Good afternoon, here’s what we’re following at SBJ Today:
- Inside Levy’s food innovation engine
- CW lands long-awaited streaming outlet in new deal with ESPN app
- MLS Innovation Lab selects 2026 cohort
- Plus: PGA Tour’s 2027 schedule has more details confirmed; MetLife Stadium sells AI category; Disney is not considering ESPN spinoff currently; and more.
Start your morning with Buzzcast with Abe Madkour: What’s behind JP Morgan Chase’s big Olympic investment; two leadership changes in California sports teams, and the NBA’s lottery cure for tanking. Listen >>
THE BIG STORY
Opens in new windowInside Levy’s food innovation engine
SBJ’s Bret McCormick had been at Levy’s downtown Chicago innovation kitchen for five minutes when the first bite of food, a sliver of 10-day-aged smoked pastrami that fell apart in his fingers, was set in front of him by the company’s executive chef, Robin Rosenberg.
McCormick spent the day with Levy to see how the company approaches menu and dish innovation, and to witness — participate in, actually — its local restaurant research and development process. Levy chefs create thousands of new dishes each year for the company’s roughly 250 sports venue clients.
And many of those ideas have their origins in either the test kitchen or scouting trips to restaurants and food outlets throughout Chicago or beyond. “It’s the oxygen for our company, the innovation,” said Levy CEO Andy Lansing.
5 STORIES WE’RE WATCHING
1. CW lands long-awaited streaming outlet in new deal with ESPN app: The CW has found a solution for the streaming of its sports content, striking a four-year deal with ESPN that will see over 800 hours of content added to the ESPN Unlimited tier of the company’s app this summer.
2. MLS Innovation Lab selects 2026 cohort: MLS has selected the third cohort for its MLS Innovation Lab program that trials promising athlete and business technologies across the North American soccer ecosystem.
3. PGA Tour’s 2027 schedule has more details confirmed: The PGA Tour’s 2027 schedule is coming more into focus, as three additional tournaments have now been confirmed for the early portion of the year.
4. MetLife Stadium sells AI category to HCLTech in renewal: India-based tech consultancy HCLTech has become an “official A.I.” sponsor at MetLife Stadium as part of its renewal of a cornerstone sponsorship first signed in 2022.
5. Sources: Disney not considering ESPN spinoff, but plans could shift: While new Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro has reportedly decided against spinning off ESPN for now, that doesn’t mean the company’s thinking might not shift over the next six to nine months, sources told SBJ.
ON THE MOVE
- HOK has acquired Rossetti for an undisclosed sum, and the combined firm will operate as HOK + Rossetti while integrating, though it will eventually just be known as HOK. All 87 Rossetti employees will join HOK’s sports practice but continue to work out of Detroit. The combined HOK + Rossetti sports practice will be led by directors Nate Appleman, Shannon Bartch, Amy Chase, John Rhodes, Rashed Singaby and Matt Rossetti. Rossetti will become a director of HOK’s Sports + Recreation + Entertainment practice, and an HOK shareholder (Bret McCormick, SBJ).
- Sportradar named Sameer Deen as COO, effective May 18. He will report directly to CEO Carsten Koerl. Most recently, Deen served as Chief Commercial Officer & President at Entain. (Sportradar).
- Univ. of Miami AD Dan Radakovich will retire effective June 1 (Miami Athletics).
NAMES IN THE NEWS
- Actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck slipped on a S.F. Giants cap to honor their late mentor Robin Williams at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture on Monday as they were awarded the ninth Robin Williams Legacy of Laughter Award. The hats were given to the duo by Pam Baer, philanthropist and wife of S.F. Giants CEO Larry Baer. In the crowd was 49ers CEO Jed York and Warriors coach Steve Kerr. Video tributes were played from former NFLer Tom Brady (San Francisco Chronicle).
- Track athlete Abby Steiner is suing Puma and the Mercedes F1 team over a shoe design she says that “permanently injured her feet and ended her competitive career.” Although Puma and Mercedes marketed Steiner’s running shoes as “innovative, safe, and effective for elite athletes,” the complaint alleges the mechanism of the shoe “changed how the stress of running affected the rest of the body” (Columbus Dispatch).
- Wings G Azzi Fudd threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Rangers 3B coach Corey Ragsdale before Tuesday’s game against the Yankees at Globe Life Field. She was joined by a host of Wings teammates who “stood behind the pitcher’s mound while she threw” (Dallas Morning News).
HOT READS
The HOUSTON CHRONICLE went with the header, “Texas Tech QB’s gambling issue shouldn’t come as a surprise in modern college sports climate.” Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby this week unveiled his gambling problem and has entered a residential treatment center. It is unclear “if the fact he now has loads of money through NIL had anything to do with it,” but Sorsby was reported to have agreed to a contract paying him $4M for this coming season. If so, “it’s one of those unintended consequences of NIL and revenue-sharing.”
Also:
- USA TODAY’s Nancy Armour wrote that Brendan Sorsby’s gambling addiction is a symptom of our broader illness.
- For many pro athletes, post-career financial worries loom large.
- F1 thought the Mercedes dynasty was over. Toto Wolff was plotting to bring it back.