Morning Buzz

Commissioner Rob Manfred said MLB considered starting its own professional softball league before ultimately deciding to make a significant financial investment and partnering with the Athletes Unlimited Softball League.

Manfred said MLB put together a cross-disciplinary group featuring staffers in youth participation, development, business and investment in determining how to proceed. Manfred initially teased the investment at SBJ’s World Congress of Sports, generating significant buzz.

“We went into the process kind of with two tracks in mind: Are we going to start up and run a league or are we going to make an investment and partner with somebody?” Manfred told SBJ. “That group did an exhaustive review of the options that were out there. And pretty early in the process we settled on AUSL as a real opportunity for us that we thought by partnering with them could move faster than starting from the ground up.”

RELATED: SBJ Women’s Sports: Athletes Unlimited softball enters the circle

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The U.S. Justice Department “has been investigating” whether Oak View Group and Legends “colluded over bidding to develop a large arena in Texas,” according to sources. The criminal antitrust probe is “focused on whether the companies illegally coordinated on the bidding to develop and operate” the Univ. of Texas’ Moody Center. OVG “ultimately won the contract in 2018 and the venue opened in 2022,” while Legends “isn’t involved in the project.” The sources said that the investigation “began during the Biden administration,” and the Justice Department under President Trump is “advancing it, with agency lawyers conducting interviews and reviewing documents over the last couple of months.” Neither OVG nor Legends has been “accused of wrongdoing” and “antitrust investigations may not lead to enforcement actions.” Sources said that UT “isn’t under scrutiny in the probe” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 5/28).

M&T Bank will become a founding partner for the Bills’ new Highmark Stadium, set to open in 2026, as part of a multiyear, long-term extension with the team. M&T Bank, which entered its first sponsorship deal with the Bills in 1985, will remain the official bank of the team (M&T Bank). M&T Bank joins Verizon and Ticketmaster as founding partners, a “key element for the Bills as they look for ways to generate revenue” at the $2.2B stadium. Bills EVP & COO Pete Guelli said that the team “will be looking for eight to 10 founding partners,” and founding partners “will all be integrated into the stadium ‘in a meaningful way.’” Sponsorships are “important for the team as it foots the bill for stadium cost overruns and looks to create new ways to make money as it tries to keep up with the league’s larger markets.” The Bills will spend around $1.35B on the stadium after $850M is “funded by public dollars.” Guelli said that the “response from suitors looking to partner with the team at the new stadium has been ‘incredible’” and the team is “being strategic with whom it aligns with as the Bills get closer to moving into the stadium” (BUFFALO NEWS, 5/28).

The Mystics’ 83-77 win against the Fever drew an announced attendance of 11,183 at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore “that reflected tickets sold,” while the actual number of occupied seats “was far fewer” with Fever G Caitlin Clark sidelined to injury. Clark “emerged shortly after her teammates for pregame warmups,” and she “signed autographs and took selfies with fans behind the Fever’s bench for a solid 10 to 12 minutes.” The secondary market for tickets ”crashed once Clark’s status was announced Monday." The cheapest tickets, which carried a list price of $41 when they first went on sale, were down to $6 “within an hour of tip-off” (WASHINGTON POST, 5/28). Clark “posed for many pictures” and signed autographs “well beyond both baselines.” Even without Clark, there were “still Fever fans -- and more specifically, Clark fans -- braving the misty May weather.” There were Mystics fans “who made the short drive for this game, too.” There might have been more “had this not been on a weeknight (the rematch is a Sunday afternoon)” (BALTIMORE SUN, 5/28).

In the wake of Dick’s Sporting Goods’ acquisition of Foot Locker earlier this month, Dick’s Exec Chair Ed Stack used a Wednesday conference call with investors to “defend the move and push back against criticism.” Stack: “With the Foot Locker transaction, we see several opportunities. It really gives us a unique opportunity to strengthen our brand relationships through a global presence.” Dick’s shares “rose after the call and were up about” 2% as of 2:30pm ET Wednesday. Stack said Foot Locker and Dick’s “would continue to operate as separate companies,” with Dick’s previous growth plan “remaining intact and Foot Locker continuing its more recent efforts in remodeling stores, boosting online sales and cementing stronger partnerships with big sneaker brands.” When the deal closes, the combined company is “expected to have up to half of its total sales come from sneakers.” Dick’s President & CEO Lauren Hobart said on the call that the company’s finances “remain strong, despite ongoing uncertainty over tariffs and trade wars” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/28).

