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Leagues and Governing Bodies

MLB Remains In Wait-And-See Mode Regarding DFS, Equity Deal With DraftKings

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday said the league remains in a wait-and-see mode with regard to its equity deal with DraftKings and participation in daily fantasy sports. That industry continues to face increasing scrutiny from lawmakers on a state-by-state basis, with legislation varying broadly among jurisdictions. “There’s not a lot of buzz among the group internally,” Manfred said regarding DFS. “I think we’re waiting to see how the daily fantasy works out from a regulatory perspective before we make any moves" (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer).

PICK UP THE PACE: Manfred said that his office "has had constant communication with players about remaining focused on the pace of play initiatives that helped shorten game times" in '15. In DC, Barry Svrluga notes nine-inning games through Wednesday "were averaging two hours, 59 minutes and 54 seconds -- up more than six minutes from the same number of nine-inning games a year ago." Manfred said, “We’re not happy with the early returns in bulk this year, and we’ve made some ongoing efforts to try to regain that focus" (WASHINGTON POST, 5/20).

ONGOING PROCESS: Manfred acknowledged achieving diversity in the managerial realm of the sport remains a struggle, but he cited ongoing training efforts such as the MLB Diversity Pipeline Program as measures to help groom more minority candidates. He said, "We strive to have diversity in all of our various employment groups: Front office, on-field, commissioner's office. Managers are a really difficult issue for us. There are only 30 of them. They turn over frequently. That's the nature of the game. There are going to be periods of time where these numbers ebb and flow. ... It's a tough area for us." The Braves' dismissal of manger Fredi Gonzalez on Tuesday left no Latino managers currently in MLB and just two minority managers in total (Fisher).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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