- On this week’s SBJ Sports Media Podcast, SBJ media reporters Austin Karp and Josh Carpenter — making his co-hosting debut — discuss Prime Video’s debut at Augusta National and its ambitions, March Madness and local sports delivery. Also: Athletes First’s Gideon Cohen joins Karp to discuss how the agency has built its media representation business.
- Mazzeo also notes that eight MLB teams released their Nike City Connect uniforms for the 2026 season: the Braves, Orioles, Reds, Royals, Brewers, Pirates, Padres and Rangers.
- ESPN drew its best Q1 prime-time viewership on record, with the January/February/March period buoyed by the NFL Wild Card and Divisional rounds, the CFP, college basketball’s regular season, NHL games, NBA games and more, writes Karp.
- The interior of the $78 million Indiana Fever Performance Center will feature the kind of spa-like design that’s becoming a cornerstone of women’s professional sports teams’ training hubs, reports SBJ’s Bret McCormick.
- David Blitzer’s Bolt Ventures made another investment in golf by acquiring the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour, notes SBJ’s Josh Carpenter.
- Carpenter also writes that as TGL is amid media rights negotiations with its ESPN contract expiring, presenting sponsor SoFi is eyeing more consistent broadcast windows in the league’s next deal.
- Amid the frenzy of the 2026 Masters, WME Sports is adding longtime golf marketing executive Sean Guerrero as a golf agent focused on brand consulting and digital strategy, notes SBJ’s Irving Mejia-Hilario.
- The Asian University Basketball League, a pan-regional intercollegiate basketball league founded by Nets co-owner Joe Tsai, raised a Series A round featuring investments from former Bucks owner Marc Lasry, Bolt Ventures (the family office of 76ers co-owner David Blitzer) and Basketball HOFer Yao Ming, writes SBJ’s Ben Portnoy.
- TKO Group completed a domestic sponsorship deal making FRE the “official nicotine pouch” across six properties, notes SBJ’s Adam Stern: UFC, Zuffa Boxing, PBR, UFC BJJ, World’s Strongest Man and Formula Drift motorsports.
Speed reads
