Morning Buzz

Nearly 50,000 fans “packed the rows and the aisles and seemingly every square inch of concourse” at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday night for the MLB All-Star Game, during which the American League beat the National League 4-0. While the city’s first All-Star Game in 30 years “was a ho-hum affair” on the field, “on every other level, it was a triumph.” It was a triumph for the city, whose “splendid skyline first gleamed and then glowed in the summer haze.” It was a triumph “for the Phillies organization, in particular a grounds crew and game day operations staff that has long powered one of the sport’s best extracurricular environments.” And “most of all, it was a triumph for the setting and its people.” The “real star of the show” on Monday and Tuesday night “was the home crowd, whose caustic electricity provided a much-needed edge for an over-corporatized event” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 7/15).

Angels CF Mike Trout “earned a huge ovation, and so did” Delaware County native and Tigers SS Kevin McGonigle. Aside from the Phillies themselves, though, “they were basically the only ones.” After “earning some scrutiny for heavy boos during the Home Run Derby,” Philly fans “came right back on Tuesday, booing every player on an NL East team, teams they’ve recently lost to in the playoffs ... the Yankees, Home Run Derby champion Jordan Walker, and also" Brewers P Jacob Misiorowski. Not even the “mascots were safe -- Mr. and Mrs. Met might’ve been booed louder than any player” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 7/15). It “wasn’t the most exciting All-Star Game on record,” but what was memorable was “the passionate Philadelphia crowd making sure everyone heard them the past two nights.” Walker “might be the MVP of the weekend, but the Philly fans are a close second” (ESPN.com, 7/14).

The “joy of learning the game as a kid” was celebrated at this year’s MLB All-Star Game “following the end of the fourth inning with a nod to the classic baseball movie, ‘The Sandlot.’” As several All-Stars took the field, “they were joined by a group of kids on bicycles to represent the special part baseball plays in American history.” With actor J.K. Simmons “providing the narration and the late Ray Charles' version of ‘America the Beautiful’ serving as the soundtrack, the stars and fans paused briefly to honor the National Pastime" (USA TODAY, 7/14). In a “climactic moment,” Citizens Bank Park “erupted with a fireworks display complete with players holding sparklers” and Dodgers 1B Freddie Freeman “playing catch with one of the local kids who rode their bikes onto the field” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 7/15).

As the managers and players were announced prior to the game, they “walked past several individuals dressed as Revolutionary War soldiers to arrive at a desk with a piece of parchment and a quill” to fill out “ye olde lineup card.” Each AL and NL player and manager “grabbed the quill and signed their names on the lineup card” 250 years after the members of the Second Continental Congress signed their names on the Declaration of Independence. It was “a pretty cool way” of “celebrating the semiquincentennial” at the All-Star Game (SI, 7/15).

The “extended interlude” was “just one of many ornate, America-drenched moments” during the game. MLB “planned a smorgasbord of theatrical presentations honoring the country’s 250th,” including a “13-piece band dressed up as Revolutionary War Era soldiers backing Jennifer Hudson as she crooned ‘America the Beautiful’ ahead of player introductions." Patti Labelle “belted the national anthem as four fighter jets raced through the early dusk,” and “four Air Force Academy cadets parachuted onto the outfield while ballplayers gawked from the dugout” (YAHOO SPORTS, 7/15).

LAS VEGAS -- The investigation into whether the Clippers conspired to circumvent the salary cap by arranging a no-show job for now-Raptors F Kawhi Leonard is nearly a year old -- but now apparently about to end. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday night he remains optimistic that a decision whether to discipline the team, Leonard or both should be wrapped up this summer.

On the surface, it has to be. Leonard was recently traded to his former team the Raptors, until the deal was paused because -- if Leonard is suspended by Silver -- the Raptors would suffer competitive repercussions instead of the Clippers. In other words, Leonard is in limbo. That said, Silver said he will not force the independent law firm conducting the investigation (Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz) to complete its process for the sake of the upcoming season.

