AEG has selected an internal candidate, SVP Tom Braun, to lead business operations for the Galaxy following the firing of longtime team president Chris Klein. Braun, a 2023 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree, will take on the titles of President of Business Operations and COO as part of a broader restructuring of the club’s leadership team. Prior to his dismissal in May, Klein oversaw both business and soccer operations for the club. Under the club’s new leadership structure, head coach and Sporting Dir Greg Vanney will be the chief decision-maker on the soccer side. Braun and Vanney will each report to AEG President & CEO Dan Beckerman. 

While AEG did receive interest from numerous external candidates interested in filling Klein's role, the company prioritized internal candidates and identified Braun as the right leader for the job. AEG also promoted SVP/Revenue & Strategy Urel Martinez to CRO. Martinez and Chief Creative and Brand Officer Will Misselbrook will each report to Braun, and the trio will serve as the club’s senior management team. In addition to overseeing revenue and brand, Braun will directly manage business development, finance, the LA Galaxy Foundation and community relations, communications and administration.  

"Our major priorities are to continue to grow the relevancy of the Galaxy and the growth of our club within Los Angeles and North America and the US,” Braun told SBJ. “Our priorities are driving revenues, winning games and providing a good fan experience for fans." 

AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, the TV home for the Rockies, notified its employees that the RSN is "shutting down," according to sources close to the situation. The last day of work for full-time employees at the network is Oct. 6, although it will "continue running through at least the end of the year." Among the potential options to "take over production and distribution of local broadcasts" are MLB or Stan Kroenke’s Altitude TV. That is unless the Rockies "opt to pick up the broadcasts," which they have "yet to indicate they will do." For AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain’s on-air talent, such as Drew Goodman, Jeff Huson, Ryan Spilborghs, Cory Sullivan and Jenny Cavnar, their futures are "also in limbo despite being independent contractors" (DENVER POST, 9/5).

Florida State will discuss approving up to $255M in debt for "major renovations" to Doak Campbell Stadium, according to the agenda for FSU’s BOT meetings later this week. The plan would call for "renovations to the west side and south end zone of the football stadium." The proposal would "remove 27,000 seats on the west side and add back 16,000." The work includes "new club seating and a kitchen plus suites, lounges and upgrades to antiquated infrastructure." The stadium’s current capacity is 79,560. The south end zone renovations would feature "new loge boxes" and installing "breathable mesh seats." FSU’s full board is expected to discuss the stadium Friday. The $255M debt figure does not include $8M in previously received donations or $22M in expected future contributions, which would bring the total figure for renovations to $285M (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 9/5).

Fanatics has hired former Fox Sports and PointsBet exec Ed Hartman as Chief Strategy Officer, Media. He reports to Tucker Kain, Fanatics’ Chief Strategy and Growth Officer. Sources stress that the hiring of Hartman to a media-related role is not a sign that Fanatics is setting up a media division any time soon. Fanatics chief Michael Rubin has spoken about how a media play makes sense as a long term goal, and based on his experience at Fox Sports and PointsBet, Hartman is well suited to evaluate long-term media opportunities.

But Rubin also has stressed that Fanatics will stay focused on its three existing businesses -- merchandise (Fanatics Commerce), trading cards (Fanatics Collectibles) and sports betting (Fanatics Betting & Gaming). Hartman’s job will be finding content that fits within those three businesses. That includes social content, podcasts and documentary shorts. An example would be the short video it produced around the NFL Rookie Premier Weekend. 

PointsBet named Hartman Chief Strategy Officer last September. Last summer, Fanatics bought PointsBet for $225M. Before that, Hartman was a top exec at Fox Sports and News Corp., with roles that included EVP/Business Operations at the USFL, SVP/Digital Partnerships & Wagering at Fox Sports, SVP/Corporate Development at Fox Corp and SVP/Mergers & Acquisitions at News Corp.

A small skirmish has flared up between the NFL and its newest rights holder YouTube TV, which holds the U.S. rights to “NFL Sunday Ticket.” Back in July, YouTube TV told the NFL that it will not be able to make that service available in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands until November at the earliest, sources said. Plus, YouTube TV is blocking an NFL-created plan to allow the former “NFL Sunday Ticket” rights holder, DirecTV, to provide the package to homes in those markets until YouTube TV can launch it. DirecTV for Business has the commercial rights to provide “NFL Sunday Ticket” to restaurants and bars in those markets through a deal it signed with EverPass Media. The NFL’s regular season starts tomorrow night, and YouTube’s “Sunday Ticket” is slated to debut on Sunday.

