Morning Buzz

PHOENIX -- The first Women’s Final Four in Phoenix came with plenty of history if not drama in a second half of a resounding UCLA win. The national championship before a sellout crowd of 15,856 at Mortgage Matchup Center had the feel of a home game for the Bruins, who claimed their first NCAA title with a 28-point win over South Carolina. UCLA previously won a national title in the AIAW in 1978. The Final Four here marked the first time the event had been held in the West since Denver hosted in 2012.

The Easter Sunday game culminated an event that saw Phoenix, no stranger to hosting other major sports events, turn into the center of women’s basketball. The Phoenix Final Four Local Organizing Committee set up free fan sites Tourney Town and Four It All at the convention center, a block away from the arena. With attendance under 16,000 for the national semifinals on Friday, the event marked the lowest attendance since 2016 (save for the 2021 Final Four during the covid pandemic). The arena’s capacity at just under 17,000 is less than the past four hosts, which all had attendance over 18,000.

“This has been a phenomenal week celebrating women’s sport, but really delivering on an amazing Women’s Final Four,” said Jay Parry, CEO of the Phoenix Final Four Local Organizing Committee. “All of our community came together and we’re really proud of how we showed up in all the aspects.”

The event drew leaders from around the industry, including Women’s Sports Foundation CEO Danette Leighton; SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey; Women Leaders in Sports CEO Patti Phillips; Togethxr co-founder Jessica Robertson; Deloitte LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games Leader Pete Giorgio and Round 21 CEO Jasmine Maietta.

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament comes to a head on Monday night in Indianapolis when Michigan takes on UConn. But as the national title is slated to be decided, tournament expansion looms for those within the college sports industry.

“We were told by the basketball committees to stop talking about that,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said on Saturday night, tongue-in-cheek. “So after the tournament -- which I think is a really good policy because we’ve got really great things going on in Phoenix and here. Let’s play the games and then we can talk about that.”

Tournament expansion has been seen as a “when,” not “if,” by plenty within college basketball circles, while the expectation is the coming weeks may well see it grow to 76 teams. That said, there are complications. For one, the merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery creates a power vacuum between TNT Sports and CBS Sports, not least of which includes deciding who would actually run a joint organization.

There’s also a matter of sorting through the quirkiness around the way the NCAA corporate partnership program is set up, in which companies essentially buy access to all of its championships instead of being able to go after one offs. Could expansion change that? Perhaps, though to what degree remains to be seen.

Monday “figures to be a festive and emotional day” as the Rays return to Tropicana Field for their first game since the damage caused by Hurricane Milton in October 2024. And there “will be a full house of some 25,000 fans there to see it,” as the team announced on Saturday that the game is officially sold out. This is the 20th straight season, not counting the 2020 COVID season when fans were not allowed, that the Rays have sold out their home opener (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 4/4). Country music artist Eric Church will “perform the national anthem,” and “in a nod to the Rays’ current and hopeful future home,” they will have first pitches by both St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor. Members of the crew that “repaired the Trop and team staff will be acknowledged with their participation in the flag unfurling ceremony” (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 4/5).

See also:

• This is how Tropicana Field got fixed in time for Rays’ home opener.
• After opening day at the Trop, what’s next for the Rays in Tampa Bay?

The 90th Masters Tournament tees off this week at Augusta National Golf Club, and though the club’s deep traditions remain, it continues to evolve with a number of enhancements that will aid both competitors and viewers alike.

First, on the player side, the club has unveiled its new Player Services Building, a three-story venue that has dining, a new locker room, a fitness center and more. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Video also continues dipping its toe further into sports and has picked up four hours of live coverage on Thursday (1-3pm ET both days) ahead of ESPN’s telecast. Tiger Woods will not be on site following his car crash and subsequent arrest 10 days ago, but the world’s best golfers will be. Rory McIlroy will defend his title from 2025, and this week will mark the first time in nine months that PGA Tour and LIV players will play against one another in a stroke play competition. On the patron side of things, Augusta National raised prices for ticket lottery winners in 2026. It’s also expected to continue trying to streamline its ticketing process.

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%. Temperatures will remain mild throughout the tournament -- with highs of 74 degrees (Thursday), 77 degrees (Friday), 82 degrees (Saturday) and 84 degrees (Sunday).

In this week’s SBJ:

• How one tech company could aid Masters competitors.
• Inside the tournament’s long-running partnership with CBS.
• The famed Masters cups have evolved over time.
• Augusta National, Inc.’s trademark filings offer a peek at its business.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Bryson DeChambeau and influencer Grant Horvat are among the golfers involved in the launch of a new YouTube network, Source Golf. DeChambeau, Horvat and the Bryan Bros -- comprising former PGA Tour players Wes and George Bryan -- are part of the network that fits under the Source Media Group umbrella.

The various influencers aren’t expected to create new content for Source Golf; rather, it’s an aggregation of their content in one place. And Source will have the rights to sell ads using the YouTube content. Source Golf is a free channel.

The formation of Source Golf comes as both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf have started leaning more into influencer golf in recent years. The PGA Tour launched its Creator Classic series in 2024, though those events aren’t continuing this year. LIV Golf, meanwhile, introduced its own “Duels” influencer series last spring.

DeChambeau has more than 2.6 million subscribers on YouTube, while Horvat has more than 1.6 million. The Bryan Bros have a little more than 800,000. GSE Worldwide’s Brett Falkoff manages DeChambeau.

