Last season, before signing his Mercedes extension, Hamilton "laughed off suggestions of a move to the Italian team"Getty Images

F1 driver Lewis Hamilton is close to "completing a sensational switch from Mercedes to Ferrari in 2025." Hamilton signed what was believed to be a two-year contract extension with Mercedes last year, but it "appears the second year of that now may well have been an option." Although not confirmed officially, sources said that the deal is "as good as done, with the move seeing Hamilton replace Spanish driver Carlos Sainz." Hamilton has been "frequently linked with Ferrari" throughout his career but "looked set to finish his career with Mercedes." Last season, before signing his Mercedes extension, Hamilton "laughed off suggestions of a move to the Italian team," but it appears as though negotiations have "picked up steam in the last few months." Ferrari has been "stalling" on a extension for Sainz, who now could now be an "outside bet for a return" to Red Bull in 2025 (ESPN.com, 2/1).

Hamilton is still in search of an eighth world title and it is "clear he no longer feels that will happen with Mercedes." At the start of last season he "complained about the car from the first race in Bahrain and said his concerns about the design of the car had not been listened to." When the move is confirmed it will be "one of the biggest shocks in F1," as Hamilton has "long spoken of his loyalty to Mercedes." It is "not clear yet who Mercedes will line up to race alongside George Russell" (London TIMES, 2/1).

The Guardians and Diamond Sports Group were "still negotiating over" their TV deal ahead of today’s "deadline imposed by Diamond." The Guardians and Rangers were the only MLB teams Diamond had under contract who had "not agreed to terms." Diamond wanted the Guardians and Rangers to "take a pay cut in their contracts." Diamond also was "negotiating a new contract with the Twins," as the Twins’ old deal with Diamond expired at the end of the 2023 season. There was no hearing yesterday around Diamond's bankruptcy and one was not scheduled for today, but lawyers from the Guardians and Diamond were "trying to negotiate a settlement." Guardians execs are "confident their games will be televised in 2024" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 2/1).

'Any Shot, Any Time' will allow users to have as many as four windows open at any timeLIV Golf

LIV Golf later today will announce a partnership by which technology from Google will allow fans to watch any shot at any time during a broadcast, live.

Google Cloud will serve as a new tech partner for generative AI company PMY Group, and part of that is a multiyear deal for LIV Golf events.

Through the tech partnership, LIV is launching “Any Shot, Any Time,” a feature on the LIV Golf Plus app that will allow users to watch live shots from every player in the field at any time during a tournament, be it live or on replay. It’s built around Google’s Vertex AI platform.

The PGA Tour has had an "Every Shot Live" product at the Players Championship in recent years, with a goal to roll it out at every event in the coming years.

Golf fans also undoubtedly will draw comparisons to the Masters’ popular app and website, which in recent years has let viewers see every shot from every player in the field, but on a slight delay.

LIV’s Any Shot, Any Time will allow viewers to follow along live.

“One of the great debates that people have had in the sport over the past 50 years is, I want to watch the star players versus one player versus the leaders,” said James Watson, LIV’s SVP/Worldwide Production. “This will help us solve that problem. As a second-screen experience, viewers at home can check in with any player, any team, any group on the golf course at any time.”

LIV tested the product at its team championship in Miami in October and plans continued testing during its first two eventsLIV Golf

LIV tested the product at its team championship in Miami in October and plans continued testing during its first two events of the season in Mexico this week and Las Vegas next week. The plan is to begin a public rollout for its tournament in Jeddah from March 1-3 and have it fully available by the summer.

Within the LIV Golf Plus app, viewers can customize their experience and choose which group or player they want to follow. Player scorecards will also be clickable so viewers can see replays of shots from earlier in the round.

Viewers will be able to watch as many as four windows at once within the app to track play. All graphics during play are triggered by scoring on site and are automated through Vertex AI.

With the partnership, it’s expected that Google will have on-screen branding in the feature.

Additionally, LIV this summer is launching the Golf Companion App. The free app, available in Apple and Google Play stores, will be powered by Google AI and will give users advanced statistics, 3D aerial views of each course LIV plays on and more.

“The message here and the mission here is get younger, and all the research that we’ve done is that the next generation of golf fans, this is how they want to consume it,” Watson said.

Michelob Ultra, part of the Anheuser-Busch portfolio of brands, is making a big bet on soccer over the next few years with a string of major global events set to be held in North America, including Copa América 2024, the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The brand sees Super Bowl LVIII, in which it will run an ad starring Inter Miami F Lionel Messi, as a chance to make that initial connection between the brand and soccer for TV’s largest audience.

“2026 starts now, essentially,” said Michelob Ultra VP/Marketing Ricardo Marques. “The view we're taking is we have three years with these three amazing events that are happening in the U.S., and it starts right now.”

Michelob Ultra is an official sponsor of this summer’s Copa América, which will be played across the U.S, as well as U.S. Soccer, the 2028 L.A. Games and several MLS clubs. In addition to Messi, its roster of athlete endorsers includes U.S. women’s national team F Alex Morgan and men’s national team MF Christian Pulisic.

“We believe we have what we need to position Michelob Ultra front and center in the sport,” Marques said.

After releasing several teasers over the past week, Michelob Ultra revealed its full Super Bowl spot starring Messi. Titled “Superior Beach,” the ad from created by Wieden + Kennedy New York marks Messi’s first Super Bowl commercial appearance. It also features cameos from Pro Football HOFer Dan Marino and actor Jason Sudeikis.

In the spot, Messi and two friends order some Michelob Ultras on draft at a beach bar. When the keg kicks, Messi insists on waiting for the next one rather than ordering a different beer. After an errant soccer ball rolls over to him, the Argentine shows off some fancy footwork on the beach before returning to the bar for his beer.

