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NBA, Take-Two Launching E-Sports Venture Around "NBA 2K"

The NBA will launch the NBA 2K eLeague in early '18, becoming the first U.S. pro sports league to establish a virtual gaming offshoot. The new entity is a joint venture with longtime NBA licensee Take-Two Interactive Software. NBA VP/Global Partnerships Matt Holt said that about half the league’s 30 franchises are expected to participate at launch.

Team execs see the deal as a way to enter the growing e-sports market at a time when there is a shortage of viable e-sports franchises for sale. Holt said that with interest soaring, the league felt it best to commit its energy to basketball simulations. Holt: “We’ve had obviously a lot of activity in the space with our ownership groups, we’ve talked to a lot of different players in the gaming world about ways we could potentially participate in the e-sports world. ... This is the place where it makes sense.”

See today's issue of THE DAILY for more.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: April 22, 2024

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NBC Olympics’ Molly Solomon, ESPN’s P.K. Subban, the Masters and more

On this week’s pod, SBJ’s Austin Karp has two Big Get interviews. The first is with Molly Solomon, who will lead NBC’s production of the Olympics, and she shares what the network is are planning for Paris 2024. Later in the show, we hear from ESPN’s P.K. Subban as the Stanley Cup Playoffs get set to start this weekend. SBJ’s Josh Carpenter also joins the show to share his insights from this year’s Masters, while Karp dishes on how the WNBA Draft’s record-breaking viewership is setting the league up for a new stratosphere of numbers.

SBJ I Factor: Gloria Nevarez

SBJ I Factor features an interview with Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez. The second-ever MWC commissioner chats with SBJ’s Ross Nethery about her climb through the collegiate ranks. Nevarez is a member of SBJ’s Game Changers Class of 2019. Nevarez has had stints at the conference level in the Pac-12, West Coast Conference, and Mountain West Conference as well as at the college level at Oklahoma, Cal, and San Jose State. She shares stories of that journey as well as how being a former student-athlete guides her decision-making today. 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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