A group of top business execs gathered at SBJ HQ this afternoon to discuss the future of the NBA and how the league and its partners can innovate the game moving forward. Speaking before a crowd of about 150 ahead of the NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte, NBA President of Team Marketing & Business Operations and Chief Innovation Officer Amy Brooks, Monumental Sports & Entertainment Senior VP/Strategic Initiatives & GM Zach Leonsis, MGM Resorts Int’l President of Interactive Gaming Scott Butera and ESPN Exec VP/Programming & Scheduling Burke Magnus were all on hand. Among the topics of discussion were how the industry can personalize viewing experiences for fans, how sports betting will change things going forward and how teams can improve the in-arena experience.

Brooks said the NBA is looking at ways to better understand what fans want when they attend games, and how to cater the experience to fit those desires. “You’re going to see this notion of personalization not just come to the streaming product or a broadcast product, but in arena.” Leonsis said one example that has been discussed by MS&E is adding sports betting capacities to Capital One Arena. “We do imagine one day potentially having a brick-and-mortar sportsbook at our building. … It’s a challenge but it’s not an insurmountable one.”

Magnus said a major priority for ESPN is how to monetize its audiences, primarily through personalization and alternative feeds. “We aren’t precious about how we get people to come, we just want them to come.” Meanwhile, Butera mentioned esports and its “enormous” potential as something the sports industry, MGM included, can learn from. “Even in markets where you don’t have an actual real live money wager in game, you can still make a lot of money. Fortnite is free to play and it makes $1B in revenue, so I think there are applications that we can do that are like that.”

“The Future Of The NBA: A Drive For Innovation”

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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that he "hasn't 'given any thought' to inquiries by NFL owners about his willingness to switch leagues and become commissioner of the NFL." Sources said that NFL owners "have tried to persuade Silver to run their league over the course of his five years" as the NBA's top exec. Silver also has been "approached by a number of Fortune 500 companies." In June, he signed a five-year extension with the NBA that runs through the '23-24 season. Silver: "I feel very fortunate to be in this position" (ESPN.com, 2/14).

Daytona Int'l Speedway is closing in on its fourth consecutive sellout for the Daytona 500, according to sources and an analysis of the track's ticket site. The 101,000-seat track had about 1,500 tickets left to sell as of yesterday for Sunday's race. ISC tracks can declare a sellout when within 1.5% of a true sellout, so DIS already is on the verge of that range and expected to announce a sellout by Saturday night. The ISC-owned venue has sold out every Daytona 500 since the first race after the $400M Daytona Rising renovation in '16.

The Overwatch League’s second season kicks off at 7:00pm ET with a rematch of last year’s finals, London Spitfire vs. Philadelphia Fusion. With three more games tonight, OWL ushers in a season of increased expectations and challenges for the esports property, which grew from 12 to 20 teams via offseason expansion. Sponsors, media partners and team owners all will be counting on big viewership growth to maintain the momentum from a well-reviewed first season. At 11:30pm ET, a new milestone will be reached that figures to improve viewership: the first game pitting two Chinese teams, the expansion Hangzhou Spark versus the Shanghai Dragons. Opening week continues tomorrow with the debut of expansion teams in Atlanta, Toronto, Chengdu, China and Guangzhou, China.

Mulitplatform sports network Stadium has reached a carriage agreement with Sling TV making the net available on both the Sling Orange and Sling Blue services. The deal expands upon a prior relationship involving Sling TV and the Stadium Plus premium-level service. Stadium Plus will remain in Sling TV’s “Sports Extra” add-on option. The Dish-owned Sling TV finished ’18 with 2.42 million subscribers and has enjoyed an early-mover advantage against other rival virtual MVPDs such as DirecTV Now and YouTube TV. Stadium is the only national sports network on both of the entry-level Orange and Blue packages for Sling TV.

ISC agreed to a new partnership with Steakhouse Elite that will see the company's beef sold at concession stands across the operator's portfolio of tracks. Financial terms were not revealed for the multiyear deal, which will also see the N.Y.-based beef company get rights to use the marks of multiple tracks, including Daytona Int'l Speedway, on its packaging. Steakhouse Elite will also have its product used by ISC-owned catering subsidiary Americrown. The sides announced the deal during a press conference this afternoon at DIS.

A Biathlon World Cup event returns to the Western U.S. for the first time since the '02 Games starting today in Soldier Hollow, Utah. Much is riding on the four-day event for both Utah officials who hope to bring the Games back to Salt Lake City in '30, and for US Biathlon, which often struggles to engage fans with its largely European schedule. US Biathlon CEO Max Cobb: "It’s so important for the growth of our sport in this country to be able to bring people out to the event." Olympic Channel, NBCSN and NBC Sports Gold will cover the action after reaching a new four-year deal with the Int’l Biathlon Union.

New Balance officially announced its endorsement deal with Raptors F Kawhi Leonard. The deal was initially reported in November (THE DAILY).

WEEI announced its Red Sox broadcast team for the '19 season, and ESPN's Chris Berman will call select games (WEEI).

“Have you seen that free agent market?” -- Red Sox P David Price, on not exercising the opt-out clause in his contract after last season (TWITTER.com, 2/14).

"I talked to him the other day, and he said it’s actually slower than you guys think" -- Rangers P Shawn Kelley, on speaking to close friend Bryce Harper about his free-agency status (Ft. Worth STAR-TELEGRAM, 2/14).

Good start to All-Star Weekend when you wind up on the same CLT-bound flight with 1980s luminaries Sidney Moncrief, Sam Perkins and the '86 Dunk Champ Spud Webb (@swebb_anthony)

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 14, 2019

Roses are red
Violets are blue
There are a bunch of free agents still available and pitchers and catchers have already reported and this is ridiculous.

— Jessica Kleinschmidt (@KleinschmidtJD) February 14, 2019

Doing a Madden franchise w/the Raiders because those uniforms are still the best in the league and I can keep them in Oakland where they belong.

Traded a bunch of guys, created a few for fun (all under 80 OVR), loaded up on picks over the next two seasons.

Should be fun.

— Luke Easterling (@LukeEasterling) February 14, 2019

If you see a tweet we will not want to miss, send it to us at editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com.

Had to make a pit stop in Times Square before we head down to Charlotte 🏙#BetOnBrooklyn pic.twitter.com/WGa3ZE3Fgm

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) February 14, 2019

The final piece of interior bowl steel was installed today. 16,000 total tons of steel were used to construct the bowl. pic.twitter.com/PxvozHdw5Z

— Globe Life Field (@GlobeLifeField) February 14, 2019

In this Black History Month-themed video, Golden Knights RW Ryan Reaves visits a Las Vegas-area barber shop to discuss the importance of growing the game of hockey in the black community.

$1.2M -- Total amount of bonus prize pool funds given to NBA 2K League players under the second season's payout structure (TWITTER.com, 2/14).