“Of course, as I’ve said previously, we all have an interest in wrapping this up,” Silver said at his Board of Governors news conference. “... At the end of the day, as the commissioner in this league, I’m the one who ultimately engaged Wachtell. So sure, I could tell them to stop, and I’ve read those reports where people are saying, just tell them to stop. But also the benefit of an independent investigation is they have their own credibility on the line, and presumably, I can count on Wachtell to say to me, ‘Well, of course, ultimately if you say we have to stop, we’ll stop. But in our report, we’re going to say we were required to stop before we felt we had a complete understanding of this situation.’”

Silver followed up by saying the ordeal has “gone on longer than I would have hoped,” but that it was out of the league’s control. He added that dealing with a bankruptcy court and reluctant witnesses (some team executives have declined to participate, for example, sources said) turned the investigation into a “long process ... complicated and complex.”

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LAS VEGAS -- NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday night he expects the league’s aggregated streaming hub for local broadcasts to launch in time for the 2027-28 season, with sources telling SBJ that YouTube is a leading candidate to house the platform.

Following the collapse of Main Street Sports Group, 13 teams -- the Hawks, Hornets, Cavaliers, Pistons, Pacers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, Bucks, T’Wolves, Thunder, Magic and Spurs -- will sign what amounts to one-year deals this coming season with a variety of outlets. The Heat, Pistons and Bucks have already formalized contracts with local OTA channels, while the remaining 10 teams will either choose a free TV template or a paywalled streaming service.

But that’s just for this coming season. For 2027-28, those 13 teams could be joined by the NBC RSN teams -- the Celtics, Warriors, Sixers and Kings -- as well as OTA teams such as the Jazz, Suns, Trail Blazers, Pelicans and Mavericks. That would give the proposed streaming hub more than 20 teams. Whether other teams join the hub -- such as the Lakers, who will earn rights fee of $199M and $209M the next two seasons -- depends on whether the league and its eventual streaming partner can come close to matching those numbers.

The more teams that join the hub, the bigger the rights fee a streaming service would likely pay to house it. Indications are League Pass -- which blacks out local games -- will still remain intact through Amazon. But the hub (although nothing is finalized) will be likely be geofenced, in that fans will have to go there to find their local home broadcasts, but won’t be able to watch other league games.

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Heat owner Micky Arison has been “unanimously elected” as the next chairman of the NBA BOG. Arison will assume the position following the BOG meeting in September. He “will take over for” Raptors owner Larry Tanenbaum, who has served in the role since September 2017. This “will be the second time that Arison has been elected” as the BOG chair, having also served a three-year term in the position starting in October 2005 (MIAMI HERALD, 7/14).

While tickets for Tuesday’s World Cup semifinal came in at just over $1,300, prices for the highly anticipated England-Argentina showdown are much higher. The get-in price for Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal in Atlanta is $2,951 with limited to no availability, per TicketData.com. That price is up 12% over the past three days, up 23% over the past seven and 19% since the tournament began. 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.

Meanwhile, a crowd of 70,176 packed into Dallas Stadium for the other World Cup semifinal between France and Spain, and a number of celebrities were spotted among the crowd. Some of those spotted included Cowboys owner Jerry Jones; Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham and wife Victoria Beckham; actors Timothee Chalamet and Javier Bardem; Pro Football HOFer Drew Brees; DJ Steve Aoki (who played during a pregame party); sprinter Usain Bolt; and UFC octagon announcer Bruce Buffer (who announced the teams) (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/14).

ESPN enjoyed a record audience for the 2026 Wimbledon women’s singles final, as Linda Noskova’s dramatic, three-set victory over fellow Czech countrywoman Karolina Muchova averaged 1.9 million viewers, up 48% from Iga Swiatek’s straight sets win over Amanda Anisimova in 2025 and a new high watermark for the network for a Wimbledon women’s final.

In all, ESPN’s 2026 Wimbledon coverage averaged 853,000 viewers across two weeks, up 18% year-over-year and its second-best tournament-long audience since it began broadcasting the event in 2003 (it took over as exclusive U.S. rights holder in 2012).

