Morning Buzz

The 90th playing of the Masters Tournament officially opened Thursday morning with the traditional ceremonial opening tee shots, as World Golf HOFers Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson each went off of No. 1 tee. After an introduction from Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Fred Ridley, Player was first to hit -- splitting the fairway at 7:25am ET and giving his signature kick celebration afterward. Next up was Nicklaus, dressed in his trademark yellow. After a warning of “oh boy, watch out,” Nicklaus stepped up and hit a quick hook to the left over the patrons -- letting out a laugh after the shot. Watson was last to step to the tee, and after joking with Nicklaus that he should have taken a practice swing, Watson stepped in and hit the fairway. And with that, the 90th Masters Tournament officially began. Competitor tee times began shortly after at 7:40am ET (SBJ).

Weather wise, things are looking pretty promising in Augusta for the weekend. Thursday will see the best chance of rain, although still only at 13%. It was a chilly start Thursday morning at 48 degrees, but temperatures will remain mild throughout the tournament -- with highs of 74 degrees (Thursday), 77 degrees (Friday), 82 degrees (Saturday) and 84 degrees (Sunday) (SBJ).

On this week’s pod, SBJ media reporters Austin Karp and Josh Carpenter -- making his debut as co-host -- discuss Prime Video’s debut at Augusta National and what it could portend for Amazon’s deeper involvement in golf. The duo also put a bow on March Madness, talk about the latest with NFL Network and look at where the local game delivery market is headed. Plus, Athletes First’s Gideon Cohen, an SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree in 2019, joins Karp to discuss how the agency has built out a media representation business and what he’s paying attention to in the space.

Michigan’s win over UConn on Monday night delivered 18.3 million viewers to TNT/TBS/truTV, marking the best NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship game audience since Virginia-Texas Tech drew 19.6 million in 2019. The gain of 1% over Florida-Houston last year is likely attributable to the introduction of full out-of-home measurement and Big Data. The audience is easily the best national title game for TNT Sports, passing the 17.8 million that the three networks got for the company’s first title game back in 2016 (Villanova-North Carolina). Michigan-UConn peaked at 20.4 million viewers on Monday from 11-11:15pm ET. Overall, the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV was up 7% compared to 2025 and marks the second-best tourney since 1994. The event also set a new mark for content views on official social platforms.

ESPN finished with an average of 1.3 million viewers for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, marking the second-best tourney average on record (behind only 2024, when Iowa and Caitlin Clark made a run to the final). This year’s tournament had 21 games top 1 million viewers, passing last year’s total.

The Asian University Basketball League (AUBL), a pan-regional intercollegiate basketball league founded by Nets co-owner Joe Tsai, is set to announce the closing of its Series A funding round (exact financial details were not immediately available). The round was led by Blue Pool Capital, the family office of Tsai and follows his seed-round investment last May. New investors include Avenue Capital Group, led by Marc Lasry, former co-owner of the Bucks; Bolt Ventures, the family office of 76ers co-owner David Blitzer; and Basketball HOFer Yao Ming. Nan Fung Group and HSG (formerly Sequoia China) are also investing in the league.

“When I learned about AUBL, it felt like a chance to help build something I wish had existed earlier in my career,” Ming told Sports Business Journal in a written statement. “The combination of education, competition, and community is very powerful, and I wanted to support a platform that gives student-athletes in Asia that opportunity.”

The AUBL was sanctioned last year by the Asian University Sports Federation (AUSF), and debuted with a seven-day tournament in Hangzhou featuring Asia’s 12 top college basketball teams. The event drew over 65 million live streaming views and more than 29,000 live fans. Early sponsors for the efforts included Under Armour and J.P. Morgan Private Bank.

The 2026-27 version of the league begins with the AUBL 2026 Tournament in Hangzhou, China on August 2-9 as a standalone tournament. The twelve participating schools will be announced in May. That will be followed by the AUBL 2026-27 Season in which 16 top Asian university teams will play the inaugural home-and-away season, tipping off in late November 2026 and running through early April 2027 with games staged across Asia.

The NFL on Wednesday informed teams in a memo that it will “begin training replacement officials next month with the goal of preparing them for team visits starting June 1 if no deal can be reached with the referees union.” Negotiations are scheduled to continue between the NFL and NFLRA later this week. The memo, sent by SVP/Officiating Perry Fewell, said the league will “actively seek feedback from clubs on the performance of potential replacement officials throughout the offseason as it finalizes the roster for camp and preseason games.” All clubs are “required to submit their OTA and mandatory minicamp schedules to the NFL by April 22 so that the league can assign replacement officials to those practices starting June 1.” The current labor deal expires May 31 (X, 4/8).

Kraken President of Hockey Operations Ron Francis will “step down from his role” at the end of this season with the team set to miss the playoffs for the third straight year. Francis was named the franchise’s first GM in July 2019, and his “job title shifted last summer” to hockey operations boss. Current GM Jason Botterill “will remain in his role and lead hockey operations.” Much of the “growing anger among fans seems to be directed at Francis,” whose squads only made one playoff appearance in 2023. Francis was also “never able to lure a star to Seattle,” and “none of the Kraken’s first-round draft picks at forward have developed into one yet” (SEATTLE TIMES, 4/8).

David Blitzer’s Bolt Ventures has made another investment in golf by acquiring the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour. Bolt Ventures already has invested in TMRW Sports and its Jupiter Links Golf Club of the TGL. The HJGT is for players 8-18 and hosts more than 300 events annually at 250 courses across 24 states and three countries. It’s part of a growing golf network for Bolt, which also has investments in putter company L.A.B. Golf, KemperSports and the Golf Source Network. Bolt is naming Josh Press as the CEO of the HJGT. Bolt said that Press will work with HJGT founder & Exec Dir Mario Conte during the ownership transition. Press said the HJGT checks all boxes for Blitzer as he eyes his next round of investments.

“We’re looking at businesses that are already operating at a high level and those that have high trend lines, and youth sports is doing that,” Press said. “Golf is a sport that we’re seeing is entering a new phase and entering new markets.”

Press noted golf’s growth has not slowed down since the pandemic, especially among youth.

“It’s got interest from so many different people, female, inner-city kids,” Press said. “We think it’s a trend that’s here to stay. We know we can add immediate value.”

TKO Group has completed a novel domestic sponsorship deal making FRE the “Official Nicotine Pouch” across six properties: UFC, Zuffa Boxing, PBR, UFC BJJ, World’s Strongest Man and Formula Drift motorsports.

Within UFC, FRE gets Octagon branding at all U.S. numbered and Fight Night events and within the “Dana White Contender Series,” custom content within UFC social media, and presenting sponsor status on UFC’s YouTube channel.

FRE has been a PBR sponsor since 2025, a deal then called the nicotine brand’s “largest-ever sports investment.”

Event activation for FRE starts this weekend at UFC 327 in Miami.

“Adopted in 1979, this name reflected size & strength as well as a promoter’s wish to appeal to Irish-American fans.”