MLS is debuting its first-ever All-Star Skills Challenge tonight in Orlando, and it will do so through an unprecedented digital-first distribution strategy. The event will be streamed by the league’s five domestic media partners: ESPN, Fox and TUDN.com in the U.S., and TSN and TVA Sports in Canada. Fans will also be able to tune in on the league’s website or app and stream live on Twitter and Twitch. “We have the youngest fan base in sports,” MLS Senior VP/Media Seth Bacon said. “We’ve been focused for many, many years on developing relationships with our fans, but also with these digital distribution platforms, because we know it’s hugely important to our fans and this is the way they want to consume content.”

On top of giving fans easy access to tonight’s event, Bacon said he hopes the Skills Challenge will emphasize fan engagement. The skills challenge will feature POV cameras and mic’d up players, and fans following along on Twitter and Twitch will be able to vote for their favorite players from each challenge to help sway the event’s outcome. “What we’re going to do with this this year is learn and evolve and improve and create something even more kickass for the future,” Bacon said.

Meanwhile, MLS today held its second Innovation Showcase, at which global experts discussed the role technology and innovation play in the future of soccer. The event was held in collaboration with R/GA Ventures. The league also announced the creation of the MLS Greats Network, an official alumni group that provides resources for former players.

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The USMNT Players Association today issued a statement supporting the USWNT's "pursuit of fair compensation" in its lawsuit against the USSF. The men's union "takes issue with US Soccer's accounting in its letter yesterday," which claimed it paid the women's team more than the men from '10-18. The letter is excerpted below:

"The USMNT players were not impressed with US Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro's letter made public on Monday. The Federation downplays contributions to the sport when it suits them. ... The Cordeiro letter includes the claim that the USWNT lost $27 million over the past 11 years, but admits that is based on false accounting because the Federation 'traditionally' does not count any of the sponsorship, television, or marketing money the Federation generates from USWNT and USMNT players and their games. ... The women's national team players deserve equal pay and are right to pursue a legal remedy from the courts or Congress" (TWITTER.com, 7/30).

Paul Fenton's "rocky tenure" as Wild GM "came to an abrupt end after only one non-playoff season," according to sources. Fenton about 14 months ago became the third GM in franchise history, and the timing of his exit is "unusual." Sources indicated that "no one incident caused the ousting." Rather, the "lingering fallout from a series of arguably bad trades and other personnel matters, along with internal issues" created "low morale throughout the hockey operations department and dressing room." These forced Wild Owner Craig Leipold to "make the move before Fenton could even manage his second season" (THEATHLETIC.com, 7/30).

The ATP/WTA Citi Open enjoyed a record weekend of tournament qualifying, with merchandise sales up 54% and attendance up 23%. A tournament spokesperson  said there was no question the event benefited from the presence of 15-year-old phenom Coco Gauff, who successfully qualified for the event. Gauff is scheduled to play this afternoon in a first-round match against Zarina Diyas.

The DC-based Citi Open is under the new operational management of Mark Ein, and food and beverage options were among the immediate improvements he made to the event. The spokesperson added that the new Market Square indoor food court tent has been a big hit, not least because it is air conditioned. "We couldn't have imagined a better start," Ein said. The tournament, which got underway in earnest yesterday, has been spared by rain so far, with just 20 minutes of precipitation yesterday. Last year’s event endured nine straight days of wet weather, wreaking havoc on scheduling.

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The Fortnite World Cup earned about $23M in total media value, almost all attributable to the game and owner Epic Games since there was no sponsorship, according to MVPindex. The event was held this past weekend at Arthur Ashe Stadium before a crowd that was announced as a sellout but had some empty pockets of seats. However, the event had a major presence on social and traditional media, including $14M worth of posts from Fortnite, $6.3M worth of posts from the esports community (including participants, media and other commenters), $1.3M of value from the Twitch streams and $1M of value from traditional media.

