Closing Bell

The NHL Board of Governors today approved a multifaceted arrangement that will see the players, draft picks and hockey operations of the Arizona Coyotes transferred to a newly established franchise in Utah purchased by Jazz owner Ryan Smith and his wife, Ashley, for the 2024-25 season. It also renders the Coyotes franchise owned by Alex Meruelo inactive and grants Meruelo an option to reactivate the franchise if he can facilitate the construction of an NHL-caliber arena in the Phoenix metro area within five years.

The unique arrangement is a hybrid between relocation and expansion. Technically, the league awarded Smith Entertainment Group a new franchise, and SEG has also purchased the Coyotes’ players, draft picks and hockey operations staff directly from Meruelo. Sources said the whole package cost SEG between $1.2-1.3B. The team will debut at Delta Center, the Jazz’s current home arena in downtown Salt Lake City, in October.

Meruelo, who received $1B in the deal, will retain the club’s IP and brand. If Meruelo meets certain conditions -- most importantly, building the suitable new arena -- the NHL would allow him to reactivate the Coyotes for an undisclosed fee.

The NHL’s capability to broker the complex deal with Smith and Meruelo enables the league and its players to immediately move on from the Coyotes' problematic arena situation without attempting to force an involuntarily sale of the franchise. Such an effort would have likely resulted in a protracted legal battle that the league preferred to avoid.

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FIFA is set to create "dozens of new committees and expert panels," reversing a governance reform passed in 2016 when the world soccer body was "in turmoil during corruption scandals." FIFA's plan to increase its number of standing committees from seven to 35 -- with the option to let FIFA President Gianni Infantino "create and appoint extra panels of experts" -- was "detailed in a draft update of its legal statutes" released late yesterday. Creating the new bodies "could let FIFA award hundreds of expenses-paid committee seats to soccer officials worldwide" who will vote on the new rules at a May 17 meeting in Thailand. The new slate of committees includes a dedicated "Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination Committee" (AP, 4/18).

Meanwhile, talks on "throwing Israel out of world football" over its response to the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks are to be held at the FIFA meeting next month. The Palestine Football Association has submitted a proposal for inclusion on the agenda to "address what it branded actions that represented 'an existential threat tantamount to genocide.'" The proposal, which is "not currently due to be put to a vote," was backed by the FAs of Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Yemen. FIFA and UEFA "have so far resisted calls" to ban Israel from tournaments such as the World Cup and European Championship (London TELEGRAPH, 4/18).

Univ. of Missouri administration today approved$250M in "renovations to the Memorial Stadium north concourse," clearing the way for the school’s "most expensive athletic facilities project to date." Expected to be "complete in time for the 2026 season," the renovations will "add 2,000 premium tickets to the stadium's capacity, including 51 new suite spaces." That will increase Memorial Stadium's capacity to approximately 65,000. Renderings unveiled after today's UM System Board of Curators meeting show "multiple levels of premium seating added above and around Memorial Stadium's iconic Rock M." Mizzou has enlisted the services of K.C.-based architecture and design firm DLR Group for the project (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 4/18).

The UNC Board of Governors approved the $60M "first phase of expansion" of UNC Charlotte's Jerry Richardson Stadium. The expansion of the venue, one of the smallest in FBS at 15,314 seats, is part of the school's larger EverGreen Athletics Facilities Master Vision, a 12-15-year, multimillion-dollar, multiphase plan. Advance planning has been "in the works for months and recently wrapped up," and now Charlotte will "focus on schematic design." Construction on Phase 1 will "begin after the 2024 season" and will "increase capacity to 18,170." Phase 2 is expected to "expand seating to 21,000 as the university continues to raise funds for the project" (AXIOS, 4/18).

Thunder G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has signed a "massive, multi-year shoe deal extension with Converse, cementing him as the face of the company for the future." The deal also names Gilgeous-Alexander the Creative Dir of Converse Basketball, allowing him to "provide input and direction across all products from the company." Gilgeous-Alexander has begun "designing his own signature shoe" slated for a 2025 release alongside a "full collection of apparel and additional footwear styles." Gilgeous-Alexander first signed with Converse in July 2020 (BOARDROOM, 4/18).

