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☆ Phoenix Suns and Mercury to move games from cable to local network and streaming
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A general view during the second half in Game Two of the NBA Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns at Phoenix Suns Arena on July 08, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. The NBA's Phoenix Suns and the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury reached a deal with broadcast station owner Gray Television to air the entirety of their regular seasons on local broadcast networks available throughout Arizona. Regular season games for the Suns were previously available on Diamond Sports' Bally Sports Arizona channel. Bally Sports Arizona also airs the NHL's Arizona Coyotes and MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks regular season games. Overall, Gray and Kiswe will carry the Suns games for five years, while the deal with three-time WNBA champion Mercury runs for two years.

April 7 (Reuters) - Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce showed why he makes his money catching balls instead of throwing them after his ceremonial first pitch at a Cleveland Guardians baseball game badly missed the mark on Friday. A smiling Kelce immediately ran over to check on Guardian's pitcher Shane Bieber, who was crouched behind home plate but never had a shot at catching the errant throw. Kelce's brother Jason plays for the Philadelphia Eagles and the pitch is sure to be a topic when they record the next episode of their podcast "New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce." The Chiefs beat the Eagles 38-35 in February's Super Bowl in the first ever meeting of brothers on opposing teams in the NFL's championship game. Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ This could've been an email: If MLB can speed up games, bosses can shorten meetings. Here's how.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Rebecca Knight | Josée Rose | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

If new rules can improve game speed, surely bosses can make meetings run more efficiently. If Major League Baseball can speed up games, surely bosses can make meetings more efficient, right? Try, for instance, forcing yourself to cut meetings by half: Your weekly meeting becomes an every-other-week meeting; your hourlong meetings become 30-minutes ones. Ask for adviceJust as MLB needs to consider the fan experience of being at the ballpark or watching a game on TV, bosses need to think about their workers' experiences in meetings, Rogelberg said. "Instead of putting people in hours of meetings without ever asking them about what they're accomplishing, you need to engage," he said.

☆ MLB Opening Day 2023: Understanding the 3 major rule changes baseball is making this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Nicolas Vega | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Baseball is a game that thrives off of routine and rhythms, but this year the league is shaking things up. As teams take the field on March 30 for Opening Day of the 2023 baseball season, keep an eye out for these three major changes. Brace Hemmelgarn | Getty Images Sport | Getty ImagesPerhaps the most noticeable change for fans will be the implementation of a formal pitch clock. Batters, meanwhile, will need to be in the batters' box before the pitch clock ticks down to the eight second mark or they will be given a strike. The pitch clock has on average reduced the length of games by an average of 26 minutes, the MLB said when announcing the new rule.

☆ Want to watch MLB games? Making sense of the confusing TV and streaming landscape
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Home base planFor the baseball fan looking to watch as many games as possible, a traditional pay TV service is still the go-to place. Discovery' s TBS, as well as Fox Corp. 's broadcast and pay TV networks, take up a decent chunk of the schedule. However, as more options are introduced, regional sports networks are getting fewer games and fans have to pay more to watch all games. With a higher rate of consumers dropping pay TV bundles and opting for streaming services, many networks have created direct-to-consumer streaming app options. Few offset the pay TV losses, but at least provide an option for fans wanting to stream.

☆ SlamBall, which combines basketball and football with trampolines, snags big investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Are you ready for some ... SlamBall? A star-studded lineup of investors in and around sports are jumping into the sport, which is a mashup of football, basketball and trampolines that was buzzy for a short time in the early 2000s. The investment comes as SlamBall plans to relaunch this summer, more than 20 years after the alternative sport was shut down in the U.S. as ratings fell in its second season. SlamBall recently closed an $11 million Series A funding round led by Roger Ehrenberg's IA Sports Ventures and Eberg Capital, a stakeholder in MLB's Miami Marlins. It took founder and CEO Mason Gordon and Mike Tollin – a producer behind the popular Chicago Bulls docuseries "The Last Dance" who helped launch the league the first time – nine months to secure their full roster of investors.

☆ MSG Networks to launch streaming service for Knicks, Rangers games
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

MSG Networks, James Dolan's cable-TV channels that feature local New York and New Jersey professional sports games, is launching its own streaming service. MSG Networks also said it recently launched a free, ad-supported streaming TV, or FAST, channel called MSG SportsZone, which is available nationally on Vizio televisions and the Plex streaming platform. The FAST channel features MSG Networks' programming centered around sports betting and classic games. MSG+ will only be available in the region that already carries its MSG Networks on cable-TV. MSG Networks' new streaming service will also allow fans to purchase single game streaming feeds for $9.99 per game.

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery plans to stop broadcasting regional sports as financial troubles grow across industry, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

AT&T Sportsnet channels owned by Warner Bros. The channels in question are still branded as AT&T Sportsnet after WarnerMedia's assets, previously owned by AT&T, were acquired by Warner Bros. Warner Bros. The Sports Business Journal also reported that the network told teams it will allow them to continue using Warner Bros. Warner Bros.

☆ MLB Commissioner says league is prepared to step in to broadcast games — and maybe even end blackouts — as Bally Sports heads toward bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said the league is prepared to broadcast games itself if necessary. A restructuring or termination of the league's broadcast agreements could also end controversial "blackouts." MLB is prepared to take over broadcasting the regular season games, which start March 30, Manfred said. Sinclair Broadcasting Group, one of the largest broadcasters of local news across the country, bought the rights in 2019 to broadcast much of America's regular season games for the MLB, NBA, and NHL. Manfred said he hopes digital offerings and future broadcast deals would allow a fan to pay to stream their home team's games without worrying about "blackouts."