Amer Sports raised about $1.37B in a U.S. initial public offering "priced below a marketed range," selling 105 million shares at $13 each. Three members of the consortium that acquired the company in 2019 agreed to "buy 21 million additional shares at the IPO price, on top of their previous commitment." Amer had marketed 100 million shares for $16 to $18, targeting as much as $435M "more than it raised." At $13 a share, the company has a market value of about $6.3B, based on its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 1/31).

FORTUNE's CEO Daily newsletter looked at the Amer Sports IPO under the header, "The First Big IPO of 2024 Underdelivers" (2/1).

Shoe brand Crocs has signed an official licensing deal with NASCAR, continuing the racing series’ recent streak of bringing on new merchandise partners. The agreement will be announced later this morning and will result in the Colorado-based foam footwear manufacturer selling a new NASCAR-branded collection of shoes starting at retailers, wholesalers and the Crocs website beginning Monday. Consumers who have the Crocs app downloaded will get an early purchasing window starting tomorrow. The foam shoes will have designs like checkered flag graphics, NASCAR’s color pattern, charms and LED devices.

In 2006, Crocs made its first play in NASCAR with several team-side licensing deals with the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Richard Childress Racing. NASCAR Managing Dir of Licensing & Consumer Products Megan Malayter noted that Crocs is a well-known shoe brand and that the deal “gives NASCAR fans a fun, functional way to put their passion on display ... and provides NASCAR another important opportunity to meet new consumers and potential fans where they are.” The Crocs deal is the latest for Malayter’s licensing department as NASCAR works to build its cool factor through its approach to merchandise.

The Big 12 is slated to reveal Muhammad Ali-inspired shooting shirts in celebration of Black History Month on Thursday via a partnership between the league and Muhammad Ali Enterprises. The shirts -- which feature Ali's mantra "If your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough" -- will be worn by all of the Big 12's men's and women's basketball teams during warmups throughout February. They are expected to debut during Thursday night's women's matchup between No. 12 Texas and No. 13 Baylor, while they'll first appear on the men's side during the Big 12's Saturday slate of conference games.

Fans can purchase the Big 12 x Muhammad Ali apparel via Fanatics.com. Each purchase will support the John McLendon Foundation, which provides access and opportunities to minorities through its scholarship program and leadership initiative.

A pair of potential first-round picks from the Univ. of Washington highlight Excel Sports Management’s first draft class since the agency acquired Rep 1 Football and launched its football division.

The CFP runner up Huskies’ WR Rome Odunze and OL Troy Fautanu are among the nine clients signed by Excel Football for both on-field and marketing representation. Two others are signed for marketing only.

“I think it’s a group that does very well in the draft,” said Ryan Tollner, who cofounded Rep 1 Sports and stayed on post-acquisition as co-head of Excel Football. “Probably more importantly, it’s loaded with team captains and guys who are going to do great things in the community. That’s something we’re proud of."

The full roster includes Odunze, Fautanu, Texas WR Jordan Whittington, Washington OL Roger Rosengarten, Utah OL Sataoa Laumea, Washington LB Edefuan Ulofoshio, Notre Dame LB JD Bertrand, Kansas State TE Ben Sinnott, Washington TE/H Jack Westover. Two others are on board for marketing representation only: North Carolina QB Drake Maye and Texas WR AD Mitchell.

In November, Excel acquired Rep 1 Football, creating Excel Football by combining Tollner’s agency with Excel’s existing talent marketing division led by partner Alan Zucker, which already represented Peyton and Eli Manning, Joe Montana and current NFLers Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence, among others. Because the transaction was so late in the football recruitment cycle, the deal had a limited effect on this year’s draft roster, Tollner said, but he expects the NIL and talent marketing capabilities to appeal to possible clients in the future.

Inter Miami this season will have an extra 1,200 tickets "up for sale, thanks to newly installed seats" at DRV PNK Stadium. The stadium's capacity for 2024 will be 21,550, and the brand-new seating section is in the southwest, northeast southeast corners (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 1/31).

The AP looks at how NFL players have "steadily have used more mental health resources since the pandemic." The NFL and NFLPA in 2019 agreed to "make it a requirement to have a licensed behavioral health clinician on the staff of each team in an effort to increase mental health resources." The league and union said that there has been a "steadily increasing number of players taking advantage of the opportunity to talk with mental health professionals ever since the COVID-19 pandemic started." The two team facing off in Super Bowl LVIII have gone above what is required, with the Chiefs one of "several teams in the league with a full-time professional dedicated to mental health," while the 49ers have a licensed behavioral health clinician "at their training facilities for 20 to 30 hours a week, much more than the eight to 12 hours mandated in the collective bargaining agreement."

Also:

•  FSU has turned former ACC Commissioner John Swofford’s son into Hunter Biden.

Look out Steve Cohen, there's a new social media savvy owner down I-95 (pending MLB approval) https://t.co/C5DHHu19Da

— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) January 31, 2024

I think some people believe Tennessee is leading a revolution. But I also have NOT sensed there a lot of schools lining up to fight with/for Tennessee in this case.
Maybe that changes as others get caught up in the net they asked the NCAA to toss. https://t.co/hbEPmMKNGI

— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) January 31, 2024

For the last 2-3 years, there's been constant speculation that college coaches fed up with NIL/portal would start trying to jump to the NFL.

Jeff Hafley giving up a P5 head coaching job to be an NFL coordinator is the most clear-cut example to date.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) January 31, 2024

"Also an author, this singer who had 5 top 40 hits in the 1970s was called the 'Pirate Laureate.'"

"Who is Jimmy Buffett?"