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St. John’s AD Out

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JAMAICA ESTATES – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – St. John’s Director of Athletics Anton Goff announced his resignation on Friday, effective immediately.  Goff had held the post since late 2016.

“Due to family reasons it is in my best interest to move on from St. John’s at this time,” said Goff. “I am thankful for the opportunities afforded to me at the University and will treasure all of the relationships I built with our student-athletes, coaches and administrators during my tenure.”

“On behalf of the University, I would like to thank Anton for his enthusiasm and passion for St. John’s Athletics,” said Joseph Oliva, Esq., Vice President for Administration, Secretary and General Counsel. “We wish him well in his future as he begins this next phase of his professional life.”

Prior to St. John’s, Goff spent two and a half years as the Director of Athletics at the University of Hartford. He previously held the same role for nearly four years at Bowie State University, a Division II school just outside Washington, D.C.

Kathleen Meehan, Associate Vice President for Athletics and Senior Women’s Administrator, will serve as the Interim Director of Athletics. St. John’s will immediately commence a national search for this position with an executive search firm.

NHL: Salary Cap Rises to $79M

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NEW YORK – (Wire Service Report) – On the eve of the NHL draft, general managers for all 31 teams received clarity before possible trades as the league and NHLPA revealed Thursday that the 2018-19 salary cap will rise $4.5 million to $79 million. Club General Managers looking to make big deals before and at the draft also found out that the cap floor will be $58.8 million salary for next season.

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Commissioner Gary Bettman had told reporters following the Board of Governors meeting Wednesday that the cap for next season expected to wind up between $79.5 million and $80 million.

The new salary cap increase more than doubles the spike before last season’s $75 million cap, which was up $2 million from 2016-17.

“A large part of our thinking is we want a (salary cap) number that keeps the escrow down,” Bettman said Wednesday before the cap figures were finalized. “We think by only having a more modest increase last season it was instrumental in keeping the escrow down to what we project will be about 8 percent, which will have been the lowest in years. The amount of the escrow is simply a function of how high the cap is. Higher the cap, higher the escrow. There is no magic to that.”

The escrow pertains to the amount of money the league and NHLPA withhold from player salaries during the season in order to make sure teams and players equally split hockey-related revenue.

Bettman said the league expects revenue growth to increase up to 8.5 percent from last season.

–Field Level Media

Sports Biz: Omaha …

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OMAHA – Peyton Manning would be proud as Major League Baseball announced Thursday the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers will play a regular-season game in Omaha, Neb., the week of the 2019 College World Series. The contest is scheduled for June 13, 2019.

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The event will mark the first major league game ever played in Nebraska and will take place at TD Ameritrade Park, host site of the CWS. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.

“As fans enjoy the excitement of the College World Series, I am pleased to announce that we will be playing a Major League game in Omaha next season,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We look forward to partnering with the NCAA and all the various parties who have worked hard to put this game together. This represents another significant step in our efforts to showcase the solidarity that links each level of our great game.”

The game will reportedly be the third of a three-game series between the teams. Games 1 and 2 will be played in Kansas City.

The announcement was made in coordination with the Omaha Storm Chasers, the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate.

“We are very excited to not just be part of this historic first-of-its-kind event in Omaha next year, but that our parent club of 50-plus seasons will be participating as well,” Storm Chasers owner Gary Green stated. “The city of Omaha has an incredibly rich history of professional baseball, and the large significance of this event taking place next year in this city cannot be overstated.”

Omaha has served as host to the College World Series since 1950. The tourney was held at Rosenblatt Stadium through 2010 and has taken place at TD Ameritrade Park since 2011.

–Field Level Media

Sports Biz: Knicks, Wizards to NBA London Game in January

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LONDON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The first hint of the 2018-19 NBA regular season schedule was announced when organizers of the NBA London Game 2019 stated that the Washington Wizards and the New York Knicks will meet at The O2 on Thursday, Jan. 17.

The Wizards’ roster currently features All-Star guards Bradley Beal and John Wall, who last season led the Wizards in points and assists, respectively, as well as Polish center Marcin Gortat.  The Knicks’ roster currently features Latvian forward Kristaps Porzingis, French point guard Frank Ntilikina, guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and newly appointed head coach David Fizdale.

