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Veteran play-by-play announcer Al Michaels is reportedly expected to sign a contract shortly that will see him lead Amazon.com Inc.'s first NFL broadcast booth alongside Kirk Herbstreit for its exclusive coverage of "Thursday Night Football." Sources said Michaels will be paid similarly to ESPN's Joe Buck, who signed a five-year contract worth $75 million, while Herbstreit is also expected to earn eight figures a year. (New York Post) The Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected requests from MLB and the New York Yankees to keep private a letter from the league to the team detailing a 2017 investigation into sign stealing, upholding an earlier district court decision. The decision comes following the dismissal of a lawsuit on electronic sign-stealing's effect on daily fantasy competitions, in which plaintiffs claimed a press release put out by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in 2017 hid the full nature of what MLB found the Yankees to have done. (The Associated Press) Cryptocurrency exchange FTX Trading Ltd. signed Naomi Osaka as a brand ambassador in a deal that will see the women's tennis star receive an undisclosed equity stake in the company and crypto compensation. The brand said its decision to sign Osaka, who will wear the FTX logo on her outfits for the Miami Open and be part of digital ads and social content, is aimed at attracting more women into the cryptocurrency space, which is currently populated primarily by men. (Ad Age)

MEDIA Peter Lazarus Promoted to NBC Sports Ad Sales Chief Brad Pareso, Adweek NBC Sports has a new ad sales chief: Peter Lazarus is returning to the division as evp of sports, taking on responsibility for its entire portfolio, including PGA Tour, Sunday Night Football, Premier League and USFL. Mike Francesa Launching New Podcast In Partnership With BetRivers Sportsbook Derek Futterman, Barrett Sports Media The former WFAN afternoon drive time host has agreed to a multi-year deal with Rush Street Interactive to become a brand ambassador for BetRivers Sportsbook. As part of the new relationship with BetRivers, Francesa will host a new weekly podcast titled The Mike Francesa Podcast. ESPN pushes back premiere date of Greg Norman 30 for 30 "Shark" from Masters week Jay Rigdon, Awful Announcing It's odd timing for a Greg Norman-centric film to be coming out considering his current role in the world of golf: serving as the front man for a Saudi government-backed golf league that is attempting to position itself as a rival to the PGA Tour. Troy Aikman on his move to ESPN, the decision to leave Fox and working with Joe Buck, plus more media notes Richard Deitsch, The Athletic Aikman's first ESPN outing will be ESPN's annual Upfront presentation in New York City for media buyers, where the company presents all its new initiatives to get Madison Avenue to part with its money.

COLLEGE SPORTS Oklahoma, Learfield Working on Extension CollegeAD As the University of Oklahoma's current multimedia rights deal with Learfield gets set to expire on June 30, CollegeAD has learned the Sooners and Learfield are working on extending the partnership for another decade. LSU names Murray State's Matt McMahon as new men's basketball coach Pete Thamel, ESPN McMahon comes to LSU after a charmed run at Murray State, where he recruited and coached Ja Morant and won NCAA tournament games in both 2019 and 2022. He replaces Will Wade, who was fired by LSU prior to the NCAA tournament after receiving a lengthy notice of allegations from the NCAA tied to his tenure. Sources: South Carolina set to hire Chattanooga's Lamont Paris as its next men's basketball coach Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello, ESPN South Carolina and Chattanooga coach Lamont Paris have finalized a five-year deal to make him the school's next men's basketball head coach, sources said. The deal still requires the formality of board approval later this week. Maryland hires former Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard as men's basketball coach Jeff Borzello, ESPN Willard arrives in College Park after 12 seasons at Seton Hall. It's a seven-year deal that's averages more than $4 million per year which puts Willard near the top of Big Ten basketball coach salaries, a source said. Kansas State hires Jerome Tang: Longtime Baylor assistant coach familiar with Big 12 Kyle Boone, CBS Sports Tang will succeed Bruce Weber in Manhattan, Kansas, following his resignation earlier this month on the heels of a third consecutive losing season. He'll be formally introduced as the coach in a press conference Thursday.

---Morning Consult
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