Fanatics has "increased its offering" to acquire PointsBet’s U.S. business by 50% to $225M in an "effort to outbid DraftKings." PointsBet shareholders will "formally vote on the new offer Thursday night." DraftKings made a non-binding offer of $195M earlier this month. PointsBet gave DraftKings until 6pm Melbourne time yesterday to "make a binding offer and they failed to do so." If the deal is formally approved by PointsBet shareholders and regulators, it will give Fanatics "much needed U.S. real estate in the 15 U.S. states where they operate" (CNBC.com, 6/27).

The PGA Tour Policy board yesterday "met for more than five hours" ahead of the Rocket Mortgage Classic and spent "more than half of it on its looming partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, covering a range of issues from economic to procedural." It was "only one day of a complicated process," but it was an "important day, simply because it shows the players, and the public, that after the initial shock and grumbling from players, the Tour is where commissioner Jay Monahan hoped it would be: On the path to a business partnership with PIF." Everybody on the 10-member board "attended the meeting in person."

Monahan, who is on medical leave, was "not there and did not call in." Chief of Operations Tyler Dennis and COO Ron Price, who are "leading the Tour in Monahan’s absence, both attended the meeting." The board in a statement said management has "now begun a new phase of negotiations to determine if the Tour can reach a definitive agreement that is in the best of interests of our players, fans, sponsors, partners, and the game overall" and that was the "focus of our productive Policy Board meeting this afternoon, with valuable and crucial input and perspective from the membership through our Player Directors" (SI, 6/28).

Execs hoped that the regular meeting of the board, which is expected to "weigh the pact formally only once final terms are negotiated," would "help stabilize the tour’s course during a turbulent run of internal division and global scrutiny" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/27).

PGA Tour Policy Board members:

• Independent Directors
  
  • Ed Herlihy (Chair)
    
  • Jimmy Dunne
    
  • Mark Flaherty
    
  • Mary Meeker
    
  • Randall Stephenson

• Player Directors
  
  • Patrick Cantlay
    
  • Charley Hoffman
    
  • Peter Malnati
    
  • Rory McIlroy
    
  • Webb Simpson

Eight Delta Sky360 Terraces were added to Mercedes-Benz Stadium last yearDelta

AMB Sports and Entertainment is announcing this morning that Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines has elevated its partnership to Founding Partner and Official Airlines of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The new deal marks a multiyear extension of Delta’s partnership with AMBSE, which began in 2017. A focal point of the new deal is the Delta Fly-Through Lanes, the stadium’s biometric entry option that launched during the Falcons’ 2022 season. By opting in to allow their face to be scanned, fans can enter the stadium through the Delta Fly Through Lanes, which employ Wicket's facial authentication technology. The Fly Through Lanes are available at gates 1 and 2, as well as the North Club Entrance.

In addition to the Delta Sky360 Club, the stadium added the Delta Sky360 Terraces, eight on-field premium spaces, last year. Delta will also sponsor community activations at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, including blood drives, youth and teen education and development programs, to give back to local communities, as well as continuing to support the stadium’s commitment to sustainability through the three honeybee hives that were installed at the venue last year.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred offered a "curt response" this week to current and former San Jose mayors who "sent him a letter asking for MLB to consider suspending territorial rights and consider San Jose for an expansion team." Manfred in a letter dated Monday "thanked San Jose for its interest in a team," but cited the A’s "'complicated relocation process' to Las Vegas as a reason MLB is not taking any action yet." The letter read, “At least until that process is complete, we are not in a position to take any other actions with respect to the territories in Northern California or to consider the possibility of expansion.” Current San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and four former mayors sent a letter on June 15 that "called on MLB to allow for Santa Clara County to be freed from being considered the territory" of the Giants (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 6/27).

GMF Capital, the investment firm led by former Glencore senior partner Gary Fegel, has acquired a majority stake in digital media platform Motorsport Network Media. Fegel said the private equity firm discovered the company in its research on the digital media landscape and sees the acquisition as an opportunity to capitalize on the recent boom in interest for F1 and other auto racing series. “The business of Formula One has gotten really, really big. There are a lot of new things developing and the fan base is growing tremendously. It’s obviously an opportunity,” said Fegel, who himself is an F1 fan. “The Motorsport Network is really the number one place for racing fans, and I think it’s a great platform to build off if you want to be active in that space.”

MSNM has over 40 million monthly users across its nearly 50 digital properties, including Motorsport.com, Autosport and GPOne. The transaction, which also includes OTT platform Motorsport.tv, is only for Motorsport Network’s digital media business and does not include sister companies like video game publisher Motorsport Games or luxury auto marketplace duPont Registry. Fegel declined to comment on GMF’s initial stake or what it paid, but he said it was an all-cash transaction and that GMF has a pathway to acquire 100% ownership of the company. MSNM is headquartered in Miami and, according to Florida business records, has been owned by Mike Zoi.

