Advertisement - scroll for more content
When Michael Jordan sold his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets in 2023, the NBA no longer had any African American majority franchise owners. But with the announcement of former MLB star Alex Rodriguez becoming a co-owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves, he says Black and Hispanic ownership is now a part of the NBA. “I’m hoping that the trend continues,” Rodriguez said to Andscape following an introductory news conference at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 11. “But as far as being someone with Black and Brown skin, I’m representing a lot of good people out there. Give credit to [NBA commissioner] Adam Silver, who championed this transaction. I’m grateful for that.”
The league collection includes NBA and MLB sports teams from L.A. (Dodgers and Lakers), Chicago (Bulls, Cubs and White Sox) and New York (Mets and Knicks), offering Mitchell & Ness Jerseys, hoodies, t-shires and hats repping the teams and Blackpink.
Jabari Smith, at $24.4 million, would have been the highest paid NBA player as late as the 2007-08 season. Stephen Curry was the NBA’s highest paid player during the 2019-20 season and the first to crack the $40 million threshold; that would make him just the 29th-highest paid player next season. The NBA will have 16 players earn at least $50 million during the 2025-26 season; the NFL, MLB and NHL will have six between them.
Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx top executives Ethan Casson and Ryan Tanke are stepping down from their roles, the biggest front-office changes so far as the organization prepares to enter a new era under new ownership. The two leaders, who have spent a total of more than 45 combined year with the organizations, announced their plans to step down in a joint letter sent to staff members Friday. Neither announced plans for where they will go next, and the new ownership team — led by former Major League Baseball star Alex Rodriguez and e-commerce executive Marc Lore — has not publicly identified any possible successors for their roles.
Advertisement
Before hearing their names called by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver at Barclays Center in Brooklyn next week, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey will be taking center stage at two other iconic New York sports venues. The former Rutgers basketball stars will each throw out the first pitch at a local MLB game over the next week.
Mike Vorkunov: The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a hearing May 6 on how sports on TV has changed. High-ranking executives from the NBA, NHL and MLB will make appearances as witnesses. They're calling it "Field of Streams."
Gambling industry veterans claim that match-fixing of some sort has always been a part of sports, but it never has been as potentially identifiable as it is now because of the legalization and pervasiveness of sports gambling. It is now available in 38 states. (The Athletic has a partnership with BetMGM.) Sportsbooks, leagues, regulators and betting integrity monitors all closely watch wagers for hints of impropriety. That has led to bans for players in two professional sports — the NBA and MLB — as well as suspensions in the NFL for a violation of the league’s gambling policy. A MLB umpire was fired after he shared a gambling account with a professional poker player and refused to cooperate with the league’s investigation. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the ability to monitor legalized betting has made it easier to keep tabs on potential illicit behavior in and around the game, much like how insider trading is monitored. “We now have the ability, as opposed to the old days before there was widespread legalized sports betting, to be heavily into the analytics of every game, looking at any blip, anything that’s unusual,” Silver said.
Social media platform Bluesky prioritizing sports as its top priority
The NBA and MLB’s usernames are their domain names: @nba.com and @mlb.com. That right now is the only way to authenticate on Bluesky, said Harry Packer, who is leading the sports efforts at Bluesky. There are no check marks like Twitter doled out before Musk turned them into a money-making exercise. So, even Packer can’t say how many sports teams, leagues, and high-profile sports media are on Bluesky, but a verification system could roll out later this year. “Sports is a top priority, to make that clear, I think it’s probably the top priority for us, to be honest,” Packer said. “And our ambition there is simply to become the best place for real-time sports discussion.”
Advertisement
Microbetting company nVenue has partnered with the WNBA to provide its predictive analytics for the 2025 season, the startup’s first deal with a women’s sports property after previous work with the NBA, NASCAR and Apple TV for its Friday night MLB games. This follows a recent multimillion-dollar funding round from strategic investors FDJ Ventures, The Collectiv, and DigitalWin. Lead investor KB Partners also added participated with a follow-on check.
The app is available in more than 35 countries and is free to anyone to use, but RefMasters University is a premium product with a fee of $30 per month or $300 for the annual plan. Currently, there are more than 12 active NBA, NFL and MLB officials and more than 25 Division I NCAA officials on the app who engage with users.
Just more than a year since acquiring Rep 1 Baseball, Klutch Sports Group is developing ways to find opportunities for its clients on and off the field, using everything from data to fashion. The Los Angeles-based agency is hosting its second annual Klutch Sports House for its MLB athletes based in Arizona for spring training this week. The goal is to bring together dozens of players, agents and others for brand activations, cocktail receptions, curated dinners and more. This year, for the first time, also will feature two live tapings of the digital baseball show “Foul Territory.” It’s one of the many initiatives the agency is taking to boost its baseball division and provide player engagement. Chris Koras, the former COO of Rep 1 Baseball turned head of Klutch Baseball, said the acquisition in December 2023 was necessary for the practice to reach its full potential. “We just reached a place in our business evolution where there were interested parties that came knocking for our baseball and football groups, and it felt appropriate to explore those opportunities,” Koras said. “Klutch answered every question we had. It became clear to me during the process of getting to know [founder] Rich [Paul] and the Klutch team that every part of our service would be elevated.”
Phoenix Suns rookie forward Ryan Dunn had a memorable off day on Wednesday watching his older brother, Justin, pitch in MLB spring training for the Chicago White Sox in Phoenix. Joining Ryan Dunn in the stands was Kevin Durant, a perennial NBA All-Star that he also now views as a mentor and big brother. “Kevin coming to my brother’s game meant a lot,” Dunn told Andscape. “It shows how much he supports not only me, but my family. And it’s a good relationship that we have that he’s able to come and support one of my family members and with what he has going on. We’re all professional athletes and for [Durant] to be able to come see Justin’s game and be able to talk after was great and very cool.”
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement