Closing Bell

A new four-episode docuseries from Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions, “Full Court Press,” will follow Iowa G Caitlin Clark, South Carolina C Kamilla Cardoso and UCLA G Kiki Rice throughout the 2023-24 season. The series will premiere on May 11 and 12 on ABC and then be available on ESPN+. “Full Court Press" will feature "three distinct storylines," as Omaha sent cameras to "follow the players at practices, their biggest games and to capture intimate moments away from the court." Clark, Cardoso and Rice have "editorial input in the series," but "not final cut." Omaha also made a "donation to the NIL collectives at each of the schools taking part, but didn’t offer more financial details of the deal." This is Omaha's "latest foray into the genre" of sports docuseries after the Netflix series "Quarterback" (WASHINGTON POST, 3/18).

MLS Next Pro is letting teams sell more on-kit sponsorship inventory this season by opening new positions above the numbers on the back of players’ jerseys and on the right leg of their shorts. The move brings the total number of sponsorship positions on Next Pro players’ uniforms to four, as front-of-kit and right sleeve branding had previously been allowed.

The move to add on-kit inventory was driven in part by the addition of two new independently owned teams this season. Carolina Core, a new team based in High Point, N.C., made its debut yesterday with all four kit positions sold to local and regional brands. Chattanooga FC, which made its debut Saturday, has sold the three jersey positions. Financial terms of those deals were not disclosed.

"When you look around the world at other soccer leagues, there's a lot of commercial inventory on their jerseys and their shorts that we're not activating yet in MLS, said MLS Next Pro President Charles Altchek. “So, we thought why don't we try this in Next Pro?”

For Next Pro’s 27 MLS-affiliated teams, the Next Pro uniform inventory can either be sold on a standalone basis or as a value-add for sponsors of the MLS parent club. The league’s rules dictate that teams must sell the front of kit before selling the sleeve, which must be sold before the back of the jersey, which must be sold before the shorts.

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Adidas is kicking off the college basketball postseason with another prominent partnership in the women's basketball space. The company is set to unveil a new commercial featuring star LSU G and brand partner Hailey Van Lith. The ad will run during both the men's and women's tournaments across broadcast networks and social media. An official announcement is expected on Monday.

Adidas has been active in the college space since the advent of NIL deals. The company previously partnered with Washington WR Rome Odunze and QB Michael Penix Jr., along with four Overtime Elite basketball players. On the women's basketball side, Adidas announced a partnership with Texas A&M F Janiah Barker last week.

The company is also set to announce its NIL Network, which was launched in March 2022, has seen more than 12,000 student-athletes participate by earning a percentage of sales they drive for a variety of products and campaigns. Basketball, track & field, football, soccer and baseball have the highest representation across the network. Adidas is expected to engage with a number of athletes involved in the NIL Network across social media throughout the postseason.

Sodexo Live’s first BNP Paribas Open since taking over the food and beverage service at Indian Wells Tennis Garden was a big success, with food and beverage revenue jumping 40%. On the back of a 12% tournament attendance jump, per-cap spending averages also increased 25% and suite-level ordering was up 35%. Sodexo Live replaced Levy as the venue’s F&B provider last fall, adding to the French company’s tennis roster, which includes Roland-Garros, the Australian Open and the Miami Open -- which begins this week. Sodexo Live had 1,100 F&B-related people on-site for its first edition of the tournament.

Indian Wells continues to underscore its reputation as the best non-Grand Slam tennis event in the world. This year’s tournament set a new attendance record of 493,440 fans during the two-week event, which ran from March 3 to 17. The most-attended day (40,805) and night sessions (15,483) of the tournament both took place on Saturday, March 9. 

Sodexo Live added a dozen new hospitality offerings to an event long known for its food and beverage program, including MOTO Pizza, Sumo Dog, Puesto, Love Love Chicken, Dragon Lili Cafe + Boba Bar, and J's Deli. The tournament sold nearly 118,000 bottles of water and more than 94,000 scoops of ice cream during the two-week event, as well as 20,250 glasses of champagne. Celebrity chef Richard Blaiswas brought on by Sodexo Live to curate custom suite F&B packages, which contributed to the boost in suite-level orders. 

Nottingham Forest has been hit with a four-point deduction after being found to have breached the Premier League’s financial rules. Forest "will be plunged into the relegation zone" following the punishment, with the club’s owner Evangelos Marinakis "understood to be furious with the league" and CEO Richard Masters. Forest is "considering an appeal," which must be lodged within seven days. The Premier League "initially pushed for an eight-point deduction before mitigation," based on a minimum three points for the breach and an additional five points for a $43.9M overspend -- which was 77% larger than Everton’s recent sanction (London TELEGRAPH, 3/18).

The independent commission said it removed two points from Forest’s sanction "because of their early admission of the offence and their co-operation." Everton, which was initially docked ten points before that was reduced on appeal to six, "did not benefit from that due to 'incorrect information being provided to the Premier League,'" according to the ruling. Both Forest’s and Everton’s breaches were deemed to be "significant," which is why they were "treated as the same kind of offence" (London TIMES, 3/18).

