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The Tampa Bay Rays said MLB officials rejected the team's "sister city" plan, which proposed that the franchise split its home schedule between the Tampa Bay area and Montreal. Ownership saw the plan as the best path to increase revenue without permanently relocating the team, and owner Stuart Sternberg said the group would now "regroup and see where things are" before determining whether to revisit stadium talks in the Tampa Bay area or exploring full relocation. (ESPN) An investment group led by The Najafi Companies and MSP Sports Capital has signed a letter of intent to purchase the X Games action sports events brand from the Walt Disney Co. in a deal expected to close toward the end of this year's first quarter, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. The Najafi Companies, a private investment firm founded by Phoenix Suns Vice Chairman Jahm Najafi, and MSP reportedly see an opportunity to reinvigorate a widely recognized brand that has faltered in recent years. (Sportico) ESPN scrapped plans to send four reporters to China to cover the Beijing Winter Olympics due to COVID-19 health concerns and potential pandemic-related restrictions. The announcement came a day after Olympic broadcaster NBC Sports said it would not send any of its announcing teams to the games, opting instead to operate remotely from company headquarters in Stamford, Conn. (The Hill)

Chart Review​ COVID's Impact on College Sports Emerges From New Financial Data Sportico

MEDIA

Charles Davis will miss CBS' Bengals-Titans broadcast over COVID protocols, with Trent Green stepping in Andrew Bucholtz, Awful Announcing Analyst Charles Davis will miss the Cincinnati Bengals-Tennessee Titans divisional round playoff game Saturday, with Trent Green filling in for him alongside Ian Eagle. Kevin Frandsen added to Nationals TV broadcasts, replacing F.P. Santangelo Jesse Dougherty, The Washington Post Kevin Frandsen, will now be alongside Bob Carpenter on Mid-Atlantic Sports Network broadcasts. He spent the past four seasons as ananalyst for Philadelphia Phillies games on the radio. Skydance Sports & Meadowlark Media Strike Co-Production Agreement, Set Docs On U.S.-Mexico Soccer Rivalry & WNBA Legend Diana Taurasi As First Projects Matt Grobar, Deadline Skydance Sports, the sports content division of Skydance Media, has set a partnership with Meadowlark Media for the production of unscripted sports content. The companies are co-producing Good Neighbors, a docuseries on the rivalry between the U.S. and Mexican men's national teams. Miller Lite Is Opening A Bar In The Metaverse For Super Bowl 2022 Asa Hiken, Ad Age Miller Lite is building a bar in the metaverse to connect with fans around this year's Super Bowl—without actually appearing on air during the game. The bar opening in virtual platform Decentraland will be the sole place where fans can watch Miller Lite's "Big Game" ad. BMW Returns To The Super Bowl For The First Time Since 2015 E.J. Schultz, Ad Age BMW will advertise in the Super Bowl for the first time in seven years. A U.S. spokesman for the German luxury auto brand confirmed the ad buy but did not share details.

NFL

NFL schedule 2022: League releases list of each team's opponents for next season The Athletic The NFL released a complete list of home and away matchups for each team in the 2022 regular season Thursday. The full 17-game schedule for 2022 will be announced later this year. COVID worries claim some key Super Bowl festivities Ben Fischer, Sports Business Journal The NFLPA is canceling all of its social activities in the week of Super Bowl LVI, including the Friday night VIP party and "Smocks and Jocks," the long-running fundraiser/art auction typically held on Saturday. Also, EA Sports confirmed today it will not conduct a "physical event plan." NFL fines Dak Prescott for comments praising fans for throwing debris at officials Mark Maske, The Washington Post The NFL fined Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott $25,000 Thursday for the comments that he made about the officials following Sunday's loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Prescott commended fans at AT&T Stadium when he was told during his postgame news conference that they'd thrown objects at the officials as they left the field. Four NFL teams, 24 GM candidates: What Bears, Giants, Raiders and Vikings have in common Mike Sando, The Athletic It's not yet known whether NFL teams will hire younger, more diverse general managers in greater numbers. What is known: The teams presently seeking new GMs are certainly interviewing them.

COLLEGE SPORTS N.C.A.A. Reorganizes Around New Constitution That Shifts Power to Universities Billy Witz, The New York Times N.C.A.A. member schools and conferences voted Thursday to adopt a new, stripped-down constitution, the first step in decentralizing an organization that faces increasing challenges to its relevancy as the chief authority in college sports. Arbitrator: UConn coach Ollie improperly fired; owed $11M Pat Eaton-Robb, The Associated Press An arbitrator has ruled that UConn improperly fired former men's basketball coach Kevin Ollie and must pay him more than $11 million, Ollie's lawyer said Thursday. Ollie was fired in the spring of 2018 after the school reported it was investigating numerous potential NCAA violations in his program. Penn will work with NCAA to support transgender athlete Lia Thomas' participation at swimming and diving championships Katie Barnes, ESPN Penn Athletics said in a statement on Thursday that it would work with the NCAA in support of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas regarding her participation at the 2022 NCAA swimming and diving championships in Atlanta in March. She has qualified for the NCAA swimming and diving championships in three individual events. Illini supporters launch NIL collective Illini Guardians Jeremy Werner, 247Sports Attorney Adam Fleischer is one of the founders of a new name, image and likeness collective called Illini Guardians, a third-party organization that plans to raise and disperse NIL funds to Illini student-athletes in return for marketing and philanthropic appearances.

---Morning Consult GBO Ma

 

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