Inter Miami on Saturday “finally got to play in Miami” after spending six years in a temporary stadium in Fort Lauderdale, officially opening its $350M Nu Stadium with a 2-2 tie against Austin FC. There were “questions, as late as Friday, whether the 26,700-seat stadium would be ready to host the historic occasion.” The building “did not yet have a temporary certificate of occupancy,” and construction was “still ongoing in and around the grounds.” There were also “concerns about traffic gridlock around the airport and neighboring streets.” The city of Miami granted Nu Stadium a “limited event permit, which is limited to that day, with specific hours, restrictions and additional precautions.” Traffic “flowed more smoothly than most expected,” considering it was opening night at a new venue. Fans arrived “several hours early and passed the time in the Fan Zone, awaiting the opening of the gates” (MIAMI HERALD, 4/5).

The stadium itself is “not complete,” as there are “whole sections of the lower bowels that are not finished.” Stadium stairwells “haven’t been fully swept of debris,” and “not all concession sites were fully operational.” But that did not stop MLS Commissioner Don Garber from calling the venue “breathtaking” in comments before the game. There is “general acknowledgment that it will take more time before the stadium is fully optimized” (THE ATHLETIC, 4/5).

When asked if Inter Miami “should have delayed or postponed its match so the stadium could be further completed,” Garber said, “It’s still got some work to be done. Frankly, I was here a month ago or so, and what’s happened in the last 30 days, where they are today is just remarkable. It’s way further along than I expected it to be.” Garber also “praised” Inter Miami co-owners David Beckham and Jorge Mas for their work. Garber: “It’s absolutely spectacular. It feels to me like a building that could rival any sports facility anywhere in the world. Not just soccer stadiums, but any sports building” (USA TODAY, 4/5).

The PWHL on Saturday “set another U.S. attendance record for women’s hockey,” this time at Madison Square Garden, when a sold-out crowd of 18,006 fans watched the N.Y. Sirens take on the Seattle Torrent. PWHL board members Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss, as well as LSU G Flau’jae Johnson, “participated in the ceremonial puck drop.” The crowd “roared as each player was introduced,” Sirens jerseys “littered the stands, and ‘Let’s go, Sirens!’ chants broke out within the first five minutes.” The PWHL has now broken the attendance record for a women’s hockey game in the U.S. eight times since its inception in January 2024. The previous record was 17,335 -- established in Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena on Feb. 27 (THE ATHLETIC, 4/4).

Saturday’s game “encapsulated the growth women’s sports have seen over the past few years, and women’s hockey has gone through since February,” when the American women’s team captured gold at the Milano Cortina Games. March drove a 25% year-over-year “increase in average attendance for the league,” and the PWHL said that it saw a 101% “increase in merchandise sales during the Olympic window” (N.Y. POST, 4/5).

Ally has signed a multiyear deal with Lynx F Napheesa Collier, adding the WNBA All-Star and Unrivaled co-founder to its ambassador roster. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

A five-time WNBA All-Star, Collier will appear in Ally’s marketing campaigns and other content. She’ll also participate in Ally community and fan events.

“Napheesa is a rare force on and off the court, one of the best players in the world and one of the most impactful builders in women’s sports right now,” said Andrea Brimmer, chief marketing and PR officer at Ally. “We can’t think of a better addition to our Ally team to help us continue elevating the fan experience and investing in the growth of women’s sports.”

In addition to its sponsorship of the WNBA and Unrivaled, Ally also sponsors stars Breanna Stewart, Paige Bueckers and Sydney Colson.

What’s on Dave Nugent’s mind? The Next League CEO shares his insights on how human nature and fan behavior evolve over time.

In this week’s issue:

• Billy Payne built a legacy by bringing the Olympics to Atlanta and a modernized business approach to Augusta National. SBJ’s Bill King profiles our first Champions honoree of 2026.
• And speaking of Augusta National, SBJ’s Josh Carpenter and Ethan Joyce talk ticketing, trademarks, TV and … those cups … that define the Masters as one of the most unique events in sports.
• Baseball teams are getting creative with in-house studios to produce content that can boost fandom and the bottom line. SBJ’s Mike Mazzeo highlights some of the work now on display.
• SBJ’s Terry Lefton tells the story behind a unique sponsorship in the Class A Pioneer League that will see a traveling team adopt the name RedPocket Mobile after the cell carrier brand.
• The NWSL has launched an advisory board of influential investors, highlighted by such names as Eli Manning, Brandi Chastain, Grant Hill and Aly Raisman, who will dream up fresh ideas for the league to accelerate growth.

The Lakers are looking for a Senior Data Engineer. The El Segundo-based position is responsible for the end-to-end design, implementation and maintenance of data infrastructure, and includes creation of new data infrastructure in a greenfield stack, owning architectural decisions across the full data lifecycle (Lakers).

TD Garden is looking for a Dir/Development-The Sports Museum. The Boston-based position is responsible for the comprehensive development function and is accountable for driving revenue growth and supporting long-term financial stability (TD Garden).

The Kings are looking for a Content Producer. The Sacramento-based position is responsible for developing and executing dynamic video content that advances the organization’s visual storytelling and brand objectives (Kings).

The Sounders are looking for a Senior Designer. The Renton-based position is responsible for executing design across digital, social, print and environmental platforms in bringing established creative direction to life with strong craft, attention to detail and visual consistency (Sounders).

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“‘Northwest Passage’ was a working title of this series that was renamed for mountains.”