☆ Arizona's terrible NHL team is begging voters for $200 million to build a permanent home, but stadiums are consistently huge money pits
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Arizona's terrible NHL team is stuck using a college arena for its games as it awaits a public vote. This May, voters will decide the future of a $2.1 billion plan that includes the Coyotes' new arena. The NHL's Arizona Coyotes are for the moment stuck in an arena that is three times smaller than any other in the league. The professional team might need the facility for a few more years, but they can't even emblazon their own logo on center ice. The city also paid $50 million to the NHL to keep the team in the city while the franchise navigated bankruptcy.

☆ Fanatics to start livestreamed shopping of trading cards, collectibles
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Ian Thomas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The Washington Post | Getty ImagesFanatics is moving into livestreamed shopping around collectibles and trading cards, hiring a former Snap and Alphabet executive to launch its new business later this year. Fanatics Live, which will have a standalone app and a coinciding website, plans to launch in the second half of 2023. Only 31% of U.S. adults have even heard of live shopping, with just 22% saying they've participated in a live shopping event, according to a December poll by Morning Consult. Ebay, which said it saw trading card sales increase 142% in 2020, acquired trading card marketplace TCGPlayer for $295 million in August. While Fanatics Live could move into other forms of entertainment and collectibles over time, it will solely focus on trading cards initially.

☆ Chelsea reportedly loses $25 million crypto sponsorship deal as FTX's collapse hammers other platforms
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Crypto lender Amber will end its $25 million sponsorship of Chelsea soccer club, Bloomberg reported Friday. In March, Amber agreed to pay 20 million pounds ($25 million) for its flagship crypto exchange WhaleFin to become Chelsea's official sleeve sponsor. As the prices of digital asset prices surged last year, digital asset companies sealed sponsorship deals with top sports franchises. In addition to the job cuts and cutting the Chelsea deal, Amber will pivot to focus on institutional investors and wealthy individuals, per Bloomberg. Read more: FTX's rescue by Binance is a red flag for sports heavyweights that signed sponsorship deals with the crypto exchange

☆ Disney buys MLB's stake in streaming firm BAMTech for $900 mln
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 29 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) disclosed on Tuesday that it has taken full control of BAMTech, a video-streaming firm spun off from Major League Baseball's digital media company MLB Advanced Media. Disney earlier this month purchased the remaining stake in BAMTech from Major League Baseball for $900 million, the company said in a SEC filing. Previous to the transaction, streaming technology services provider BAMTech was owned 85% by Disney and 15% by Major League Baseball (MLB). BAMTech provides the streaming platform for such entities as Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment and Warner Bros Discovery Inc's HBO. Streaming service provider Hulu is owned 67% by Disney and 33% by NBC Universal (NBCU).

☆ FTX's rescue by Binance is a red flag for sports heavyweights that signed sponsorship deals with the crypto exchange
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Binance stunned the crypto world with a deal to buy Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange FTX Tuesday. The exchange's troubles raise questions about its deals with Tom Brady, the Miami Heat, and the Mercedes F1 team. But FTX is yet to comment on what will happen with the million-dollar sports sponsorship deals it brokered earlier this year. As cryptocurrencies surged, major exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and FTX all worked to land major sports sponsorship deals to compete for users and build brand awareness. Major companies have pulled away from sports sponsorship deals amid the market turmoil.

☆ Major League Baseball strikes sponsorship deal with CBD maker Charlotte's Web
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The league is teaming up with Charlotte's Web Holdings Inc., a maker of CBD products, in an exclusive multi-year partnership. Charlotte's Web makes CBD products like gummies and topical sprays. Charlotte's Web will become the "Official CBD of Major League Baseball." The agreement between MLB and Charlotte's Web came after a "rigorous approval process," the league said in a release. Although the Food and Drug Administration has not certified CBD products, their popularity has grown exponentially.

☆ This jewelry company wants to pay you $1,000 to watch the 10 greatest baseball movies of all time
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

And if you're lucky, you might win $1,000 just by getting into that baseball spiritJewelry retailer Shane Co. is offering $1,000 to "the biggest baseball fan in the world," in exchange for binge-watching the 10 greatest baseball movies of all time, as selected by the company. If you're intrigued, you'll need to fill out a form that asks you to explain why you should be chosen. The form also asks: "If you could be a part of one team from any baseball movie, which would it be and why?" If you're selected, you'll need to give the company your thoughts on each of the 10 movies by December 5 to get the $1,000 prize. Meanwhile, if you don't have access to the films, don't worry: if you win, you'll also receive a $50 Amazon gift card that you can use to rent each movie.

☆ Analysis: Yankees' Judge captivates his sport with home run pursuit
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Frank Pingue | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Sep 21, 2022; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a ground rule double against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium. So for the first time in a long while it appears all the stars are, for now, aligning in MLB's favor thanks to Judge and his mighty swing. "There's no real controversy around him, he's a matinee idol, good looking, great personality, liked around the league." Judge will get his next chance to draw level with Maris later on Thursday when New York open a four-game homestand against the Boston Red Sox. "It you remember those ads when McGwire and Sosa were battling it out - 'Chicks dig the long ball', well Major League Baseball executives dig the long ball too," said Dorfman.

☆ US presidents have thrown out the first pitch for MLB's opening day for over 100 years — here's the history from Taft to Obama
▼ + stars: | 2019-03-28 | by ( Grace Panetta | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

March 28, 2019, is opening day for the 2019 Major League Baseball season. Over the past 100 years, many American presidents have celebrated America's pastime by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at opening days. Here are some of the times US presidents have thrown the first pitches on opening day. President Donald Trump has yet to throw out the first pitch at an MLB opening day while in office. Here are some of the times US presidents have thrown the first pitches on opening day.

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