Morning Buzz

One of the most significant legal matters in college sports history is slated for its next -- and, perhaps, penultimate -- step on Monday.

Judge Claudia Wilken is set to preside over a final approval hearing regarding the proposed settlement in the House, Hubbard and Carter antitrust cases in the Northern District Court of California.

While it’s unlikely Wilken rules from the bench on Monday, college sports leaders largely expect her to eventually approve the settlement that could completely reshape the way in which college athletics operate.

The House Settlement largely centers on three key prongs:

1. $2.8B in back damages to athletes dating to 2016 related to lost NIL wages to be paid out over the next decade
2. The creation of a pseudo-cap and revenue sharing formula that would allow schools to pay athletes directly
3. Eliminating NCAA limits on scholarships and, instead, replacing them with guidelines regarding the number of players rosters may carry by sport

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UConn women’s basketball is “once again on the top of the world” and G Paige Bueckers’ legacy “is set in stone” after the Huskies took down South Carolina 82-59 Sunday afternoon to win the NCAA national title in front of a sold-out crowd of 19,777 at Amalie Arena. The victory -- UConn’s first title since 2016 -- gives UConn the record for the most NCAA national championships in college basketball at 12, breaking a tie with UCLA men’s basketball (11). Bueckers -- who finished the game with 17 points, six rebounds and three assists -- “ends her UConn career lifting a trophy high following her, and the team’s, five-year ride on an unprecedented adversity rollercoaster,” which included her missing the majority of her sophomore year and her entire junior season with knee injuries (NEW HAVEN REGISTER, 4/6). Winning a title was the “only thing missing from an incredible UConn career” that was slowed by injuries (AP, 4/6).

The “villain” of women’s college basketball “returned to its throne.” They “are the Yankees again.” The Patriots. Serena Williams. Simone Biles. La “crème de la crème du college basketball.” You “want to be the best?” You “gotta beat the Huskies -- same as it always was.” At 71, Geno Auriemma is the oldest coach in men’s and women’s basketball to capture a national championship (N.Y. POST, 4/6).

The team will “return to Connecticut and Gampel Pavilion for an NCAA Welcome Home Rally” to be held at Gampel Pavilion on Monday. Fans and students who would like to attend “will need to claim a free ticket to the event.” Doors to Gampel will open at 4pm ET, with the team “expected to arrive at approximately” 5pm. The Huskies will land at Bradley International Airport with the team buses and an escort “making their way to campus via the following route: Bradley Airport to I-91 South to I-291 East to I-84 East and Exit 68 and then Rt. 195 onto campus and Gampel Pavilion” (NEW HAVEN REGISTER, 4/6).

CBS averaged 15.3 million viewers for the men’s Final Four on Saturday night, per Nielsen fast-national data, marking the doubleheader’s best figure since 2017 (well before out-of-home metrics were factored in). The doubleheader is also up 19% from two blowouts on TBS/TNT/truTV last year (UConn-Alabama and Purdue-N.C. State). Houston’s comeback against Duke in the late window averaged 16 million, well above the 14.1 million for UConn-Alabama in the same window last year and the best for any semifinal since North Carolina-Duke in 2022 (17.7 million for Coach K’s finale). Earlier, Florida’s win over Auburn drew 14.6 million viewers, up 27% from Purdue-NCSU last year and the best early window semifinal since 2017 (Gonzaga-South Carolina with 14.7 million). The Final Four doubleheader peaked at 20.4 million viewers from 8:30-8:45pm ET on Saturday. Heading into Monday’s national title game on CBS, the men’s tourney is up 2% (the event was up 3% last year even with a record-low championship).

In front of a sellout crowd of 17,255 at UBS Arena on Sunday, Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin became the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer with his 895th tally, “converting from the spot where he built his legend to achieve his biggest accomplishment yet.” When Ovechkin scored on a hard shot from the left circle on a powerplay midway through the second period, he did a “full-extension belly slide across the ice, which featured the jubilant exuberance of a child despite his 39 years of life.” The game “came to a halt” as Ovechkin’s teammates “streamed onto the ice, matching his joy with exhilaration of their own.” It was “even more enthusiastic” than their celebration less than 48 hours earlier, when Ovechkin tied Hockey HOFer Wayne Gretzky at 894 on Friday at Capital One Arena. Islanders players “shook his hand as the arena prepared for a ceremony,” with a carpet emblazoned with “Alex Ovechkin” and “895” placed at center ice. Gretzky, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis and Ovechkin’s family -- wife Nastya; sons Sergei and Ilya; mother Tatyana; and Nastya’s father, Kirill -- “joined him to celebrate the moment” (WASHINGTON POST, 4/6).

A “video salute” to Ovechkin played on the Islanders’ video board, including messages from his wife, two kids and mother. Much of Ovechkin’s speech “was drowned out by the crowd,” and the video that played afterward “included congratulations from luminaries including” Baseball HOFer Derek Jeter, Basketball HOFer Michael Jordan, tennis great Roger Federer, Commanders QB Jayden Daniels, hockey broadcaster Doc Emrick, Giants President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey, Hockey HOFer Martin Brodeur, former MLBer Ryan Zimmerman, U.S. Olympic gold medalist swimmers Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps, Lakers F LeBron James, actor Steve Carell and rapper Snoop Dogg, among others (N.Y. POST, 4/6).

As part of the ceremony, Bettman “presented Ovechkin with a commemorative painting” by renowned artist Tony Harris. The 5x3-foot oil painting on canvas “features an image of Ovechkin lifting the Stanley Cup after the Capitals won it in 2018 in the background, with another image of Ovechkin in the foreground taking one of his signature slapshots (which naturally got him his record-breaking 895th goal)” (USA TODAY, 4/6).

