A month ago, we told you about rumors that ESPN would be offering a new, standalone streaming service but that it wouldn’t include access to the flagship ESPN pay-TV channel. Now ESPN’s parent company Disney has confirmed that such a project is in the works, and that it may use the ESPN name but won’t look like the ESPN you know. [More]
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Let’s Check Out An Actual Store-Closing Sale At A Sports Authority Store
By 6.2.16
We always tell readers not to rush out to store-closing sales until later on, if at all, since the deep discounts and brightly colored signs hide discounts that aren’t that great. Over the holiday weekend, Consumerist stopped by a Sports Authority store to find out how the store-closing sale is going. What we learned: there isn’t a big market for University of Georgia Christmas sweaters in upstate New York, especially in late May. [More]
St. Louis Dunkin’ Donuts Serves Coffee In Chicago Blackhawks Cups…. During Playoffs
By 4.15.16
The NHL’s St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks aren’t just regional rivals; the two teams are currently playing each other in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. So you can understand why some St. Louis residents might be less-than-thrilled that their local Dunkin’ Donuts was serving up coffee in cups decorated with the Blackhawks logo. [More]
John Oliver’s Rousing Speech Rallies American Sports Fans To Stop Wasting Public Money On Stadiums
By 7.13.15
In spite of the fact that new sports venues often cost upwards of billions of dollars to construct, many American teams play in stadiums and arenas that are less than 25 years old. Heck, once the Atlanta Braves move into their new park, the Philadelphia Phillies’ Citizens Bank Park will be the most senior venue in the NL East — and that only opened in 2004. Whether it’s through municipal bonds, tax breaks, or free real estate, a lot of the money to pay for these venues ultimately comes out of taxpayers’ pockets. [More]
New York Islanders Sell Bottles Of Melted Ice From Old Arena For $20
By 5.15.15
Never underestimate the love that sports fans have for their favorite team’s old fields, rinks, and stadiums. Without that affection, there would be no sales of seats or infield dirt when those venues close. Now there’s another relic for team faithful to enjoy: the National Hockey League’s New York Islanders will sell $20 bottles of holy water to fans. I mean, melted ice from their last game at the now-closed their former home, the Nassau Coliseum. [More]
SEC Alleges Ex-NFL Player Ran $31M Ponzi Scheme
By 4.7.15
In football, a cornerback is tasked with defending against pass offenses. It appears one former NFL player wasn’t doing much defending on behalf of investors off the field. Instead, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleges former New York Giants player Will Allen used his big league connections to assist in the operation of a $31 million Ponzi scheme based on making loans to cash-strapped pro athletes. [More]
Unholy Alliance Of MLB, NHL, DirecTV & Comcast Lose Bid To Derail Fans’ Antitrust Suit
By 8.12.14
A goalie, a shortstop, a satellite dish repairmen, and a Comcast tech all walk into a courtroom (well, the Comcast tech comes a few hours late but tells his boss he arrived on time). This oddball mish-mash of sports leagues and pay-TV giants have been trying to convince a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit brought against them by sports fans unhappy with rules they believe allow the leagues to make a pile of cash by limiting access to out-of-market games. But last week, the judge ruled against the sporty alliance, bringing this case one step closer to trial. [More]
FCC Wants To Let You Watch Your Home Team’s Games At Home
By 12.19.13
Sports broadcasting: it’s both lucrative and confusing. Sometimes you can turn on the TV and watch a game that’s taking place in your own hometown, and sometimes you can’t. When you can’t, you’re part of a broadcast blackout. [More]
Just-Fired NHL Coach Sues Bank Of America For $3 Million
By 10.7.13
Peter Laviolette is probably still stinging after being given the boot as coach of my Philadelphia Flyers this morning, but perhaps he’s now pinned his hopes not on a Stanley Cup, but on a $3 million lawsuit against Bank of America. [More]
Pittsburgh Penguins Fans Upset After JetBlue Pilot Hears Crying Baby, Asks If It’s Sidney Crosby
By 6.5.13
Some angry Pittsburgh Penguins fans are calling for a boycott of JetBlue after a pilot on a flight to Boston made a crack over the intercom equating Penguins star Sidney Crosby with a crying baby. [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Branch Out, Visit 7-Eleven And Barnes & Noble
By 6.5.13
The retail archaeologists known as the Raiders of the Lost Walmart tirelessly search the world’s retail outlets for the finest and longest-buried antiquities. What kind of ancient wonders did they turn up this week? Well, good news if you’re a time-traveling hockey scout. [More]
Pittsburgh Penguins Fan Sues Team For Texting Him Too Frequently
By 5.30.12
A fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL team is suing the owners for the hockey franchise — not for the team’s embarrassing loss at the hands of the infinitely superior Philadelphia Flyers, but because he got more than he bargained for when he signed up for text alerts from the team. [More]
Flyers Season Ticket Holders Sue Comcast Spectacor For Trying To Upsell Them Expensive Winter Classic Tickets
By 5.9.12
Sadly, the Philadelphia Flyers’ Stanley Cup hopes were dashed into the boards last night by the New Jersey Devils. But season ticket holders still have something to get riled up about, as they try to call team owners Comcast Spectacor for legal high-sticking. [More]
Atlanta Thrashers Season Ticket Buyers Still Waiting For Refunds
By 7.20.11
Back in May, we shared the news that the National Hockey League’s Atlanta Thrashers were still taking orders for season tickets right up until the announcement came that the team would be sold and move to Winnipeg. Disorganized and anti-consumer, sure, but as long as people who put down season ticket deposits for next season get their money back, everything would be okay. Yeah… about that. Fans who had already put down deposits for their season tickets are now getting a runaround, and the team owes each anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. [More]
Atlanta Thrashers Still Selling Season Tickets…After Move To Winnipeg Announced
By 5.31.11
Great news, hockey fans! Earlier today, you could still buy season tickets to watch the Atlanta Thrashers play during the 2011-12 NHL season. Even the best seats in the house are going to be pretty terrible, though, because the team announced this morning that it has been sold and is moving. To Winnipeg. Manitoba. Canada. Yet you could apparently still buy season tickets right up until the press conference. [More]
YouTube Wants Live NBA, NHL Games
By 2.23.11
YouTube foresees a future for itself in which it will host more than just cat videos and angry Hitler parodies. The Google-owned video repository is in talks with the NBA and NHL, as well as European soccer leagues, to broadcast live games. [More]
PS3 Lets You Stream TV-Unfriendly Sport On Your TV
By 11.12.10
Picking the low-hanging fruit of the pro sports world, Sony has locked down a way to let owners watch NHL games on TV without having to find the Versus channel in the listings. [More]
Who's Behind Michael Jordan's "Nike" Skates?
By 6.1.10
With the heathen sports fans in Chicago going a little overboard in celebrating their first Stanley Cup finals in something like 128 years, they recently decked out the famous statue of Chicago Bulls basketball biggie Michael Jordan in a Chicago Blackhawks uniform, complete with a pair of Reebok skate blades attached to his Air Jordans. But somehow, over the weekend the Reebok logo was suddenly stickered over with the Nike “swoosh” logo. Is this good-natured pranksterism or cold, greedy brand management? [More]
