Go to Source Author: Amanda Christovich On Thursday, 15-seed Princeton men’s basketball team pulled out a thrilling upset over No. 2 Arizona.  The Tigers, who will advance to the Round of 32 on Saturday, are the only team in the men’s tournament without any players on athletic scholarship. Ivy League schools prohibit sports scholarships and only offer athletes “need-based” financial aid.  As if March couldn’t get any madder, two basketball players filed a lawsuit against Ivy League schools over this policy just two weeks ago.  The lawsuit, which is seeking class certification, was filed by current Brown women’s basketball player Grace Kirk and former men’s player Tamenang Choh.  The players argued in a complaint that the policy violates the Sherman Antitrust Act by illegally price-fixing the

Go to Source Author: Owen Poindexter With March Madness underway, an unexpected hot streak or unlikely hero can become a national story — and under today’s NIL regulations, that can mean big paydays for players in the NCAA tournament. Doug Edert, for instance, helped Saint Peter’s Peacocks — a 15-seed in 2022 — to an unlikely run to the Elite Eight last year, helping him amass an NIL brand value of more than $120,000, according to On3. He struck multiple deals, including one with Buffalo Wild Wings. On3 doesn’t list any basketball players on the Furman Paladins in its NIL valuation database, but that could change if the team is able to build on its first-round upset of fourth-seeded Virginia and go on a

Go to Source Author: Amanda Christovich Since opening in 2020, the glitzy SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles has been home to both the Super Bowl and College Football Playoff National Championship.  But the venue — which took five years and $5 billion to build — might no longer be a contender for the World Cup Final in 2026 thanks to a construction error: The width of the field is much too narrow for FIFA’s taste, according to The Times. 

Go to Source Author: Michael McCarthy Just when it looked like Aaron Rodgers would bury the lead, his sitdown with Pat McAfee produced the biggest NFL news of the off-season. After dawdling through the first few minutes, the Green Bay Packers quarterback used the forum of “The Pat McAfee Show” to confirm he intends to play for the New York Jets during the 2023 NFL season.  The only holdup, warned the 39-year-old Rodgers, is his Green Bay Packers playing hardball over what compensation they’ll get back from the Jets.   “I think since Friday, I’ve made it clear that my intention was to play, and my intention was to play for the New York Jets,” Rodgers told McAfee. “And I haven’t been holding anything up at

Go to Source Author: Michael McCarthy We’re a long way from the ritual cutting down of the nets. But strong television audiences for the NCAA’s 2023 Men and Women’s Basketball Tournament Selection Shows indicate viewer interest is high heading into March Madness. Both one-hour Selection Shows grabbed higher TV audiences on Sunday night vs. last year. CBS Sports and Warner Bros. Discovery Sports’ joint presentation of the Men’s Selection Show averaged 5.1 million viewers.  That’s up 3% from last year’s program. It was the most-watched sports program for the week across any network. The digital NCAA March Madness Live also grew, attracting its most unique users, hours watched, and video starts in four years. Meanwhile, ESPN’s Women’s Selection Show presentation averaged 1.27 million viewers. That’s up a

Go to Source Author: Amanda Christovich Advertising inventory for both the Division I men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments is sold out.  On Tuesday, ESPN announced that it had filled all “in-game sponsorship opportunities” for the women’s tournament. Theresa Palmieri, VP of Disney Advertising Sports Brand Solutions, said that advertisers have “flocked to these offerings.” In total, ESPN has galvanized 15 broadcast sponsors and close to 100 advertisers, from Aflac and Under Armour to the U.S. Army.  Advertisers aren’t just interested in the 67 games, however. The women’s tournament has also sold opportunities for its pregame shows for the Final Four semifinals and championship game to Capital One. AT&T has bought into the Final Four MegaCast featuring Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi for the second

Go to Source Author: Abigail Gentrup Genius Sports’ revenue increases didn’t save it from more than doubling its net loss for the quarter. The technology company reported a 25.4% year-over-year increase in fourth-quarter group revenue to $105.3 million, but widened its group net loss by 129.7% to $127.7 million from $53.3 million. Its betting technology, content, and services segment recorded a Q4 revenue increase of 21.5% to $65.5 million. Revenue for the media technology, content, and services segment jumped 50.4% to $25.6 million, in addition to a 8.6% increase to $14.2 million for the sports technology and services segment.  During the three months ending Dec. 31, 2022, Genius launched NFL “Watch & Bet” video streams in the U.S. and Canada, extended its partnership with bet365,

Go to Source Author: Abigail Gentrup Allbirds is no longer soaring. For the first time in its history, the company failed to post year-over-year quarterly sales growth. The footwear and apparel company recorded $84.18 million in fourth-quarter revenue, a 13% year-over-year decline from $97.2 million — and missing analysts’ estimates of $96.8 million. The company attributed the decline to “a decrease in the number of orders and an estimated $3.2 million negative impact from foreign exchange.” Allbirds’ net loss widened to $24.9 million in the fourth quarter and $101.4 million in its first full year as a public company. Revenue for the full year increased 7.3% to $297.8 million — up 35.8% from 2020. In the U.S., net revenue increased 9.5% to $229.8 million. Joey Zwillinger, Allbirds’

Go to Source Author: Abigail Gentrup As FIFA wants more from players, the players themselves want less from FIFA. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar raised concerns over player fatigue and injury risk from the global players’ union FIFPRO since it took place in the winter months due to desert weather. Some European players had only six or seven days between the Qatar competition and returning to their home clubs. On Thursday, FIFPRO released the results of a survey from players at the World Cup.   86% of players want at least 14 days of preparation time. 61% want 14-28 days of post-World Cup recovery time. Only 11% of the players favored the November/December World Cup timing. After the 2022 tournament, France’s Raphael Varane announced his retirement over a

Go to Source Author: Abigail Gentrup Everton likely won’t be sold anytime soon. Farhad Moshiri has reportedly received several offers for the Premier League club but has decided not to sell over concerns it could attract scrutiny from the U.K. government. Moshiri has ties to Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov. U.K. authorities are keeping an eye on a potential sale, according to The Daily Mail.  Interest has increased recently due to last month’s publication of a white paper regarding the creation of an independent regulator with “backstop powers” to prevent takeovers. Moshiri claimed in January that the team was not for sale, but that he was close to securing a minority investment to help fund a new stadium expected to cost around $596 million. MSP Sports Capital and