Morning Buzz

Last night’s MLB All-Star Game came down to a new “swing-off” after the American League and National League finished nine innings in a 6-6 tie, and Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber homered on all three of his swings to earn the MVP award as the NL won for the second time in its last 12 tries. He became the “first non-pitcher MVP without a hit” in the win. In “baseball’s equivalent of soccer’s penalty-kicks shootout,” the game was decided “by having three batters from each league take three swings each off coaches.” Players from both teams “stood outside their dugouts, some already in street clothes, jumping and shouting after each long ball from their side” (AP, 7/15). MLB “just pulled off one of the most exciting All-Star Games ever and the cherry on top was the conclusion.” Sure, this “isn’t how normal baseball games are supposed to end, but the All-Star Game isn’t a normal baseball game.” It’s a “showcase meant to be fun for the fans” (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/15).

MLB honored late Baseball HOFer Hank Aaron “by re-creating his record-breaking 715th home run through the use of projection mapping and pyrotechnics” during last night’s game. After the sixth inning, the lights “went down at Truist Park and fans stood holding their cellphone lights.” The “scene from April 8, 1974, at the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was projected on the infield and shown on the video board.” Aaron’s widow, Billye Aaron, “stood and waved as the cheers from the sellout crowd of 41,702 grew louder” (ESPN.com, 7/15). Not many will remember the game’s score, but “maybe nearly all of them will remember” the “breathtaking tribute” to Aaron. Well done, MLB, “in honoring the historic triumph of a noble and beloved Atlantan in such a stunning manner.” The recreation “was captivating” (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 7/15).

Tigers P Tarik Skubal “didn’t waste any time taking advantage of the automatic balls and strikes (ABS) challenge system,” as he “successfully used a challenge” and got Padres 3B Manny Machado out in the opening inning in what was the first use of the ABS challenge system in the Midsummer Classic (YAHOO SPORTS, 7/15). The ABS system “worked beautifully, hopefully illustrating to any naysayers out there just how good this system is for the game.” We “saw four challenges and the system proved to be seamless and efficient” (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/15).

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MLB honored late Baseball HOFer Hank Aaron’s 715th career homer on 7/15. The tribute to Aaron’s iconic blast during Tuesday’s 2025 All-Star Game featured a creative on-field visual presentation following the sixth inning that played well on Fox.

CC Sabathia, who serves as a special assistant to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, went to MLB leadership in the fall with the idea to honor the Braves’ legend by recreating the moment Aaron belted career home run No. 715 on April 8, 1974, surpassing Babe Ruth on the all-time list, in a thoughtful and tasteful way. A video of the play was displayed on the field at Truist Park on Tuesday, with the ball coming in slowly before a custom formulated pyrotechnic comet was set off from home plate to emulate its trajectory.

MLB’s game presentation group selected Image Engineering for the project, with Quince Imaging being subcontracted for the projectors. Sam Arnold Music was the soundtrack vendor. Shine Entertainment served as a creative consultant. According to Imagine Engineering, the show’s creation, design and technical planning took over 1,300 hours, and it featured 1.5 tractor loads of equipment. There were 276 pieces of pyrotechnic product that were utilized for rehearsals and shows. The projection, pyrotechnics and lighting were all timecode synchronized.

The importance of launching a national streaming RSN is not lost on NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who for the first time Tuesday night publicly described an “aggregated solution” that could solve the league’s local television freefall.

Previously, Silver has talked about a national streaming RSN only in vague bits and pieces. But at his post-Board of Governors news conference -- lamenting in-market rights fee deficits -- he said “we would be malpracticing if we didn’t figure out how local and regional television is going to work before expanding.” And for the first time, he was more specific about a “hybrid” platform going forward.

With the league’s most desired younger demos viewing games on their phones or digital devices, the league’s vision is that as many franchises as possible opt-in to an aggregated steaming package that can be sold to Amazon, YouTube, Apple, Roku, ESPN or Peacock. The linear side would still be handled team by team, but Silver said the direct-to-consumer side could be be “a hybrid for those teams that want to be part of a larger network … [while] other teams may want to remain independent."

According to Silver, NBA President of Global Content & Media Distribution Bill Koenig briefed the BOG on the matter Tuesday, with all signs pointing to a launch of the national streaming RSN before the 2027-28 season when as many as 20 teams could be contractually free to join the aggregate.

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On what NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called “day one” of a “very complex” in-depth analysis of expansion, he refused to provide either a timetable or definitive answer as to whether the league will even add teams at all.

With reporters from Seattle and Las Vegas in the room, pining for clues during the commissioner’s post-Board of Governors news conference Tuesday night, Silver gave them only nuts and bolts and a blunt warning of a “deliberate” process. He defined the BOG’s reaction to expansion as mostly “curiosity” and said there was swift consensus that the league should do its due diligence. He added the league’s advisory finance committee would have “primary jurisdiction” over the endeavor and that the audit and strategy committee would focus on the economics of it all.

