Closing Bell

The Fever and Wings G Paige Bueckers are leading the WNBA in team and player-level sponsorship activity this season, according to the SponsorUnited’s just-completed, first-ever WNBA Partnerships Report.

The Fever lead the league with 92 separate sponsorship deals, including a jersey patch deal with Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. and has partnered with Gainbridge, who also signed G Caitlin Clark to a multipronged brand ambassadorship while she was still in college.

Overall, the financial and healthcare categories brought in the most team-level sponsor revenue, according to the data.

Ally, Gainbridge and Robinhood (whose Washington Mystics’ jersey patch deal began last season), combined to account for over 40% of all financial category spend.

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The NFL is fining about 100 players and two dozen club employees for “violating league policy by selling Super Bowl 59 tickets for above face value,” according to a source. The source said the players who resold the tickets “will have to pay a fine of 1 1/2 times the face value they paid.” They also “won’t be permitted to buy tickets for the next two Super Bowls unless they are playing in the game.” Club employees who violated the policy will “be fined two times face value.” In a memo sent to teams, NFL Head of Compliance Sabrina Perel said that the league “was still completing its investigation” (AP, 7/25).

The NFL is “closing in on a deal to take a minority stake of up to 10% in ESPN,” according to sources, who noted the discussions are “ongoing,” and it’s “possible the final deal may arrive at a smaller stake.” ESPN has been talking to the NFL for “at least two years about potentially selling the league a stake in the company.” The sources said that ESPN “wouldn’t take equity ownership in the NFL, like it just did for the Premier Lacrosse League,” under the current structure of a deal. ESPN would “own all of NFL Network and NFL RedZone, rather than just a controlling stake, if the deal moves forward as currently constructed.” ESPN would “only acquire some” of the assets under NFL Media, while “potentially doing partnership deals with others” (CNBC.com, 7/24).

Sources said that Rutgers is “parting ways” with TurnkeyZRG, which it hired 87 days ago to find an athletics director in a move that “represents another twist in a long process to bring new leadership to the struggling department.” The move comes days after Brian Lafemina, a top candidate in the process, “pulled his name out of consideration” for the job. It is “unclear” if Rutgers will “hire a new firm or continue the search without one.” President William Tate, who took over for Jonathan Holloway on July 1, is “expected to play a notable role in the search moving forward” (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 7/25).

Astros owner Jim Crane and former owner Drayton McLane agreed Friday morning to “settle their long-running dispute over the 2012-13 collapse of the Comcast SportsNet Houston,” one day into their trial before a 15-member jury panel in Harris County District Court. Both men “thanked the jurors that had heard a single day of testimony” before state District Judge Sonya Aston. The details of the settlement “were confidential.” One juror said that he was “surprised by the settlement announcement before learning from attorneys that settlement talks had been under way for some time” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/25).

MLS has decided to enforce its rule penalizing non-injured players for skipping its annual All-Star Game, deeming Inter Miami F Lionel Messi and D Jordi Alba ineligible for Saturday’s home match against FC Cincinnati. Neither Miami player traveled to Austin for Wednesday’s All-Star Game at Q2 Stadium.

Commissioner Don Garber said enforcing the long-standing policy “was a very difficult decision” and that the league would “take a hard look at the policy moving forward.”

“I know Lionel Messi loves this league,” Garber said in a statement. “I don’t think there’s a player -- or anyone -- who has done more for Major League Soccer than Messi. I fully understand, respect and admire his commitment to Inter Miami, and I respect his decision.”

Garber seemed to lay the rhetorical groundwork for giving Messi and Alba a pass during his midseason press conference on Wednesday. He pointed out that the club had played more matches over the past month than any other MLS team -- nine in 35 days -- due to its participation in the FIFA Club World Cup and that neither player practiced on Wednesday.

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The Premier League Summer Series returns to the U.S. on Saturday, and the league will conduct a series of events and community initiatives with teams, players, executives and partners. There was a VIP kickoff last night at Classic Football Shirts in Soho, N.Y. The Premier League will also host another free fan event today at American Dream Mall featuring interactive activations with the league, clubs and official partners. There will also be a Premier League Community Showcase from 2pm-5:30pm ET today at Washington Elementary School in Kearny, N.J. Four Premier League teams -- AFC Bournemouth, Everton, Manchester United and West Ham United -- will compete in a preseason round-robin tournament at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Saturday, Soldier Field in Chicago on Wednesday and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Aug. 3 with each day featuring a doubleheader (Premier League).