Closing Bell

The lawsuit between Suns owner Mat Ishbia and minority owners Scott Seldin and Andy Kohlberg is heading to a “confidential binding mediation, which could lead to Ishbia buying out the minority owners’ 13% stake at a price determined by a mediator.” The agreed-upon stipulation by both parties was filed Monday in a Delaware state court and “will ultimately lead to the lawsuit being jointly dismissed.” A source noted that Ishbia was “in extensive conversations with Seldin and Kohlberg about buying out their shares prior to the litigation and that it was always his goal to buy out the limited partners” (ESPN.com, 3/16).

Fox Sports will use top-shelf TV talent for the debut Fanatics Flag Football Classic on Saturday, as Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen will be on the call for the event airing across Fox, Tubi and Fox One. The event will also be streamed internationally on the Fanatics YouTube channel. The Fox telecast will lead into an LAFC-Austin FC match in prime time. Tom Brady, who is helping to organize the event and calls NFL games alongside Burkhardt during the season, is captaining one flag team alongside Jalen Hurts. Burkhardt and Olsen previously called NFL games together before Brady joined Fox’s No. 1 booth.

Pro Football HOFer Troy Aikman said he is going to “continue to work” with the Dolphins “in some capacity.” He joined the team’s front office in January to assist with the franchise’s coach and GM search. Aikman noted while he “never” thought about getting into coaching, he “thought about being in the front office,” noting he “always” thought that is what he would wind up doing. He said he “thoroughly enjoyed” the role, noting it “scratched whatever itch I had when it came to being in the front office.” He also said he continues to “enjoy what I’m doing broadcasting” and looked ahead to calling the Super Bowl next year with ESPN (“Rodeo Time Podcast,” 3/11).

The NHL and NHLPA have awarded hosting rights for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey to Calgary, Edmonton and Prague following a bid process that included 28 cities across North America and Europe.

The eight-nation tournament, which will be held during a pause in the NHL regular season in February 2028, will feature 17 games. Calgary and Prague will each host seven games (six round-robin and one elimination game apiece), while Edmonton will host the semifinals and final.

The World Cup of Hockey will be among the first major events held at the Flames’ new arena, Scotia Place, which is set to open for the 2027-28 season. The venue, which will ultimately anchor a mixed-use development, is expected to have a capacity of 18,400 for hockey. Rogers Place, home of the Oilers, will host the games in Edmonton, while O2 Arena will host games in Prague.

Playfly Sports led the host city bid process on behalf of the NHL and NHLPA, who jointly own the event. The firm began accepting expressions of interest in June 2025 and invited 28 cities to participate in the RFP stage of the host city selection process. The Province of Alberta submitted a joint bid for Edmonton and Calgary. Perinvest Group will organize the event in Czechia.

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The NWSL drew 129,202 fans across eight matches this past weekend, averaging 16,150 fans per match, with both marks setting NWSL opening weekend attendance records. Seven of the league’s eight matches drew more than 10,000 fans, setting a new league record for most opening weekend matches above that mark. Boston Legacy FC set a record for attendance at a club’s first game (NWSL).

USWNT F Catarina Macario has joined the San Diego Wave ahead of the closing of the NWSL’s transfer window on what is “believed to be the biggest total contract value in women’s soccer history,” according to sources cited by ESPN.com. Macario has signed with the Wave through the 2030 season for a total contract worth about $8M. The Wave will “use the NWSL’s new high impact player rule to pay Macario.” Sportico first reported the finalized transfer and contract value (ESPN.com, 3/16).

Chelsea has “been fined” $14.31M (All figures US) and “given sanctions over transfers by the Premier League for secret payments to players and unlicensed agents to facilitate the transfer of some of their biggest stars during Roman Abramovich’s ownership.” It is the “biggest fine ever handed out by the Premier League,” but “no points deduction was imposed because the offences were self-reported by the new owners following the May 2022 takeover.” The Premier League confirmed that it had “given significant mitigation because the club’s new owners reported the breaches after discovering the payments during the takeover process.” It also is “satisfied that even if the payments had all been declared, Chelsea would still have complied with its Profitability and Sustainability Rules” (London TIMES, 3/16).

There is still an investigation by the Football Association “hanging over Chelsea,” although the expectation is that the FA will “follow the examples set by the Premier League and UEFA and not impose sporting sanctions on the club.” Chelsea reached a $10.6M settlement with UEFA in 2023 regarding the same payments (London TELEGRAPH, 3/16).

UEFA on Monday said that tickets for the Champions League final in Budapest have been “frozen at the same prices from last year’s game” as part of a “more fan-friendly program than the World Cup.” UEFA detailed limits on who can buy tickets through its resale platform, which “must be priced at face value with no fee charged to the seller -- unlike FIFA’s resale platform for World Cup tickets” in the U.S. Critics have likened the 2026 World Cup tickets market to “official scalping with no limit on resale prices offered and FIFA taking 15% fees from buyers and sellers” (AP, 3/16).

Sports and pop culture are colliding like never before. Season 2 of SBJ Inside the Industry kicks off with a deep dive into athletes as avatars, the next wave of fan engagement and why experiential branding is becoming the new MVP. To check out the entire show, premiering on Tuesday, subscribe to SBJ’s YouTube channel.

MLB’s experiment of a robot umpire technology system allowing challenges to checked swing calls is “moving up from Class A to Triple-A.” MLB will also test “moving second base slightly to position it entirely within the infield,” which would reduce by 9 inches the distance between first and second, and between second and third. The league will “try out reducing permissible disengagements by pitchers from two to one per plate appearance and stricter limits on batter timeouts and resetting the pitch clock for issues with PitchCom.” There will also be a test allowing “starting pitchers to re-enter games in the lowest level” of MiLB, though it is “not expected this test will lead to MLB implementation” (AP, 3/16).

NASCAR driver Kyle Busch confirmed that he has “been among those in contact with a film writer” and that he is “excited about the potential sequel” for “Days of Thunder.” Last week, SBJ reported that a film writer has been speaking with teams and drivers. Busch said, “I don’t know how much NASCAR’s involvement is, if they’re the ones calling for it or not, but obviously I think it would be something cool. It would be special. You’ve got to be careful with it, right? Because the first one was so good, you don’t want to screw up the second one. It’s always hard to come back with a better second chance at making a movie.” He noted he has spoken with the writer a “couple times about some of the ideas” (MOTORSPORT, 3/15).