Then, despite indications that the Knicks’ James Dolan might start a groundswell against adding franchises, Silver emphasized there was “no sense in the room that people were taking sides. There was no straw poll. There was no request that people indicate pro or con in terms of expansion.”

The commissioner essentially made it clear again that the BOG will ultimately have to decide whether it’s worth splitting the $77B national media rights money two more ways -- diluting owner equity -- or whether exorbitant expansion fees can make it more palatable. That’s why he called the process “truly complicated,” admitting that he and the BOG will have to project the “future growth of the league” before reaching what he described as a methodical resolution.

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The Pac-12 and Mountain West Conference “failed to reach a mediated resolution” to the poaching penalty lawsuit and are “back on the litigation track.” Tuesday “marked the expiration of a 60-day stay of the lawsuit," which was initiated last fall by the Pac-12 over $55M in penalties owed to the MWC following the announced departure of Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State next summer. The “next step” will be a hearing on the MWC’s motion to dismiss the case, “with Sept. 9 as the requested date.” The Pac-12 said it “remains committed to moving forward with legal action” and called the poaching penalties “unlawful and intended to obstruct our ability to act in the best interests of our student-athletes and member institutions.” A separate lawsuit, filed by Utah State, Colorado State and Boise State against the MWC over exit fees, “was part of the unsuccessful mediation,” per a source (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 7/15).

Bills QB Josh Allen has been a New Era Cap endorser since entering the league in 2018. Now the Buffalo-based cap maker has expanded the relationship, adding an equity piece, a job, office and a LinkedIn page. As New Era’s “director of Billustration,” Allen, who will be the lead in New Era’s NFL campaign launching next month, is the first New Era endorser to receive equity.

“This is a hometown guy who asked us for a larger role, including a title, so it feels like we checked all the boxes,” said New Era SVP/Brand Mark Maidment, at this week’s MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta.

A charity overlay feeds contributions to Buffalo’s Oishei Children’s Hospital and the Patricia Allen Fund.

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Carl Thomas has been retained by Project Admission to help accelerate the ticketing technology company’s growth.

Thomas, who most recently helped lead ASM Global’s sales and platform development before leaving following the company’s acquisition by Legends, will support Project Admission’s efforts to further expand its footprint across sports and live entertainment.

As senior strategic advisor, Thomas will advise on market expansion, partnership development, and revenue strategy. His input comes at a time when Project Admission is deepening its footprint across sports, live entertainment and broader ticketing ecosystems to provide enterprise-level offerings to key stakeholders in travel, touring properties and event discovery verticals.

Prior to his ASM Global tenure, Thomas served as CRO of Hookit (now owned by Two Circles), CEO of X-1 Audio, CMO and CRO of Tickets.com and SVP at Universal Studios.

The National Lacrosse League and TSN have extended their media rights deal through the 2025-26 season. Financial terms were not shared with SBJ. The relationship, which started in 2021, sees TSN maintain exclusive linear rights for NLL-related productions like “NLL Friday Night on TSN.” TSN+ subscribers can also access more streaming coverage via TSN platforms. NLL debuted its free DTC product last year to reach international fans, and works domestically with ESPN.

USA Rugby has signed Momentous as the official supplement partner of its men’s and women’s national teams, adding the new sponsor as attention shifts to the Women’s Rugby World Cup next month.

The deal will see Momentous, which has received NSF Certified for Sport recognition, provide products to the national teams. The agreement also includes collaboration on content to educate fans and athletes about performance nutrition.

USA Rugby announced the deal Wednesday in advance of its Saturday doubleheader, with the U.S. men facing England and the U.S. women taking on Fiji at Audi Field.

Australia’s National Rugby League and Fastbreak AI have agreed to a multiyear partnership that will see the NRL utilize Fastbreak’s scheduling software platform to manage its global fixture demands, optimize operational efficiency and improve competitive balance across the league.

Fastbreak CEO & co-founder John Stewart told SBJ that the NRL had previously been a consulting customer of Optimal Planning Solutions, whom Fastbreak acquired in September.

Stewart explained that because of the previous relationship, Fastbreak was given the chance to run a trial with the NRL, attempting to transition them into their AI software -- which he said has been something they have been attempting to do with all of Optimal Planning Solutions’ consulting customer base.

Stewart recalled, “We redid their schedule with our new AI engines, showed radical improvement ... and turned them into a software plan.”

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ASM Global has selected Raven Controls as its preferred incident management system partner for the company’s North American venue client portfolio. The move is significant for Scotland-based Raven as it attempts to expand internationally.

Raven’s software platform help venue operations teams to digitally log, track, and manage incidents as they unfold, facilitating better decision-making and enhancing the overall guest experience. ASM Global is already deploying Raven’s platform at Target Center and Paycom Center, among a handful of other venues in its portfolio of hundreds of global stadiums, arenas, amphitheaters, and convention centers.

“The title of a Pulitzer-winning play from 2007 mentions this month, as does another winner from 54 years prior.”