Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are planning to offer their streaming services -- Disney+, Hulu and Max -- in "a bundle mirroring the traditional cable TV package." The new bundle will be available this summer and will be offered "on both the ad-supported and commercial-free tiers," though pricing has yet to be disclosed. Disney will "essentially act as the distributor" in this case, "collecting subscription fees from subscribers and paying out Warner Bros. Discovery a percentage." WBD and Disney’s ESPN, along with Fox, have also joined forces to offer a sports-streaming service, which is expected to launch this fall. Yesterday, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said on an earnings call he thought the sports-streaming venture "would likely be bundled with other entertainment streaming services" (CNBC.com, 5/8).

WBD posted a first-quarter profit of $86M for its Direct-to-Consumer unit, which includes its streaming and premium pay-TV services, compared with a $50M year-ago profit, after turning a full-year 2023 profit earlier this year. WBD ended March with 99.6 million global streaming subscribers, compared with 97.7 million as of the end of 2023 and "ahead of Wall Street expectations" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 5/9).

WBD CEO David Zaslav has "ordered his lieutenants to find additional opportunities for cost-cutting in order to hit financial targets" for the next couple years, according to sources. Zaslav "will soon have to decide" whether to outbid Comcast to keep TV rights to the NBA, a "huge source of viewers" for the company’s TNT network. The cost of NBA rights is "expected to double in this next package" to about $2.5B annually (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 5/8).

The name of Utah’s new NHL franchise is "at least partially in the hands of the people," as Smith Entertainment Group announced yesterday that the process to name the team "has formally begun with the launch of an online survey that fans can participate in." The process "will take place in multiple parts," with the first one beginning Wednesday and running through May 22. The survey has 20 name options, and fans are "encouraged to select up to four of their favorites." Once the name is decided, it will be announced sometime during the team’s first season. SEG will be working with N.Y. firm Doubleday & Cartwright on the logo and branding. Because of how long the process will take, the team will not have new branding in place for its first season in Salt Lake City. The team will wear jerseys that just say "Utah" on them, and all branding will also just say "Utah." There will be "no logo, mascot or other official colorway." The new logo, branding and colorway for the team "won’t be introduced until sometime before the beginning of the 2025-26 NHL season" (DESERET NEWS, 5/8).

Swarm and Hive "fit" because Utah is the Beehive State. Frost, Powder, Blizzard and Black Diamonds "fit in with the state being a skiing destination." Canyons fits because Utah is the home of Zion, Bryce Canyon and Canyonlands national parks. Outlaws "is likely because Butch Cassidy was born in Utah." Utah Yeti has "nice alliteration," and Yeti and Mammoths "have good merchandising possibilities." The team said it would "announce the next round of fan favorites and more details on future steps in the name selection process later this summer." (USA TODAY, 5/8).

Tiger Woods will be the "lone player" on a five-member subcommittee that will be involved in negotiations with the Saudi PIF, as he will be part of the transaction subcommittee on the board of PGA Tour Enterprises that will "handle day-to-day negotiations" as the PIF "seeks to become a minority investor." Also on the subcommittee are PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, board Chair Joe Gorder, Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry and former PGA Tour player Joe Ogilvie, who was appointed as a director liaison in March. The subcommittee reports back to the full board (AP, 5/8).

Liberty Media's financial results have shown that F1 revenue increased by 45% to over half a billion dollars in Q1 compared to the same period last year. The increase is "driven in part by the difference in the calendars," with 2023 featuring just two races in the opening quarter of the year and this season seeing an extra race in Q1. Compared to last year’s figure of $381M in revenue for the first quarter, the Formula One Group generated $553M this year. While primary revenue was up 47%, there was also a 34% increase in other F1 revenue that was "largely down to the sale of the new Formula 2 car and associated parts." Team revenue payments "were higher," increasing from $112M in 2023 to $163M this year, while Liberty puts the 31% increase in other costs of revenue as being "impacted by lease costs for the Las Vegas Grand Prix Plaza" (RACER, 5/8).

Formula E has named digital services firm Infosys as its official digital innovation partner in a three-year partnership to drive in-race insights, fan engagement and sustainability efforts. Infosys, whose prior sports projects are primarily in pro tennis, is developing an AI-powered fan customer data platform for Formula E to use. It will apply its Gen AI Topaz product to improve the viewer experience during races by providing advanced, real-time analysis. And Infosys will provide Formula E with an enhanced data management tool for reporting and tracking the circuit’s sustainability efforts, which are already certified as net-zero but still target a 45% carbon reduction by 2030.  

Infosys recently renewed its ATP Tour partnership through 2026 and also works with the Australian Open, French Open and International Tennis HOF, which includes naming rights of the ATP 250 event in Newport, R.I., each July. It deployed an ATP Carbon Tracker app last year. Formula E, which recently unveiled its Gen3 Evo car for next year, also signed a technology partnership with Google Cloud in March. 

NASCAR Race Hub, the one-hour daily program that airs on Fox Sports 1, "will come to an end" next month, with the final show airing Tuesday, June 11. NASCAR Race Hub debuted Oct. 12, 2009 on the Speed channel and hosted by Adam Alexander and Krista Voda. It moved to Fox Sports 1 in 2013. Over the years, the show has "not only featured rotating Fox Sports hosts, but began to feature more driver and crew chief analysts." Jamie McMurray, David Ragan and Michael Waltrip are among the other former drivers still involved with the show (RACER, 5/8).

