Morning Buzz

D.C. and the Commanders are “planning to announce a deal Monday to build the team’s next stadium at the derelict RFK Stadium site on the Anacostia waterfront." Details of the arrangement -- which are set to be revealed at 11am ET and “must receive D.C. Council approval” -- are expected to be announced by Commanders principal owner Josh Harris and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser at a joint news conference Monday morning. The deal is “likely to enduringly shape the legacy of Bowser,” who has “repeatedly bet big on sports as an economic growth driver and eyed RFK Stadium for a decade, and of Harris, who is spearheading the franchise’s revival after decades of scandal and mismanagement” (WASHINGTON POST, 4/27).

The agreement “completes a yearslong search by the organization that gained serious momentum” once Harris purchased the Commanders from Dan Snyder. The momentum “further surged” once Congress included a provision in a continuing resolution bill in December, giving the city control of the land for the next 99 years. Without that allowance, the Commanders “would not have reached an agreement with the city.” Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also “lobbied lawmakers on Capitol Hill to pass legislation to allow for the transfer of land.” It was signed into law by former President Joe Biden in early January (ESPN.com, 4/27).

London Mayor Sadiq Khan “wants London to bid for the 2040 Olympic Games as part of a sports events strategy.” A new report that will be published by the Mayor of London’s office on Monday says that the staging of six events last year, including the Champions League final at Wembley and the London Athletics Meet, as well as regular-season NFL and MLB games, generated $306M for the city. Khan said he wanted the report, created by Think Beyond, “to fuel London’s ambition to to be ‘the sporting capital of the world,’” with the mayor “also ready to join forces with British athletics bosses and UK Sport in bidding for the 2029 World Athletics Championships.” There has been “concern that the government lacks an appetite for funding sport in what is currently a challenging economic climate,” but Khan says he “has had some ‘positive discussions’ on the matter” (London TIMES, 4/28).

A campaign “has been launched to stage the 2029 World Athletics Championships in London.” UK Sport and UK Athletics have “concluded a year-long feasibility study” into London hosting the 2029 event, which they say “projects a record-breaking economic and social impact of more than” $533M. The campaign was launched on the day of the 2025 London Marathon. Any interested host city “must lodge a formal expression of interest to World Athletics by September this year, with London’s hopes contingent on securing” $60M in government funding (THE ATHLETIC, 4/26).

The Eagles are scheduled to visit the White House on Monday to celebrate their Super Bowl title, but “that doesn’t mean all the Eagles will be at Monday’s event.” At the Time 100 Gala on Thursday night, Eagles QB Jalen Hurts was asked if he planned to attend -- and though he “seemed about to answer the question,” he “then did not offer a reply.” A player “who will be there” is Eagles RB Saquon Barkley -- who “visited the president at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey on Sunday and traveled to Washington with Trump on Marine One," the president’s personal helicopter. After the team’s previous Super Bowl victory, the Eagles didn’t visit the White House -- but team owner Jeffrey Lurie has said “the circumstances are different this time around” (AL.com, 4/27). So far, “no Eagles players have said outright they’ll skip the White House visit.” Lurie has “downplayed the politics” of visiting Trump’s White House and “left it up to individual players to decide to attend” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 4/27).

The Falcons said Sunday that defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s son “was responsible for a prank call made to NFL draft pick Shedeur Sanders." In a statement, the team said Jax Ulbrich “came across the draft contact phone number” of Sanders on “an open iPad while visiting his parent’s home.” Though Jax Ulbrich “provided the number, he was sitting beside an unidentified friend who actually made the call to Sanders.” In the call, Jax Ulbrich’s friend “identified himself as” Saints GM Mickey Loomis and “told Sanders he had been drafted by the Saints before ending the call.” Jax Ulbrich “apologized to Sanders on Sunday,” while the Falcons also “apologized to Sanders” (AP, 4/27). The Falcons “will not take any action against Jeff Ulbrich,” according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (ESPN.com, 4/27).

Jax Ulbrich’s actions aren’t the responsibility of the Falcons or Jeff Ulbrich, but -- “fairly or not” -- it does “reflect on the Falcons and owner Arthur Blank, whose franchise has a growing collection of embarrassing moments." They “don’t need to be issuing another statement volunteering its willingness to cooperate with the league office.” Given that the Falcons have missed the playoffs seven seasons in a row and “actually have been subject to league investigations,” it “only adds to the picture of a franchise that continually trips over itself” (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 4/27).

The fan who reportedly “crossed the line” Sunday when he taunted Red Sox LF Jarren Duran from the stands has been identified and Guardians said they are working with MLB “regarding next steps, and that they fell short of their goal to provide the best experience to visiting players and fans.” Duran was “restrained by umpires and coaches as he yelled into the stands at Progressive Field after the top half of the seventh inning.” A fan, later identified to Guardians security by other fans in the area, “was seen running away from the confrontation and up the aisle onto the concourse.” The fan “immediately left the ballpark,” but Guardians personnel “are aware of his identity” (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 4/27).

Meanwhile, the UFL is “investigating an incident” that happened at the conclusion of Saturday night’s Battlehawks-Panthers game where “a player slapped a fan.” After the game, a fan in a blue hat “leaned over the railing in the first row, shouting at two Michigan Panthers players behind that team’s bench.” In response, Panthers WR Samson Nacua “reaches up and slaps the fan across the face with his right hand” as Panthers CB Adonis Alexander “points at the fan and laughs” (ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH, 4/27).

