The leaders of college sports are involved in "deep discussions" to reach a legal settlement that “would likely lay out the framework for sharing revenue with athletes in a future NCAA business model.” The case of House v. NCAA is scheduled to go to court in January 2025. If the plaintiffs win at trial, the NCAA and its schools “could be liable to pay more than” $4B in damages, which has “motivated many leaders across the industry to seek a settlement.” Sources stressed that “no deal is imminent,” though details about what a "multibillion-dollar settlement could look like are expected to be shared with campuses in the near future.” With the settlement expected to cost billions in back pay for former athletes, it "would likely also require the NCAA and conferences to agree to a system for sharing more revenue with some of the players moving forward.” Sources indicated that the top-end revenue share number per school -- once it is determined -- “would be in the neighborhood” of $20M annually, although that is yet to be settled (ESPN.com, 4/29).

Sources said the revenue-sharing idea "emerged out of the SEC-Big Ten joint advisory group" that was announced by both conferences in February. The group is made up of university presidents/chancellors and ADs (CBSSPORTS.com, 4/29).

NBCUniversal is "prepared to pay" an average of about $2.5B a year to air a package of NBA games as rival Warner Bros. Discovery "makes last-ditch efforts to keep those rights," according to sources. WBD's TNT has paid an average fee of $1.2B under its current deal. The package NBCUniversal is bidding on "would include playoff and regular season games that would appear on the NBC network, as well as its Peacock streaming service." NBC has discussed "carrying two prime-time games a week," something WBD "can’t offer." Meanwhile, Disney is "expected to pay" an average per-year fee of about $2.6B to renew its deal, sources said, up from about $1.5B a year now. Amazon’s Prime Video has "already reached the outlines" of a streaming rights deal with the NBA. Disney’s ABC is also "on track to retain the rights to the NBA Finals," according to sources (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/29).

RELATED: Many possibilities for NBA rights as market opens

RELATED: ESPN, TNT can match any new deal NBA reaches with third party

U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation are withdrawing their joint bid to host the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The two national governing bodies will instead shift their focus on a bid to host the tournament in 2031.

With Mexico and the U.S. out of the running for 2027, two bids remain: Brazil and a joint Belgium-Germany-Netherlands effort. FIFA is scheduled to announce the winning bid at its annual congress on May 17 in Bangkok.

Hosting the Women's World Cup in 2031 instead of 2027 would give the U.S. and Mexico a longer runway to prepare to host the event. It would also ensure the event isn’t overshadowed -- commercially, logistically and in the public consciousness -- by the men’s World Cup being held on the continent just a year earlier.

The U.S.-Mexico Women’s World Cup bid included 11 U.S. host cities -- those FIFA selected for the 2026 men’s event -- and five Mexican cities: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, K.C., L.A., Miami, N.Y./N.J., Philadelphia, S.F. Bay area, Seattle, Guadalajara, León, Mexico City, Monterrey and Querétaro.

New York City FC announced this morning that it’s selected Legends to manage all sales efforts for suites and premium seating for the club’s new stadium being built at Willets Point in Queens and set to open in 2027. 
 
Legends will provide NYCFC’s strategic consulting and go-to-market analysis, product design and development consultation, strategy and execution for premium and suite sales, initial valuation work, and other marketplace insights. Legends, which is handling similar duties for the Bills’ New Highmark Stadium, will hire and build a dedicated team for NYCFC based in N.Y. NYCFC CEO Brad Sims has said that the club will likely handle stadium naming rights in-house. There will be a sales preview center; details on the location and opening date will be revealed at a later date. 
 
NYCFC’s 100% privately financed stadium project was approved this month and should break ground later this year. The 25,000-seat stadium designed by HOK and built by Turner Construction will be the first all-electric sports stadium in N.Y. and MLS, and only the third in the U.S. Legends is part-owned by the Yankees, who own a minority share of NYCFC. 

 

The A’s have hired Galatioto Sports Partners to "attract an investor -- or several" -- to secure financing for a new Las Vegas ballpark "in exchange for a share of ownership." The goal is to broker a deal intended to provide team owner John Fisher with $500M toward the new ballpark. Nevada legislators last June approved $380M in public funding toward the estimated $1.5B cost of the ballpark, with the A’s responsible for the balance, but access to the public money "requires disclosure of a financing plan for the balance of the cost." Fisher has "sought to sell a minority interest in the A’s for months" (L.A. TIMES, 4/29).

Adidas posted net profit that "beat analysts' expectations" and "confirmed its preliminary figures for its first quarter," citing brand momentum. For the three months that ended in March, net profit swung to $182.3M from a loss of $41.8M for the same period the prior year. Growth in Europe, Emerging Markets, and Greater China was partly offset by a 4% decline in North America. Inventories decreased 22% to $4.75B, "reflecting the company’s initiatives to significantly reduce inventory levels." The company also "confirmed its outlook" for 2024, having raised it on April 16 after "a successful start to the year" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/30). Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden said "the lifestyle business drove sales" in Q1. Overall, Adidas' footwear revenue jumped by 13% over the quarter (REUTERS, 4/30).

Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs are "officially headed to Paris" next season, where they will take on the Pacers in a pair of regular-season contests on Thursday, Jan. 23 and Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, as part of the league’s Paris Games. This will mark the first time the NBA has played two regular-season games in France in the same season. The two games will also be the Spurs' first regular-season games played outside of North America. Additional information about ticket sales, the venue, game times, and surrounding events and activities "will be announced at a later date" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 4/29).

The "seeds for the Spurs' upcoming jaunt to Paris were planted nearly a year ago," when the team won the NBA draft lottery -- and the right to select Wembanyama -- in May. The Spurs and Pacers "will each give up a home game" to participate in the Paris Games. The trip to France "will not necessarily affect the Spurs' ability to continue to play select games in Austin" as they have the past two seasons (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 4/29).

Unrivaled Sports, the youth sports holding company launched earlier this year by Josh Harris, David Blitzer and The Chernin Group, has acquired youth flag football business Under the Lights Powered by Under Armour. Under the Lights, founded in 2015, is the nation’s second-largest youth flag football operator after NFL FLAG, with 35,000 participants across 170 local leagues. Under the Lights is being sold by OneTeam Partners, which will retain a minority stake and is expected to leverage its work with the NFLPA for “innovative programming and marketing” opportunities, according to a release announcing the sale. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Unrivaled board Chair Andy Campion told SBJ earlier this year that flag football is a top near-term priority for the youth sports holding company. Campion: “You will see an acceleration of our investment and energy against [flag football]. We see it as a huge opportunity, and we know the NFL does as well. ... We love that it is both for boys and girls.” Flag football will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 L.A. Games.

Meta’s WhatsApp messaging platform last night replaced its standard emoji of a race car with a new Mercedes-Benz F1 team version that’s now available to its two billion-plus users, and showed it off while hosting an event at the Empire State Building. Beginning Monday, WhatsApp said users of its app platform should have begun noticing in their chats a new race-car emoji that is a black and teal open-wheel car like the one Mercedes uses in real life.

This was the latest innovation between the app and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, following their partnership being revealed last November. Mercedes has also changed its team radio button on its drivers’ steering wheels to feature WhatsApp’s green logo, a potential source of brand exposure for WhatsApp anytime an in-car camera is showing during a race. 
 
Team Principal Toto Wolff and driver Lewis Hamilton attended the event at the Empire State Building, where a light show on the skyscraper’s façade showed off the emoji. Meta also announced it has seen recent double-digit growth in daily users and messages sent in the U.S. Today, Hamilton will do a demonstration run down Fifth Avenue with an older-generation Mercedes F1 car, according to Mercedes, which is its first such experience with an F1 car in Manhattan. A life-sized replica of the emoji race car will also be feature at today’s demo run.

The activations come ahead of the third edition of the Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix, which takes place Sunday at 4pm ET on ABC.

The R&A named NetJets its official private jet provider for the Open Championship as part of a multiyear agreement (R&A).

Fanatics has reached a deal with English Championship club Sunderland AFC that will see Fanatics will become the club’s new retail partner until 2034. Fanatics will become the exclusive operator for the club’s online and stadium store and will provide significant investment in a new retail store at the Stadium of Light (Fanatics).

"I don’t think there’s a G Norman and I think someone would have let me know if there was. Obviously there’s still tickets available on the resale platform and hospitality packages as well" -- R&A Dir of Communications Mike Woodcock, on whether LIV Golf CEO & Commissioner Greg Norman had already bought a ticket for this year's Open Championship like he did for the Masters in April (THE SCOTSMAN, 4/30).

The USA TODAY looks back at the career of newly retired Yankees radio voice John Sterling under the header, "Retired Yankees announcer John Sterling was so much more than a friendly voice on the radio." For 36 years, Sterling was "a constant presence, dancing (and sometimes blasting)" through Yankees fans' ears, "whether it be in the car, through headphones, or just flowing out into their living rooms." Sterling stepped away last weekend as "the voice of the Yankees," and he retired with "many friends in the game." Mentors can work that way, "even if their interactions with you are sporadic or brief." Those moments "stay with us in life, like Sterling did on all those summer nights." We "can always pay it forward, no matter how successful we get."

Also:

• Candace Parker was more than a great talent. She was a hero to a generation of Black girls.
• LIV Golf Adelaide proves fan-first philosophy can work no matter who ends up winning.

Today was an exciting day, as the Rays revealed their City Connect jerseys today! #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/ai2IiJ8ioQ

— Bally Sports Sun: Rays (@BallyRays) April 29, 2024

The current NBA TV deal averages about $2.6 billion a year. ESPN plus whichever of WBD or NBC wins bid adds up to about $5 billion alone. Feel like adding in Amazon gets them over $6 billion.

This feels like the last big score of the cable bundle era. https://t.co/LBFPksubus

— Ryan Glasspiegel (@sportsrapport) April 30, 2024

The open sexism here just can’t be part of a head coach’s vernacular. https://t.co/9mikGsU8NP

— Ian Kennedy (@IanKennedyCK) April 30, 2024

I'm not sure what to say except that this is a real tweet from LA's mayor. pic.twitter.com/7Tfjof8Qca

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) April 30, 2024

"Surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku has been called this two-word name that describes any dominant person or expert."

"What is Big Kahuna?"