Smith Entertainment Group is buying a 111-acre site in Sandy, Utah, for its Utah NHL franchise and will "build the team’s offices and practice facility there." While all the details "aren’t finalized," the facility will have "two hockey rinks and include elements of a community center." Beyond ice time for the NHL team, the rinks will be "used for youth events and amateur games." Around the facility, there will be an "NHL team store and seating to watch the rink." The timeline of this project "should be completed over the next year, before the 2025 season." Team owner Ryan Smith is "looking for an existing facility to house the team offices and practice space for 2024" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 5/6).

Golden State's new WNBA team has hired N.Y. Liberty assistant GM Ohemaa Nyanin as the franchise's first GM, where she will oversee all basketball operations for the team. She will be introduced today at Chase Center. Nyanin spent the last five seasons with the Liberty, where she "rose through the ranks quickly in one of the WNBA’s premier franchises," from manager of basketball operations to director to assistant GM under Jonathan Kolb, the reigning WNBA Executive of the Year. Nyanin was "instrumental" in helping the Liberty land superstars Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot. Part of what appealed to the Warriors is Nyanin’s "wide reach in the basketball world." She knows players "coming through the pipelines as well as current players who’ve gone through them, vital when building a roster from scratch" (THE ATHLETIC, 5/6).

The Tigers unveiled their City Connect uniforms today with a number of design elements that "pay tribute to the automotive industry." They will be worn for the first time this Friday and "for every Friday home game throughout the remainder of the 2024 schedule." The uniform has "tire treads shaded in an 'electric blue' color, representing the wheels of a vehicle keeping Detroit's auto industry and the Tigers together." The jersey also features "'Motor City' emblazoned across the chest." Both sleeves have a "design at the ends with blue and black stripes, similar to the details on muscle cars, paying respect to the racing industry" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 5/6). The caps and batting helmets for the uniform have "an all-caps 'DETROIT' across the front and then a VIN number on the side." The VIN is "19011354566884, a tip of the cap to the team's founding in 1901, and its four world championships, in 1935, 1945, 1968 and 1984. The VIN number also appears on the back collar of the jersey" (THE DETROIT NEWS, 5/6).

The Arizona Bowl has landed its latest title sponsor in Snoop Dogg and his alcoholic drink brand "Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop." The Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice is the latest rendition of the bowl game played at the Univ. of Arizona's Arizona Stadium, after Barstool Sports "sponsored and streamed the game on its digital platforms for the last three years." The Arizona Bowl's multiyear contract with Snoop Dogg is the "latest bowl game to feature a celebrity as a title sponsor" (ARIZONA DAILY STAR, 5/6). The Arizona Bowl becomes the "first bowl to partner with an alcohol brand." It will kick off at 2:30 MT on Dec. 28 and is expected to be "televised on a network with wide linear distribution, though that deal is not yet finalized." Playfly Sports "arranged the marriage between the bowl and Snoop Dogg," who is expected to "contribute to the in-game broadcast, will participate in bowl activities leading up to the game and will be featured in a musical component" (YAHOO SPORTS, 5/6).

Marc Lasry’s Avenue Sports Fund has unveiled the logo and roster for his TGL team Bay Golf Club, the league's sixth founding team ahead of the league’s debut in January 2025. Bay Golf Club’s inaugural roster features four players all ranked inside the top 40 in the Official World Golf Ranking -- Ludvig Åberg, Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee and Shane Lowry. Avenue Sports Fund is joined by co-owners, Warriors Gs Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and former NBAer Andre Iguodala. Completing Bay Golf Club’s ownership group are Manchester City D John Stones, F1 driver Alex Albon and Olympic surfers Leonardo Fiorvanti and Kanoa Igarashi (Bay GC).

Gracie Cashman, the daughter of Yankees GM Brian Cashman, will host of a new YES App interview series, “The Story of My Number,” in which she "speaks with athletes about prominent numbers in their careers and lives." The show, premiering today at Manhattan’s Paley Museum and debuting Thursday on both the YES App and YES Network, is set to include episodes with Yankees manager Aaron Boone and former MLBers Don Mattingly, Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia, Tino Martinez and Nick Swisher. Boone features in the first episode. Grace hosted a forthcoming baseball reality show, “The Tryout,” before landing the job with “The Story of My Number,” which will release its future episodes Thursdays on the YES App (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 5/5).

With the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs starting last night, the NHL has more than three dozen official partners across the U.S. and Canada activating around the playoffs. New NHL partners activating include North American partner BodyArmor; U.S. partners AstraZeneca and ESPNBet; and Canadian partners Tylenol, Truly and Harvey’s. BodyArmor during the playoffs debuted as the official sports drink partner of the NHL and NHLPA. AstraZeneca launched a new commercial spot with Rangers D Jacob Trouba to promote their Get Body Checked campaign, encouraging fans to get screened for cancer. North American partner Great Clips brought back its “Show Your Flow” campaign for the second year. Global partner Caterpillar will be running new digitally enhanced dasherboards (SBJ).

