A surprise retirement in college hoops, the Rams head to Hollywood Hills for the draft and Pebble Beach becomes a U.S. Open anchor.
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Good morning. It's Thursday, April 21st. This is your SBJ Morning Buzzcast. I'm David Albright, filling in for Abe Madkour. In news out of London, Serena Williams and F1 driver Lewis Hamilton are committing millions of pounds to one of the bids vying to become the new owners of Chelsea. The two star athletes become the most prominent of the investors backing the takeover offer spearheaded by former Liverpool and British Airways Chair, Sir Martin Broughton. Sky News is reporting that Hamilton and Williams have pledged and estimated 13 million each to the bid. They've been in talks with the group, which also includes plans for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment to own a controlling stake for several weeks. One source suggested that Hamilton was likely to play a formal role in Chelsea's future efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion if the bid is successful.
Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright is retiring after 21 seasons at Villanova, a shocking move that comes just weeks after he led the Wildcats to the Final Four. Villanova said Wednesday that Wright will take a new role as Special Assistant to the University President. Fordham's Kyle Neptune, who spent 10 seasons under Wright as a video coordinator and then an assistant coach, will take over as Villanova coach. A news conference featuring Wright, Neptune, and Athletic Director, Mark Jackson, is scheduled for Friday morning. The 60-year-old Wright had been the Wildcats coach since 2001. He won two National Championships in 2016 and 2018 and made four Final Four appearances. He was named Naismith Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2016, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021. With the recent retirement of Mike Krzyzewski, Wright was one of just three active coaches to have won multiple national titles, Bill Self and Rick Pitino are the other two.
The Super Bowl champion Rams and sponsor Rocket Mortgage will bring back last year's Draft House concept for next week's NFL Draft. This time switching from a Malibu beach home to a Hollywood Hills mansion, and bringing reality TV stars Mary Fitzgerald and Jason Oppenheim to the party, reports SBJ's Ben Fischer. The luxury real estate agency Oppenheim Group, featured in Netflix's Selling Sunset reality series, helped the Rams find the mansion. To launch the house, Fitzgerald and Oppenheim created a video in which they show the property to coach Sean McVay and GM Les Snead in the style of the show. The Rams will conduct the three day Draft next Thursday, Friday and Saturday from the mansion, and then continue to occupy it for the month of May, when they will create more content with sponsors, conduct other team business, and host the winner of a GM For the Day sweepstakes.
Let's stay in California, where Pebble Beach has become the third US Open anchor site, after the USGA awarded six future championships to the course, three US Opens and three US Women's Opens. Pebble Beach will host the '32, '37 and '44 US Opens, along with the '35, '40 and '48 US Women's Opens. It was already scheduled to host the 2027 US Open and the 2023 US Women's Open. Pebble Beach joins Oakmont and Pinehurst as anchor sites with multiple USGA Championships set to be played. As part of the commitment, the USGA and Pebble Beach plan to create internships and other career opportunities in golf, along with research into turf grass and water conservation.
Speaking of golf, Under Armour has added four years to its deal with golfer Jordan Spieth, that will now run through 2029. Spieth first signed with Under Armour in 2013. As part of the extension, UA will donate one million through the life of the contract to the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation, which provides scholarships, grants, and other programs to youth. Repped by IMG Golf's Jay Danzi, Spieth's other notable endorsements include AT&T, Coca-Cola, FanDuel, Rolex, and NetJets, per SBJ Atlas. Spieth's contract extension comes on the heels of him winning the RBC Heritage last Sunday, with the event drawing its best final round in nearly 20 years on CBS.
In people news, the LPGA has named Matt Chmura as its new Chief Marketing, Communications and Brand Officer, a role where he will serve on Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan's executive leadership team. Chmura, who most recently served as CMO for Massachusetts-based Leader Bank, spent over 15 years with the Bruins where he was responsible for overall marketing and communication strategies. Chmura had previous stints with the Titans and Patriots communications departments. He will start his new role with the Tour on May 9th, and will replace recently retired Chief Brand and Communications Officer, Roberta Bowman, while adding marketing responsibilities to his portfolio. Chmura will report directly to Samaan.
Finally, a programming note. Football is a major topic on this week's Sports Media Podcast, as hosts Andrew Marchand and John Ourand go deep on NBC's surprise decision to hire Melissa Stark as its new Sunday Night Football sideline reporter. They also give an update on where Fox stands in terms of naming their top NFL talent, and they also review the USFL's opening weekend. Marchand and Ourand also discuss the Big Ten's next media rights deal. You can listen to Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And that's your SBJ Morning Buzzcast for Thursday. I hope everyone has a great day, and we'll see you back here tomorrow morning.