The NFL has taken $7.5M "from each team" to "pay for the settlement" of the lawsuit by Missouri government entities over the '16 Rams relocation from St. Louis to L.A. This comes as Rams Owner Stan Kroenke is "still resisting pressure to pay for the entirety" of the $790M settlement. Kroenke as part of the '16 owners’ vote approving the move agreed to "indemnify the league against all legal costs." Team officials said that the $232.5M from the other 31 clubs was deducted from the "amount from each club’s revenue-sharing payments." The remainder of the settlement "presumably was paid out of NFL financial reserves" as it was "due by the end of 2021." The team execs described "surprise at the move" and complained that the action had "caused budgeting issues because of the sudden charge and not knowing whether the money would be returned if Kroenke is ordered by the NFL to pay the whole sum" (THEATHLETIC.com, 5/24).

Several NFL team owners today said that "no meaningful steps have been taken toward making a push to remove" Commanders Owner Daniel Snyder. However, some owners indicated that they "would support a significant league suspension" of Snyder "if allegations of sexual harassment and financial impropriety against him and the team are substantiated" in Mary Jo White's ongoing investigation. One owner said, “There’s anger. But there’s quite a difference between wishing he was gone and taking steps to force him out.” That owner added, “It all depends on the report.” Multiple owners "cited the legal complications" of a full ouster, "expressing the belief that Snyder would go to great lengths to fight any such effort" (WASHINGTON POST, 5/24).

NBC averaged 5.3 million viewers for the race segment of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, which saw Early Voting take home the second leg of the Triple Crown. Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike did not run at Pimlico on Saturday. Outside of the ’20 race, which was moved to October due to the pandemic, this year is the least-watched Preakness since ’00, when ABC drew 4.91 million for Red Bullet’s win. The Preakness in ’20 averaged 2.36 million viewers.

NBC is down 25% from last year’s Preakness (7.1 million), which had an extra level of intrigue with Medina Spirit in the field. That horse won the Kentucky Derby two weeks prior, and ran in that Preakness even though there was a positive drug test from the Derby revealed about a week prior to the the running at Pimlico. Last year's Preakness also was the lead-in for the first game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (NBC led into a USFL game this year). This year’s Preakness audience is close to what NBC averaged in ’19 (5.41 million), when the event also was missing the Derby winner.

UNC Charlotte plans to “double the seating capacity at the school’s on-campus football stadium as part of a long-term facilities plan” released this afternoon. The initial phase, including expansion of Jerry Richardson Stadium and "building a combination soccer-lacrosse stadium," will cost $102M and “depend entirely on private fundraising to pay for the projects.” Sports design firm HOK and locally based Jenkins Peer Architects “assembled the long-term blueprint for the school.” The target for completing the multi-phase plan is “12 to 15 years.” Expanding the football stadium to “more than 30,000 seats as part of a two-stage process” will cost $81.3M. Charlotte AD Mike Hill said that “fundraising has begun” but “declined to disclose details on initial commitments.” Hill added that the football stadium expansion projects “would take two to two-and-a-half years to finish once the money has been raised” (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/24).

Dodgers investor Todd Boehly's purchase of Chelsea is "on the brink of going through" after the EPL board "formally announced he had passed its ownership checks." The U.K. government is now "expected to announce imminently that ministers are now happy to press ahead with licensing the deal." However, the sale process is "not quite resolved" as outgoing owner Roman Abramovich is "still waiting for final approval on the sale from Portugal and Europe." European authorities are "involved as Abramovich is also sanctioned there and has had a Portuguese passport since last year." Proceeds from the deal "will only start changing hands once the European Commission has rubber-stamped the agreement" (London TELEGRAPH, 5/25).

Trackhouse Racing has launched a new initiative called Project91, a part-time third car with the No. 91 aiming to bring global stars of racing to the NASCAR Cup Series a few times a year, starting this season. Details of the new program are still scant, but Trackhouse Founder Justin Marks is known to have been traveling to Europe in recent months to set this up, and he told SBJ this afternoon that the first driver and race they will enter for this season will be announced by this weekend. The move could be a boost to NASCAR’s efforts to grow its sport internationally, depending on what drivers get involved. A launch social media post from Project91 accounts used voiceovers from F1 and IndyCar commentators, suggesting that some of the drivers will hail from these series.

Marks in a prepared statement wrote the goal is to "activate the intersection point of NASCAR racing and global motorsport culture," and that the seventh-generation stock car that debuted this year is “an opportunity for NASCAR to enter the global professional motorsport conversation.” The move is the latest ambitious move by Marks since he founded the team prior to the '21 season.

Baking mix brand Kodiak Cakes is rolling out a new social media campaign in which 16 athletes and sports personalities post their recipes and compete in a "Team Waffle/Team Flapjack" format. Each participant will bring a personal recipe to the competition. The winner will be determined by the public via a bracket, with users voting to determine the winner. First place will receive $50,000 for a charity of their choice, and second place will win $25,000 toward their charity. Competitors include sports business names like Ravens GM Eric DeCosta and ESPN's Adam Schefter, in addition to athletes like Jazz F Rudy Gay, tennis player Sloane Stephens and Dodgers SS Trea Turner. See the full lineup in the Instagram post below (SBJ).

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NBC Sports named Al Michaels to an emeritus role. Michaels will continue to broadcast and contribute across NBC Sports’ properties, including the NFL and Olympic coverage. Michaels earlier this year completed his 16th season as the voice of "Sunday Night Football" (NBCU).

DAZN formally announced plans for the Canelo Alvarez- Gennadiy Golovkin trilogy fight on Sept. 17. The boxing match will air live on DAZN PPV in the U.S. and Canada, and worldwide on DAZN (excluding Mexico, Latin America and Kazakhstan) in partnership with Matchroom, Canelo Promotions and GGG Promotions. The venue has yet to be determined (DAZN).

The Sporting News reached a partnership with TicketSmarter, enabling Sporting News users to buy tickets directly related to the sports content they are consuming through contextual TicketSmarter integrations across web and mobile platforms (TicketSmarter).

The Big3 renewed its partnership with Microsoft in a multiyear deal, extending its role as official technology partner of the league (Big3).

“The reason we’re talking about this is because there is chaos in college athletics. There is a search for a new NCAA president, the NCAA is restructuring itself and the bottom line is there’s a vacuum of leadership, so here is what you get. You get, ‘Let’s throw these ideas out here and see what happens’” -- ESPN's Heather Dinich, on the SEC possibly exploring an intra-conference postseason ( “Get Up,” ESPN, 5/24).

The PLL's Paul Rabil posted this video showing the league's visit to Compton, Calif., where it held a free clinic and donated some goals for the young athletes.

34 million -- Total "likes" on TikTok for the Chiefs' feed on the platform, tops among North American sports teams, according to research from Zoomph. The Warriors are tops in followers with 3.7 million, but are only in the middle of the NBA pack in terms of "likes" (Hornets lead the way in that league with 21.4 million) (Zoomph).