TV coverage of the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic was “plagued with power outage issues” on Sunday, as problems on-site at TPC Louisiana “made it impossible to watch a large portion of the final round.” When coverage of the Zurich Classic moved to CBS at 3pm ET, “coverage of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry’s march to victory in 2024 was being aired with a ticker across the bottom of the screen noting technical difficulties." At 3:42pm, “the horn blew and play was suspended because of inclement weather.” When play resumed at 5:15pm, CBS “was back with live coverage and no mention of any of the difficulties from earlier” (GOLF DIGEST, 4/27).

Meanwhile, “more than 37,000 fans attended the third round” of the tournament Saturday, a single-day attendance record. The massive crowd “helped the tournament set a single-day record for concession sales on Saturday, as well.” Attendance on the first two days of the tournament was “also larger than a year ago,” as Friday’s attendance “topped 29,000” (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 4/27).

MLB and media brand Boardroom have expanded their partnership, which began in 2024. For their year-long collaboration in 2025, Boardroom, co-founded by Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman, will handle talent-booking and event afterparty production and programming for the July 12 MLB All-Star Celebrity Softball Game in Atlanta. It will also produce MLB’s consumer-facing activation at the June 20-22 Fanatics Fest in N.Y., featuring interactive experiences and talent appearances. Additionally, Boardroom will produce a high-profile entertainment experience around the MLB Awards presented By MGM Rewards After Party in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Boardroom will continue player-driven MLB content and storytelling. Among Boardroom’s investments includes Athletes Unlimited. MLB is also planning to invest in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League.

The Berks County Convention Center Authority (BCCCA) has hired Oak View Group to manage operations, create a best-in-class food and beverage program, and sell sponsorships for the 8,800-seat Santander Arena in Reading, Pa.

The deal also includes management of the Reading Royals, the ECHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, who play at Santander Arena. The BCCCA owns the Royals after recently buying the team for a second time (it owned the club from 2011 to 2014) but budgeted a $274,000 loss for the Royals in the 2025 fiscal year. OVG has a similar relationship with the XL Center and the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack. OVG is also involved with ownership of the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds in Palm Desert, Calif., alongside the Kraken, and has extensive hockey experience in its executive ranks, highlighted by OVG co-chair Peter Luukko, the former president and CEO of Comcast Spectacor and the Flyers.

The BCCCA’s venue management agreement with OVG includes day-to-day operations, booking, scheduling, marketing, advertising and sponsorship sales for Santander Arena and Santander Performing Arts Center.

OVG is replacing ASM Global as the venue manager. The BCCCA voted late last year to not extend ASM Global’s venue management deal, which expires June 30. And OVG’s booking team will take over from ArenaNetwork, whose event booking business includes at least two dozen major arenas around North America like Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, Anaheim’s Honda Center, and Edmonton’s Rogers Place.

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Youth sports platform GameChanger has announced its “For the Sport of Love” brand campaign, its first national spot. GameChanger, a Dick’s Sporting Goods company, will air the campaign across Meta, YouTube, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report, ESPN, Conde Nast, Hearst and social media platforms starting today. The spot was directed by WOLVVS production company founder Curt Morgan and was filmed across the greater Los Angeles area shortly after the wildfires. Ken Strnad, GameChanger VP of brand marketing, oversaw the campaign.

Local teams and schools included in the ad include: Millikan High School and LA Premier Prep (boys basketball), Ontario Christian and St. Joseph’s High School (girls basketball), Corona High School (baseball and softball), Orange Lutheran High School (baseball), Notre Dame High School (softball), Prime and Surfside Volleyball Clubs (girls volleyball), Calabasas High School (boys soccer), and Newbury Park Elite Football Club (girls soccer). The full spot is available on YouTube.

In March 2023, GameChanger President Sameer Ahuja was named SBJ Sports Technology Executive Of The Year and SVP of Engineering Ami Kumar was named Next in Sports Tech: Rising Female Leader in March.

In this week’s SBJ:

• As the WNBA season approaches, SBJ’s Tom Friend details how the Fever’s front office is using the stardom of Caitlin Clark and raising the profile of its roster to create lifelong, generational fans. Metrics around season-ticket sales, viewership, social media engagement and sponsorship show those efforts are producing eye-opening results.
• Catch up on anything you might have missed from the CAA World Congress of Sports in Nashville, from the bullishness of leaders around the sports business despite economic uncertainty to what is top of mind for commissioners to who was seen and heard.
• SBJ’s Joe Lemire describes how U.S. Olympic track athletes are using a motion capture tool -- Video Automatic Motional Analysis or VAMA -- to analyze their biomechanics at the start of races and at top speed.
• K.C.’s T-Mobile Arena has been the site of a TKO Takeover this past weekend with PBR and UFC events taking place Thursday and Saturday and culminating with WWE’s “Monday Night Raw.” SBJ’s David Broughton explains how the TKO Live Events Strategy Team pulled it off.
• Edy Lawson-Jackson and Samira Jackson are the first mother-daughter agent tandem in the NFL. SBJ’s Irving Mejia-Hilario caught up with them to find out how they are building a business in a highly competitive field with few women and even fewer Black women.

“In this 1995 book, Pilgrim is taken to Tom, whose job it is to utter secrets ‘softly into pricked and troubled ears.’”