Morning Buzz

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred on Sunday said that the league was “keen to ​expand into new international markets,” while “underlining Mexico’s central role ‌in its global plans” after the two-game series between the Padres and D-backs at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City over the weekend. Manfred said that Mexico “remained a priority with its strong baseball culture and growing presence on ‌the ⁠global stage.” Manfred: “We love being in Mexico City, it’s been a great success for us. It’s a really important market for us.” Manfred added that MLB “planned to stage more games in the country as part of its long-term ​international calendar” under the current CBA, ​which is ⁠due for renegotiation with players in December (REUTERS, 4/26).

The Padres’ prospective new owners José Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, “arrived at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú about an hour before first pitch” Sunday afternoon and “watched the Padres’ 12-7 loss from the suite of the man after whom the stadium is named” -- Padres minority owner Alfredo Harp Helú. Most team employees, including manager Craig Stammen and the players, “seemed unaware their future bosses were in town.” Among those Feliciano and Jones “spent time conferring with” Sunday were Manfred and Harp Helú -- who “said emphatically on Saturday that he intends to retain his 15% stake in the Padres.” Harp Helú, who has held that stake since 2012, said that he “wanted to talk to Feliciano before finalizing his commitment” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/26).

NEW YORK -- Due to recent rule changes and innovations to the game, MLB Deputy Commissioner/Business & Media Noah Garden is bullish on the idea of attendance increasing for a fourth consecutive year.

“This year is probably going to be the (fourth) year in a row that our attendance is up,” Garden said Friday at the inaugural Boardroom Members Conference. “We’re going to sell 74 million-plus tickets this year. If you put that in perspective, it’s more than the other three leagues combined.”

MLB attendance was 71.4 million in 2025, marking the third straight year with more than 70 million fans going through the turnstiles. If the league does reach 74 million, it would mark the first time since 2013. The single-season record is 79.5 million in 2007. The league has also seen double-digit increases in television ratings among its national partners.

Recent changes and innovations have included the addition of the pitch clock, bigger bases and the automated ball-strike system (ABS). MLB games are averaging 2 hours, 42 minutes this year, compared to 2:38 last season, as shorter games have become the norm since the pitch clock was implemented.

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Spurs C Victor Wembanyama said after Sunday’s 114-93 playoff win over the Trail Blazers that he was “disappointed in the handling last week of his return from a concussion.” Wembanyama “returned after missing one game while in the NBA’s concussion protocol,” with the Spurs announcing “about an hour before tipoff” that he had cleared the protocol and would be available. On the podium after the game, Wembanyama said, “The way the situation was handled was very disappointing.” Wembanyama “declined to talk in specifics, but he stressed he was not referring to the Spurs medical staff,” which he said “took great care” of him. Wembanyama: “I won’t get into details. I don’t want it to become a distraction. Ask me again after the end of the season” (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 4/26). THE ATHLETIC cited sources as saying Wembanyama “informed the independent neurologist that he was ready to play and completed an interview regarding his symptoms,” but the NBA “determined Wembanyama was not ready to return for Game 3” (THE ATHLETIC, 4/26).

Players “must clear a series of benchmarks” before they are allowed to play under the concussion protocol. The results are “compared to baseline neurological evaluations players take at the start of the season” (AP, 4/26). In order for a player who was diagnosed with a concussion to return to the floor, the following requirements must be met:

• The player is “without concussion-related symptoms at rest.”
• The player has been “evaluated by a physician trained in concussion management.”
• The player has “successfully completed the league’s return-to-participation exertion process.”
• The player’s team physician has had a discussion “about the player’s return-to-participation process with Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher," the director of the NBA’s concussion program. Only then, will the player’s team physician make the final determination on return to play (USA TODAY, 4/26).

In Fanatics’ first year as the NFL’s retail partner for the Draft, the two sides broke the record for merchandise sales throughout Draft weekend, set last year in Green Bay. Fans in Pittsburgh visited more than 10 Fanatics-operated retail locations spread across the North Shore, including Acrisure Stadium and Point State Park -- headlined by a 13,000-square-foot NFL Shop flagship tent, which was nearly 60% larger than last year in Green Bay. The on-site assortment featured more than 250 products across top brands including Nike, New Era, Fanatics, Mitchell & Ness, Topps, ’47, Homage, Yeti, WinCraft, Riddell and Wilson. The top-selling product was the newly released Topps Chrome NFL trading card collection, followed by several Draft-branded pieces of fan apparel. Among the exclusive collaborations and capsule collections on-site was a Mitchell & Ness x Mac Miller capsule of jerseys, t-shirts, hoodies and hats. There were also local designs celebrating the host city, including tributes to Pittsburgh institutions like Primanti Brothers and the late actor Fred Rogers (Fanatics).

FIFA is “in discussions with national associations to increase prize money for all 48 teams participating” in the 2026 World Cup. The proposal “must be approved at Tuesday’s FIFA ‌Council meeting,” being held ahead of the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver. In December, FIFA said that prize money for this year’s World Cup would be 50% higher than for the previous edition ($655M) after agreeing a record $727M financial contribution to the tournament. However, FIFA has said that the prize money on offer “is set ⁠to increase with the world governing body projected to surpass” $11B in revenue ​in the current four-year cycle from 2023-26 (REUTERS, 4/26). THE ATHLETIC cited sources as saying that the increase in prize money “was not a reaction to UEFA’s lobbying, nor because the organisation had been put under pressure from elsewhere.” The sources said that FIFA “reached the decision independently” (THE ATHLETIC, 4/26).