There were five streams on Twitch on Sunday showing the solo finals, and the top one averaged 362,000 viewers. The most engaging post by Fortnite during the event was an Instagram post that showed several costumed figures from the game going around N.Y. doing tourist activities; it got 1.28 million likes. MVPindex’ algorithm for calculating social value looks for items related to a brand like images of logos and weighs the value of it based on size, positioning, time shown, etc. The firm said its valuation system for digital streaming on Twitch combines methods and features from linear TV, digital media and social media.

For more coverage of the business of esports, visit our partners, esportsobserver.com.

USWNT coach Jill Ellis is "stepping down" from her role later this fall. Ellis will "remain with the team through its five-game victory tour" (TWITTER.com, 7/30).

Panthers TE Greg Olsen this year "will again spend the bye week in the booth," as he will serve as an analyst for the Week 7 Cardinals-Giants game (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 7/30).

The NFL Panthers have signed a deal with ParkWhiz, a service that allows fans to "book and pay for parking in advance" of games at Bank of America Stadium (FOX46CHARLOTTE.com, 7/30).

The Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission today "approved the final rules" set for the state's initial run at taking legal sports bets. Participating casinos will start taking bets on Aug. 15 (DES MOINES REGISTER, 7/30).

Insurance Office of America renewed its deal as the presenting sponsor of the LPGA's Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions (Insurance Office of America).

Team USA at this year's Solheim Cup will be outfitted by Jofit for the first time (Jofit).

"We’re trying to raise the money to get this practice facility re-done. We’ve had some donors step up. We’ve raised probably about 25 percent of what we need to raise" -- LSU men's basketball coach Will Wade, on raising funds to upgrade the team's practice facility, which he says will cost about $15M (Baton Rouge ADVOCATE, 7/30).

"I’m having a blast, and I absolutely love doing the games, but I still feel bad because I know I’m doing them because my friend is hurt. It makes it a different energy going into the assignment" -- YES Network's Ryan Ruocco, on filling in for Michael Kay during Yankees broadcasts as he recovers from vocal cord surgery (NEWSDAY, 7/30).

“I don't think it's going to be as much as it was in previous years. Basically, the television companies who broadcast the games ... they're not going to show these situations, unless they deem it newsworthy” -- ESPN’s Jorge Sedano, on how big of a story NFL player protests will be this season (“Jalen & Jacoby,” ESPN2, 7/30).

The thing that has bothered me about the soccer pay story is that a lot of this information was already out there. I can’t imagine that a bunch of people on social media would just yell stuff without reading first. No one would do that.

— Russillo (@ryenarussillo) July 30, 2019

Every single time I watch cable news run-ups to a political debate or election, I think they are doing a clever parody of sports pregame shows.

— Neil Best (@sportswatch) July 30, 2019

I am getting asked a lot of about the Jordan/Zion deal. I do not expect the Jordan Brand signing of basketball standout, Zion Williamson, to have a material impact on the sneaker business for several reasons. Here are 7 reasons:

— Matt Powell (@NPDMattPowell) July 30, 2019

Today is the 15-year anniversary of the infamous Scott Kazmir trade ‘tween the #Mets and #Rays. Where in the world are Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato? Btw, this was not my trade. I get blamed for it still. I was fired a year earlier. Wait, that sounds like bragging.

— Steve Phillips (@StevePhillipsGM) July 30, 2019

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

A look at the future home of the Rams and Chargers, which is “over 70% complete” and on schedule to open next year. pic.twitter.com/Npw8lqkTHq

— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) July 30, 2019

The Falcons posted this video showing some of the community initiatives they ramped up this past offseason, partially as a response to NFL player protests over social issues.

Lakers C Anthony Davis will appear on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" at 11:35pm ET.

45 -- Total hours of AIG Women’s British Open coverage planned for Golf Channel and NBC, the highest number of televised hours for an LPGA major in history. The tourney begins Thursday at England's Woburn Golf Club (NBC Sports Group).