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Franchise Notes

In St. Louis, Jeff Gordon wrote Tom Stillman, who reportedly signed a purchase agreement to buy the Blues Friday, “is unabashedly pro-St. Louis.” He is “highly visible at Blues games, offering steady encouragement to players, coaches and management.” Stillman “really, really wants to keep the Blues right where they are, winning game after game at Scottrade Center.” The potential sale “should reassure Blues fans that have become increasingly fretful about this team’s two-year ownership limbo.” But Gordon wrote this “is only good news if this new ownership group has the wherewithal to sustain a competitive payroll year after year” (STLTODAY.com, 1/20).

SAVED BY A PRINCE? In L.A., T.J. Simers wrote under the header, “Want To Boost The Value Of The Dodgers? Sign Prince Fielder.” The winning bidder for the Dodgers will be “on the hook to pay all the deferred money owed to players signed by” outgoing Owner Frank McCourt. And most of McCourt’s deals “have involved putting off payment.” Yet no one “seems to be balking.” Simers asked, “Are we still to believe the signing of Fielder would be troubling to a new owner given the gigantic TV deal that awaits? … Are we to believe the signing of Fielder, which should boost the Dodgers and thereby improve attendance, would turn off bidders?” (L.A. TIMES, 1/22).

OWNER'S MANUEL
: Nets Owner Mikhail Prokhorov said last week that he "would ‘send my shares (of the Nets) to a blind trust’ should he become prime minister.” In N.Y., Stefan Bondy noted giving his shares to a blind trust “doesn’t mean Prokhorov would relinquish his investment, just that trustees would be given full discretion over the Nets’ assets.” Prokhorov, “who hasn’t attended a Nets game in almost a year, downplayed any change in his ownership duties as status quo.” Prokhorov: “Even now I’m more on the strategy side than the day-to-day routine and I never interfere in my manager’s job” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/21).

SHOW ME THE MONEY: In Jacksonville, Gene Frenette wrote Jaguars Owner Shahid Khan has “made it clear he wants to be held accountable and that the team will spend up to the salary cap.” That is “good because when NFL free agency opens up on March 13, the Jaguars should throw big money at several positions craving an upgrade.” How the team “spends in the open market will be a major test of Khan applying action to his words.” If the Jaguars “are going to live up to Khan's high expectations, it starts with opening up his checkbook” (JACKSONVILLE.com, 1/21).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

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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