MLB late this afternoon made its final proposal of the day to the MLBPA, and "barring a stunning surprise, MLB is expected to make their official announcement of a delayed 2022 regular season" (TWITTER.com, 3/1). The players are "expected to vote no" on the league's latest proposal (TWITTER.com, 3/1). The players today made a counter offer to MLB on "several key areas." On the league minimum salary: the MLBPA’s "latest offer starts at $725,000, with increases of $20,000 in first few years of deal, a source said, then a different increase later." MLBPA also offered to "drop its request on the new prearbitration bonus pool to $85 million in the first year," with a $5M "increase annually over course of deal," a source said. The union previously was at $115M (TWITTER.com, 3/1). On the competitive balance tax, the union "dropped their request" to $238M, $244M, $250M, $256M, $263M, respectively (TWITTER.com, 3/1). In MLB's last proposal, there was "no change in the CBT" (TWITTER.com, 3/1).

Giants P Alex Wood tweeted that MLB had "pumped to the media" last night and today that there was momentum toward a deal. Wood: "Now saying the players tone has changed. So if a deal isn’t done today it’s our fault. This isn’t a coincidence. We’ve had the same tone all along. We just want a fair deal/to play ball." Wood noted the last 24 hours, there was "cautious optimism on the players side because the owners were actually at the table negotiating with us toward a deal." Wood: "If there’s no deal the optimism from MLB was a PR illusion to make it look like they tried" (TWITTER.com, 3/1).

Turner Sports signed an eight-year deal to carry the U.S. Soccer men’s and women’s national team games through '30. Turner will pay an average of around $25-27M per year for the rights, sources say. This represents a big win for U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone, who oversaw a risky move last year when the federation ended its relationship with Soccer United Marketing and embarked to sell U.S. Soccer’s rights on its own. It has been widely reported that SUM paid the USSF around $30M to sell for a variety of rights that included English- and Spanish-language media rights in the U.S., international media rights, sponsorship and licensing. U.S. Soccer, which is expected to announce a domestic Spanish-language deal in the next several weeks and international deals in the coming months, almost certainly will see a huge revenue increase from that move.

Turner’s deal, which starts in '23, includes more than 20 games involving the USMNT and USWNT each year. HBO Max will stream all of the games live. TBS and TNT have committed to carry about half of them, which will be simulcast on HBO Max. This means that HBO Max will carry around 10 games per year exclusively. HBO Max was part of Turner’s NHL announcement, but this marks the first scheduled live sport for the streaming service. Bleacher Report ended up with highlight rights as part of the deal.

“This is a unique deal that fits all of our strategic initiatives,” said Turner President Lenny Daniels. “It’s a high-quality, multiplatform product that reaches across the entire portfolio.” The deal encompasses World Cup qualifiers, friendlies, send-off matches and the SheBelieves Cup. The deal also gives Turner the opportunity to integrate sports betting into the telecasts. “We’re all about quality instead of quantity, and this deal fits into that,” Daniels said. “It fits into our portfolio along with all our other sports.” Turner also holds the rights to the NBA, MLB, NHL and March Madness.

U.S. Soccer used Sports Media Advisors’ Doug Perlman as a consultant on this deal.

CCM Hockey "will stop using" Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin and other Russian NHLers in any global marketing initiatives. CCM CEO Marrouane Nabih said that the equipment company "made the decision following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week." Nabih did "not respond to subsequent questions about CCM’s contracts with Ovechkin and other Russian players," including Penguins C Evgeni Malkin and Capitals D Dmitry Orlov. Ovechkin has been among CCM’s "most visible pitchmen." A source said that the company "pays Ovechkin more than $500,000 per year plus a percentage of its sales within Russia" (TSN.ca, 3/1).

Jaguars Owner Shad Khan "appears to be scrapping his initial plan" to hire an Exec VP to oversee football operations, instead "leaving GM Trent Baalke and head coach Doug Pederson to be in charge of personnel decisions." Khan in early February said that the team "applied to the NFL" to hire the role. But after "spending much time at TIAA Bank Field offices since Pederson’s hire and being impressed with the environment in the building, Khan changed his mind." He still "plans to add to the front office structure, possibly an assistant GM, in a different manner." There is "no timetable in place for when additional front-office hires will be made, but the current plan likely means Baalke and Pederson will be in charge of making decisions regarding free agency" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 3/1).

