Dodgers LF Teoscar Hernández took home the MLB Home Run Derby title last night, prevailing 14-13 at Globe Life Field after Royals SS Bobby Witt Jr.'s final swing "hit the base of the wall in left-center." Hernández was not only the first Dodgers player to win the Derby in the event’s 40-year history, but also "one of the more unlikely champions of the annual slug-off in recent memory." After Hernández earned the win, he "claimed the Derby trophy, the $1-million winning prize, and a gold chain that read 'Derby Champ'" (L.A. TIMES, 7/15). An "otherwise unremarkable Derby was suddenly careening toward a dramatic ending" -- one that would "come down to a matter of feet" (ESPN.com, 7/15).

This year's event "switched up the rules governing the bonus round." Instead of an additional time period tacked on to the end of rounds, batters "were given three outs at the conclusion of their allotted time, where each ball that wasn’t a home run was scored as an out." The Home Run Derby is "sometimes criticized for its lack of dramatic fireworks," but "thanks to the configuration of the bonus round, we got plenty" (THE RINGER, 7/15).

The event "was something of a dud," as the "wonderful moments that have so often elevated the Derby -- when a hitter goes on a heater, ripping ball after ball into the bleachers, the oohs and ahhs growing in volume with each blast -- were nowhere to be found." The event’s new, hybrid pitch-count-plus-clock system "might be the culprit for the dip in numbers." The system was "a bit difficult to follow and resulted in the worst of both worlds" -- players were "exhausted, and the raw totals were underwhelming" (YAHOO SPORTS, 7/15).

The sellout crowd at Globe Life Field for the event "was not in fact a sell out," as the Derby "had plenty of seats in the right and left field corners." The announced attendance was 38,578, but the stadium seats 40,300. The home run derby is "not a great product, and it’s terribly over priced" -- tickets in those empty sections were going for $86. As "evidenced by the healthy crowds at the All-Star village" the past few days in Arlington, MLB’s All-Star event and its surrounding festivities "are fine." What "needs help" is the Derby -- it’s "flat. Boring" (Fort Worth STAR-TELEGRAM, 7/15).

LAS VEGAS -- The NBA’s most daunting adversary, outside of Warner Bros. Discovery, may now be its own Knicks. On the eve of today’s BOG meeting to ratify a new 11-year, $76B media rights deal, reports surfaced of a scathing in-house email from Knicks owner James Dolanthat, in essence, questioned the motives and morality of the league.

Dolan -- an ardent past critic of Commissioner Adam Silver who refuses to attend BOG conferences -- sent the email to governors from the other 29 teams, criticizing the sheer number of nationally televised games under the new deal, comparing the league's business model to NFL revenue sharing, accusing the league of arbitrarily pocketing $6B of the overall $76B payout and predicting the deal will lead to the ultimate ruination of RSNs.

Obtained yesterday by ESPN, Dolan’s email imparted to the other owners: "The NBA has made the move to an NFL model -- deemphasizing and depowering the local market. Soon, your only revenue concern will be the sale of tickets and what color next year’s jersey will be. Don’t worry, because due to revenue pooling, you are guaranteed to be neither a success or failure.

"Of course, to get there, the league must take down the successful franchises and redistribute to the less successful. This new media deal goes a long way to accomplish that goal."

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TMRW Sports has added another industry veteran to its C Suite, hiring longtime Intersport exec Jason Langwell as its new Chief Revenue Officer. Langwell has run Intersport’s golf division for nearly a decade; his 10-year anniversary with the company would have been Aug. 1.

He’s overseen events like the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic and helped build from the ground up the World Champions Cup, the team tournament for PGA Tour Champions players. But he said the opportunity to join a growing company like TMRW -- as well as its first project in the TGL -- was too good to pass up.

“I’m not here to change mankind, but I’m here to make fankind a better place,” Langwell said last week.

Langwell noted he’d been watching TMRW grow over the past year or so with keen interest. He met TMRW co-founder Mike McCarley this year and had previous ties to execs like SVP/Player Relations Ross Berlin and SVP/Live Event Experience and Operations Andrew George.

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Fenway Sports Group is "no longer pursuing a deal to purchase" French Ligue 2 club Bordeaux after reports emerged last week that early discussions had been held about a potential deal. The "financially stricken club" is faced with demotion to the Championnat National for next season if they cannot "provide proof of a workable budget in the next two weeks, with the talks with FSG having been seen as a way to avoid such a fate." But with the "costs attributed to future costs" for Bordeaux's Matmut Atlantique Stadium, "as well as the wider issues around French football’s economic picture, with concerns over the value of the next broadcast deal, a decision has been made to end negotiations." Sources said that there was "likely a lot of heavy lifting to be done from an operational standpoint" if the acquisition had taken place, "something that also may have played a role in breaking off talks" (LIVERPOOL ECHO, 7/16).

