Morning Buzz

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday “pressed ahead with landmark legislation to reshape oversight of college athletics,” as the SCORE Act -- which is backed by the NCAA, college conferences and most House Republicans -- is “now set for the chamber’s consideration as early as” Wednesday after a 210-209 procedural vote to advance the measure for a final vote. The development comes after several House GOP members “voted against a rule governing the floor debate.” The legislation would “provide antitrust exemptions to the industry’s overseers, preempt competing state laws and bar student athletes from being considered employees.” If approved by the House, the bill “faces a tough path in the Senate because it lacks sufficient support from Democrats.” Several House Democrats have co-sponsored the SCORE Act, which “should provide votes that will ease its final passage” in that chamber. Others who voted against the rule “could also support the underlying legislation when it comes up as soon as later this week” (POLITICO, 12/2).

The White House and the USOPC “each lent support” to the SCORE Act yesterday. But a “key critic” of the bill is U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), who said that “some late changes in the bill made it worse than the original draft.” One that “stood out to her” was a clause that gives the newly created College Sports Commission “full authority to resolve disputes about payments from third-party companies to players, and prohibits players from seeking remedies outside the new system." The NCAA “lobbied for three key elements in the bill: antitrust protections, pre-emption of state laws that regulate the payments to players, and a section that prevents athletes from becoming employees of their schools.” Those elements “remain in the slightly revised version of the bill” that will be debated today and “could be voted on the same day” (AP, 12/2).

Although the WNBPA is still reviewing the league’s latest collective bargaining proposal, sources on Tuesday said the union will reject the offer in part due to vague pay-scale projections, salary cap ambiguity and the surprising issue of player housing.

Sources familiar with negotiations had said Monday that the WNBA offered players a 2026 max base salary of $1M which can rise to a projected $1.2M or more through revenue sharing -- as well as a projected average salary in the $500,000 range and a minimum salary in the $225,000 area.

In addition, the league increased its salary cap figure in 2026 to $5M (up from $1.5M in 2025) and purportedly made concessions such as including both league and team revenues in the overall rev-share template.

According to sources, the league believed the proposal was a significant advance, considering yearly salary increases were no longer tied to a fixed annual figure of 3% and because each season’s pay scale would now grow as league and team business grows -- which is what the WNBPA had long been requesting.

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The Fire selected Levy as food and beverage provider at the MLS club’s new $650M stadium that will open in 2028 in The 78 development. Levy now counts half of MLS as clients and, locally in its home city, provides F&B at Soldier Field, Wrigley Field, United Center, and Rate Field.

“We held them to an extremely high standard. There was no early award or defaulting to Levy,” said Fire President of Business Operations Dave Baldwin.

Sodexo Live and Oak View Group were the other two providers the Fire seriously considered. During the RFP process that ran late spring into early summer of this year, at least five of the main sports venue F&B industry players came to Chicago to pitch Fire executives at the Wrigley Building (an aside: the team moves into their new offices in that building this week).

Levy’s pitch included a white-labeled hospitality company similar to ones they’ve created at other venues, as well as a commitment to bring local restaurants and restauranteurs into the venue, like they’ve successfully done at soccer venues in St. Louis and K.C. in recent years. The 78 is located near a vibrant Chinatown, and it’ll be part of a diverse Chicago food scene prominently featured in the new venue, alongside some American live sports staples.

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Nike announced “a series of leadership changes” that included the “elevation” of Venkatesh Alagirisamy to COO -- a role that hasn’t existed at Nike since 2023 -- and two other C-level executives, Craig Williams and Muge Dogan, “leaving the company.” Previously Nike’s Chief Supply Chain Officer, Alagirisamy “will continue to oversee supply chain, planning, operations, manufacturing and sustainability” and will “add technology to his responsibilities.” As part of the move, the company’s chief technology officer “will no longer report to Hill.” Dogan previously held that role. Nike also “eliminated the role of chief commercial officer,” formerly held by Williams. As part of that move, the heads of Nike’s four geographic territories, who “previously reported to Williams, will join” CEO Elliott Hill’s leadership team “and report to him.” In addition, Nike’s sales division, including its direct business, “will report to Chief Financial Officer Matt Friend" (Portland OREGONIAN, 12/2).

The moves are all part of Nike’s “sweeping turnaround plan.” Hill said that the changes “aim to eliminate management layers” and “position Nike to accelerate its turnaround strategy, dubbed Win Now.” He added that the move “aims to better connect the company’s operations and integrate technology more seamlessly” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/2).

CBS is not going far to replace longtime golf analyst Ian Baker-Finch, choosing to elevate walking reporter Colt Knost to the role heading into 2026. Baker-Finch retired in August after 18 years in the booth for CBS’s golf coverage and an eight-year run with ESPN and ABC (1998-2006).

Knost started working part time with CBS in 2019 and has been with the network full time since 2021. Knost, who retired from pro golf in 2020, also hosts his “Subpar” podcast and has had other golf media work along with reporting at CBS. He was on the call at the recent Skins Game on Prime Video and has worked in recent years for Augusta National’s streaming broadcasts on Masters.com.

“Colt has become a valued voice on our team, bringing insight, energy, and his engaging personality to every broadcast,” said Harold Bryant, CBS’s executive producer and EVP/Production.

The move puts Knost alongside Jim Nantz, Trevor Immelman and Frank Nobilo in CBS’s “Super Tower.” Dottie Pepper and Mark Immelman will remain in walking reporter roles for CBS.

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Innovation Suites will debut at Capital One Arena this fall as part of the D.C. venue’s $800M-plus renovation by Monumental Sports & Entertainment and the District of Columbia.

The four Innovation Suites stem from MSE’s 2022 collaboration with KPMG on a novel type of suite that functioned as a traditional premium space but was equipped and designed to function equally as work and meeting space outside of games.

With the Innovation Suites, designed by Gensler, MSE hopes to meet the growing demand for spaces supporting strategic planning, collaboration, and relationship building in a high-end live sports and entertainment setting. Each suite includes 28 tickets, plus three reserved, in-arena preferred parking passes for all arena events, including Capitals and Wizards postseason games. The price to lease a suite wasn’t disclosed.

The suites feature flexible, open layouts that can transition easily between work and play purposes, with versatile seating, including conference tables, custom perimeter banquettes, lounge areas, and two rows of plush leather seats. The suites contain integrated displays with plug-and-play connectivity to support presentations, brainstorming sessions, and hybrid meetings.

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MLS’ production of its championship match on Saturday will highlight the camera capabilities of the iPhone 17 Pro, as the league will incorporate four of the Apple devices into its MLS Cup telecast. The iPhones will provide live footage during the match between Inter Miami and the Whitecaps, which MLS EVP/Media Seth Bacon said is something the league and Apple have been testing for months. Apple previously used iPhones to capture live game footage during two of Apple TV+’s “Friday Night Baseball” broadcasts earlier this year.

“The ability for us to integrate this and maintain that same level of integrity and quality in the pictures is really a testament to the partnership we have with Apple,” Bacon said. “Being partnered with the world’s biggest technology company, you have the ability to innovate and try new things.”

The four iPhones will be part of the league’s largest-ever camera arsenal for its championship match. With more than 30 cameras, fans will have access to an expanded range of angles, including goal robotic cameras, referee cam, dedicated isocams on coaches and players and drone coverage.

The use of the Apple devices during MLS Cup is a unique extension of the technology company’s ongoing “Shot on iPhone” marketing campaign, which seeks to demonstrate the iPhone’s ability to capture and produce high-quality content. Anytime footage from an iPhone is being shown during Saturday’s telecast, there will be a small on-screen graphic indicating the footage is being “Shot on iPhone.”

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Sports industry luminaries will gather today in midtown Manhattan for the 42nd annual March of Dimes sports luncheon, a major fundraiser for the nonprofit’s cause of preventing premature birth and other threats to infant health.

This year’s honorees include ESPN analyst and former NFLer Jason Kelce and seven-time Olympic champion swimmer Katie Ledecky, who will both receive the March of Dimes Sports Achievement Award, and NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps, who will receive the March of Dimes corporate leadership award.

The event has already raised more than $1M, according to its website, and more than $20M total since its founding. The holiday season luncheon is routinely one of the most prestigious and largest gatherings of sports industry leaders of the year, with commissioners, network presidents, owners and team executives sure to be seen in the VIP networking room. CBS Sports President David Berson serves as chair.

Yahoo Sports has announced Gametime as its official ticketing partner, which will see the secondary marketplace integrated across its large-scale editorial platform. Financials for the multiyear deal were not shared with SBJ.

Gametime offers will be integrated on game matchups, team and schedule pages on Yahoo Sports’ website and app. The ticketing platform will also be promoted via email and push notification campaigns. In addition, Gametime will sponsor some Yahoo Sports editorial content while providing data for future coverage of sports tentpole events, like the Super Bowl and FIFA Men’s World Cup.

“The goal with them is pretty straightforward and simple,” said Yahoo Sports Head of Revenue & Partnerships Jon Shaw. “We want to make it easy for the millions of fans that come to our destination ... to not just follow along on a game on Yahoo Sports but then find a great seat for it in the stands.”

Gametime was founded in 2013 and is an authorized MLB marketplace. Gametime Chief of Staff and Head of Strategic Partnerships Ryan Chen added that “we’re both very product-led, fan-first companies, and I think that just became more clear with every conversation we had with them.”

London-based agency InterTalent has “opened” a sports division led by Hayden Clottey, who joins from Alpha Talent where he was Head of Sport. Together with Joe Brooke Barnett, they “start with a roster that includes” Sky Sports hosts David Jones and Adam Smith, TV host Nicole Holliday, and soccer content creators James Lawrence Allcott, Harry Pinero, Karel Prince, LDN Movements, Alex Moneypenny, Big John GK, Cam Corp and EABskills. Clottey has “worked across the likes of the UEFA Euro 2024 and the UEFA Champions League,” while Brooke Barnett “has been behind campaigns for the Olympics and Paralympics.” The move “marks the latest diversification for InterTalent” (DEADLINE, 12/3).

IMG is looking for an Account Manager/NHL. The London-based position is responsible for leading international content creation efforts across multiple markets and time zones, bringing a creative and positive approach to content, and must be able to deliver on a daily basis (IMG).

Klutch Sports are looking for Executive/Mixed-Use Sales & Strategy. The N.Y.-based position is responsible for generating brand-direct and agency interest in Mixed-Use assets and properties through media and sponsorship sales processes on behalf of sports stadium & arena developments, entertainment venues and municipal projects (Klutch Sports).

23XI Racing is looking for a VP/Marketing. The Huntersville-based position is responsible for developing and executing long term business strategy to build the teams brand across marketing/brand development, communication/public relations, social/digital media, creative and licensing projects from inception to delivery and taking ownership of the overall results of those projects (23XI Racing).

Texans are looking for a Senior Digital Product Coordinator. The Houston-based position is responsible for building, launching and maintaining campaigns for email automation software, IDing, building and refining segments, and monitoring/delivering insights to improve performance (Texans).

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