The leaders of the new Professional Women’s Hockey League will announce today that the six teams competing in its inaugural season will be based in Boston, N.Y., Minnesota, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa, sources with knowledge of the league’s plans told SBJ. D.C. and London, Ont., were both said to be in recent consideration, but neither ultimately made the cut. 

The league is backed financially by Dodgers owner Mark Walter and his wife Kimbra. It is led by a board that includes Dodgers President & CEO Stan Kasten, former tennis star Billie Jean King and her spouse Ilana Kloss. Kasten and SVP/Hockey Operations Jayna Hefford will lead the virtual introductory press conference this morning at 11am ET, which is expected to include details on the process through which each of the league’s six teams will construct their rosters. 

The establishment of the PWHL represents a sea change in North American women’s hockey, which was previously bifurcated between the seven-team Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) and the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA), a group of the top players from the U.S. and Canada who refused to join the PHF. The new league bought out the PHF in June after spending the previous few months negotiating a CBA with the PWHPA, whose members are expected to make up a majority of the players in the new league. 

The PWHL will be operated as a single entity, meaning the league itself will own all six teams. The league has been interviewing potential GM candidates for the clubs in recent months and is expected to announce those hires later this week. The league’s business operations are currently based out of Dodger Stadium. Sources said the PWHL is expected to have a presence at some of the NHL’s tentpole events during the 2023-24 season and the plan is to begin the league in 2024.

Inter Miami announced last night that "construction began on Miami Freedom Park" earlier this month. Fencing "has gone up" and "crews and heavy equipment are now on site, performing earthwork and sitework." The new stadium, which "includes a 58-acre public park and entertainment district" at Miami Freedom Park, is scheduled to open in 2025. The official groundbreaking ceremony for the 131-acre project "will take place later this year." Leasing and commercial partnership efforts "are underway to attract partners, tenants and retailers." Miami-based architecture firm Arquitectonica, Manica and CAA Icon "are part of the project team." Following delivery of the stadium and initial retail and entertainment offerings in 2025, Miami Freedom Park "will deliver additional retail, hotel and commercial phases through 2030" (MIAMI HERALD, 8/28).

Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, the parent company behind Denver’s NBA, NHL and MLL franchises, announced yesterday it is "exploring potential renovations to Ball Arena," which the Nuggets and Avalanche have called home since 1999. Major renovations to the venue "have not been common." In March, KSE submitted a "large development review" document to the city of Denver, "outlining plans to repurpose the sprawling 55 acres of parking lots surrounding Ball Arena." That development review "did not include any planned changes to the venue itself." For the latest market evaluations regarding Ball Arena, Kroenke has "hired a third-party advisory firm for a planning process that has already included tours of recently renovated NBA and NHL arenas." The company will be "sending out a survey" today "seeking fan feedback to help determine the future of the arena" (DENVER POST, 8/28).

NASCAR will allow Sportradar to distribute its official data feed to sportsbooks in the U.S. and abroad as part of a four-year extension that ends competitor Genius Sports’ exclusive hold on the sanctioning body’s betting data product. Sportradar will use the data to create a live odds feed similar to that previously only available through Genius, offering sportsbooks a second plug-and-play option that they can then present on their sites. No financial terms were disclosed. 

At a time when most U.S. leagues have moved toward exclusivity to maximize rights fees from official streaming data, NASCAR hopes that opening its official feed to both leading data providers will lead to more sportsbooks offering live odds on its races. “Every operator has a preference of the data suppliers that they work with, whether it’s that they fit better into their integration pipelines or make it a little bit easier to (add) a new sport,” said Joe Solosky, NASCAR Managing Dir/Sports Betting. “Some of those are easier to do with Genius. Some are easier to do with Sportradar. In order to get a strong distribution across the board and have more parity in the NASCAR offering across operators, we thought going with both the behemoths in the industry was probably the smartest way to do so now.”