FS1's Skip Bayless is “leaving his role” on the net's "Undisputed" after eight years, with his final episode coming “later this summer,” according to sources. It is expected that the show will “continue without Bayless.” The move marks the “second consecutive summer that one of the pillars of the program has departed” the show following Shannon Sharpe’s decision to leave last year. The show's latest iteration, which featured a rotating group of panelists with Bayless, including Keyshawn Johnson, Michael Irvin, Richard Sherman, Rachel Nichols and Paul Pierce, “did not capture audiences as successfully as had Bayless and Sharpe debating one-on-one for the previous seven years.” The “Undisputed” ratings were also “hurt on the margins,” as Craig Carton’s lead-in show has “not yet reached the metrics that ‘First Things First’ had in the early mornings” before it got moved to mid-afternoon (N.Y. POST, 7/15). Sources said there was a "possibility the 'Undisputed' name would be retired and a new show would come in place," but those discussions are "ongoing" (THE ATHLETIC, 7/15). 

MLS and Adidas are featuring five clubs -- Inter Miami, Sporting K.C., LAFC, the Galaxy and the Timbers -- in the launch of the Adidas x MLS Archive Collection. It includes third jerseys that will be worn by the clubs three to five times through the rest of the season.

Each kit reflects a retro theme of the club’s respective market. Inter Miami plays on a “Miami Vice” aesthetic with orange and aqua, showing shades of the NFL's Dolphins. The Timbers will don a rose-red-based jersey that features a patch honoring Portland soccer legend Clive Charles, whose number was retired by the club in 2003. Both K.C. and the Galaxy sport modern versions of the kits worn during the inaugural MLS season in 1996. As for LAFC, the club brings a ’70s Hollywood theme to life through a multiline font spelling “Los Angeles.”

Coordinating Gazelle shoes and track jackets for each club also are included. With the collection in its inaugural year, MLS and Adidas will explore expanding the number of clubs that will have a third jersey in 2025 and beyond.

MLS tapped fashion stylist Courtney Mays to curate looks that will be featured across the league’s social and MLSstore.com channels. Mays is the personal stylist of Chris Paul and has tailored for athletes such as Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, Serge Ibaka and PJ Tucker.

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Champs Sports is partnering with Mets SS Francisco Lindor, Cowboys LB Micah Parsons and Dolphins WR Jaylen Waddle to help the retailer unveil its new brand platform, dubbed “Sports For Life.” Lindor, Parsons and Waddle sport New Balance, Adidas and Nike gear, respectively, in creative for the new effort, which is a repositioning effort for Champs Sports (a subsidiary of Foot Locker) as it looks to stock stores with “elevated merchandising.” Champs Sports SVP & GM Tony Aversa guided the effort for the brand, with Cinco Design serving as the agency behind the new creative. Upgraded store efforts also will feature local sports connections through monthly Champs Run Clubs across the U.S. Shares of Foot Locker closed at $23.92 yesterday, and are down 23.2% year-to-date.

This month’s SBJ I Factor is with Golden State Valkyries President Jess Smith. SBJ’s Terry Lefton chats with Smith about her career journey and how her experience helping launch Angel City FC is helping in her current role launching the WNBA’s newest franchise. Smith is a member of SBJ’s Forty Under 40 Class of 2023and Leaders in Sport’s Leaders Under 40 Class of 2023. 

SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

For the second year in a row, Auburn football "has sold out of season tickets." The 63,500 season tickets sold "equates last year’s record-setting sellout," and of the more than 63,000 tickets purchased for this season, "nearly 4,000 are from new season-ticket holders" (AL.com, 7/15).

Mark Herrmann has been named Boilermaker Sports Network's new radio color analyst, joining play-by-play announcer Tim Newton in the booth following Pete Quinn's retirement after 32 years. Herrmann, who played QB at Purdue from 1977-80, previously served as a fill-in analyst and sideline reporter for the network (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 7/15).

Crews have "finished building the SoFi Center's foundations" on the Palm Beach State College campus, and "the steel and walls and roof panels are on site" for the future home of the TGL. Roof work on the venue "began this month" (PALM BEACH POST, 7/16).

"It was USA’s call and I was, quite frankly, very disappointed with the decision. Kawhi wanted to play. We wanted him to play" -- Clippers President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank, on how it was Team USA’s decision to send F Kawhi Leonard home last week and not have him participate in the Paris Olympics (L.A. TIMES, 7/15).

"I do for sure. There will be more stuff to come with that. As of now, I’m not gonna comment on it" -- Celtics F Jaylen Brown, on his belief that Nike influenced the decision to not put him on Team USA for the Paris Olympics (THE ATHLETIC, 7/16).

THE ATHLETIC goes with the header, "How the Copa América final descended into disorder." Chaotic scenes "played out for more than two hours as fans pressed against the closed gates" at Hard Rock Stadium, a "near-disaster that overshadowed the spectacle of the game" that was eventually played between Argentina and Colombia. Fans had been "asked to arrive early, with watch parties banned outside the stadium or in the parking lots." It was "busy outside" from 3pm ET, the gates opened at 5pm and the crowd outside "started to build" around 6pm, about two hours from the scheduled kick-off. Several fans were arrested "for hopping fences and trying to get into the game without tickets." The decision to shut the gates around the stadium -- a response to what Miami-Dade Police called "unruly behavior" -- would "prove key to what followed."

Also:

• How an Australian schooled in cricket became the No. 1 MLB Draft Pick.

" Philosophers use it for language that accompanies an action, like 'I dub thee knight'; it also means done for show or signal."

"What is performative?"