The game will be broadcast by the NBA’s broadcast partners in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and on NBA League Pass International. US broadcast details were not announced.

The NBA London Game 2019 will mark the league’s ninth regular-season game in London and the Knicks’ third game in the capital, having played regular-season games against the Detroit Pistons in 2013 and the Milwaukee Bucks in 2015.  The Wizards will be playing their first game in the UK.  All eight previous regular-season NBA games in London sold-out.

In addition to the oncourt action, the NBA London Game 2019 will feature a variety of interactive fan activities, NBA Cares community outreach initiatives and Jr. NBA basketball programming that will bring the NBA experience to fans in London.

“We’ve been playing regular-season match-ups in London for nearly a decade, and over that time the games and the surrounding festivities have grown into the equivalent of an NBA All-Star experience transported to Europe,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in a prepared statement. “Fans and partners from across the continent come to celebrate basketball and enjoy the excitement and experience of an NBA game.”

 

PGA Tour to Minny

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BLAINE, MINN – (Wire Service Report) – For the first time in 50 years, Minnesota will host an annual PGA Tour event.

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Tiger Woods at 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine, MN

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The Tour and sponsor 3M announced Monday that they have reached a seven-year agreement to host an annual stop beginning next summer, the 3M Open. Though the dates have yet to be announced, the 3M Open will be played at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine.

It will be the first time the Tour will play a regular event in Minnesota since the St. Paul Open/Minnesota Golf Classic was last played in 1969. It will also be a bittersweet partnership for some, however, as the addition of the 3M Open also means the end of the 3M Championship, a Champions Tour event dating back to 1993.

The final 3M Championship Champions Tour event in Minnesota will be played Aug. 3-5 this year. That event will also be played at TPC Twin Cities. The state has occasionally hosted Tour events since 1969, most recently the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine in Chaska.

“We are delighted to partner with 3M for this new PGA TOUR event in the Twin Cities, a community that has shown tremendous support for professional golf over the years with PGA Tour Champions, the PGA Championship, Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup, and has deservedly played host to the biggest events in sports — Super Bowls, Final Fours, among them,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement Monday.

Puma Signs Ayton, Jay-Z

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WESTFORD – (Mass) – (Wire Service Report) – Puma is making a major play to get back in the world of basketball, and the company took a big step on Monday by inking possible No. 1 overall draft pick DeAndre Ayton to an endorsement deal. Ayton, who is considered the favorite to be the Phoenix Suns’ choice with the first overall pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft, said part of the company’s appeal to him was its presence in the Caribbean, where Puma-signed stars Usain Bolt (Jamaica) and Rihanna (Barbados) are from, and where Ayton (Bahamas) was born and lived until age 12.

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“Puma is pretty popular in the Bahamas,” Ayton said. “I’ve always seen the brand growing up. [Bolt] is one of the first people I saw with the brand. It’s important to me that someone I identify with and admire as an athlete is with the same brand.

“…As I’ve been in the States, I’ve seen what they do with entertainers and always liked that. I see someone like Rihanna recently — who is a lot like me, we have a similar background — and she’s putting her stamp on the brand. That’s something that appeals to me from a creative side. Eventually I want to be a part of bringing this new style of Puma to my people.”

The news of Ayton’s signing comes three days before the 2018 NBA Draft kicks off in Brooklyn, a few days after fellow top prospects Marvin Bagley III and Zhaire Smith signed with Puma, and on the same day that the company announced rapper and business mogul Jay-Z as its new president.

Jay-Z, who founded the agency Roc Nation in 2013, is expected to play a major role in marketing and pursuing players as future endorsers.

Puma’s sudden commitment to basketball is its first action in the sport since it signed Vince Carter to a 10-year deal in 1998, though that deal lasted only two years. The company also re-signed perhaps its most famous basketball player from past decades, Walt “Clyde” Frazier, to a lifetime contract earlier this week and launched a modernized version of Frazier’s old shoe from 1973.

“We’re making a serious statement about the entry of the category, that we want to be a performance brand, but then also very culturally focused,” Adam Petrick, the company’s global director of brand and marketing, told Complex.