Disney is “quietly giving players at this week’s US Open direct access to tournament coverage via its ESPN channel” amid a heated dispute with pay-television provider Charter Communications that has “blacked out programming for millions of subscribers.” During his Monday press conference following his advancement into the quarterfinals, Daniil Medvedev said, “I don’t know if it’s legal or illegal, but I have to find a way because I cannot watch [the matches] on TV. I got internet -- how do you call it? -- pirate websites, I watch tennis there. I have no other choice.” Yesterday an ESPN spokesperson said that the network has “started providing secure logins to The Walt Disney Company app to some US Open players who have requested access, including Medvedev.” The company has also “provided logins to some members of the media in the US covering the tournament” (FINANCIAL TIMES, 9/5). 

The Browns are debuting Clover Sport’s integrated commerce technology at Cleveland Browns Stadium this NFL season to enhance the venue’s food and beverage operations. Clover Sport app integrations will enable mobile ordering, loyalty programs and stored value embedded on tickets, while nearly 500 Clover Sport devices, including self-checkout kiosks, will be spread across concessions locations at Cleveland Browns Stadium, where Aramark Sports + Entertainment is the concessionaire. Clover Sport's backend software provides the venue’s operators will real-time data and reporting that can be used to streamline operations.

Clover Sport is owned by Fortune 500 fintech giant Fiserv and helmed by VP, GM Sandeep Bhanote. Its hardware and/or software is now used in seven of the 30 NFL stadiums, including Hard Rock Stadium, Gillette Stadium, Caesars Superdome, Acrisure Stadium, Lumen Field and Raymond James Stadium. Clover Sport tech is deployed at more than 300 sports and entertainment venues in total. 

Clover Sport at Cleveland Browns Stadium

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Photo: Clover Sport

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Photo: Clover Sport

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UFC will employ sports betting monitoring program ProhiBet to try to clamp down on the specter of wagering scandals within its sport. ProhiBet is a joint venture between U.S. Integrity, which already works with UFC, and Odds On Compliance, and it has a notification platform meant to inform properties or colleges when people within their industry place questionable wagers. This agreement will be announced later today. ProhiBet will monitor UFC athletes, coaches, employees and officials, who are not allowed to bet on fights put on by the Endeavor-owned property. This comes after a betting scandal did hit UFC earlier this year: UFC suspended fighter coach James Krause for an alleged violation of these related rules.

Hally

Beauty brand Hally Hair has released a new collection, "Shop Your School," that will allow students and fans to purchase Hally’s one-day hair color, Shade Stix, with their school’s very own licensed insignia on the package. The collection will be available to purchase for over 30 schools on Fanatics as well as on college campuses and bookstores, local boutiques and at dozens of Alumni Hall locations across the country. Hally founder & CEO Kathryn Winokur said, “I feel like now we are bringing it to next level which is truly all about the fan and access to reaching the fan outside of just certain athletes or sports teams.”

Back in May, Hally started partnering with NCAA student athletes for a softball activation which featured players from the Tennessee, Georgia and LSU. This fall, Hally Hair will continue its college mobile bus tour which includes stops at TCU, Ohio State and Alabama.

The U.S. Open will conduct a mental health forum, “Mental Health and Sport: Why It Matters,” today from 1-1:45pm ET in Interview Room 1 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The wide-ranging discussion will address topics ranging from changing social norms, mental toughness vs. mental wellness, social media and its impact on mental well-being, among other topics. USTA Chairman of the Board and NCAA Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brian Hainline will moderate alongside Naomi Osaka and Gold Medal-winning U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps, with both being outspoken about their mental health in the past (U.S. Open).

Domestic violence charges "have been dropped" against Coyotes minority owner Andrew Barroway, who had been arrested after a dispute with his wife in Colorado last spring. Barroway issued a statement yesterday saying the district attorney's office in Pitkin County, Colo., "had decided to dismiss the case against him." Barroway: "The past several months have been extremely difficult for my loved ones and for me personally. As you can imagine, seeing a private personal matter wrongly depicted in the media was hurtful and frustrating. Now that this matter has concluded, I can directly say that the allegations against me were false." The NHL suspended Barroway indefinitely on March 23 after police said a verbal altercation between him and his wife "had turned physical" (ESPN.com, 9/5).

Teeling Whiskey has agreed to a four-year sponsorship to be Notre Dame’s official Irish whiskey. The deal was facilitated by Notre Dame Global Partnerships, a joint venture between Legends and JMI Sports. Teeling is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, where it also had a sponsorship presence with the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. Teeling represents the first sponsor from the spirits category for the Fighting Irish. The brand will work with the program on a responsible drinking campaign to encourage moderate drinking. As part of the partnership, Teeling will create new bottle releases, merchandising, luxury tastings and other fan experiences.

