Good afternoon, here’s what we’re following at SBJ Today:
- Agents say NFL Draft night can go from ‘pure agony’ to ‘best night of your life’
- Royals unveil plans for downtown ballpark, mixed-use development
- Fanatics, NFL confirm new special event retail partnership ahead of 2026 draft
- Plus: NHL scores a 14-season TV viewership high, U.S. Soccer signs Oura as a sponsor, and the Lynx link up with Victory+ and more.
Start your morning with Buzzcast with Abe Madkour: Haslam Sports Group’s big NWSL bet; Churchill Downs doubles down on Triple Crown; and NHL touts best national viewership in more than a decade. Listen >>
THE BIG STORY
Opens in new windowAgents say NFL Draft night can go from ‘pure agony’ to ‘best night of your life’
For fans, NFL Draft night is a spectacle with the glow of bright lights, a roaring crowd and the anticipation of seeing their favorite team potentially land a star, SBJ’s Irving Mejia-Hilario reports. For agents, the experience comes behind closed doors, with hushed conversations and a slow, agonizing countdown to one phone call.
The entire night is the culmination of years of work. As special as it might be, it’s also an often unforgiving night for agents and their clients.
“I can’t tell you how awful the draft is. It’s pure agony. It feels like literally the worst night of your life. Every minute that you wait as a player, as a family, as an agent, feels like 10 minutes,” said Mike McCartney, veteran NFL agent at VaynerSports. “But then you get that call, and it becomes the best night of your life.”
5 STORIES WE’RE WATCHING
1. Royals unveil plans for downtown ballpark, mixed-use development: The Royals unveiled plans Wednesday to build a $1.9B downtown K.C. ballpark as part of a $3B-plus district featuring mixed-use development in conjunction with Hallmark Cards on 85 acres at Crown Center.
2. Fanatics, NFL confirm new special event retail partnership ahead of 2026 draft: Fanatics is the NFL’s new, official on-site retail sponsor at the league’s roster of marquee global events, including the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft, Super Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine.
3. NHL scores best average viewership on TV in 14 seasons: The NHL bounced back from lower viewership last season for its best regular-season average since the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.
4. U.S. Soccer signs Oura as 26th sponsor ahead of World Cup: U.S. Soccer added Oura as its official wearable and a founding partner of the forthcoming Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center.
5. Lynx strike first-of-its-kind local streaming deal with Victory+: The Lynx have become the first pro basketball team to take its local game broadcasts to Victory+, the free streaming, ad-supported platform.
ON THE MOVE
- Northeast Conference Commissioner Noreen Morris will be stepping down from her role after 16 years to become the Exec Dir of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards, effective Sept. 1 (NEC).
- Premier League club West Ham United Vice Chair Karren Brady announced her decision to step down from her role at the club after 16 years (West Ham United FC).
- Mike Sheehan, the longtime Coordinating Director for NBC Olympics, will leave the company at the end of April. He is slated to return in January as a consultant, contributing to NBC Olympics’ studio design and production planning for the 2028 L.A. Games (NBC Sports).
NAMES IN THE NEWS
- Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer is “no longer working with the College Football Playoffs.” Fleischer, a longtime political strategist and media consultant, has for years served in a “media consultant role with the Playoff” (Yahoo).
- The Galaxy will unveil a “nine-foot-tall bronze sculpture” of National Soccer HOFer Cobi Jones on Sunday before the game against Real Salt Lake. The statue was put together by artists Oscar Leon and Omri Amrany (L.A. Times).
- Bills QB Josh Allen was in attendance for Game 2 of the Bruins-Sabres on Tuesday night and was the honorary person to bang the drum to get a “Let’s Go Buffalo” chant going (N.Y. Post).
HOT READS
The HARTFORD COURANT’s Dom Amore wrote under the headline “As Val Ackerman retires from Big East, she deserves thanks for taking on tough challenges.” Sports executives “rarely come out ahead, at least on the ledger of public perception.” Most “often, they are blamed for things they can’t control, and their successes are taken for granted.”
Also:
- Can the World Cup bring back the ‘fun’ in American youth soccer?
- Liberty Media expanded F1’s global audience. It plans to do it again with MotoGP.
- Billy Donovan tried his best, but even he couldn’t fix the Bulls. Can anyone?