Six WNBA franchises -- the Sky, Sun, Aces, Sparks, Mercury and Storm -- are adding new "Rebel" jerseys for the 2024 season, which "play off of the characteristics of each city and region." The Sparks will debut the team's "first gold jersey in the Nike era," which "gives the effect that the sun is shining on the team." Meanwhile, the Storm have "played up the weather aspect of their name with lightning-shaped indents in the jersey’s lettering." Several elements of the Sun’s new jerseys "serve as symbols and homages to the Mohegan Tribe's culture and history." The Mercury are taking their Rebel look -- which "features a pixelated sunset gradient and celebrates the popular Phoenix Suns' 'Valley' jersey" -- one step further by "adopting a matching alternate court" -- the first time in WNBA history a team will have an alternate floor that will be used during the entire season. Chicago’s wordmark, "Skytown," is a "spin on the city’s nickname, 'Chi Town,'" and its light blue color features "silver piping and a white gradient throughout in hopes of conjuring images of a sky." The Aces’ jersey brings back what they call a "championship red" color, a shade that "runs deep throughout the team’s culture and DNA" (THE ATHLETIC, 4/18).

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed into law this morning "groundbreaking legislation" that will give Virginia universities virtually "unencumbered freedom to provide their athletes" NIL compensation. The bill takes effect July 1, "overrides confusing NCAA restrictions and could, advocates believe, be a catalyst for a desperately needed national standard" protected by Congress and/or the courts. Virginia’s new law says "neither the NCAA nor any governing body can penalize an in-state school or athlete" for direct compensation for endorsements. Virginia Del. Terry Austin sponsored the measure, and Univ. of Virginia’s Deputy AD for Legal and Regulatory Affairs Jason Baum served as the primary author (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 4/18).

SBJ’s Austin Karp chats with Pete Giorgioof Deloitte about the opportunities around women’s sports for brands and leagues. 

The Colts and Pacers Sports & Entertainment have signed on as Centennial Partners in support of USA Swimming at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, set to be held June 15-23 at Lucas Oil Stadium (USA Swimming).

Foot care brand Dr. Scholl's signed a partnership with Gold Medal-winning U.S. gymnast Gabby Douglas, who will star in a new marketing campaign, "It Starts with Dr. Scholl's" (Dr. Scholl's).

The Basketball Tournament signed a multiyear media rights agreement with Fox Sports to carry games on Fox, FS1, and FS2. As part of the agreement, the network will carry 27 TBT games live on linear television, including three on Fox (Fox).

The Laver Cup has agreed to a new retail and merchandising partnership with Fanatics. Under the multiyear deal, Fanatics will make available a new range of Laver Cup merchandise, with the initial range set be introduced at the event taking place September 20-22 (Fanatics).

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Serie A club Juventus has been ordered to pay Cristiano Ronaldo$10.5M by an arbitration board "following a salary dispute." The amount is half of what Ronaldo "had been seeking from the Turin club in back wages" (AP, 4/18).

UK Sport, the government agency that provides funding for the British Olympic and Paralympic program, "will have to cut" 25% of staff jobs and 50% of its directors by July, with CEO Sally Munday citing "unprecedented financial pressures" (London TIMES, 4/18).

The U.K. has "stuck with traditional colours" in their official Olympic and Paralympic kits following "backlash earlier this month" over the sale of Olympic merchandise to fans which were "branded as 'Union Jack' flags but contained dots and squiggles as well as a colour scheme that veered into pinks and purples." The newly-revealed Adidas team kit "adopts a much more conservative tone" (London TELEGRAPH, 4/18).

The U.K.'s new independent football regulator "will be based in Greater Manchester," the government has announced, and advertisements have been published for the regulator’s chair -- a position which carries a salary of $161,000 a year for three days a week, as well as for three non-executive directors. Several sites "are being considered in and around Manchester" for an HQ (London TIMES, 4/18). 

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Netflix today announced its latest series, "America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders," which will premiere this summer and follow the 2023-24 Cowboys cheerleaders squad from auditions through the season.

12  -- The number of years since the last time a women refereed an NBA playoff game, with Ashley Moyer-Gleich being announced today as one of 36 referees selected for Round 1 of the playoffs starting this weekend. Moyer-Gleich is just the second woman in NBA history to referee a playoff game, joining Violet Palmer, who worked nine playoff games between 2006 and 2012 (AP, 4/18).