Read more about the deal in this week's SBJ College newsletter. 

All Disney networks, including ESPN, went dark on Charter’s Spectrum cable systems on Aug. 31, affecting close to 15 million subscribers. Podcast hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand discuss how ESPN and Charter got to this point and predict what should happen next. The outcome of this deal has tentacles well beyond just ESPN and Charter. It has big ramifications for the entire sports business. Meanwhile, just a couple of days before the start of the NFL’s regular season, Marchand and Ourand identify the NFL media story lines they will be following most closely this season. And they discuss Chris Fowler’s Instagram video explaining why he made several mistakes announcing a recent college football game.

Fox Sports’ top NFL broadcast booth of Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen join the pod as The Big Get this week. They tell stories from last season when they replaced Joe Buck and Troy Aikman as the top crew. And they talk about the specter of another season calling games with Tom Brady waiting in the wings to take over as Fox’s top NFL analyst for the 2024-25 season. Marchand brings out his Brady Meter for this conversation. Burkhardt and Olsen also discuss some of the biggest sports media stories, including the current state of college athletics.

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.

The NCAA today will open its portal for schools, sports commissions, municipalities and other organizations to bid on the right to host the roughly 500 postseason events that will be awarded for the 2026-27 through 2029-30 academic years (David Broughton, SBJ). Read more about the bidding process in this week's SBJ College newsletter.

The city of Birmingham has "doubled its amount of guaranteed funding" for construction to make sure updates of Rickwood Field are done in time for its MLB game next year. The Birmingham City Council yesterday approved $4.5M to "pay the costs of capital improvements." The city had already allocated more than $2M for upgrades (AL.com, 9/5).

Sportfive has secured exclusive ownership of third-party media rights for the South American World Cup Qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The agreement encompasses all Conmebol home World Cup qualifier matches for the national teams of Brazil and Argentina. Additionally, Sportfive is set to oversee the media rights for all home friendlies of the Brazilian national team (Sportfive).

“You look at what the IOC currently gets for TV rights in India and what the IPL generates and, although it is not a direct comparison, there is no question that having cricket as an Olympic sport would transform the media rights market there” -- Former IOC marketing boss Michael Payne, on the likely addition of T20 cricket to the 2028 L.A. Games program (London TIMES, 9/5).

The AP goes with, "The effort to add young minority hockey players in North America turns its attention to keeping them." The Capitals' Rising Stars Academy in late August was designed to "provide minority hockey players with elite on-ice skill development and off-ice training geared toward problem-solving and handling some racist elements in a sport that remains predominantly white." Fifteen years in the making, the program -- one of only two of its kind around the NHL -- represents the "next step for players and their families who have already chosen hockey with the aim of retaining them and showing them a path to playing in high school, college and beyond." Developing the clinic "took time because, first, hockey had to expand in the Washington area," and many families now in various programs are "wondering what’s next." Former Navy hockey captain Ralph Featherstone believes that off-ice training is "more valuable to kids than the on-ice work because it shows them they’re part of a community and how to deal with racism and other challenges."

Also:

• The NFL’s new kickoff rule is a "classically terrible idea."
• How the Univ. of Houston drew inspiration from Georgia for new football facility.
• Temple Acting President JoAnne Epps has thoughts (and concerns) about college sports.

Emma Watson watching tennis is everything 🤩 pic.twitter.com/yLxICc91de

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2023

is there a single NFL fan on the planet that thinks or talks this way? https://t.co/MtKQUxq3Qw

— 506 Sports (@506sports) September 6, 2023

This is all so dumb.

1. It’s OK for a coach to say he thinks his team is going to win.

2. Why on earth would you then claim you didn’t say it when you said it on statewide radio? https://t.co/urgnE7aBVA

— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) September 6, 2023

Hi everyone … I’m back! Thanks to some key, determined people who helped me regain access and control of my account. Apologies for all the rubbish Bot posts about crypto or whatever. This is really me and it feels good to be back and able to chat with you again. Regards, Diff

— Leigh Diffey (@leighdiffey) September 5, 2023

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥: 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

Episode 1 debuts Thursday at 7PM on ESPN+ 📽️ pic.twitter.com/O6fXzT3GP9

— Charlotte Football (@CharlotteFTBL) September 5, 2023

Backstreet is sooooo back 🤩🎤 @backstreetboys pic.twitter.com/7pLkpFid9k

— Savannah Bananas (@TheSavBananas) September 5, 2023

"This bell was named Marie…alone in the southern tower, with her sister Jacqueline, 'a bell of lesser size,' says this novel."

 "What is The Hunchback of Notre Dame? (Notre-Dame de Paris)"