Good afternoon, here’s what we’re following at SBJ Today:
- MLBPA’s Meyer: MLB cap proposal would have cost players over $500 million in 2026
- Mavericks choose North Dallas mall site for arena, entertainment district
- Curry inks 10-year endorsement deal with Chinese sportswear company Li-Ning
- Plus: Plenty for Manfred to discuss at MLB meetings, Congress asks Goodell to testify on media matters; Commanders launch value menu and more
Start your morning with Buzzcast with Abe Madkour: Details on two major new facility plans; Stanley Cup Final shows the changing face of NHL; and Commanders offer fan-friendly concession pricing. Listen >>
THE BIG STORY
MLBPA’s Meyer: MLB cap proposal would have cost players over $500 million in 2026
MLBPA Interim Executive Director Bruce Meyer said Monday that players would lose over $500 million if MLB’s hard salary cap and floor proposal, which includes a 50-50 revenue split, were in place for the 2026 season, reports SBJ’s Mike Mazzeo.
“The cap system they’ve proposed is not just bad for all the reasons that we believe cap systems are always bad, but they’ve effectively managed to cobble together the worst system for players in any of the major sports, and it’s not even close,” Meyer told reporters.
Meyer said that the league’s proposal was worse than his recollection of the 1994 proposal that resulted in a strike and the World Series being canceled because it includes escrow, which he said basically makes everything non-guaranteed as it is tied to revenue. MLB’s proposed cap system included a $245.3 million hard cap and a $171.2 million floor. The league’s proposal also included local media revenue being fully shared. The union said in its opening proposal that increased revenue sharing would guarantee every small-market team with a minimum of $240 million in revenue annually.
5 STORIES WE’RE WATCHING
1. Mavericks choose North Dallas mall site for arena, entertainment district: The Mavericks will purchase 104 aces at the former Valley View mall site for its planned arena and entertainment district, dealing a blow to efforts to keep the NBA team downtown.
2. Curry inks 10-year endorsement deal with Chinese sportswear company Li-Ning: Warriors G Steph Curry signed a 10-year shoe endorsement deal with Chinese sportswear company Li-Ning. He had parted ways with Under Armour in November.
3. MLB owners’ meetings: Plenty for Rob Manfred to discuss: The MLB owners’ meetings take place this week in New York, and Commissioner Rob Manfred will address issues relating to the league’s salary cap CBA offer to the MLBPA, media matters and expansion.
4. Congress asks Goodell to testify on broadcast deals, streaming push: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was invited to testify June 10 before Congress as the league faces questions on putting games behind streaming paywalls and how it fits into the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961.
5. Commanders launching season ticket member value menu with 15 items $10 or less: The Commanders are instituting a new season ticket members value menu that will include 15 fan-favorite items all costing less than $10.
ON THE MOVE
- Longtime sports marketer Tom Fox joined Scott Coker’s yet-unnamed MMA circuit as COO. A two-time SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree, Fox has held marketing titles with some of sports’ most indelible brands, including Gatorade, the NBA, Nike and Arsenal (Terry Lefton, SBJ).
- After chairing MLB’s competition committee for the past seven years, Mariners owner John Stanton will be moving to chair the league’s business board. S.F. Giants owner Greg Johnson will succeed Stanton as competition committee chair, though Stanton will remain on the committee (Mike Mazzeo, SBJ).
- Range Sports named Jake Dexter as VP/Sports Content. Dexter joins from Paradigm, where he was a founding member of the Paradigm Sports Group (VARIETY, 6/1).
- The Dolphins named Kyle Smith as assistant GM and promoted Matt Winston to director/player personnel. Jon Robinson and Shaun Herock joined the club as senior personnel execs and Josh Scobey was named assistant director/player personnel. Brandon Shore was promoted to EVP/football operations. Max Napolitano was promoted to VP/football administration and Strategy, while Kyle Johnston was elevated to VP/sports medicine and performance and head athletic trainer (Dolphins).
NAMES IN THE NEWS
- Former Commanders owner Dan Snyder tapped Banque Pictet & Cie SA to help manage the proceeds from the team’s $6 billion sale. The details give a snapshot into Snyder’s financial affairs after relocating to Great Britain (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 6/2).
- A federal judge sentenced Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg, whose now-bankrupt green banking company is at the center of an NBA investigation into the Clippers, to 14 years in federal prison Monday (ESPN.com, 6/1).
- Montreal Victoire C Marie-Philip Poulin will be given an honorary degree by Bishop’s University on Saturday (Montreal GAZETTE, 6/1).
- Kings G Russell Westbrook was back in Oklahoma City for the groundbreaking ceremony of the multipurpose stadium that’s set to open in 2028. Westbrook teamed up with Christain Kanady, the founder and CEO of Echo Investment Capital, to “develop the surrounding stadium district” (OKLAHOMAN, 6/1).
HOT READS
GOLF DIGEST went with the header, “Cara Banks has worked in sports broadcasting’s trenches, leading to a career milestone at U.S. Women’s Open.” Banks’ early golf career came in Africa, where she worked as a multimedia journalist. It was a “long way around the world from broadcasting for the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour,” but this turned out to be “part of the path that led to her big break.” This week, she is set to call the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club.
Also:
- Tarps Off isn’t disrupting baseball fandom. It’s a new spin on an old rite of passage.
- Utah sold its soul for private equity. The layoffs were always coming.
- On Sonics’ NBA title anniversary, fans can root for expansion — and Seattle’s Mitch Johnson.
- As WNBA digests officiating changes, debate over right level of physicality persists.