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People and Pop Culture

Names In The News

White House Press Secretary SEAN SPICER on Thursday said that the Patriots "will be honored" as Super Bowl LI champions at the White House on April 19. The Patriots will be the "first professional sports team" welcomed by PRESIDENT TRUMP, who has a "close friendship" with Owner ROBERT KRAFT (ESPN.com, 3/23). Meanwhile, the jerseys worn by TOM BRADY during this year's Super Bowl and Super Bowl XLIX were "returned to Gillette Stadium" on Thursday (ESPN.com, 2/23).

EVENT LEADERS
: Auto Club Speedway President DAVE ALLEN took on the role in '14, and since then, both Auto Club 400 NASCAR Cup races have "resulted in sellouts." The track's 20th anniversary race this weekend is "headed in that direction" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 3/23)....MONTE ORTEL is in his "first year" as PGA Tour Champions Mitsubishi Electric Classic Tournament Dir. He was hired last year after he "spent nearly seven years" as Tournament Dir for the PGA Tour Greenbrier Classic. Ortel's arrival brings a "new vision" to the staff. There were also "changes and additions to the tournament staff in the areas of sales and marketing" (GWINNETT DAILY POST, 3/22).

GET YOUR PAPER: Tronc Inc., which owns the L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune and other papers,, on Thursday "bought out a major shareholder that had pushed for a sale -- and at the same time" gave company Chair MICHAEL FERRO the ability to "boost his ownership stake." The move "heightens competition" between Tronc's two largest shareholders, Ferro and Lakers investor PATRICK SOON-SHIONG. Ferro and Soon-Shiong have been "steadily buying up more shares of the company, but had been limited to purchasing no more than 25% of outstanding shares." A spokesperson for Soon-Shiong said that he was "caught off guard by Thursday's news and plans to petition the board to allow him to boost his stake" (L.A. TIMES, 3/24).

NAMES
: Fortune Magazine named Cubs President of Baseball Operations THEO EPSTEIN its "No. 1 world's greatest leader -- two spots ahead POPE FRANCIS." LEBRON JAMES was the "second sports figure to make the list at No. 11" (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 3/23)....Toledo football coach JASON CANDLE "reached an agreement on a contract extension" through the '21 season, which includes an increase in his "base salary over the next five seasons, plus a bump in incentives for wins in a season." The contract bumps his base salary in '17 to $425,000 plus $250,000 per year in marketing compensation. Each year, the base salary will increase by $25,000, finishing at $525,000 in '21 (TOLEDOBLADE.com, 3/23)....The Univ. of Hartford named NBA President of Social Responsibility & Player Programs KATHY BEHRENS, an alumna, as Chair of its AD search committee. The search committee will be aided by College Sports Associates (Hartford)....The Browns were given the '16 Allan Krulak Golden Shoe Show Award for their "efforts to provide Cleveland school children with clothes and uniforms" (ESPN.com, 3/23)....The USA Swimming Foundation has awarded more than $342,000 through its '17 Make a Splash grant program to help swim lesson providers nationwide offer lessons to children who would not otherwise be able to afford them (USA Swimming).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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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