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Franchise Notes

On Long Island, David Lennon writes with the Mets, the Wilpon family is "always shuffling personnel because they're the only ones without an expiration date -- or a consistent plan that can produce sustainable success." Hiring Exec VP & GM Brodie Van Wagenen was the Wilpons' "biggest Hail Mary pass yet," but "being a GM takes more than a sales pitch, and Van Wagenen is learning that the hard way." Nearly "every word" he has said so far has "come back to bite him." Lennon: "We can't help but think he's getting pressure from above to dump the sales pitch and start collecting scalps instead" (NEWSDAY, 6/21).

LAPOINTE MAN: In Montreal, Stu Cowan notes local businessman Clifford Starke, as part of his "latest offer to the CFL and Commissioner Randy Ambrosie" to buy the Alouettes, has added former CFLer Eric Lapointe to his investor group. Lapointe was the "leader of one of three groups that went public with their interest" in buying the team from the league, before his group "dropped out of the bidding" (MONTREAL GAZETTE, 6/21).

TAKING PRIDE: 49ers Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel Hannah Gordon said the team's Pride campaign saw "almost 1,000 fans sign up within the first couple of days." Gordon said, "The response that we got through email, through Twitter, the stories that people told us about what it meant to them, it really made it all worthwhile." She added the 49ers Pride campaign is the "first fan community for LGBTQ+ fans and allies among NFL teams, and we're hopeful that other teams will follow suit" ("NFL Total Access," NFL Network, 6/19).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: May 9, 2024

WNBA regular season games to be available on Disney+; Candace Parker's new role at Adidas; Rory McIlroy will not return to PGA Tour Policy Board and Theo Epstein's role with the PGA Tour moving forward.

Phoenix Mercury/NBC’s Cindy Brunson, NBA Media Deal, Network Upfronts

On this week’s pod, SBJ’s Austin Karp chats with SBJ NBA writer Tom Friend about the pending NBA media Deal. Cindy Brunson of NBC and Phoenix Mercury is our Big Get this week. The sports broadcasting pioneer talks the upcoming WNBA season. Later in the show, SBJ media writer Mollie Cahillane gets us set for the upcoming network upfronts.

SBJ I Factor: Molly Mazzolini

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.

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