Morning Buzz

The PWHL will “soon be announcing an expansion team in Vancouver, likely to play at the Pacific Coliseum,” according to a source. A “major press conference related to a historic announcement in sport for Vancouver and British Columbia” is scheduled for next Wednesday, with it expected to be about “pro women’s hockey returning to Vancouver.” The PWHL’s Toronto Sceptres and Montreal Victoire played at Rogers Arena in January and drew 19,038 fans, a “larger crowd than any Canucks game this season.” It is “expected that a PWHL expansion team for Seattle will also be announced in short order” (Vancouver PROVINCE, 4/17). The Vancouver team will be the PWHL’s first expansion franchise, with the team “expected to play in 2025-26.” In October, the PWHL said that it was “exploring the addition of as many as two new franchises.” The league received “more than 20 proposals from interested parties and markets seeking to bring a PWHL team to their city.” It stands to reason that a second team “could be geographically close to Vancouver for cost-related reasons” (THE ATHLETIC, 4/17).

NASCAR has filed a motion to “amend its counterclaim” against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports “based on information found during discovery.” NASCAR said in the motion that after the deadline for filing its counterclaim, the teams “produced more than 200,000 pages of emails, texts, and memoranda. Those documents indisputably confirm what NASCAR alleged in its counterclaim: 23XI, Front Row, and Curtis Polk knowingly entered into illegal agreements with other teams on issues such as fixing the compensation that they received from NASCAR and allocating how that compensation would be divided among the co-conspirator teams.” NASCAR “wants to amend its counterclaim to include the documents.” The counterclaim was filed on March 5 and “alleges conspiracy and Sherman Act violations” (RACER, 4/17).

Oregon state senators, from both parties, have rallied Thursday to back an $800M “jock tax” to “help finance a prospective stadium for Major League Baseball on Portland’s South Waterfront.” Senate Bill 110 passed the Senate 24-5 and now moves to the Oregon House. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has “already signaled her support.” The bill does not “create a new tax for athletes.” It authorizes an $800M, 30-year bond and designates income tax revenue from MLB players and team staff “to pay off the debt.” Oregon will “only authorize the bond if baseball awards a team to Portland, and will only collect the revenue if there are major league players in Portland to tax.” The bill passed Thursday “updates legislation originally passed in 2003,” which allocated $150M in income taxes generated by player salaries for stadium construction. SB 110 raises the cap to $800M in public funding to help finance a $2B ballpark. If player salaries do not “generate as much tax as forecast, Portland and Oregon aren’t responsible for making up the difference” (Portland OREGONIAN, 4/17).

The Rangers and MSG Networks turned the team’s season finale yesterday “into an extended tribute” to retiring play-by-play announcer Sam Rosen. During warmups, Rangers players “wore Rosen’s name and No. 40 jerseys -- to mark his years in the booth -- as well as a patch commemorating his signature call: ‘It’s a power-play goal!’” MSG showed Rosen and commentator Joe Micheletti “at work in the booth with an inset alongside the game action.” Rosen was “honored on the video board midway through the third period and blew kisses to the crowd as a ‘Sam Rosen’ chant arose.” Players on both teams “tapped their sticks in tribute” (NEWSDAY, 4/18).

Delaware North has reached a three-year deal with the Sabres to “remain the concessionaire” at KeyBank Center. The deal to “provide food and beverage and retail services at the arena” could become a “long-term agreement in the coming years.” Whether Delaware North would continue on as the arena’s concessionaire “was in question” after the Bills, which share ownership with the Sabres, decided to “pivot from the company at their new football stadium” in favor of using Legends Hospitality. Delaware North has run the concessions at KeyBank Center since it opened and has been “working with the team over the past few seasons to upgrade offerings.” Delaware North this season “changed some of its service styles, added locations for certain popular offerings, renovated some of its spaces and stands, improved traffic flows in and out of concourse quadrants and focused on ways to make items easier for fans to find around the arena with increased way-finding efforts.” The effort was in response to fans’ “complaints over the years about the quality of food and the prices at KeyBank Center.” Delaware North said that feedback has “been mostly positive” (BUFFALO NEWS, 4/17).

The United Football Players Association says they’ve struck a deal with the UFL on the league’s first CBA, with the players securing immediate raises and year-round health insurance.

The players membership ratified a two-season pact Thursday, but the league’s BOD has not taken final action. A league spokesman declined comment.

If it is fully consummated, the deal would end weeks of acrimony, which peaked during the March training camp with a quarterbacks-only hold out and an unfair labor practices complaint. The league will begin Week 4 play tonight.

According to UFPA leadership, members would see their full-season salary increase from $55,000 now to $62,005 this year, retroactive to the opening of camp, with another increase to $64,000 scheduled for 2026. More than half of that initial $7,005 increase would be paid for by eliminating a separate $4,000 housing stipend, which makes the immediate raise effectively 5.1%.

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The festival stage at Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course, which for years was a focal point of the infield, will “now be moved to sit under the race track’s scoreboard, facing the grandstands.” Rather than promoting the long-running Infieldfest, The Stronach Group, doing business as 1/ST, has advertised a new “Infield Fan Zone” hosted by Football HOFer Ray Lewis that will have a capacity of 3,000. A spokesperson for the group said Thursday that there “will be other opportunities for spectators to access the infield,” but declined to give details. Canada-based Stronach is making the infield changes before the company hands the event over to the state next year. The changes The Stronach Group is making to the Preakness “reflect the event’s struggles to draw rowdy infield fans back to Pimlico.” The race drew just 65,000 fans in 2024, and that number dropped to around 63,000 last year (BALTIMORE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/17).

