Closing Bell

The Predators are taking their local telecasts over the air beginning next season under a multiyear agreement with Scripps Sports. The company’s ION station in the Nashville market, WNPX-TV, will carry all preseason, regular-season and first-round playoff games not designated as national TV exclusives -- more than 70 per season. The Predators are the fifth NHL team to tap Scripps as their local broadcast partner, joining the Lightning, Panthers, Golden Knights and Mammoth.

The move comes as Main Street Sports Group, which operates the FanDuel–branded RSNs, prepares to shutter following the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Predators games had been shown locally on FanDuel Sports Network South (which has operated under a variety of different names) since the team joined the league in 1998-99. The Hurricanes, Blue Jackets, Blues and Wild are now the four remaining Main Street teams in the NHL that have yet to announce their plans for next season.

The Predators are a natural fit for Scripps’ local broadcast model given the company’s ownership of two full-power stations in Middle Tennessee. Its primary station, CBS-affiliated WTVF NewsChannel 5, will provide promotional support for Predators telecasts on its sister station. WNPX will be renamed The Spot -- Nashville 28, mirroring the branding of the secondary Tampa station that carries Lightning games.

“That’s the formula that we have focused on to this point, and I think that’s where we feel like we can create the greatest value for the teams and create value for advertisers and partners,” Scripps Sports President Brian Lawlor said.

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Fox is “near a deal to acquire the rights” to the 2026 Big Ten championship game from NBC for between $45M and $55M. NBC had subleased the game from Fox and is “now essentially selling it back” (X, 4/7). As part of the expected deal, NBC “will get an additional regular-season game” (X, 4/7).

Washington State has removed the interim tag for AD Jon Haarlow, officially promoting him to the post. He has served as interim AD since Nov. 12 and will be formally introduced on April 20. Haarlow has more than five years at WSU and over 15 in collegiate athletics, joining the school in 2021 as Senior Associate AD & CFO. Since WSU parted with former AD Anne McCoy, Haarlow hired football coach Kirby Moore and soccer coach Chris Citowicki, launched a renovation for the football team’s locker room and boosted fundraising efforts for the football fan experience project (Washington State). WSU President Betsy Cantwell said on two occasions that Haarlow was “her likely AD pick” (JOHNCANZANO.com, 4/7).

The Univ. of North Carolina on Tuesday officially announced Michael Malone as the school’s new men’s basketball coach, and he will be introduced at a public news conference at 6pm ET. A source, cited by INSIDE CAROLINA, indicated that Malone is receiving a six-year deal worth an average of $8.3M per season. That will make him the “second-highest paid college basketball coach in the country behind Kansas’ Bill Self” (INSIDE CAROLINA, 4/7).

The NFL reached a multiyear deal with U.S. Bank that makes the financial institution the “first brand to hold a standalone banking sponsorship with the NFL in 30 years.” The move was first reported by SBJ’s Terry Lefton in October. The deal helps “fill a void left by Visa,” whose sponsorship rights expired in March after three decades. Going forward, the NFL has “disaggregated its payments sponsorship from one category into three.” Beginning Tuesday, U.S. Bank will “serve as the bank and wealth management partner of the league,” while American Express stepped in to claim the payments category from Visa. The NFL has “not yet named its peer-to-peer banking sponsor,” but SBJ reported PayPal is the odds-on favorite. Representatives from U.S. Bank and the NFL declined to share the financial specifics of the partnership, though the league confirmed that the net value of the two signed deals “does exceed what the NFL received from Visa” (AD WEEK, 4/7).

When the new arena in Mobile, Ala., opens in early 2027, it’ll be called Regions Arena, following a naming rights deal between Oak View Group and Regions Bank.

A source familiar with the deal indicated it was a 10-year agreement worth eight figures. OVG’s Global Partnerships group secured the deal on behalf of the city of Mobile, which will own the 10,000-seat, $237M arena.

Regions Bank is based in Birmingham, Ala. Its other sports venue naming rights deal is for Regions Field, home to the White Sox’s Double-A affiliate, the Birmingham Barons.

In addition to the Mobile arena’s naming rights, Regions becomes the official banking sponsor of Regions Arena, the Mobile Convention Center, and Saenger Theater, and the official banking sponsor for the new Mobile Hockey Team, scheduled to begin play at the venue during the 2027-28 season. The naming rights deal is the 43rd arranged by OVG’s Global Partnerships team.

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Panini America signed a multiyear agreement with Liberty F Breanna Stewart for autographed trading cards. Stewart will be featured throughout Panini’s WNBA trading card products, as well as on the Panini Instant Card platform, which will show players and performances throughout the 2026 WNBA season. She will also be included in select Panini marketing activations. Stewart joins Fever G Caitlin Clark, Dream F Angel Reese and Wings G Paige Bueckers as WNBA players with Panini trading card partnerships. Panini is the official trading card partner of the WNBA and WNBPA (Panini America).

Meanwhile, a source said that Panini shareholders are “expected ‌to decide by yearend on an external investment in the company” after “two dozen potential buyers showed interest.” A transaction this year “could benefit from the boost the World Cup ​traditionally brings to Panini’s core profit." The source said that Panini could be seeking a valuation of around $5.8B (REUTERS, 4/2).

Diamond Baseball Holdings is delving into the unaffiliated ranks for the first time, acquiring the Trenton Thunder of the MLB Draft League. However, local officials hope the sale positions the franchise to return to affiliated baseball. The Thunder had served as the Double-A home for the Tigers (1994), Red Sox (1995-2002) and Yankees (2003-20) before joining the MLBDL in 2021 following MLB’s minor-league reorganization.

“This change in ownership is really setting us up to be in the best position to become affiliated with a major league team again,” Executive Director/Mercer County Park Commission Joseph Pizza told local outlet MercerMe. “This is what all the work we’ve been doing is about.”

As of now, though, the team will continue to play in the six-team MLBDL, with its existing front office remaining in place. The Thunder’s ballpark is undergoing a $25M renovation.

“The Trenton Thunder are a great fit for the DBH roster because of their incredible ballpark, loyal fan base and strong public-private partnership with Mercer County,” said Peter Freund, CEO of DBH. “We have been focusing on using our scale to take the fan experience to the next level through investment in ballpark upgrades, activating our venues more and more, and supporting our local front offices with resources and expertise. We’re excited to do that in Trenton, which already has such an impressive foundation to build upon.”

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Bay Collective has acquired a majority stake in Women’s Super League 2 club Sunderland AFC, which becomes the second club in its portfolio along with NWSL club Bay FC. Bay Collective will work with Sunderland to enhance the matchday experience for fans and strengthen its operational infrastructure (Bay Collective). The acquisition is “subject to approval from the relevant footballing authorities,” but has “been agreed by the two parties” after almost a year of negotiations. The deal will see Premier League club Sunderland “retain a minority stake” in the club. Interim Sunderland CEO Tom Burwell said that they had “considered several options before settling on Bay Collective.” (SUNDERLAND ECHO, 4/7).

Specifics of the acquisition have not been disclosed, but sources said that Bay Collective will “acquire a holding in the region” of 80%. It will make Sunderland the fourth club in the Premier League to “sell a stake in their women’s team to outside investors within the past two years.” But while Chelsea, Aston Villa and Everton saw “internal restructures of women’s teams” undertaken before then selling stakes to outside investors, “no such internal ‘sale’ has taken place” with Sunderland. The price paid is yet to be made public, but a source said that the acquisition is “expected to represent the most significant transaction relating to a WSL2 team” (THE ATHLETIC, 4/7).