The transaction marks GMF’s first sports-related acquisition since its launch in 2013. Fegel said he has no broader sports investment plans but anticipates his firm will consider additional acquisitions within the motorsports industry, and he’s particularly hopeful about opportunities to develop new motorsports content and find a broader digital audience in the U.S. “Netflix obviously was the big one [with “Drive to Survive”], but there are a lot of movies and documentaries and content, and there is a lot more to be done on the streaming side,” said Fegel. “The U.S. market is the largest opportunity. The U.S. share for traffic is only something like 15%, and it should be 75%. So that’s definitely something to focus on in terms of user attraction. … The focus is on the media side for now, and we’ll focus on getting that right, but from there onwards we’ll see what happens.”

Mets owner Steve Cohen has "decided it’s time to talk," and will be "meeting with the media" before today's game against the Brewers as the team sits fourth in the NL East despite having MLB's biggest payroll. Cohen yesterday tweeted, “You will get it from me straight." Owners "typically don’t talk much during the season." GM Billy Eppler has "only met with reporters four three times this season, with the third time" coming yesterday. The subject of Cohen’s press conference is "unknown, but with Eppler giving a vote of confidence" to manager Buck Showalter and the rest of the on-field coaching staff, it "doesn’t seem like Cohen is going to come in and throw any unexpected curveballs" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/27). However, the "biggest question facing Cohen will concern Showalter" (N.Y. POST, 6/27).

The Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech accelerator program has added the Premier League as a strategic advisor. The English soccer league joins a group of ten existing program advisors comprised of sports properties owned by or that have relationships with Comcast, including NBC Sports, NASCAR, WWE, USA Swimming and the PGA Tour. The SportsTech program pairs those advisors with an annual class of ten startups with the goal of co-developing tech solutions.

SportsTech head and Comcast VP/Startup Partnerships Jenna Kurath said the Premier League has long been on her wish list, especially because roughly one-third of the accelerator’s startup applicants are international. The league has recently been shadowing broadcast partner Sky Sports, another program advisor, to determine how it can best unlock value through the SportsTech platform. “Their main priority is really that fan experience, especially as they are building more brand equity in the U.S. and in other markets,” said Kurath. “It’s continuing to elevate the level of competition and making sure that fans have a unique way to feel like they’re front and center in that experience.”

The SportsTech accelerator is in the midst of its third annual iteration, which this year was expanded to a six-month timeframe, and the Premier League will be part of the selection process for the program’s 2024 cohort. Kurath said over 900 companies have already applied.

GameChanger/MLB

MLB and GameChanger have announced a wide-ranging, multiyear partnership designed to cultivate interest and further the development of youth baseball and softball. GameChanger, which was acquired by Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2016, has evolved from its roots as a digital scorebook to a live streaming and auto-generated highlights platform. Its scale is immense: roughly 13 million young baseball and softball players across 750,000 teams use the app; live video has been streamed for 3 million games; 29 million highlights have been automatically clipped; and 36 million games have been scored.

This is GameChanger’s first partnership with a professional sports league. As part of the agreement, MLB will make GameChanger subscriptions available for free to the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program, use data from the app to track youth participation trends and implement the scoring and streaming tools to league-backed youth games. The app is used at all levels of the sport, all the way up to the elite amateur ranks. The top 50 baseball prospects for next month’s draft used GameChanger. Their highlights and stats will be incorporated into draft coverage on MLB Network and on MLB digital channels.

GameChanger

“One of the things we're proud of is we believe that people using GameChanger -- whether it's the parents or the kids -- it incentivizes them to play the game longer and to stay connected,” GameChanger president Sameer Ahuja told SBJ.

Ahuja won Technology Executive of the Year at the inaugural Sports Business Awards: Tech that took place earlier this year in New York City.

“It's really about that connectivity all the way up to the pros,” he added. “Any of these kids that look up to these professional players, whether they become one or not, there’s an aspirational element to it. There's a lot of great stories from these MLB players. Some of them grew up in very difficult situations. They've all persevered through a grueling process to be able to break through and be an MLB player. And sharing those stories, I think, will just amplify the impact we have on kids in terms of their development.”

NHL

A new application will be available to NHL teams for the league’s draft thanks to a new multiyear agreement with Presidio, a digital services and solutions provider. It’s the first time the NHL will utilize an app for the NHL Draft, which starts tonight at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena.

The app can help team employees navigate multiple streams of information, optimize workflow, as well as share sensitive data confidently and securely. The hybrid-cloud environment supplies information throughout NHL operations, clubs and communications. Teams can access and transmit data like player information. They can also submit player picks and announce selections. This app will serve a role in funneling draft information into the NHL Central Registry and Central Scouting as well.

Presidio, an official NHL technology innovation partner, plans to bolster the league's technology infrastructure. The N.Y.-based company will integrate data, design and create applications to support NHL games and day-to-day operations.

