Morning Buzz

The Knicks’ championship parade is Thursday, and N.Y. Mayor Zohran Mamdani is predicting that it “might be one of the biggest in the city’s history.” The parade is set to start at 10am ET near Battery Park and head up the Canyon of Heroes on Broadway. The procession will end at City Hall, where the players are to “get another traditional tribute: keys to the city.” Sources cited by the AP mentioned that Basketball HOFers Walt Frazier and Patrick Ewing are “expected to participate in the parade.” Sources added that fellow HOFer and ESPN analyst Mike Breen “was set to emcee the City Hall ceremony.” Singer Alicia Keys has “been tapped to perform.” The Knicks’ parade will be the 210th ticker-tape parade (AP, 6/18).

The NYPD will “deploy more than 10,000 of its ranks” to a ticker-tape parade and ceremony, the “largest assignment of officers to a planned event in the city’s history.” A NYPD spokesperson noted that the parade will be “policed by officers from across the department, including heavy-weapons teams, explosive-detection dogs and members of the transit, highway and aviation units.” The deployment, “roughly as large as one-third of the total uniformed force, will far exceed that of recent major events, including New Year’s Eve at Times Square.” The spokesperson added that members of the public are “allowed to gather along the route,” but they “will be screened and must enter through designated access points” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/17).

All three network morning shows previewed the parade in their opening block, with Knicks G Jose Alvarado appearing on the “GMA” set. ABC’s Sam Champion said, “It’s the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen getting ready for you” (“GMA,” ABC, 6/18). CBS’s Lilia Luciano said, “The barricades are up, the confetti’s loaded. The fans, as you can see, are waiting anxiously for their kings” (“CBS Mornings,” 6/18). NBC’s Sheinelle Jones said, “No surprise here, people are lined up, people were camped out overnight.” NBC’s Sam Brock: “There’re like 8.5 million people that live in New York City. How many of them do you think are going to be calling out sick later today?” (“Today,” NBC, 6/18). The NYPD on Thursday morning noted that as of 7:30am, “all viewing pens are full” along the route and “no one else will be allowed in the viewing area.” Fans who leave the viewing pens “will not be allowed reentry” (X, 6/18).

Meanwhile, Knicks owner James Dolan said Wednesday during an interview on WFAN that the team “accepted an invitation to visit the White House.” The Knicks would become the first NBA team to visit the White House in President Trump’s tenure. A White House official said that the administration “had been in communication with the Knicks,” and that officials “expect to host the team in the near future.” A date has not been determined. Trump attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals at MSG last week and sat with Dolan in a suite (N.Y. TIMES, 6/17).

Actor and director Ben Stiller has confirmed that he is “making a multi-part documentary series about the history of the New York Knicks and their historic championship win” last weekend, in partnership with the NBA, HBO and A24. The series will “chronicle the history, culture and enduring legacy of the Knicks,” culminating with the franchise’s first NBA championship in 53 years. Stiller is directing the event series produced in partnership with A24. An official synopsis from A24 said that the series will “trace the full arc of the franchise from the ’90s to the improbable, record-breaking run that finally returned a championship to New York.” According to A24, the series will “offer ‘unprecedented NBA access, never-before-seen footage and a definitive look at one of basketball’s most iconic stories’” (VARIETY, 6/17). The documentary’s release will not come any time soon. Stiller said that there is “still work to be done over the next year, with it having only been started ‘a little bit before the playoff run.’” The exact number of episodes is yet to be determined (ESPN.com, 6/17).

The New York New Jersey World Cup host committee has signed 20 companies as Host City Supporters through the commercial rights program FIFA created for the 2026 World Cup in North America, becoming the first of the 16 host markets to fill its entire allotment. In addition to the eight supporters the committee previously announced, its roster now includes Snapchat, NYCFC and the New York Stock Exchange.

While the Host City Supporter program initially limited each market to 10 supporter slots, FIFA expanded New York New Jersey’s allocation to 20 based on the two distinct geographic regions the committee represents. Despite having twice as many slots as any other host city, NY/NJ is the first committee to announce that it has filled its entire allotment.

“We were very lucky to be able to have so many slots, but it speaks to the excitement of this region and how the corporate base in New York, New Jersey is stepping up to make sure that this is successful,” New York New Jersey Host Committee CEO Alex Lasry said.