The men’s singles final, ATP No. 1 Jannik Sinner’s four-set takedown of No. 2 Alexander Zverev, averaged 2.4 million viewers, down 16% from Sinner’s 2025 victory over Carlos Alcaraz (but up 10% from Alcaraz’s win over Novak Djokovic in 2024).

Other nuggets of note:

• The women’s semifinals averaged 1 million viewers, ESPN’s best mark in 11 years, carried by Muchova’s victory over Coco Gauff, which averaged 1.3 million viewers.
• The men’s semifinals averaged 1.2 million viewers, down 10% from 2025.
• Though Serena Williams’ Wimbledon return ended swiftly, her first-round defeat averaged 1.8 million viewers, buoying ESPN’s most-watched Wimbledon first round on record (average 734,000 viewers).
• ESPN also scored its most-watched Wimbledon second-round coverage to date (689,000 viewers) and best quarterfinals audience (599,000 viewers) since 2009.

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Sponsorship management platform PlayMaker Software is beta-testing a new feature called PlayMaker AI. Clients can interact via chat to access analysis of their various deals and collective sponsorship portfolio.

PlayMaker CEO Hannah Sorkin said the feature will roll out officially later this month after a couple of testing weeks. This feature will replace the Ask PlayMaker function that’s been on the platform since it was founded in 2024 by Sorkin and company CTO Sameer Mehra. Ask Playmaker could answer questions but could not produce visualizations and comprehensive breakdowns like PlayMaker AI will.

“It’s almost replacing a lot of the heavy lifting the BI team has to build in Tableau or (Microsoft) Power BI,” Sorkin told SBJ, “which will save them hours.”

PlayMaker works with Austin FC, San Diego Wave FC, TGL’s Bay Golf Club and all three of Mercury13’s women’s soccer clubs: FC Badalona Women, Bristol City Women FC and FC Como Women. The company won the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference startup competition earlier this year.

Texans co-founder & Senior Chair Janice McNair died Tuesday at the age of 89. McNair, who assumed a leadership role with the franchise following the 2018 death of her husband, founder Bob McNair, helped guide the organization while remaining a driving force behind its community and philanthropic initiatives. Under the McNairs, the Texans and their affiliated foundations donated more than $500M to charitable causes, with the Houston Texans Foundation alone raising more than $51M since the franchise’s 2002 launch. Janice McNair was inducted into the Texans Ring of Honor in 2025 in recognition of her role in bringing the NFL back to Houston and her impact on the organization and the community. She is survived by four children, including Texans Chair & CEO Cal McNair, as well as 16 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren (Texans).

Janice McNair’s death “won’t have any impact on the ownership of the team.” When Bob McNair died, Janice took over as the team’s principal owner with Cal “running day-to-day operations.” A couple years after Janice “suffered a stroke that relegated her to a wheelchair,” Cal was “approved by the NFL as the Texans’ new principal owner in 2024″ (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/14).

The Athletics are looking for a Dir/Production Technology-Ballpark. The Las Vegas-based position is responsible for the strategic leadership, design, operation and improvement of all broadcasts, audio-visual, control room, scoreboard, digital signage and live event production systems for a newly developed professional sports ballpark (Athletics).

The Steelers are looking for a Dir/Social & Digital Content. The Pittsburgh-based position is responsible for leading social and digital media efforts as well as serving as a key contributor to the overall planning and execution of our year-round multi-platformed content efforts (Steelers).

Alabama State Athletics are looking for a Dir/Sales. The Montgomery-based position is responsible for driving corporate partnership revenue and generating new business through consistent outbound outreach, prospecting and pipeline development (Alabama State Athletics).

The CFL is looking for a Manager/Global Partnerships-Business Development. The Toronto-based position is responsible for prospecting and growing a partner list and negotiating partnership agreements, leveraging all CFL Media & CFL Ventures assets (CFL).

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"Ann Eliza Webb, an ex-spouse of this man, penned an exposé about the experience titled ‘Wife No. 19.’"