FIFA is "inching closer to allowing teams to wear rainbow-colored armbands that promote inclusivity" at this year’s Women’s World Cup, potentially "reversing a policy that specifically outlawed similar armbands at the men’s World Cup in Qatar last year." FIFA is planning to "send a letter outlining its armband rules for the 32 teams that will participate in the tournament," and that letter "could be sent to the teams as early" as today. The agreement that appears to have been reached will "allow captains of teams that want to participate in efforts to promote inclusivity" to "wear armbands featuring rainbow colors during matches" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/28).

The fourth and, presumably, last round of Disney’s layoffs is about to hit ESPN’s on-screen stars and hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discuss what to expect and how cuts already have affected ESPN Radio. Marchand and Ourand move into a discussion of last week’s corporate reorg, which saw longtime exec Burke Magnus cement his position as second in command to Jimmy Pitaro. During their wide-ranging discussion, the hosts identify the execs who gained the most power inside ESPN.

Other topics on this week’s podcast include a review of Derek Jeter’s debut on Fox Sports’ MLB pregame show; a review of ESPN’s NBA Draft coverage; and the NBA Draft night controversy involving The Athletic’s Shams Charania. SBJ’s Austin Karp returns for a Karp’s Korner segment on MLB ratings. The pod has its regular Who’s Up/Who’s Down segment this week, as well as a Call of the Week honoring ESPN’s Neil Everett, who anchored his final “SportsCenter” last week after a 23-year run.

• Report finds deep-rooted racism in English cricket
• Italian clubs banned from assigning No. 88 shirt
• Man United projects record revenue of $816M

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ESPN announced the nominees for the 2023 Sports Humanitarian Awards at the ESPYs: Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award Honoree: Dr. Richard Lapchick; Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award finalists: Paralympic swimmer Jamal Hill, Bucks G Jrue Holiday and former USWNT player Lauren Holiday, and Austin FC GK Brad Stuver; Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year finalists: Connecticut Sun, Colts, N.Y. Jets, Spurs; and Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award: Jordan Adeyemi, Ashley Badis, Rishan Patel (ESPN).

LIV Golf and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport of the Andalucía region of Spain signed a multiyear partnership which will now see the event exclusively entitled LIV Golf Andalucía. Under the terms of the partnership, ‘Andalucía' will become the Official Destination Partner of LIV Golf Andalucía (LIV Golf).

Ohio State QB Kyle McCord signed an NIL partnership with Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet and showed "off a new car he was gifted as part of the endorsement deal." As part of his sponsorship agreement, McCord will "make an appearance and create a couple of social media posts." OSU WR Marvin Harrison Jr. also partnered with Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet back in April (SI, 6/27).

“They have more prospect value on this team than six Major League Baseball team’s entire farm systems” – ESPN’s Justin Tinsley, on the roster of LSU who just won the men's College World Series (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 6/27).

The WALL STREET JOURNAL goes with, "Baseball Scouts Call In Artificial Intelligence Help From the Bullpen." Scouting has "changed drastically since an explosion of data and technology entered the game a decade ago," and now MLB is introducing an "even more high-tech tool: analysis of player potential via artificial intelligence." The league has partnered with Uplift Labs, a biomechanics company that "says it can document a prospect’s specific movement patterns using just two iPhone cameras." Uplift said that it uses artificial intelligence to "translate the images captured by the phone cameras into metrics that can quantify elements of player movement." It believes the data it generates can "detect player’s flaws, forecast their potential and, possibly, flag their potential for injury." Some player agents believe that movement data could "help players who are likely to go in later rounds of the draft, showing deeper skill sets that may not be immediately apparent."

Also:

• How Jaguars could possibly play in Jacksonville during stadium renovations without adding $100M to cost.
• Ja Morant should settle his lawsuit because "only the lawyers can actually win."
• UNLV study confirms Las Vegas’ status as a top destination for sports.

Apologies if this is out there but Tennessee State is holding a press conference tomorrow to announce it will be the first HBCU to introduce college hockey at its school.

— Ryan S. Clark (@ryan_s_clark) June 28, 2023

Will beg, borrow and deal for one of these if you’re onsite this week. https://t.co/lMGPZ5oJSg

— Rick Gehman (@RickRunGood) June 27, 2023

Zhang doesn't get Solheim points for her Mizuho win... but her clearest path is through the world rankings. She's ten spots away from overtaking Yin for the top Team USA's Solheim Cup's Rolex Rankings spot on the team. Conceivably she could put herself in that position next week. pic.twitter.com/bGOl43pVYy

— Kent Paisley (@KentPaisley) June 27, 2023

It would appear Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy have buried the hatchet.

Sergio said it was a great U.S. Open week because he "gained a friend back." pic.twitter.com/3lzJfvdXc2

— Sean Zak (@Sean_Zak) June 28, 2023

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “19th Century Literature."

"In 1896 new spider species were named for a wolf, a panther & a snake from a work published 2 years earlier by this man."

"Who is Rudyard Kipling?"