NASCAR hopes that increased competition will lead to innovation, Solosky said, encouraging the data companies to deepen the menu of bet types that they offer to the sportsbooks. Few sportsbooks employ oddsmakers who focus on NASCAR, leaving odds provided by the data companies as the default for use by most operators. “The way we view NASCAR, when we look at all the metrics in the marketplace, the engagement with bettors and the (handle) are not commensurate with ... ratings and attendance,” said Eric Contrad, EVP/Strategic Partnerships and Content for Sportradar. “There’s a gap in that fan base that we’re not reaching. We will look to develop those live markets and expand on them. What we have now are not at the level that fans of NASCAR would like to see.”

Adding NASCAR allows Sportradar to deepen the packages it offers to sportsbook clients already relying on it for feeds from other sports.

Getty Images

Meanwhile, Gauff got to meet Barack Obama and the First Lady "just minutes before her post-match press conference." The former President and First Lady came to Arthur Ashe Stadium to "help celebrate 50 years of equal prize money" (TENNIS, 8/28).

Mitchell & Ness has appointed Eli Kumekpor as the organization’s next CEO, effective immediately. Kumekpor will be based in Irvine, Calif. and report to Joe Bozich, Fanatics’ CEO of Vertical Brands. Kumekpor brings over 20 years of brand-building, financial and operational experience to Mitchell & Ness. He most recently held an executive-level role with Nike, serving as Global VP & GM of Jordan Brand’s prominent men’s business. In his role, he led the strategy and execution that accelerated growth for this multibillion-dollar omnichannel business. In addition, Kumekpor served as Co-Chair of the Nike Black Employee Network and was a member of the Nike Black Community Commitment Taskforce, a select group of executives responsible for leading the organization’s $140M commitment to black communities (Mitchell & Ness).

The Magic and Universidad Ana G. Méndez (UAGM) are extending their partnership from Central Florida to include the Puerto Rican market, a first for any NBA team. As partners for the last five years, the two will also offer additional promotions in the territory of Puerto Rico. This will be the first time there will be targeted activation in Puerto Rico. Other aspects of the expanded partnership include increased UAGM signage at Magic home games, supporting partner of the Magic’s Noche Latina, a branded social media campaign targeted in Puerto Rico and rights to use the Magic marks and logo in the Puerto Rican market (Magic).

Speaking on the shooting that occurred at Friday's White Sox game at Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago Interim Police Supt. Fred Waller said yesterday police "initially urged the Sox to call off the game as a 'precaution,'" but the game "was allowed to proceed because officials couldn’t immediately confirm there was a shooting and didn’t want to 'create a panic.'" White Sox VP/Communications Scott Reifert said the decision to allow the game to continue "fell completely to the police department." A concert after the game "was canceled to allow the department to investigate without fans in the stadium -- not over security concerns," Reifert said. Waller added that investigators have "almost completely dispelled" a theory that one or more bullets were "fired from outside the stadium," wounding two women (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 8/28).

TendedBar will be deployed at Texas A&M’s Kyle Field and the Univ. of Texas’ Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium this fall, the automated liquor drink maker’s debut in the college sports venue market. Additionally, TendedBar will return to Bank of America Stadium, SoFi Stadium and Jacksonville's EverBank Stadium for the 2023 NFL season and will launch at Levi’s Stadium.

Texas A&M, a Levy property, will have five TendedBar units, all with sponsor wraps, revenue that goes to the school. Texas, whose concessions are handled by Sodexo Live!, will have two TendedBars, with Tito’s and Dolce Vita sponsoring them. The bars will be released but financial terms were not disclosed.

The SEC approved liquor sales in stadiums in 2019. The college client additions follow on the heels of an improved user experience TendedBar rolled out nearly two months ago. Instead of requiring first-time users to enroll in TendedBar’s system before getting a drink, which regularly deterred potential customers, users can now be ID’d by an attendant, complete their drink purchase, pay with the credit card reader now attached to each screen (they weren’t previously) and the system then saves their info from the transaction after the fact, registering them. “Some of the problem was doing something extra,” said TendedBar CEO and co-founder Justin Honeysuckle. “Our whole motto right now is just walk up, pay and pour.”

Honeysuckle said that the company saw a 3X usage increase across the board following the registration process shift; in the first 10 days of the new registration process, TendedBar recorded 10% of the user registrations than it did in an entire year previously. Before the shift, TendedBar had to have an ambassador or two to get people signed in; now they don’t need as many people, which should bring expenses down.