The Jazz today named CoinZoom the team's official cryptocurrency platform and NFT marketplace. The partnership will enable fans to scan a QR code at their Vivint Arena seats and access the team's NFT drops with the CoinZoom app. Every seat in the arena will have a QR code later this season for this and other new features. CoinZoom also will receive signage in the arena, a presence on the Jazz app, social media, merchandise, trivia contests, crypto giveaways and radio spots. Last September, the team launched the JazzXR program that combined the franchise’s initial NFTs with access to a live experience with Jazz Owner Ryan Smith.

In other NFT news, Birmingham's Protective Stadium went live today with its Gates Open NFT, an auction in which a digital version of the venue is being auctioned off via OpenSea. The auction concludes March 10, with the winning bidder receiving two tickets to every publicly ticketed event at Protective Stadium for the rest of the year. All proceeds benefit area nonprofit Prosper, a coalition of local leaders working to build a more inclusive economy. View the NFT and bidding here (SBJ).

A&E and WWE reached a multiyear expansion of their programming partnership, commissioning more than 130 new hours of WWE-themed series and specials to air exclusively on A&E platforms and to be distributed worldwide by A+E Networks. The multi-platform partnership includes 35 new episodes of “Biography,” featuring documentaries on WWE personalities. WWE also is beginning production on 24 new episodes of the original series “WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures,” which will air over multiple seasons. The first season of “WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures” was A&E’s most-watched new series of last year. The series tracks efforts to find some of WWE's most iconic lost memorabilia. A&E also has ordered 40 hours of a new series with the working title “WWE Rivals,” which will chronicle some of the biggest clashes in WWE history. Additional hours of original programming are in development as well.

Today's announcement builds on the partnership between A&E and WWE that was announced in '19 and saw the first programming arrive in '21. The length of the extension and financial terms were not disclosed. WWE is bullish on the deal because it deepens its relationship with Hearst and Disney (50/50 owners of A&E). Also, WWE's relationships with multiple media companies position it well as it looks to go to market with re-airs of "Raw" and "SmackDown" rights in the U.S. (now with Hulu until the end of the year) and the next round of "Raw" and "SmackDown" live rights (starting in '24).

Pennzoil is getting into the college NIL space via three new student-athlete partners: Indiana men's basketball F Trayce Jackson-Davis, Michigan swimmer Maggie MacNeil and Boston College lacrosse player Charlotte North. The brand, which to date has primarily spent its sports sponsorship dollars in auto racing, will provide each athlete with a gift card to help cover the cost of their vehicle maintenance. In turn the student athletes will create social media content, primarily through Instagram, providing a glimpse into how their vehicles are “unsung teammates.” Those posts will appear both on Pennzoil's feeds and the athletes' own social channels.

Excel Sports Management represents Jackson-Davis and brokered his deal. Rubicon Talent helped orchestrate/facilitate the deals with both North and MacNeil. Pennzoil Global Brand Manager Amanda Luce is the brand-side lead for NIL activation in collaboration with Coyne PR.

SX Global, a new Australia-based dirt bike racing series aiming to rival the U.S.-focused Monster Energy Supercross, today revealed its initial plans, including a 22-rider field and $50M investment. Feld Entertainment, which owns Supercross, decided last year to relinquish the sanction from the FIM, the global motorcycle governing body. The FIM subsequently shopped the sanction to this new Australian group, which is being funded in part by investment firm Mubadala Capital, which will help SX Global in its initial expansion. Former Australian Supercars Exec Chair Tony Cochrane will serve as SX Global President.

SX is touting unprecedented payments and race purses relative to other similar series. The first season will run September-November, with five races before expanding next year. (The Monster Energy Supercross season will be over by September, so no overlap this year). It says it will pay out more than $50M to teams and riders over five years, or $10M annually. It says there will be a $250,000 purse at each event.

