Diamond has more team payments on the horizon, the U.S. Senate opens an inquiry into the Saudi golf merger and more media layoffs to start the week.
Congrats to the Denver Nuggets on winning their first NBA championship last night with a 94-89 victory over the Miami Heat to clinch the title in five games. Another shout-out goes to Mike Breen on calling his 100th NBA finals game. That milestone made him the third basketball announcer on radio or television to reach that mark and the sixth US play-by-play voice to do the same, including the World Series and Stanley Cup Final, where he missed the first two games of last year's series due to COVID, which briefly delayed him from reaching the century mark.
Joe Buck called 135 World Series games for Fox, while Doc Emrick was at the mic for 110 Stanley Cup Final contests on ESPN versus NBC and NBCSN. When including radio, Breen is the third to reach the 100 NBA finals games, joining legendary Lakers' voice Chick Hearn and Boston's Johnny Most. Baseball Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully had 126 World Series games on radio and television. That's some high-class company for Breen as he heads into his summer vacation.
Good morning. It's Tuesday, June 13th, and this is your SBJ Morning Buzzcast. I'm David Albright, filling in for Abe Madkour. Diamond Sports has threatened to start rejecting unprofitable local media contracts as it did with the Padres at the end of May, reports our John Ourand. The next four weeks will give the sports business a sense of whether Diamond's decision to drop the Padres was a one-off or not. The RSN owner has five opportunities to reject rights, fees, contracts between this week and July 15th. Sources have said that all the clubs do payments over the next four weeks have team-friendly deals. The first team-up is the Rangers, who are due a rights fee payment by this Thursday. Then comes the Guardians, Twins, and Diamondbacks, all of whom are owed rights fee payments by July 1st.
The Valley Sports RSNs that carry the Rangers, Guardians, Twins, and Dbacks are all part of Diamond Sports' bankruptcy. Sources said that if Diamond rejects any of those contracts from the RSNs that are in bankruptcy, it has to schedule a motion in bankruptcy court and outline an orderly transition of rights. The scheduling of a motion will give the team some advanced notice of Diamond's intent. It's unlikely that Diamond will reject all those contracts. The Twins appear to be the most in jeopardy, given that their deal with Diamond ends after this season. Diamond will consider other factors, like its upcoming distributor negotiations with DirecTV, Comcast, Charter, and Hulu.
The US Senate has opened an inquiry into the proposed arrangement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, according to the New York Times. Senator Richard Blumenthal is also the chairman of the Chamber's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and has said that he has demanded that both the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian-funded LIV give up a wide array of documents and communications tied to the agreement. Blumenthal also asked for records related to the PGA Tour's non-profit status, suggesting an appetite to challenge the tour's tax-exempt standing. Executives from both LIV and the PGA Tour had signaled that they expected their agreement to attract sustained attention from the federal government.
Congress cannot block the agreement simply by opening an investigation. Any legislation to derail the deal would most likely provoke a court challenge. But the specter of congressional scrutiny and perhaps public hearings could tarnish the deal and make the months ahead even more unpleasant for the leaders of professional golf.
Comcast Spectacor Sports and Entertainment president and CEO Valerie Camillo has decided to leave her role with the organization, effective July 1st, ending her five-year stint with the company that owns the Flyers and Wells Fargo Center, along with the NLL Philadelphia Wings and the ECHL Maine Mariners. She was the Flyer's alternate governor. Prior to joining Comcast Spectacor, Camillo worked for the Nationals as Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer. She previously served as a senior VP for the NBA's team marketing and business operations group.
The Athletic announced Monday that it was laying off nearly 20 reporters, or about 4% of its journalistic staff, and emailed to staffers from The Athletic publisher, David Perpich, and editor-in-chief, Steven Ginsberg. The note said an additional 20 reporters would be moved from their current team beats to new ones, including regional coverage or general assignment roles. That strategy marks a departure from the one-time mission of the outlet, which was to cover every team from every major league across the country with a dedicated reporter.
The note described an evolving approach to coverage. The NFL and English Premier League dominate reader interest, and staffing for those leagues remains mostly unchanged. Because NHL and MLB audiences are more local, those leagues will have some beats eliminated. The company will still have more than 100 beat writers covering specific teams, but a new focus of the site will be stories that appeal to wider audiences.
How do we know what fans want? Just ask AI. Sports teams and leagues are frequently turning to artificial intelligence technologies that digest copious amounts of data to deliver personalized experiences to fans both in-venue and at home. Join SBJ's Joe Lemire and a panel of industry experts as we examine this important trending topic on Wednesday at 12:30 PM Eastern. Registration is free. All registrants will receive a link to watch the recording once the session concludes.
That's your SBJ Morning Buzzcast for Tuesday. I hope everyone has a great day. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning.