By TERRY LYONS
BOSTON – This week’s column goes out to the many readers/subscribers who work in the sports industry. They often read this weekly missive seeking sports business news, tidbits from industry conferences and behind-the-scenes insights into newsworthy happenings ripped from the headlines.
Instead of providing 100% sports business news from this week, it’s important to take a step back and realize the real reason many of us dedicate our lives to working in sports and to enhance our love for the game(s). Here’s the real life example and my personal schedule for the weekend:
Friday:
7:10pm – Kansas City Royals at Boston Red Sox: Instead of a usual view of the game from the press box, Friday night was enjoyed with visiting friends from the center field bleachers at Fenway Park, the exact 180-degree turn-around. The Red Sox won, 2-1, despite registering just two hits through seven innings and trailing 1-0 heading into the 8th. In that situation, the Red Sox won for just the fourth time this year and are 4-57. J.D. Martinez hit a two-out, bases-loaded RBI single in the 8th to give the Red Sox their 2-1 lead, much to the delight of the 33,180 fans still standing with me for the come-from-behind Boston victory.
Saturday:
The full day of “Sports for the Fun of It” schedule is provided as this column is being written as the temperatures dip into the high 40s early Saturday morning to accommodate:
9am: Cambridge: Meet-up with the friends to prep for a 10am tailgate in Somerville, Massachusetts leading into the first of three events for the day.
Noon: Trinity College at Tufts in a New England Small College Athletic Conference Division III game, featuring senior TE, No. 85 Thomas Walsh, son of dear friends Nancy and Tom Walsh who made the short trek from New York to watch their son play college football. As a junior, No. 85 led Trinity in yards per reception and was fifth on his team in pass receptions and receiving yards. He opened the game with a 22-yard catch that set-up his teammate William Kirby’s 53-yard run to make it 7-0, Trinity. The Bantams took a 26-3 halftime lead before allowing 20 unanswered second half points to win 26-23. The game was the opener for both the Jumbos and the visiting Bantams.
4:10pm – Kansas City Royals at Boston Red Sox: The Royals and Sox played the second of their three-game set at Fenway. The (70-75) Sox lost to the (58-88) Royals, in a (9-0) ear-slapping, as Boston’s disappointing season creeps towards a close with Boston in the 5th place cellar of the American League East. Kansas City has been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention while Boston is 17 games back from the division-leading New York Yankees. The Sox are 10 games out of a wild card berth, a gap too far to mend.
7:30pm – Maine Black Bears at Boston College: The (0-2) Bears – losses at New Mexico (41-0) and to visiting Colgate (21-18) – visit The Heights to play the (0-2) Eagles. BC’s suffered through a home loss to Rutgers, 22-21, and on the road at Blacksburg, Virginia where Virginia Tech won the Atlantic Coast Conference battle. Boston College can not afford a loss to Maine and we’ll be in the stands Saturday night as this column is sent to its loyal and fast-growing following. (BC won 38-17).
Sunday:
Early AM: After the temps dipped to the high 40s Saturday, seasonal last weekend of summer weather will return, sending temperature to the low 80s for a day of rest. That means:
Noon: The NFL Today will be on for a good hour or so as the NFL kicks-off its Week Two schedule.
1:00pm: The NFL RedZone will dominate the TV screen, an addictive, all-encompassing look at every NFL game. For those not in the know, the RedZone is the reason NFL game ratings have dipped a bit as fans can watch every single score by every team in the league, sometimes on split screen and sometimes in a ridiculous “OctoBox,” where eight games are on in near postage stamp-sized screens. It’s a fabulous way to keep an eye on every game, rather than the three or four OTA (over-the-air) games assigned to Boston which include New England at Pittsburgh.
8:20pm: Sunday Night Football, Dick Ebersol’s gift to American sports fans who can tune-in this week to the Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers game. There’s nothing like an NFL “Black & Blue” division game to finish my weekend of “Sports for the Fun of It,” shared here to underline the importance of – sometimes – stepping back to enjoy the games we cover,
HERE NOW, THE NOTES: As you return to our regularly scheduled programming, the subject of the Phoenix Suns and team governor Robert Sarver must be addressed. This week NBA Commissioner Adam Silver held a press conference to announce the findings of an independent investigation into workplace issues in the front office and arena operations for the Phoenix Suns. Formerly a model franchise of the NBA, the investigation by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz found that during his time with the Suns and the WNBA’s Mercury, Sarver used the N-word at least five times “when recounting the statements of others.” … The investigation also uncovered “instances of inequitable conduct toward female employees,” including “sex-related comments” and inappropriate comments on employees’ appearances, among other violations of proper workplace culture.
Silver announced a one-year ban and $10 million fine levied on Sarver. The ban requires the franchise owner to refrain from attending any games, practices, meetings and involvement in any basketball decisions for the Suns. Silver made the announcement as the NBA convened a Board of Governors meeting, a regular occurrence in the NBA’s yearly business calendar.
The NBA’s suspension and hefty fine were met with significant backlash by many of the rank and file players and the NBA players association, among others involved with the league. Saturday, the players’ union called for a lifetime ban and Suns sponsor – PayPal – which issued a statement that read: “PayPal is a values-driven company and has a strong record of combatting racism, sexism and all forms of discrimination,” PayPal CEO and president Dan Schulman. “We have reviewed the report of the NBA league’s independent investigation into Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver and have found his conduct unacceptable and in conflict with our values.”… “In light of the findings of the NBA’s investigation, we will not renew our sponsorship should Robert Sarver remain involved with the Suns organization, after serving his suspension.”