SBJ I Factor presented by Allied Sports features an interview with Michael Goldstein, founder of SES Insights and a member of Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 class of 2019. 

Goldstein talks with SBJ’s Ross Nethery about how he transitioned from ESPN to Mastercard to now starting up his own marketing and sponsorship company. Goldstein also shares how testing out new waters has benefited him throughout his career and personal life.  

SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards, such as Forty Under 40, Game Changers and others.

Sports Business Journal is now accepting nominations for the inaugural year of SBJ’s Best Places to Work in Sports, honoring companies for their leadership and unwavering commitment to their employees.

• Regional RFEF presidents urge Rubiales to resign
• EPL outlines new approach to tackle piracy
• NRL's Vegas games may be played on smaller field

Check your preferences to make sure you are getting all the SBJ editions you need to keep you informed.

Energy drink brand Celsius has reached a deal with Learfield to deepen and expand its footprint on campuses around the country by partnering with five new schools -- Oregon, Colorado, Air Force, Washington and Michigan -- as well as expand its existing partnership with Texas A&M (Celsius). 

Mindful Therapy Group has reached a new partnership with the Seahawks that will see Mindful collaborate with the Seahawks on the team's Mental Health Matters campaign and work with the team to amplify conversations around the importance of mental health, all beginning this season (Mindful Therapy Group).

“We all should be about diversity, equity and inclusion. I'm calling for a system that is fair, equitable and benefits all involved. Don't exclude the student-athletes from the profits. My opinion, you can't say you're about diversity, equity and inclusion, if you aren't willing to include the student-athletes in revenue sharing” -- Univ. of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh, advocating for revenue sharing with student-athletes (ESPN.com, 8/28).

“It’s a little flex of the muscle when teams come in there knowing Stanley Cup’s on the ice, we own that Cup right now” -- NHL Network’s Mike Rupp, on the Golden Knights’ new center ice logo incorporating parts of the Stanley Cup’s upper bowl design (“NHL Tonight,” NHL Network, 8/28).

“You know I got a letter from the commissioner about sportsmanship the day before that speech. So I'm trying to figure out what are we promoting to our student-athletes, and then to go say those type of things. I'm not guessing that he's going to be having his Thanksgiving dinner with us the night before that game” -- Univ. of Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian, on Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark's comments about the Black Friday Texas-Texas A&M game (CBSSPORTS.com, 8/28).

A WASHINGTON POST editorial goes with the header, "Putting her mental health first, Simone Biles sticks the landing." Gymnasts "rarely get second acts, especially at the age of 26." Yet as she "so often has," Biles "made the incredible look effortless." Upon withdrawing from the Tokyo Games in 2021, Biles "put her mental health first." Other athletes "rallied around her." So did "many of the more than 57 million American adults and rising number of teenagers suffering from mental illnesses."

Also:

• How Carlos Alcaraz is "bringing the thrill back to tennis."

Sister Jean throws out the first pitch at the Friendly Confines! pic.twitter.com/NrEul2wVvs

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) August 29, 2023

phillies shamelessly recruiting shohei 😂pic.twitter.com/lyxjDv3hrM

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 28, 2023

"In July 2022 the ousted President of this country fled west across the Indian Ocean to the Maldives."

Last night’s edition of “Jeopardy!” featured the category “Streakers.”
$200: “He was the MVP of the NBA Finals in 1991, 1992 & 1993 and again in 1996, 1997 & 1998.”
$400: “From 2014 to 2021, she won the vault at every U.S. Championship in which she competed, 6 in all.”
$600: “Our stage was recently graced by Dan Feyer, who won the Stamford, Conn. tournament for solving these from 2010 through 2015.”
$800: “Born in Prague, she got U.S. citizenship in 1981, then won 6 straight Wimbledon titles beginning in 1982.”
$1,000: “Before he set the major league record, he had a 61-game hitting streak in the minors.”

"What is Sri Lanka?"

The correct responses to the “Streakers” category were:
$200: “Who is Michael Jordan?”
$400: “Who is Simone Biles?”
$600: “What are crosswords?”
$800: “Who is Martina Navratilova?”
$1,000: “Who is Joe DiMaggio?”