1/ST VP/Communications Tiffani Steer said the goal of relocating the stage is to create “an immersive and connected live performance viewable from the Grandstand.” The “redesigned stage” will be stationed to the north of the cupola where the Woodlawn Vase is presented to the connections of the Preakness winner. The Stronach Group has long operated the Preakness. However, now that the state of Maryland has taken over the industry and installed a nonprofit operator, 1/ST is “on its way out.” It remains to be seen whether the traditional music festival will “ultimately return to the Preakness down the road, once the nonprofit, which has adopted the historic Maryland Jockey Club name, takes over the race at a rebuilt Pimlico” (BALTIMORE BANNER, 4/17).

French Open organizers have “rejected an immediate opportunity to give players a greater share of tournament revenue this year” despite calls from the likes of World No. 5 Novak Djokovic and World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka for more prize money. The total amount of money offered at Roland Garros from May 25 to June 8 comes to $64.2M, an increase above inflation of 5.21% on last year. Of this, $2.9M will be “paid to each of the men’s and women’s singles winners” and $88,742 for all first-round losers. These figures are an “improvement on last year,” but they are “merely in line with the traditional increases that take place on an annual basis across the four grand slams.” This suggests that organizers were “not overly concerned” about a joint letter sent last month by top-ten players on the men’s and women’s tours asking for “a more appropriate percentage of tournament revenues.” Overall, the French Open ranks as the “lowest-paying grand-slam tournament” despite this year’s increases (London TIMES, 4/17).

French Open organizers confirmed on Thursday that a ceremony for tennis legend Rafael Nadal “will be held on the Philippe-Chatrier Court on the opening Sunday,” May 25, after the day’s matches have been completed. French Tennis Federation President Gilles Moretton also revealed plans for Nadal to “take up an ambassadorial role at Roland Garros.” Tournament Dir Amelie Mauresmo also revealed a fan zone for 5,000 people will open on the Place de la Concorde from June 4 to June 9, from the quarter-finals to the finals (London INDEPENDENT, 4/17).

Netflix has reported a “record profit in the first quarter and beat its forecasts for core metrics including revenue and operating margin.” The streaming company said that it has been “largely unscathed by recent concerns about the health of the economy” in light of the Trump administration’s trade policies. The company reported $10.5B in revenue in the first quarter, up 12.5% year-on-year. Net income rose about 24% to $2.9B, beating its forecast of $2.44B. Netflix expects stronger revenue growth in the second quarter from recent price increases, continued membership growth and fresh advertising revenue (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/17). The “robust growth provided further evidence of Netflix’s dominance in the streaming market during an uncertain economy.” During the first quarter, Netflix became home to “WWE Raw,” which analysts “said helped boost the streamer’s advertising and drew significant viewership” (L.A. TIMES, 4/17).

Thursday’s earnings also were the “first time that Netflix didn’t disclose quarterly subscriber figures.” Last year, the company said that it would “favor other metrics, including time spent on the service, and financial targets like revenue and operating margin” (N.Y. TIMES, 4/17). At the end of 2024, the company had 301.6 million global subscribers (YAHOO FINANCE, 4/17).

Florida State “canceled all athletic events through the end of the weekend” after a mass shooting took place on campus on Thursday. Two people were killed and six others were injured when a student allegedly opened fire near the student union building on campus around noon on Thursday. Both the FSU baseball and softball teams were scheduled to host games in the coming days. It is unclear if those games are going to be rescheduled. The FSU football team also had two spring practices left (YAHOO SPORTS, 4/17).

FSU AD Michael Alford and other members of the athletic staff “handed out hundreds of free hot dogs and hamburgers in the courtyard of Dick Howser Stadium” to university students just hours after a gunman opened fire on campus. With restaurants and cafeterias closed across the university, Alford “called Legends, who run the concessions within the campus’s athletic stadiums, about providing food for the students.” They were “immediately on board,” sending word to students that free food would be served from 5pm to 7pm ET, as “hundreds soon showed up” (TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT, 4/17).

Playfly Sports is looking for a Senior Dir/Partnerships Sales: Penn State Sports Properties. The University Park-based position is responsible for generating incremental sponsorship revenue on behalf of university to meet and exceed individual and team goals for Playfly (Playfly Sports).

The Orioles are looking for a VP/Brand & Content. The Baltimore-based position is responsible for elevating the team’s brand strategy by developing and implementing robust brand strategy that aligns with the team’s mission, values, and business objectives (Orioles).

MKTG are looking for a Dir/Sponsorship Valuation. The Charlotte-based position is responsible for leading and assisting the sponsorship valuation teams in managing sponsorship analysis projects and client relationships (MKTG).

Roc Nation Sports is looking for a Dir/Communications. The N.Y.-based position is responsible for developing public relations strategy to position Roc Nation Sports as the premiere sports agency and our clients as elite athletes on and off the court / field (Roc Nation Sports).

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“This character’s efforts in Africa to end an epidemic killing monkeys inspired Jane Goodall to do something similar.”