The Glendale City Council tonight will hold a special meeting to “cancel the professional management services and arena lease agreement between the City of Glendale and IceArizona,” which purchased the Coyotes in '13 and now owns 49% percent of the team. The city entered into a 15-year agreement with the holding company in '13, in which it pays $15M a year in exchange for a share of arena revenue, and also kept the Coyotes in that arena for at least five years.
Following the announcement, the Coyotes issued a statement noting that if the City Council “initiates any action to revoke, repeal or otherwise rescind the agreement, the Coyotes will immediately take all actions available to them under the law against the City of Glendale.”
Reports have pegged Dec. 16 as "likely date for an emergency meeting in Zurich to decide" a successor for outgoing FIFA President Sepp Blatter. Reps of all 209 member associations will be invited to "vote in a new presidential election." A final decision on an election date is "not expected to be made until July, when FIFA will hold an extraordinary meeting" of its Exec Committee (BBC.com, 6/10).
Meanwhile, FIFA has suspended the '26 World Cup bidding process as the "widening corruption scandal" has implicated previous bid contests. FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said that "it would be 'nonsense' to begin the process now" (AP, 6/10).
A new poll released earlier today shows only 39% of Massachusetts voters support Boston's bid to host the '24 Summer Games, while 49% oppose it. The poll by Boston-based NPR station WBUR-FM "shows that support has waned since the last statewide polls, taken in April." The "poll numbers have to give pause" to the USOC, since Boston 2024 "has a limited amount of time to turn them around" (NYTIMES.com, 6/10).
The inaugural KPMG Women’s Leadership Summit will be held this morning at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y. Held onsite during the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, speakers during the daylong event include former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former NBC Sports & Olympics exec Dick Ebersol, Duke Energy President & CEO Lynn Good and Golf Channel Exec Producer Molly Solomon. The summit also will be streamed live on CNBC.com and Golf Channel’s Golf Live Extra platform.
ESPN’s Keith Olbermann last night said U.S. women's national soccer team G Hope Solo "deserves immediate suspension with all rights of appeal" for her suspected role in a domestic violence incident. Olbermann: "The U.S. Soccer Federation in general continue to be in denial even after an ‘Outside The Lines’ report which Solo's half-sister spoke for the first time." He then asked, "Where has the U.S. Soccer Federation been in all of this? While it took no action against her despite the original charges, while its president promised to respond to new information (she was not suspended)" (“Olbermann,” ESPN2, 6/9).
See today's issue of THE DAILY for more from the segment.
Saints and Pelicans Owner Tom Benson has suffered a setback on "another legal battlefront" as a competency hearing heads into its second week of testimony in New Orleans. A federal judge "declined to take up a lawsuit over a trust fund that controls a significant chunk of Benson's banking and car dealership interests." The ruling "sends the case back to Texas probate court, where a San Antonio judge in February removed Benson as trustee of the fund." The case is separate from the lawsuit that prompted the competency hearing (NOLA.com, 6/9).
With testimony to resume today in New Orleans, "whether or not the 87-year-old billionaire actually will testify remained an open question" (NOLA.com, 6/9).
The Veritix Sports Facilities & Franchises conference and fifth annual Ticketing Symposium kick off today at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, Calif. The Ticketing Symposium begins the three-day program, taking a deep dive into maximizing ticket revenue, as well as examining the new trends and technologies that are impacting the ticketing industry. Both events are designed for team presidents, CEOs and other C-Level execs, as well as VPs and directors of key functional areas: facility operations/management, ticketing, premium seating, corporate sales and marketing.
Early sessions include a case study of Levi's Stadium's technology integration, as well as panel discussions on "The Business of Ticketing: Where Is It Headed," "Working with Secondary Ticket Brokers: Structuring the Deal" and "Capturing Fan Data to Generate Viable Sales Leads and Sales Opportunities."
THE DAILY wants to hear from our readers who plan on attending the upcoming GRATEFUL DEAD concerts, at either Levi’s Stadium (June 27-28) or Soldier Field (July 3-5). As fans of the band are well aware, the four living members of The Dead will take the stage on two consecutive weekends for their final concerts together, commemorating the band’s 50th anniversary. If you are headed to Santa Clara or Chicago, we would love to hear from you. Let us know if you plan on attending, and we’ll follow up with you directly on what we’ll need from your "long strange trips."
Cincinnati’s Scripps Center is “donning a red-and-white pillbox hat and handlebar mustache” ahead of Great American Ball Park hosting the MLB All-Star Game in July (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 6/10).
Quinnipiac Univ. this morning at a press conference will formally introduce Duquesne AD Greg Amodio as its next AD. Amodio is replacing Jack McDonald, “who announced his retirement in October.” McDonald spent 20 years at Quinnipiac (HARTFORD COURANT, 6/10).
Longines runs a full-page ad in the N.Y. Times with an image of American Pharoah from the Belmont Stakes: “Longines congratulates American Pharoah’s victory of the Triple Crown and is proud to have timed this moment in history” (THE DAILY).
“We’re part of a system and we’ll follow the rules” – Patriots Owner Robert Kraft, when asked how he felt about NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hearing QB Tom Brady’s appeal of his Deflategate punishment (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/10).
“The message will be just here it is, this is what it is, and how do you use this and how do you live with this in our world?” – 49ers coach Jim Tomsula, on cautioning his players about the risks of using social media (ESPN.com, 6/9).