The supporter program has been one of the most important fundraising tools available to local organizers, which have generally sought to raise between $100M and $200M to cover their World Cup hosting obligations. Host committees initially valued the designations in the low-to-mid-seven-figure range, with prices varying by market.

2026 FIFA World Cup Coverage

Explore Sports Business Journal’s World Cup hub, featuring news, analysis, and insights on the business behind the global tournament.

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The cost to see Mexico play South Korea in the host nation’s first match in Guadalajara will cost fans $3,589, according to TicketData.com. That is up 46% over the past seven days and 42% since the tournament began. Seeing Canada face Qatar in its first match in Vancouver is cheaper, though still pricey, with get-in tickets going for $740, up 35% over the past seven days but down 6% over the past three. Soccer fans hoping to catch matches in the U.S. on Thursday will have an easier time as Switzerland vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina runs $619 -- up 73% over the past seven days and down 9% over the past three -- while Czechia vs. South Africa tickets cost $320, an increase of 43% over the past seven days but a decrease of 11% over the past three. SBJ has partnered with TicketData.com to track get-in prices and trends for upcoming games. For additional information on games, visit the World Cup page at TicketData.com.

On this week’s pod, SBJ’s Austin Karp and Josh Carpenter dig into the big numbers to start the World Cup, and how Fox has really looked to commercialize hydration breaks. Plus, the duo looks at how the NBA and NHL finished their seasons on a high, the UFC Freedom 250’s presentation on Paramount+, what to make of Fox Corp.’s purchase of Roku and the latest on golf media with the U.S. Open underway at Shinnecock Hills. Finally, with Fanatics Fest on the horizon, Lance Fensterman, CEO of Fanatics Events, joins the pod to talk about all the content that will be coming out of Javits Center in July.

SBJ’s Bret McCormick tours the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center, the 200-acre hub where all 27 national teams prepare for competition. This behind-the-scenes look offers a glance at the modern infrastructure powering American soccer.

SAN DIEGO -- Together on the iconic USS Midway aircraft carrier, reps from NASCAR and Ford Motor Co. announced Wednesday they are collaborating on a first “Proud to Honor Veterans Day Classic” -- a Nov. 11 exhibition race at a yet-to-be determined location that will serve as a nod to all six branches of the military.

Just days ahead of Sunday’s Anduril 250 on Naval Base Coronado, executives from NASCAR and Ford decided it was appropriate to reveal the race on the San Diego-based ship. For effect, the in-person audience Wednesday included members of the military, Ford employees, Ford dealers and the military service organization Blue Star Families.

“Supporting our military has always been in our company’s DNA for our entire 123-year history,” said Nick Ford, the great-great grandson of Henry Ford and part of Ford’s corporate strategy team. “It shows up in a lot of ways, but for America 250 this summer, we wanted to think about something that bridges the world of racing, which is another huge part of our company’s DNA.”

Ford’s track-only Mustang Dark Horse Rs will be on display at the Veteran’s Day race, which is an independent special event separate from the NASCAR race calendar. At that time, Ford will also promote its limited-edition red, white and blue Super Duty Proud to Honor package -- with some portion of the proceeds supporting Blue Star Families.

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SeatGeek has picked up the primary ticketing business of the Wild, which becomes the third NHL franchise (along with the Panthers and Mammoth) to work with the company. The multi-year deal gives SeatGeek rights to Wild hockey games, along with live entertainment programming at Grand Casino Arena, Roy Wilkins Auditorium and Saint Paul RiverCentre.

During the last three months, SeatGeek has secured ticketing deals with the Chicago Fire for their new venue, currently projected to open in 2028, and as the ticketer for Beemok Sports & Entertainment, which gives SeatGeek the inventory for the Cincinnati Open and the Credit One Charleston Open. The business of those organizations, along with the Wild, formerly belonged to Ticketmaster.

Recently, the Wild came up during Live Nation’s antitrust trial when team CRO Mitch Helgerson provided testimony regarding fear of retaliation from Live Nation if the club switched to SeatGeek. Live Nation and Ticketmaster were ruled to be an illegal monopoly by a federal jury. The remedies phase of that trial is still ongoing.