MLB and Boardroom have announced that they will be entering a partnership that will see MLB players "brought together with various athletes, executives, and entertainers for a curated event series" with "storytelling and amplification across Boardroom’s platform." The duo's first event, "Dinner in the Desert" back during Spring Training, was "packed with stars inside and outside the baseball world." The joint events between MLB and Boardroom going forward "will be designed for networking and long-term relationship building for players," and they will be "centered around key moments in the MLB season calendar" as part of the league’s player marketing efforts. The partnership will also be "supported by Boardroom’s social amplification and content creation" (MLB.com, 5/8).

Leaf has signed on as the Professional Bull Riders first trading-card-licensee in around 15 years. Initial card sets, which will include autographs and memorabilia, should be available at hobby retail and online distribution by late summer. The PBR draft is May 29. “This is something we’ve been chasing since I joined PBR in 2016,” said PBR VP/Consumer Products John Sohigan. Distribution will include card hobby shops website. The PBR’s “World Finals” will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on May 18 and 19.

The Association of Pickleball Players is launching a new tournament this October exclusively for female participants with title sponsorship from the Ohio State Univ. Comprehensive Cancer Center (Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute).

Called the APP Women’s Open presented by The James, the singles/doubles tournament will run from Oct. 4-6 in line with the start of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month at Pickle & Chill in Columbus, Ohio. Terms of OSUCC-James’ title sponsorship were not disclosed, but an APP source said it is a multi-year agreement totaling seven figures. Competitors will play for a $75,000 purse, and the event will include ancillary social programming.

In addition to title sponsoring this tournament, OSUCC-James has also been named the official and exclusive hospital partner of the 2024 APP Vlasic Classic in Cincinnati (May 7-12) and will take over that designation for the APP Tour at large beginning in 2025.

The Sparks' home game against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on May 24 is "being moved" from Walter Pyramid on the Long Beach State campus to Crypto.com Arena. Two other Sparks home games -- May 26 against the Wings and June 5 against the Lynx -- are also moving to Crypto.com Arena. The games were originally moved to Long Beach because of construction at Crypto.com Arena (AP, 5/7).

Amnesty International has "challenged FIFA to publish a review investigating its responsibilities towards migrant workers harmed while building stadia and infrastructure in Qatar" for the 2022 World Cup. The independent review, commissioned by FIFA following the tournament between November and December of 2022, had its findings approved by the FIFA Council in March (ESPN.com, 5/8).

Premier League clubs Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers will play at Baltimore's Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on July 31 as part of the Stateside Cup hosted by Maryland-based Elite Promotions Group. Crystal Palace, Wolverhampton and Premier League team West Ham United will each play two matches in the U.S. The other two matches will be in Jacksonville and Tampa on July 27 and Aug. 3 (BALTIMORE SUN, 5/8).

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said he came to Springfield yesterday "to fight for equitable education funding," and the mayor’s "controversial support" for a new lakefront Chicago Bears stadium was also "not a focal point of the meeting" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 5/8).

The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES looks at the post-career ambitions of Tom Brady under the header, "What does Tom Brady want? Everything." Brady is "treating retirement from football like another product launch." Apparently, being the winningest quarterback in NFL history "isn’t enough for him." He wants to be a star. Wait. He already is a star. What does he want then? Wealth? Beauty? Fame? Ah, there it is. Brady "doesn’t want to be famous" -- he "wants to be more famous." He wants to "be seen and heard, vividly, loudly and as often as possible." Some people are "scared to death of fading away," and that's "a good explanation for what drives Brady." He’d "prefer immortality, but he’ll settle for long-term celebrity."

Also:

• In the NIL landscape, schools are turning to companies to train and manage in-house general managers.

Who run the world? GIRLS 💅🏼

And @NoLayingUp 😉 Can’t wait to work on ESPN+ all week covering the @LPGAfounders. All female broadcast + NLU? Going to be awesome.

Tune in all week!!!! pic.twitter.com/CR0CF5d9pi

— Hope (@HopeBarnett_) May 9, 2024

"Y'all think y'all the greatest thing since sliced bread."

Chuck thinks NY is overrated 😂 pic.twitter.com/Wv3IbkaPHT

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 9, 2024

Angel Reese on celebrities pulling up for future Chicago Sky games:

“Everybody gone be courtside. Usher… Cardi B… I know some people y’all might not think I know, but I know.” 🤣 pic.twitter.com/zdfAMlbMIi

— LANI ❦ (@___lovelani) May 9, 2024

"Watch me try to do something no one's ever done before just make sure you fork over $10.99 for ESPN+ or $5.99 for Peacock. Or don't and catch two measly hours of coverage on a business/financial news channel." https://t.co/vnlwAxFbBT pic.twitter.com/wqkm9p5oJi

— Meg Adkins (@megadkins_TFE) May 9, 2024

"Telling the story of a duke, a jester and the jester’s daughter, it was written by poet Francesco Maria Piave."

"What is the Rigoletto libretto?"