Stellantis Group CEO Carlos Tavares confirmed that the Peugeot carmaker brand will no longer sponsor Novak Djokovic (Mult., 3/1). Serbian journalist Saša Ozmo first reported the split and that the tennis star's "stance on vaccination is not the reason" (TWITTER.com, 3/1).

Bauer Hockey, as part of its new "The Barn" brand campaign emphasizing diversity in hockey, partnered with the nonprofit Black Girl Hockey Club on an equipment scholarship program that includes $100,000 in equipment over four years (Bauer Hockey).

Great Clips is activating its NHL sponsorship with a new interactive microsite at NHL.com/HockeyHair. It features interactive quizzes and trivia, as well as hockey hair-themed memes. Through March 21, fans can take a quiz to tell them their hockey hair style, entering them in a contest for prizes such as tickets to an NHL game and free haircuts (NHL).

GREAT CLIPS

"It’s basically a criminal cartel that stages a tournament every four years. ... You just cannot let FIFA occupy any kind of morality here, because they are banning Russia from the World Cup in Qatar, which is basically built on blood. FIFA, in the macro sense, are still continuing to do the wrong thing and will until the end of their existence” -- HBO’s John Oliver, on FIFA banning Russia from the '22 World Cup after wide criticism of its earlier, weaker sanctions (“Late Night,” NBC, 3/1).

"Conor's probably not going to be back until the early fall. So we'll see who's where and what's what, how it lays out" -- UFC President Dana White, on the expected timeline for Conor McGregor's return to the Octagon, as one of the promotion's biggest draws looks to recover from a leg injury in his last fight (MIRROR.co.uk, 3/1).

“Does anybody in the U.S. care that they’re doing this ‘Abbey Road’ promotion? Does anybody care that the Green Bay Packers are playing in London? No! This is an advertisement for fans across the ocean” -- FS1’s Ric Bucher, on a promo from the Packers for their London game where they recreated the cover from The Beatles’ “Abbey Road” album (“Undisputed,” FS1, 3/1).

“When Ciara and I first met ... one of the questions was, ‘If you could do anything in the world, what would be some of those things?’ And one of them was to open up a school, which we did, Why Not You Academy, and we're also obviously launching this book” -- Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, on the new children’s book co-written with his wife, “Why Not You?” (“Today,” NBC, 3/1).

“The reason I started Serena Ventures is because I feel like the venture capital ecosystem really needs an inclusive player and a player with a platform to make the necessary ... change at scale, and we have that opportunity here. We're looking at fintech, we’re looking at marketplaces as well, and I like to use my brand to reach that need and to fill that void that the market has” -- Serena Williams, on her Serena Ventures venture capital firm raising $111M in initial funding (“Squawk Box,” CNBC, 3/1).

Max Scherzer has rattled some with a tough negotiating style past few days. Asked Scott Boras about it: “A experienced and substantively prepared active hall of famer is a very informed and highly effective advocate.”

— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) March 1, 2022

.@FordhamRams wore Ukrainian Flag in support of @rostiknovitskyi, 1 of 8 players from #Ukraine playing hoops in US. Freshman had career best 10 pts as #Rams beat #UMass at Rose Hill Gym to reach .500 again in what has been great 1st yr for @kyleneptune. #StandWithUkraine #ramily pic.twitter.com/beCgjLtVPg

— Joe Favorito (@joefav) March 1, 2022

I just want to issue a blanket apology at a very early point in the 2022 @NASCAR season:

Drivers, I apologize for the enjoyment I feel when watching you try to wheel this hard-to-drive car around the track.

Your struggle is my entertainment.

For that, I am mildly sorry.

— nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) March 1, 2022

Let the good times roll… Happy Mardi Gras 💜💚💛

— Swin Cash (@SwinCash) March 1, 2022

The official Olympic YouTube channel offers a quick retrospective on the career of newly retired snowboarder Shaun White.

15,000 -- Number of Pittsburgh residents and guests who took part in public skating and hockey games at the Hunt Armory Ice Rink from its opening Nov. 26 through its closing Feb. 27, during the Penguins' inaugural season of skating and hockey operations at the facility. The Penguins also hosted free hockey and diversity programming for over 750 children from nearby neighborhoods during the winter (Penguins).