Accessibility tech startup OneCourt spent the last few years bringing play-by-play action to blind and low-vision sports in sports venues. The Seattle company is now taking that effort to at-home fans as well.

OneCourt has officially opened pre-orders for its at-home device, which turns live tracking data into haptics so that fans can feel game play through their fingertips. CEO Jerred Mace said that OneCourt will take a limited number of orders during this initial offer window, targeting a December delivery of these first-generation units.

“People have asked for it: ‘When can I use this at home? I had such a great time in the venue,’” Mace told SBJ. “So obviously, it’s been on our minds and on our roadmap, and we’re finally here.”

OneCourt started appearing in venues though team deployments, launching first in 2025 with the Trail Blazers and activation sponsor Ticketmaster. The company has now worked with double-digit NBA teams, the D-backs and has appeared on big stages like the FIFA Club World Cup and the most recent Super Bowl.

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The celebration of America’s 250th anniversary is reaching into various aspects of the sports world, and PBR is announcing its own event to celebrate, The PBR Space Cowboys Presented by the U.S. Space Force. This is the Space Force’s first foray into sports and as a presenting partner for an event.

The event will take place on June 20 at Air Force Academy’s Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs. Stadium capacity will be dropped to 28,000 and will be filled with approximately 4 million pounds of dirt to cover roughly 30,000 square feet. The event will also bring full-scale production of lighting, sound and video infrastructure that will expand the venue well beyond a traditional elite tour stop.

There will also be headlining performances from country music singers Tim McGraw and Chris Janson. Festivities will be held in the stadium plaza that have family-friendly activations, with exhibits from Space Force, live entertainment and a Monster Energy motocross activation with rider Jeremy McGrath. Throughout the event, there will be military tributes with surprise activations for military members and a large-scale drone show.

Tickets will go on sale Thursday and will start at $31. Fox Nation will air the event as part of the streaming platform’s Friday night deal for the PBR Team Series. This will mark PBR’s third stop at college stadium this year with the upcoming event at Colorado State and the recent event at Florida State.

Former NFL coach Mike Tomlin was formally introduced Sunday night as the newest member of the “Football Night in America” on-air roster prior to NBC’s coverage of Celtics-76ers Game 4. He called the move into the media after 19 years with the Steelers a “great way to stay connected to the game.” Tomlin joins the show as Pro Football HOFer Tony Dungy will not return and the future of analysts Rodney Harrison, Chris Simms and Jac Collinsworth reportedly are uncertain. Meanwhile, NBC’s Maria Taylor announced that the pregame show will “travel every single week” to the site of the “SNF” game (“NBA Showtime,” NBC, 4/26).

Basketball HOFer Nancy Lieberman has joined Momentous Sports as an equity partner and strategic advisor.

Momentous Sports launched its sports real estate investment fund in September 2025 with a $100M target. Momentous, which already included former NFL QBs John Elway, Tim Tebow and Blake Bortles among its investors, is part of the Sporting JAX ownership group.

Lieberman, a two-time Olympian and three-time All-American in the 1980s and later the second woman to coach in the NBA as a Sacramento Kings assistant coach, first heard about Momentous during a family office function in the Hamptons. Through conversations with Momentous’ Managing Partner and co-founder Kyle Israel, she grew more interested in the sports real estate space.

“I’m not going to work with people I don’t like. I have the right to make that decision,” Lieberman said. “And it is a strategic decision. They’re doing great things. I want to be part of building stadiums that get anchored to commercial real estate. That’s a growth area for me.”

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What’s on Joe Franzetta’s mind? Roku Media’s Head of Sports breaks down why streaming’s explosive growth and traditional media aren’t at odds, and how Roku is strategically leading at the intersection of both.

In this week’s issue:

• Learfield believes its new owner provides the financial resources and expertise needed to accelerate growth. SBJ’s Ben Portnoy maps out Learfield’s strategy and what the months ahead could hold.
• SBJ’s Austin Karp explains why NBC is shining a brighter spotlight on the Kentucky Oaks, which includes providing a prime-time window and Derby-like resources.
• Eight days in March made all the difference in landing a labor deal in the WNBA. SBJ’s Tom Friend goes behind the scenes to chronicle how it all got done.
• Jason Benetti became NBC’s lead talent this season in the MLB booth. Richard Deitsch details how Benetti got there and why NBC went all-in on the broadcaster.
• SBJ’s Bret McCormick had the enviable assignment to go inside Levy’s food innovation engine. A full stomach and stuffed notebook later, he serves up his insight.

The Athletics are looking for a Dir/Brand. The Las Vegas-based position is responsible for managing brand strategy and positioning across all fan-facing platforms while maintaining standards, messaging frameworks, and guidelines for internal teams and external partners (Athletics).

The Athletics are looking for a Coordinator/Youth Baseball & Softball. The Las Vegas-based position is responsible for providing administrative and operational support for the development and execution of the youth baseball and softball engagement that are strategically aligned with the A’s mission and business objectives (Athletics).

The NHL is looking for a YouTube Coordinating Editor. The N.Y.-based position is responsible for editing and shaping long-form YouTube videos that focus on strong openings and clear narrative arcs, being mindful of pacing for retention and watch-time with visual clarity and creator-style storytelling (NHL).

MLS are looking for a VP/Consumer Products. The N.Y.-based position is responsible for driving management and maximization of the Fanatics relationship with the development and execution of the soft and hardgoods strategic plan and category segment strategies using marketing and licensee plans to drive growth (MLS).

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“In 1954, on the 50th anniversary of this day, a group went to a Martello tower before going on a bender.”