Closing Bell

The Braves begin the 2026 season Friday night with a new media venture -- BravesVision -- providing the team’s television product, and President & CEO Derek Schiller said talks with distributors remain ongoing. He noted the team in recent days has announced deals with Charter/Spectrum and Comcast/Xfinity, as well as a “whole range of small- and medium-sized carriage deals” throughout the Braves’ six-state territory. However, DirecTV and YouTube TV remain without an agreement. Schiller: “We would have loved to have signed with YouTube TV. Right now, they’re not saying they’re going to sign with us.” The Braves again this year are offering a streaming option that is not subject to MLB’s blackout rules.

Schiller noted there is a “whole bunch of information” about the availability of BravesVision going out just hours before first pitch. He said, “I realize that people might be saying, ‘Why couldn’t you do this earlier?’ Well look, I got news for you -- most people, it probably takes 12-18 months to do what we’ve done in under 30 days (in creating BravesVision). I’m asking for just a wee bit of patience on that. The team, with production help from Raycom Sports, eventually will look beyond just game broadcasts and pre- and postgame shows.” Schiller said, “We’re going to start to build a whole bunch of … ancillary content to fill out (the schedule). We’ll do game replays on BravesVision, all kinds of other content. And because we’re the team, we should be able to deliver to you insider content you can’t see anywhere else” (“The Locker Room,” WCNN-AM, 3/27).

The Braves reached a deal with DirecTV to offer BravesVision to fans across Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and western North Carolina. The new RSN will be available in time for the 7:15pm ET first pitch for the team’s Opening Day on Friday (DirecTV).

The team also reached a deal with FuboTV Inc. for a multiyear distribution agreement for BravesVision to be available on Fubo’s streaming platform, starting Friday (Fubo).

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The NFL has hired Claudia Teran, a former in-house lawyer for Snap and the Fox Corp., as its new deputy general counsel and SVP. Teran will lead the league’s media affairs legal team as dealmakers begin renegotiating their $110B-plus media rights portfolio, and will also be asked to help the “NFL stay at the forefront of technological and other developments in the law,” according to a league statement.

Teran is stepping into a position that had been vacant since mid-2024, when Deputy General Counsel/Media & League Business Affairs Janet Nova left. Teran will report to General Counsel Ted Ullyot, who was hired to replace Jeff Pash in March 2025.

Teran has served as Snap’s deputy general counsel since Oct. 2021, according to her LinkedIn page. Prior to that, she had spent 20 years at Fox, including seven years as Fox Sports’ general counsel and EVP from 2014-21. There, she also served on the boards of the Big Ten and YES Networks. Ullyot said Teran is “an accomplished global legal executive.”

“With her broad background, Claudia will be an important asset for the league, as she is known for guiding organizations through complex regulatory environments, high-stakes commercial negotiations, cross-border expansion, and strategic business transformation,” Ullyot said.

Inter Miami are recognizing star F Lionel Messi with the unveiling of the Leo Messi stand at Nu Stadium. The section, part of the team’s new home, will include sections 117-121 in the lower bowl and 217-223 in the upper bowl. Fans in the section will receive surprises as part of the experience (Inter Miami CF). In having a section named for him while still an active player, Messi is “set to become part of a rare sporting phenomenon” that will see him recognized with the stand name while playing, “breaking from tradition where such tributes typically celebrate retired greats of the game” (London INDEPENDENT, 3/27).

Participants in this year’s Masters “will have some swanky new digs to hang out in,” as Augusta National Golf Club on Friday “unveiled a first look” at the tournament’s new Player Services Building. Located behind the tournament practice area, the three-story structure will have “new locker rooms, therapy areas, a fitness area and dining for players and their support teams” (GOLF DIGEST, 3/27). This was Phase 2 of the Player Services Project for Augusta National. The club finished Phase 1 prior to last year’s Masters, when it completed an underground player parking garage that’s accessible via the tunnel that goes to the Masters’ Global Broadcast Village (Josh Carpenter, SBJ).

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Former NFLer Malcolm Jenkins has “co-founded a firm to invest in real estate and the sports industry.” Jenkins started the firm with Brian K. Hinds Jr., who has worked with UBS and JPMorgan. They attended high school together. The firm, Pleasant/Rock, has a “pipeline of development projects” exceeding $200M and is targeting $500M in total investments by 2028 that “might include stakes in teams, emerging leagues and sports technology.” Among real estate focuses includes “sports adjacent property” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 3/27).

The PWHL and women’s hockey is “finally coming back” to Calgary during the Takeover Tour.” The Toronto Sceptres take on the Ottawa Charge at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday. It is “no secret” the PWHL is actively expanding, adding teams in Seattle and Vancouver last season to the original six squads. The 16 neutral-site Takeover Tour games are the “testing ground for the league’s future expansion.” With Calgary new to the schedule, it is “unlikely that Calgary would gain a PWHL expansion team this summer, but that certainly doesn’t mean the city can’t acquire one down the road.” Attendance at these events is “one part of the puzzle.” The league also looks at “arena infrastructure, local youth hockey systems, economic opportunity, and travel logistics.” Calgary would appear to “tick all those boxes” (TORONTO SUN, 3/26).