCI [[link removed]]

Rogers Communications Inc.

[[link removed]]

$60.88

[[link removed]]

+1.52%

[[link removed]] ELY [[link removed]]

Callaway Golf Co.

[[link removed]]

$23.62

[[link removed]]

+1.81%

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

VF Corp.

[[link removed]]

$57.68

[[link removed]]

-0.40%

[[link removed]] (Note: All as of market close on 4/20/22) What to Watch

On Saturday, Tyson Fury (31-0-1) will face Dillian Whyte (28-2-0) for the WBC Heavyweight Championship of the World at Wembley Stadium in London.

Fury enters the title fight following a knockout win over Deontay Wilder in October 2021, while Whyte is coming off a knockout win over Alexander Povetkin last March.

How to Watch: 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV / Stream all of Fury vs. Whyte on ESPN+ [[link removed]]*

*Sponsored content. Game availability differs by market, check your local listing.

Refer Friends to Score Your Favorite Team’s Jersey

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Written by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]], Abigail Gentrup [[link removed]], Justin Byers [[link removed]]

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