In a profile, Texas Rangers SVP/Broadcasting ANGIE SWINT is helping the club blaze “a new trail” in the broadcasting landscape by being “part of the team charged with creating something that didn’t previously exist” in the creation of Rangers Sports Network. Stint, one of five women at the VP level or higher in the Rangers organization, has worked with EVP/Chief Business Officer JIM COCHRANE and owners RAY DAVIS and NEIL LEIBMAN over the past year to pull together “deals that will bring the Rangers to cable and streaming audiences” and provide a 15-game, over-the-air package for viewers in the club’s five-state broadcast territory. While the dollars part of the deal is “expected to give Davis and Leibman at least as much revenue” as their deal with the parent company of Bally Sports Southwest did in 2024, the availability should “also be much wider” than it was when the Rangers go on the air for the first time on March 12 (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 2/5).
LOBBYING POWER: LA28 has hired Ballard Partners to lobby the federal government on its behalf, and the firm’s BRIAN BALLARD, DAN MCFAUL, PATRICK KILCUR and MICHAEL LAROSA “will work to foster ‘intergovernmental agency coordination’ on behalf of the organizing committee,” according to a disclosure filing. The contract comes after LA28 President CASEY WASSERMAN “paid a trip to Mar-a-Lago last month to secure President DONALD TRUMP’s support for helping the city recover from the recent devastating wildfires” in time for the Olympics. LA28 also uses Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and the Nickles Group as lobbyists, while the USOPC retains Monument Advocacy (POLITICO, 2/4).
IT’S AN HONOR: Fox Sports founder DAVID HILL will be presented with Lifetime Achievement honors at the Sports Emmy Awards ceremony on May 20 in N.Y. (National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences)....49ers TE GEORGE KITTLE will be honored today at NFL Honors Night in New Orleans as the winner of the 2024 Salute to Service Award. Kittle had long been supportive of the military, “citing the service performed by an uncle and grandfather.” USAA contributed $25,000 in Kittle’s honor to aid societies representing each of the military and the NFL Foundation will also “donate $25,000 to his military charity of choice” (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 2/5).
NAMES: Former first lady JILL BIDEN will attend Super Bowl LIX on Sunday. Biden, a longtime Eagles fan, “will attend with her grandson HUNTER but won’t be joined by former President JOE BIDEN" (USA TODAY, 2/5)....Actor CHRISTOPHER MCDONALD, who plays SHOOTER MCGAVIN in “HAPPY GILMORE 2”, crashed PGA Tour players JUSTIN THOMAS’ press conference at the 2025 WM Phoenix Open, and the duo “promoted the new film.” Netflix also released another behind-the-scenes look at action from filming. Golfers such as RORY MCILROY, SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, BRYSON DECHAMBEAU, BROOKS KOEPKA, Thomas, WILL ZALATORIS and more “will be a part of the movie” (GOLFWEEK, 2/5)….Yankees CF AARON JUDGE announced yesterday that his first child -- named NORA ROSE JUDGE -- was born on Jan. 27 (SI, 2/5)….AYESHA CURRY, wife of Warriors G STEPHEN CURRY, has “perhaps unwittingly” contributed to the “negative narrative” around the city of Oakland. Curry’s Sweet July announced on Instagram that it had “made the difficult decision to close” its Oakland storefront as of Feb. 9, due to “safety” concerns. Some “expressed anger that Sweet July appeared to wrongly blame the city for its woes.” Sweet July has not shared whether other factors played a role in its decision to close, including “challenges that have beset many brick-and-mortar retailers” (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 2/6).
