In Newark, Alex Raskin noted there are "only two bids" for the '15 NBA All-Star Game, and "they're both coming" from N.Y. with the Knicks and Nets. NBA Deputy Commissioner & COO Adam Silver said of the teams possibly sharing the event, "It is possible, and we would divide the events between the two teams." Sharing the ASG "sounds like a compromise that's destined to disappoint both parties." One arena -- "either Madison Square Garden or Barclays Center -- will get the game while the other gets some of the peripheral events such as the Dunk Contest and 3-point Contest." They still would "have to decide where to put the 'Fan Jam' and a host of other details" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 4/21).
CHANGE OF PACE: In Indianapolis, Anthony Schoettle wrote it is "nice to see a little more variety in the winner’s circle" for the Izod IndyCar Series, with three different winners for the season's first three races. The "change of pace in IndyCar is raising a few eyebrows -- in a good way -- and awakening a few people just in time for the month of May." There has been "a lot of clamoring for more American IndyCar drivers in recent years." But "more than anything, this series needs to be shaken and stirred at the top," as it recently has "really only been contested by a few predictable names" (IBJ.com, 4/22).
U-TURN: In London, Sylt & Reid reported Lloyds Banking Group "has sold" its 25.3% stake in the Marussia F1 team "after it made huge losses and failed to perform on the track." The U.K.-based team "joined F1 in 2010, but has yet to score a single point." Its drivers "finished 19th and 20th in Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix and its latest accounts show that in the year ending" Dec. 31 2011, it "made a net loss" of $70.6M (all figures U.S.) on revenue which dropped 5% to $43.6M. Lloyds "invested an estimated" $15.25M in the team in '09 (London TELEGRAPH, 4/22).
POWER SERVE: SI.com's Jon Wertheim wrote with Wimbledon becoming the latest Grand Slam event to increase prize money, former ATPers are "kicking themselves for not organizing and extracting similar concessions." Now the "question: What are the players going to do with this newfound power? Was it simply about the money? Or are there other labor battles ahead?" (SI.com, 4/22).