“I think the NFL – with the publicity and the spotlight that the NFL can bring on issues – is really turning something that was a real blight on the league into a positive” – Packers President Mark Murphy, on the NFL’s commitment to educating people on domestic violence (Appleton POST-CRESCENT, 6/10).
Last night’s 2:00am ET editions of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” and FS1’s “Fox Sports Live” led with Warriors-Cavaliers NBA Finals Game 3. ESPN followed with Giants P Chris Heston throwing a no-hitter against the Mets, continuing coverage of Warriors-Cavaliers and Phillies-Reds. FS1 followed with Nationals-Yankees, Astros-White Sox and Mariners-Indians.
ESPN’s Keith Olbermann called out the “world’s worst” persons in sports: Apple CEO Tim Cook for deciding to “pay the ransom” Indians relievers wanted to return RF Brandon Moss’ 100th home run ball, including numerous Apple products. Olbermann also blasted former FIFA VP Jack Werner for allegedly pocketing donations meant for Haitian earthquake relief, and the headline writer at the East Oregonian who said ambidextrous A’s P Pat Venditte was “amphibious.”
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Humanities and History.”
“Echoing the Morse code for V, in World War II the BBC’s ‘V for Victory’ campaign used this classical work as a theme.”
Last night’s edition of “Jeopardy!” featured the category “Sports Awards.”
For $200: “In 2010 Spain’s cup runneth over after it won this tournament and trophy for the first time.”
For $400: “Seen here, it was actually modeled after New York University football player, Ed Smith.”
For $600: “The Naismith Trophy is given to the men’s and women’s college players of the year in this sport.”
For $800: “Since 1851, the Americas Cup Trophy has been won by just six yacht clubs – New York, San Diego, Golden Gate, one from Switzerland and clubs from these two southern hemisphere countries .”
For $1000: “In addition to a trophy, the winner of the Masters tournament gets this iconic piece of apparel.”
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel said of the Warriors-Cavaliers NBA Finals: "This is the first time in history that the first two games of a Finals series went into overtime. The Cavaliers won their first NBA Finals game ever in Game 2. LeBron has been impossible to stop. He had 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists despite the fact that he got hacked so badly that both China and North Korea had to deny responsibility.” Kimmel noted singer Rihanna was at Game 1 and Warriors Owner Joe Lacob “decided to upgrade her seats. He sent his kids to sit in Rihanna's seats so that she could sit at centercourt next to him. He didn't realize Rihanna would be loudly cheering for LeBron James, so much so that he got uncomfortable and had to move to another seat. How uncomfortable could he have been? She's cheering. It's a basketball game. Rihanna broke into my house in the middle of the night, I had no problem with it. In fact, I'm trying to get her to come back” (“Jimmy Kimmel Live Game Night,” ABC, 6/9).
Last night’s edition of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live Game Night” featured a segment from “one of the more cherished rituals” of the NBA Finals, the postgame press conference. The show sent staffer Guillermo to cover the NBA Finals (“Jimmy Kimmel Live Game Night,” ABC, 6/9).
More Kimmel said, “As Americans, basketball is an important part of our lives. Without basketball, think of all the ridiculous looking shoes we wouldn’t have. … When a NBA Final Series is tied at one game apiece, the winner of Game 3 goes on to win the title 84% of the time, according to a group of mathematicians who never touched a basketball. … LeBron told reporters in addition to the usual things that usually motivate him, he has a secret motivation to win this time around and he wouldn’t tell anyone which is enticing. What could that motivation be? Maybe he’s pregnant? I hate to start rumors but that’s probably it” (“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 6/9).
NBC’s Jimmy Fallon said, “I want to say happy birthday to Kanye West, who turned 38 years old yesterday. To celebrate, Kim Kardashian rented out the entire Staples Center so he and his friends could play basketball. Complete with real refs, announcers and an empty Staples arena. So just like a real Lakers game. … NBC Sports announced yesterday that it reached a 12-year TV deal to carry multiple golf tournaments, including the Open and the Senior Open Championship, which explains NBC’s new jingle.” The broadcast then played NBC’s three chime jingle, replacing the final chime with a “shhhh” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 6/9).
The reason why we chose to be downtown is we really wanted that compelling backdrop. And when you see those sweeping scenes in Campus Martius, down Woodward, into Hart Plaza, that's the most beautiful show.
-- NFL Senior Dir of Events Nicki Ewell, on the league's reasons for choosing downtown Detroit as the location for this year's NFL Draft. DETROIT NEWS, 4/25.
On this week’s pod, SBJ’s Austin Karp has two...
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On this week’s pod, SBJ’s Austin Karp has two Big Get interviews. The first is with TNT’s Stan Van Gundy as he breaks down the NBA Playoffs from the booth. Later in the show, we hear from ESPN’s VP of Programming and Acquisitions Tim Reed as the NFL Draft gets set to kick off on Thursday night in Motown. SBJ’s Tom Friend also joins the show to share his insights into NBA viewership trends.
SBJ I Factor features an interview with Molly Mazzolini....
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SBJ I Factor features an interview with Molly Mazzolini. Elevate's Senior Operating Advisor – Design + Strategic Alliances chats with SBJ’s Ross Nethery about the power of taking chances. Mazzolini is a member of the SBJ Game Changers Class of 2016. She shares stories of her career including co-founding sports design consultancy Infinite Scale career journey and how a chance encounter while working at a stationery store launched her career in the sports industry.
SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.
Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Humanities and History.”