May 6, 1995 -- Classic Sports Network launches on cable TV. The network's name would change to ESPN Classic after it was acquired by ESPN in 1997. It focused on carrying classic sporting events, other programs and documentaries, and live specials focusing on sports history. By 2010, due to the increasing number of sport leagues and college conference networks, a large amount of programming for ESPN Classic was devoted to things such as reruns of recent events from ESPN's networks, as well as ESPN original documentaries, and overflow coverage of events from other ESPN networks. In 2014, ESPN began to phase out ESPN Classic as a linear service. The network stayed around until November 4, 2021, when SBJ reported that Disney had informed cable and satellite providers that ESPN Classic, including its associated on-demand service, would close at the end of 2021.

Also happening this week:

• May 6, 1997 -- The NHL's Hartford Whalers become the Carolina Hurricanes.
• May 7, 1951 -- The IOC recognizes the Olympic Committee of the USSR, allowing for its athletes to compete at the 1952 Helsinki Games.
• May 8, 1967 -- Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction into the U.S. Army.
• May 8, 2010 -- The last piece of Yankee Stadium falls in the Bronx, marking the end of a two-year demolition process.

Tennis Channel and commentator Brett Haber have agreed to a contract extension that will keep him on air through 2028.  Haber first appeared on Tennis Channel in 2004 and has seen his role expand to become one of the network’s lead play-by-play announcers and studio hosts throughout the year (Tennis Channel).

Fourth-tier National Premier Soccer League men's club FC Monmouth signed a multiyear, front-of-kit sponsorship deal with Hospital for Special Surgery, an N.Y.-based medical center that has been a sponsor since 2019. Financial terms were not disclosed. The club is co-owned by HSS doctors Stavros Memtsoudis (critical care services) and Federico Girardi (spine surgery), who founded the club in 2017. HSS is also a partner of the Red Bulls, Mets, Giants, Knicks and Nets (Alex Silverman, SBJ).

The USTA and Greek yogurt company Fage have signed a multiyear partnership renewal making Fage the Official Yogurt of the U.S. Open. Fage will begin activating its partnership during National Tennis Month in May (USTA).

The Investec Champions Cup "risks disappearing from mainstream television in the UK" from next season because its organizers "have not agreed [on] a renewed deal with TNT Sports." European Professional Club Rugby is understood to have "few viable options other than TNT Sports," which also broadcasts the Gallagher Premiership (London TIMES, 5/6).

England Netball is set to decide "which teams to award franchise licenses" to join them in their vision for a "more professional sport" from 2025. "Netball 2.0" is the "working title" of a plan launched prior to the current Super League season in February (YORKSHIRE POST, 5/6).

More:

• Girona: the fairytale rise with Manchester City's corporate stamp.
• Paris 2024: High-end offers struggle to win over VIP clientele

What a win by Lando! Congrats @ZBrownCEO and the whole @McLarenF1 team! https://t.co/kgYvHP4Ir2

— Lorraine Twohill (@LorraineTwohill) May 6, 2024

I thought about attending the Roast of Tom Brady last night, but I did not want to Roast him for a 3rd time!!

— Eli Manning (@EliManning) May 6, 2024

tomorrow’s sky preseason game at wintrust against the liberty will be livestreamed on WNBA league pass with announcers Jason Ross Jr and Shimmy Gray-Miller.

good news after friday’s iPhone stream had thousands of viewers.

— shakeia (@curlyfro) May 6, 2024

.@theantedwards_ is getting his own Adidas Rivalry Low 🐜

📸 @kofromatatf pic.twitter.com/kdeCGawUkg

— Complex Sneakers (@ComplexSneakers) May 6, 2024

Brandon Carlo missed Bruins morning skate today after birth of son yesterday. Coach Jim Montgomery is hopeful but not sure Carlo will make it to Florida for Gsme 1 tonight

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) May 6, 2024

The @USAdultSoccer Amateur Cup is a celebration of USA soccer community!@ChicagoHouse_AC men's 1st team beat @USSCMKE 6:2 on a beautiful evening at Milwaukee’s St. Sava field, but the joyful gathering of fans is the essence of the competition.#CHACHistory #SupportLocalSoccer pic.twitter.com/lG27ozboR7

— Chicago House AC History (@ChiHouseHistory) May 6, 2024

Rubensplash reporting for duty.@DM_Rubenstein will be our Guest Splasher on Friday! pic.twitter.com/J7Cw2TQ0ZO

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) May 6, 2024

It's been ten years since Kevin Durant's iconic MVP speech brought the room to tears 😢 pic.twitter.com/FnyCf8CuN7

— ESPN (@espn) May 6, 2024

Husky legend @nate_robinson needs a kidney from a donor with blood type A+ or O. Help us spread the word with this link to register ⬇️

🔗https://t.co/qqHEB6UM2q#GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/QUxIsisToE

— Washington Men's Basketball (@UW_MBB) May 6, 2024

UFC has released a new promo to welcome Conor McGregor back as he fights for the first time in three years on June 29 against Michael Chandler at UFC 303.

0.001 -- NASCAR driver Kyle Larson beat Chris Buescher to the finish line by 0.001 seconds Sunday night in the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history (RACER, 5/5).