For 2025, Dick’s “continues to expect sales between” $13.6B and $13.9B “with comparable sales rising 1% to 3%.” Its outlook “accounts for the expected impact from all tariffs currently in effect.” Dick’s CFO Navdeep Gupta said the company “didn’t have any tariff-related impacts in the first quarter.” The company recorded net income of $264.3M for the first quarter ended May 3, compared to $275.3M in the prior-year period (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 5/28).

Tylenol will be the official pain reliever of the NWSL under a new multiyear sponsorship agreement between the brand’s parent company, Kenvue, and the league. The deal will see Tylenol’s logo featured on the bags used by NWSL trainers, which will also be stocked with Tylenol products. In addition, Tylenol will receive prominent exposure during the league’s inaugural Rivalry Weekend, which is scheduled for Aug. 8-10.

Tylenol will also sponsor a dedicated content series, the details of which have yet to be announced. Terms of the agreement, which the NWSL negotiated directly with Kenvue, were not disclosed. The brand becomes the NWSL’s 14th active sponsor at the league level.

International Money Express (Intermex), a money remittance provider to Latin America and the Caribbean, has signed its first-ever sports sponsorship deal with the Galaxy and Dignity Health Sports Park. The multiyear agreement, which will run through the 2028 Olympic Games in L.A., makes Intermex the official international remittance partner of the Galaxy and a founding partner of DHSP.

The deal is also the Galaxy and DHSP’s first agreement in the international remittance category, which involves the transfer of money between individuals in different countries. AEG Global Partnerships represented the AEG-owned club and venue in direct negotiations with Intermex.

Intermex will receive exposure around and inside DHSP, including prominent freeway marquee signage, scoreboard integrations, concourse placements, plaza wall signage, and various digital menu boards across the property. The company will also serve as the title sponsor of the Galaxy’s 2025 Mexican Heritage Night match and the presenting sponsor of the LA Galaxy Soccer Center, a 73,000-square-foot recreational facility in nearby Torrance, Calif.

Miami-based Intermex largely serves Latinos throughout the U.S., making L.A. a priority market for the company. The company primarily provides money remittance services to Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.

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A “severe thunderstorm that rolled through Austin” on Wednesday evening “caused damage to UFCU Disch-Falk Field,” the home of the Univ. of Texas baseball team. The venue is scheduled to host the NCAA Tournament’s Austin Regional beginning on Friday. As of Wednesday evening, a spokesperson for the Texas athletic department said the schedule for the “regional remained the same.” Wind “blew green panels off the batter’s eye and into the outfield.” Work “had already begun on the damaged wall late Wednesday night,” and Texas AD Chris Del Conte said on social media that the stadium “would be ready for regional play on Friday” (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 5/28).

The PWHL’s Minnesota Frost “celebrated their second straight championship Wednesday night with a parade in downtown St. Paul and a party at Xcel Energy Center.” The victory parade, which went “from the Tria Rink to Rice Park in drizzling rain,” drew a crowd of “about 150 dedicated Frost fans.” Their cheers “echoed as Frost players in black T-shirts climbed the statue of legendary U.S. Olympics coach Herb Brooks and hoisted the Walter Cup." Some fans said they “wished the celebration would have been ... bigger.” During the party portion, fans “trickled onto the arena floor in the Xcel Energy Center” and “dozens lined up to take photos with the Walter Cup and pose for selfies with players” (MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE, 5/28).

The Frost “do indeed stand apart from the rest,” and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter “reiterated the point as he spoke to the crowd on what he proclaimed to be Minnesota Frost Day.” Wednesday’s event “ended with the players sticking around to sign autographs, and not one of them offered any hint that they were in a hurry to leave” (St. Paul PIONEER PRESS, 5/28).

On the pod this week, coming off a memorable Memorial Day weekend, SBJ’s Austin Karp catches up with motorsports writer Adam Stern to talk about his time at the Indy 500 and his first impressions of Prime Video’s NASCAR debut. Karp then chats with longtime NFLPA senior exec George Atallah about his time with the union and how players are thinking about media issues. Finally, Big3 co-founders Jeff Kwatinetz and Ice Cube stop by to talk about what to expect in the league’s upcoming season.

“A fake speedometer was used in this make of car from a 1980s movie since the actual car’s speedometer didn’t go high enough.”