The Wild will benefit from SeatGeek’s Game Day Your Way product, a connected fan experience platform that helps clients understand fan tendencies, and SeatGeek IQ, the company’s data intelligence layer that powers price modeling. Russ D’Souza, SeatGeek’s president of supply, said he continues to see teams moving toward a tech-first mindset to help power growth and revenue goals.

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Owl AI, a member of SBJ’s latest 10 Most Innovative Sports Tech Companies cohort, has hired Jay Prasad as company CEO. Prasad replaces Josh Gwyther, a former AI exec with Google Cloud, who now shifts into an advisor role after helping to stand up the company when it launched officially last summer. Prasad, most recently, spent nearly four years as the CEO of Relo Metrics.

True Search assisted Owl AI with the hire. Prasad will split time between his home in Carlsbad, Calif., and Boulder, Colo., where Owl AI is headquartered. “The timing could not have been better, and the opportunity for me was so on point,” Prasad told SBJ. “[It was] exactly where I was wanting to go in the future in terms of building a more all-encompassing vision AI platform that could do many things in sports and live entertainment.”

The move comes as Relo Metrics and its AI-powered sponsorship analytics platform is being pulled back under the GumGum Sports umbrella. The hiring of Prasad also comes with a seat on the Owl AI board of directors. The board’s other four seats are occupied by X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom; MSP Sports Capital partners Jahm Najafi (the firm’s chairman) and Jeff Moorad (CEO); and S32 CEO/general partner Andy Harrison.

On top of its 2025 debut, which came with an $11M funding announcement, has deals with three leagues for its officiating and judging platform during this first year of operations: X Games, Major League Pickleball and SuperMotocross.

Seven Seven Six, the venture capital firm co-founded by Alexis Ohanian, has acquired collegiate sports trading card company Onit. Longtime sports executive Evan Parker -- an SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree in 2021 and the current CEO of Mantel, a collectible-focused social media platform launched by Ohanian in early 2024 -- will join Onit as CEO. (He will remain involved with Mantel.) Onit’s 32 management and operations staffers will stay on after the transaction, while co-founders Chad McCloud and Sheridan Hodson and partner Rob Schultheis are exiting. Ohanian told SBJ Onit will retain its branding “for the time being,” but that it could eventually evolve.

“There’s a really interesting moment happening in trading cards right now, and you can see that from the growth, the market cap -- everything is continuing to boom,” Ohanian said. “What I love about what Onit has built so far is it is a product that speaks directly to a very different and fairly underserved fan, which is one of collegiate sports.”

Onit licenses trading cards of college athletes -- primarily by negotiating group name, image and likeness rights with OneTeam Partners, but also through athletic departments or third-party groups/collectives -- and distributes royalties to featured players. The company created cards for more than 8,000 college athletes during the 2024-25 academic year and claims among its university partners Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia, Texas, UCLA and UVA.

Onit also touts a focus on all collegiate sports, not just marquee programs, including volleyball, softball, wrestling and hockey in addition to football and basketball.

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Survivor contest operator Splash Sports will add Polymarket prediction markets to its platform in time for football season through a deal that also includes sponsorship of the popular seasonlong NFL contest. Splash, which also offers pick ‘em and daily fantasy, is slated to pay out more than $21M next season. It plans to serve as a Commodity Futures Trading Commission-registered broker.

Opendorse on Thursday will formally unveil Opendorse One, a curated network of more than 1,000 college athlete creators designed to provide brands with full-service NIL campaign execution, alongside Athlete Commerce Media, which connects athlete-generated content to retailer purchase data.

The launch represents a shift in how Opendorse views its role in the marketplace, with the company moving beyond compliance and transaction services toward media and commerce infrastructure.

“The infrastructure hasn’t changed. What’s changed is what it’s connected to,” Opendorse CEO Steve Denton told SBJ. “What Opendorse One and Athlete Commerce Media do is take that foundation and wire it into the commercial systems where brands actually spend money, media plans, retail media networks and performance budgets.”

Denton said the company’s revenue model is evolving alongside that shift.

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“Perhaps destined for success, she has 1st & last names that are associated with the Hindu goddess of prosperity & good fortune.”