No more golf clubs, bags, and balls for Nike — from here on out, the athletics company says it will focus on apparel and helping golfers make those questionable fashion choices they love to make. [More]
sports
NFL Network, RedZone Joining PlayStation Vue Lineup
By 7.26.16
Conventional wisdom still says that sports are the key to cable: people will stream their comedies and dramas, but will pay for their sports coverage, because Americans sure love their sports. So it is unsurprising, then, that over-the-top cable-alternative streaming services are lining up to add more sports channels to their programming, including PlayStation Vue. [More]
Olympics Committee Considering Ban On All Russian Athletes From Rio Games
By 7.19.16
A month after an ongoing doping scandal led to Russia’s track and field athletes being barred from competing in the upcoming 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the International Olympic Committee says it is looking into its options for enacting a ban on the entire Russian team. [More]
UFC Sells Itself For Record-Breaking $4 Billion
By 7.11.16
You frequently hear about manufacturers involved in multibillion-dollar mergers, and you occasionally hear about an individual sports team being sold for big bucks, but it’s pretty rare these days to see an entire sports organization being sold for ten figures. [More]
World Cup Ticket Prices Will Top $1,000 For The First Time
By 7.6.16
If you’re planning on attending the 2018 World Cup in Moscow, you better start saving, as ticket prices will cross the $1,000 mark for the first time. [More]
Adidas Misspells “Colombia” In Soccer Ads, Gets Sent Back To 3rd Grade Geography
By 6.8.16
Someone at Adidas must have been snoozing during the South American geography lesson in elementary school, because how else could you explain the company splashing “Columbia” all over ads featuring the Colombian soccer team? [More]
T-Mobile Offers Free MLB.tv Subscription To Promote Streaming, Draw Customers
By 3.16.16
Baseball season begins in a few weeks, so why not use it as an opportunity to sell some mobile phone plans? You might not see the direct connection there, but T-Mobile does: they’re offering free subscriptions to the MLB’s all-team streaming service to their customers to promote baseball and their Binge On exemptions for selected streaming video services. [More]
Maria Sharapova & 6 Other Pro Athletes Who Blew Big Endorsement Deals Overnight
By 3.8.16 — Updated: 12.27.16
All over the world, sports fans set their heroes up on high pedestals. So when scandals hit, it’s a long way for professional athletes to fall, and they often lose lucrative endorsement deals on their way down. [More]
Timberwolves Fans Suing Over Team’s New Paperless Ticketing System
By 3.4.16
Sometimes, even the biggest sports fans can’t make it to their team’s game, for whatever reason (rain, snow, sleet, in-laws visiting unannounced) and in those cases, they might want to sell their ticket to someone else. That process has been “fundamentally, unlawfully” altered for fans of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, a new class-action lawsuit alleges, after the team instituted a new paperless ticketing system. [More]
Buffalo Wild Wings Blames Sluggish Sales On NFL Season’s Late Start
By 10.29.15
Did you notice something different about the first week of September this year — perhaps a noticeable lack of wing sauce covering your fingers? Sports eatery Buffalo Wild Wings wasn’t able to score as much in the third quarter, blaming its lack of customers on the late start to the NFL season. [More]
What’s It Like To Be An NFL Owner? Ask The Green Bay Packers Shareholders
By 9.10.15
“Please rise, remove your hats, your cheeseheads, and join us in singing our National Anthem.”
There is only one place those words make complete sense. Yes, even on a hot, bright summer day in July, when any pate covered in orange foam material had to be sweating more profusely than a Vikings fan in a purple jersey in a stadium full of green and gold: Lambeau Field, in Green Bay, WI. It’s the home of the Green Bay Packers. [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]
Today Is The First Time In MLB History That A Game Will Be Played Without A Single Paying Customer
By 4.29.15
Upon the news yesterday that the Baltimore Orioles would face the Chicago White Sox in a postponed game at an empty Camden Yards today, we tried to recall if there’s ever been another instance when two teams faced off without anyone paying to watch. [More]
Verizon Promises Live Sports On New Mobile Streaming TV Service — But Not The Ones You Actually Watch
By 4.16.15
TV, as in programming we all like to watch, is a great bet for the future. TV, as in rabbit ears or a cable box, maybe less so. Everyone and their grandmother is leaping to get content available over the internet. From Sony to CBS to HBO to Netflix, streaming services, both for your home and for your mobile device, are the hot new thing. And Verizon wants to play that game too. [More]
PepsiCo Woos NBA Sponsorship Away From Coca-Cola After 29-Year Run
By 4.13.15
After staying married to Coca-Cola for almost 30 years, the National Basketball Association has decided to end the company’s official sponsorship of the league, and is running away with its rival PepsiCo instead. [More]
How Baseball Became America’s Favorite Monopoly
By 3.30.15 — Updated: 5.2.17
In theory, spring has finally sprung. But forget crocuses and breathably warm air; the real sign of seasonal change is baseball, America’s favorite monopoly. Major League Baseball has the dubious distinction not only of being entirely exempt from antitrust law, but also being the only major league sport with such a privilege. With the start of the 2015 season still some days away, we have time to take a look at the history, and the possible future, of this quirk. [More]
NFL Suspending TV Blackout Rule For 2015 Season
By 3.23.15
The country’s most-watched pro sport might be even more watched following an announcement today that the NFL will suspend its television blackout policy for the 2015 season. [More]