Brisbane Olympics organizers have "scrapped plans" to demolish and rebuild the Gabba cricket stadium as the centerpiece of the 2032 Olympics "while also rejecting a review panel’s recommendation for a new stadium in city parklands." Queensland Premier Steven Miles instead announced today "he’d prefer to upgrade an existing rugby stadium close to downtown Brisbane to host the opening and closing ceremonies." Miles called for an independent review of Olympic planning in January as "backlash intensified" against the tripling of the cost to redevelop the Gabba. He said the option to upgrade Suncorp Stadium, which is walking distance of multiple train stations and the city, "would make it ideal to host the opening and closing ceremonies." His government "also plans to upgrade another existing stadium" in the city’s south to host track & field. The total cost to refurbish those two stadiums would be $66M. Organizers "still need to finalize where an indoor stadium will be built" to host swimming (AP, 3/18).

Lamar Univ. selected SNA Displays for LED video upgrades at its football stadium and basketball arena. The school was represented by Anthony James Partners on the project, which resulted in a 2.3 million-pixel LED videoboard (73 feet, six inches wide, 34 feet tall) at the football stadium more than twice the size of its predecessor. Bakers Signs installed the football board. Next door, in the 11,000-seat Montagne Center, a new centerhung scoreboard with faces measuring roughly 9 feet by 18 feet, features slightly curved LED screens tilted downward to provide maximum sightlines for arena attendees.

March 18, 1995  -- Michael Jordan announces he is ending his 17-month NBA retirement and returning. Jordan shocked the world with a now infamous, two-word fax: “I’m back.” The next day on, March 19, more than a year after his retirement from the NBA -- Jordan was back on the floor with the Bulls to take on Reggie Miller and the Pacers. Jordan wore No. 45 during the game because No. 23 had been retired by the Bulls following his retirement.

Also happening this week:

• March 18, 1990 -- The 32-day lockout by MLB owners ends.

• March 19, 1991 -- NFL owners remove the Super Bowl from Phoenix after Arizona failed to make MLK Day a paid holiday.

• March 19, 1997 -- MLB announces a 5-year, $50M deal with Pepsi.

• March 21, 1961 -- Art Modell purchases the Browns for a record of $3.92M.

Former MLB manager Buck Showalter has rejoined MLB Network as an on-air analyst appearing across its programming. Showalter will make his 2024 debut on the 6pm ET edition of "MLB Tonight" on April 1 (MLB).

Vox Media has sold Outsports to LGBTQ+ publisher Q.Digital. The deal was an all-stock equity transaction in which the co-founders of Outsports, which covers LGBTQ-related issues and athletes in sports, will get equity in Q.Digital (Q.Digital).

Prime Video will incorporate Wondery’s sports slate onto the platform, with the Wondery Sports Podcasts collection including new and past episodes of "Six Trophies with Jason Concepcion and Shea Serrano," "Over the Top with Beadle & Rosenberg" and the just-launched "Alternate Routes" hosted by Trey Wingo and Kevin Frazier (Wondery)

Financial services company Itaú Unibanco has renewed its sponsorship contract for the Miami Open that will last until 2028 (Itaú Unibanco).

The female employee who  made allegations of controlling behavior against Red Bull team principal Christian Horner decided to "appeal the findings of the investigation." She also notified the FIA of a "potential breach of motor racing's code of conducts," which "could prompt the governing body to get more involved" (MOTORSPORT.com, 3/18).

The Paris 2024 Organizing Committee now seems "a little more worried" about "ticket sales for the Paralympic Games." The OCOG "fears the prospect of still having to sell a large portion of these tickets between the end of July 2024 ... and the end of August," as the Paralympic Games will be held from Aug. 28-Sept. 8. The committee is now discussing the "need to kick-start the event's promotional campaigns (again)" (LE MONDE, 3/18).

Japanese driver  Kamui Kobayashi believes that there "would be an audience in Japan if NASCAR were to make a return to his homeland." NASCAR brought stock cars and its Cup Series stars to Japan for the first time in '96, running at the Suzuka Circuit for two years before moving to Motegi in '98 (RACER.com, 3/16). 

Championship rugby side Featherstone Rovers Chair Mark Campbell said he "will be stepping down" from his position and from the BOD once the club's "cash flow issue" is addressed. The club reportedly "owes money to a group of players and staff." Craig Hall recently took to social media to "express his disappointment over the delay in receiving his payment from his testimonial in January 2023" (YORKSHIRE POST, 3/18).

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Knicks Gs Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson are featured on the latest episode of the First We Feast YouTube series "Hot Ones Versus."

$844M  -- The estimated debut monthly sports betting handle for North Carolina, based on its SBJ projected per-adult rate, which would rank it No. 3 in terms of first-month handle for any state, behind only Ohio and N.Y. (Bill King, SBJ Betting).