Thousands of Capitals fans “descended on Elmont” and “thousands more Islanders fans came to witness history.” A pair of fans from Maryland bought tickets on the secondary market “for less than $200” after Ovechkin drew within one of tying Gretzky with the first of his two goals on Friday night. Another pair from New Jersey “waited until Ovechkin’s second goal on Friday night tied Gretzky” and paid $260 for seats in the top row of UBS Arena (NEWSDAY, 4/6).

In celebration of Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin setting a new NHL career goals record, the Capitals are inviting fans to a special Ovi Shop at Capital One Arena beginning at 8am ET on Monday. The shop features a full collection of merchandise related to Ovechkin, the Gr8 Chase and his newfound status as the NHL’s all-time goals leader. The store is open through 6pm (Capitals).

Fanatics unveiled a wide range of special event merchandise to celebrate the historic feat, including several different t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts and more -- highlighted by the official record-breaking “Locker Room” collection of gear (t-shirt + hat). The Fanatics-branded hat was worn during the on-ice celebration. Fanatics Authentic, the company’s memorabilia and autographs division, has been the longtime exclusive provider of all Ovechkin officially licensed autographs and memorabilia products. In addition to apparel, Fanatics has also launched an assortment of commemorative products to memorialize the occasion, including autographed and limited-edition pucks, photo collages and display cases, and more (Fanatics).

Upper Deck honored Ovechkin’s achievement with the release of the GR8 Moments trading cards on its Upper Deck e-Pack platform -- highlighting key moments from Ovechkin’s career, including the record-breaking goal (Upper Deck).

The Blue Jays and 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have “agreed to” a $500M, 14-year extension that includes “no deferred money.” Once completed, it will be the second-richest contract in baseball history, “entirely recasting the franchise’s trajectory while further driving up the price for elite young talent industry-wide.” Negotiations “resumed quietly last week after the sides hit a wall multiple times over the past two months,” most notably before a Feb. 18 deadline set by Guerrero and “again just before Opening Day.” The contract is “more than three times the largest deal previously handed out by the Blue Jays” (SPORTSNET.ca, 4/7).

Guerrero’s $35.71M average annual value under the new deal “ranks eighth among current contracts” (AP, 4/7). The completion of Guerrero’s deal “lessens the sting of Toronto’s pursuits of” P/DH Shohei Ohtani in 2023 and RF Juan Soto in 2024 (ESPN.com, 4/7).

The Pirates will add the commemorative logo of Baseball HOFer Roberto Clemente “back to the right field wall” following “fan outrage and a stern statement” from Clemente’s family after it was discovered the logo was replaced by an advertisement. Pirates President Travis Williams took the heat for the move, saying, “This is ultimately on me, not anyone else in the organization. It was an honest mistake. We will be adding the No. 21 logo back to the pad.” Williams: “We want to make sure that the Clemente family understands that we intended no disrespect to their father.” The team “received backlash” this weekend from their decision to replace the Clemente logo on the right field wall “with an advertisement for Surfside,” a Philadelphia-based canned cocktail line of hard teas and lemonades. The advertisement “was noticed during the team’s home opener Friday,” and was “posted to social media where it gained further attention” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 4/6).

The 2024 Red Sox proved to be the perfect partner for an all-access documentary series because they were all-in.

Greg Whiteley, who directed “The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox,” said he met with a handful of teams about the project but Boston was the “most prepared” of the bunch.

The eight-episode documentary, which debuts Tuesday on Netflix, humanizes the players, coaches, executives and families behind one of MLB’s most storied franchises over the course of a 162-game marathon, while pulling back on the curtain on everything from hitters meetings to bullpen sessions to the trade-deadline war room at Fenway Park. It was produced by One Potato Productions, Boardwalk Pictures Inc. and MLB Studios.

MLB officials were thrilled with how it came out. Whiteley said he was approached by the league four years ago about the possibility, with the promise of editorial control and all-access. But he wasn’t going to be on-board unless a team was enthusiastic about it.

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The Credit One Charleston Open “will double its prize money next year” to more than $2M, “matching the purse at similar tournaments on the men’s pro tennis tour.” The Charleston Open is the first WTA 500 event to “voluntarily increase its prize money” ahead of a 2033 deadline for 500- and 1000-level tournaments to offer equal prize money to the men’s tour. The total purse for the 2025 Charleston Open is $1,064,510, with $164,000 going to the champion. There is “not a definite figure for the 2026 purse, but it should be more than” $2M, according to Charleston Open owner Ben Navarro, whose daughter, Emma, is ranked No. 11 on the WTA Tour. The increase in prize money is “part of a contract extension” with sponsor Credit One Bank, also owned by Navarro, through the 2031 tournament. Navarro: “If we can pay a market rate that’s consistent with the men, which we can, then I’m thrilled to make that happen” (Charleston POST & COURIER, 4/7).

In this week’s SBJ:

• In the first of SBJ’s Champions features for 2025, Rachel Axon profiles Carol Stiff, who spent a career at ESPN pushing for a bigger stage for women’s basketball. A former college player and coach herself, Stiff laid the groundwork for the national attention the sport enjoys today.
• As the Final Four plays out in San Antonio, Ben Portnoy looks at the challenge mid-major schools have in maintaining players in the era of NIL and the transfer portal. He asks the question: Can Cinderella keep up?
• SBJ’s Bret McCormick takes us inside Northwestern’s new football stadium expected to open in 2026. As for now, it ranks as college football’s most expensive stadium. McCormick details the three foundational aspects guiding the project.
• SBJ’s Josh Carpenter highlights the results of our survey of the most marketable players in golf. It’s a familiar name at No. 1 but there are some intriguing findings elsewhere.

“Only one man & one woman have won Nobel Prizes in 2 different categories, with this category in common.”