SportsBetting.ag set odds on whether or not Sarver will be the Suns team owner in 2024, and the outlook isn’t good for the disgraced businessman.
Will Robert Sarver be the Suns franchise owner in 2024?
Yes +200
No -300
This story is in the second quarter, heading downhill. The first quarter was a disaster.
FOLLOW THE BOUNCING BALL: Believe it or not, NBA training camps open this week for teams traveling overseas in the preseason. Here’s a list of key dates for the NBA for the rest of the year:
September 23: First allowable date for players participating in preseason games outside North America to report to their teams (no earlier than 11am local time).
September 24: Training camps open for all teams participating in preseason games outside North America.
September 26: First allowable date for all other veteran players to report to their teams (no earlier than 11am local time).
September 27: NBA training camps open.
September 30: NBA preseason games begin.
September 30 & Oct. 2: NBA Japan Games, Golden State Warriors vs. Washington Wizards (Tokyo, Japan).
October 6 & 8: NBA Abu Dhabi Games, Atlanta Hawks vs. Milwaukee Bucks (Abu Dhabi, UAE).
October 14: NBA preseason ends.
October 17: Rosters set for start of 2022-23 NBA regular season (5pm ET).
October 18: Start of 2022-23 NBA regular season.
October 22: NBA G League Draft.
October 24: NBA G League training camps open.
December 17: NBA Mexico City Game, Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs (Mexico City, Mexico).
December 27: NBA G League regular season begins (32 games per team).
DIAMOND DUST-UPs: First reported by Sportico, the business arm of Major League Baseball is dividing international markets for its franchises, giving baseball clubs new commercial rights in specific areas around the world, according to multiple people familiar with the plan. … Baseball and softball are played by an estimated 65 million people around the world, according to the sport’s international governing body. Large concentrations for baseball exist in parts of Asia, Australia, Europe and South/Central America.
BREAKING – as in REALLY BREAKING NEWS: One of baseball’s best – Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies – left Saturday night’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies with a fractured right pinky finger, the team announced.
Albies was injured as he slid into second base in the fourth inning and the most recent setback occurred one day after he was activated from the 60-day injured list. Albies was sidelined because of a broken left foot suffered in June after making an awkward swing.
BY THE WAY: The countdown clock is on its last two weeks for most Fantasy Baseball Leagues. The MLB regular season will come to a close Wednesday, October 5.
LIV SHADE: The LIV Golf circuit displayed quite a bit of cockiness as they gained traction after the PGA Tour Championship and a few more players jumped to the Saudi-funded rival to the PGA Tour. That said, this weekend’s LIV Tournament in Chicago showed one of two major flaws in the new golf entity.
- Lack of a Network television deal
- Low attendance at events
Those two factors equal a tainted business model for LIV in 2022, but the endless stack of bucks allow for years of “runway” for LIV to land a deal and gradually build an audience.
Phil Mickelson, longtime fan favorite and multi Major champion expressed his views in a Friday interview in Chicago:
“The PGA Tour, for the last 20 or 30 years have had all the best players in the world,” Mickelson said at a Chicago LIV event Friday, reported both Reuters and ESPN. “That will never be the case again. LIV Golf is here to stay.
“The best solution is for us to come together. I think that the world of professional golf has a need for the old historical ‘history of the game’ product that the PGA Tour provides. I think that LIV provides a really cool, updated feel that is attracting a lot of younger crowds,” Mickelson added.
“Both are good for the game of golf and the inclusion of LIV Golf in the ecosystem of the golf world is necessary. As soon as that happens, we all start working together. It’s going to be a really positive thing for everyone.”
Cameron Smith (-10) leads Dustin Johnson (-8) heading into Sunday’s final 18 holes. Johnson won the previous tournament in a sudden death playoff here in Boston. In Chicago, the purse is $20 mil.
This weekend, the PGA Tour was in Napa. So no whining.
NCAA FOOTBALL POWER 12: Now, three weeks into the NCAA college football season, the popular TL Power 12 is back. This list simulates what we’ll see by 2026 when the College Football Playoff system expands.
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- Clemson
- Oklahoma
- USC
- Oklahoma State
- Kentucky
- Tennessee
- Arkansas
- NC State
*Some results not final
NFL POWER 10: Here’s the WWYI power ten for the NFL heading into Week 2:
- Buffalo
- Kansas City
- Tampa Bay
- New Orleans
- Baltimore
- Green Bay
- Philadelphia
- Indianapolis
- LA Rams
- LA Chargers
THE SPORTS PROFESSOR: When Rick Horrow, known in sports business industry circles as “The Sports Professor,” first released The Sports Business Handbook at a joint Harvard Law/Harvard Business conference two years ago, it was heralded as the most unique collection of commentary and advice from industry leaders in the $1.3 trillion business of sports.
Digital Sports Desk was at HBS for the launch.
This October, the newly revised and expanded edition of Horrow’s book, The Sports Business Handbook: Insights from 100+ Leaders who Shaped 50 Years of the Industry will be on sale and available for order online. It will have more insights skimmed from many of the sports industry’s brightest minds and influential executives. It will include guidance for the sports business in a post-pandemic world.
Horrow will co-host a special book launch event – “Sports Business @ 50 Lessons & Leadership from Legends of the Game” – in New York City on Thursday, September 22nd, with former Major League Baseball president and book contributor Bob DuPuy at the offices of Foley & Lardner LLP (90 Park Avenue, New York) from 5:30 to 8:30pm.