Bagley and Smith have each signed multi-year shoe deals with Puma, and the company is expected to pursue other top prospects as well as established NBA players after inking Ayton.

Bagley is considered a likely top-three pick on Thursday, while Smith could be a lottery selection.

–Field Level Media

Where in the World is Justify?

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LOUISVILLE – Triple Crown winner Justify became only the 13thhorse in racing history to win the coveted trifecta of spring racing when the colt captured the Belmont Stakes, following successful runs at the Kentucky Derby and The Preakness.

The question for horse racing fans everywhere? Where and when will Justify race next?

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The oddsmakers at MyTopSportsBooks.comanalyzed the summer horse racing schedule and have issued the following odds for Justify’s “next” race:

Odds on the next horse race Justify will be entered:

– Pacific Classic at Del Mar (August 18): 6/5

– The Travers at Saratoga Race Course NY (August 25): 3/1

– Breeders’ Cup (November 3): 8/1

– Haskell Invitational at Monmouth (July 29): 15/1

– FIELD: 13/1

– JUSTIFY Never races again: 18/1

“Justify has a lot of different owners and handlers with competing interests and they might have different ideas about what’s best for the horse, but Bob Baffert is a west coast guy and, for a few reasons, he would probably favor the Pacific Classic at Del Mar over The Haskell, which would also give Justify a little more rest before the Breeders’ Cup.” – MTS Oddsmaker Alexander Paruk

Sports fans and gaming insiders are turning to the most reliable and accurate odds/information source available online at MyTopSportsbooks.comfor analysis.

Is “One-and-Done” – Done?

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Administrators at the NBA league office sent a memo to all 30 teams on Friday saying the draft’s “eligibility rules” could change as soon as 2021 based on a review of issues “related to player development and the corruption investigation in college basketball,” according to an ESPN report.

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According to ESPN, the memo does not specifically mention the league’s one-and-done rule — which currently prevents players from entering the NBA until age 19 or a year removed from high school graduation — but it indicates that rule could be eliminated “prior to the 2021 or 2022 draft.” The memo presented the information in the context of next week’s NBA Draft, serving as a reminder to teams that could be considering a trade of future picks in the lead up to the draft.

According to USA Today, the league does not anticipate changes to its eligibility rules before the 2021 or 2022 drafts, but nevertheless noted the possibility in the memo.

No changes will happen before 2021, according to multiple reports.

The elimination of the one-and-done rule would very likely make the ensuing draft — whether in 2021 or beyond — much more talent-rich than a typical draft by featuring much of the top talent from consecutive high school classes in one draft.

Only one unprotected first-round pick from the 2021 draft has been traded so far — from the Heat to the Suns — and two others could change hands — one from the Grizzlies to the Celtics and one from the Bucks to the Suns — depending on whether picks fall within protected ranges in 2019 and 2020. No 2022 first-round picks have been traded as of yet.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver and NBA players association director Michele Roberts have each said in recent months that removing the one-and-done rule at some point is likely. Any such change would have to be collectively bargained, but it would not have to wait for the current CBA to expire in 2024.

Headed by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Commission on College Basketball recommended in April that the NBA remove the rule, asking for action as soon as this year. The commission also suggested it would look at making changes on the NCAA side of things if the NBA rule doesn’t change.

The league is expected to discuss eligibility rules and other potential approaches to combat issues with one-and-done recruits at its summer meetings in Las Vegas.

–Field Level Media

SportsBiz: Puma Signs Bagley

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DURHAM – Legendary show and athletic apparel giant Puma has found a projected NBA lottery pick to promote their shoes and apparel in the company’s return to the basketball market. Duke’s Marvin Bagley III has signed a five-year deal with the apparel company, which last had an NBA endorsement deal some 20 years ago, according to multiple reports.

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While numbers weren’t given, it was reported that the deal would be the biggest for a rookie since Kevin Durant signed with Nike for seven years and $60 million in 2007.

Puma also reportedly approached for Oklahoma star Trae Young about a deal and is looking into signing other rookies and established stars in its return to the basketball scene.

The last NBA star to sign a deal with Puma was Vince Carter in 1998. That 10-year deal fell apart after two years and the company turned its focus elsewhere.

Puma has worked on partnerships with several celebrities in recent years, including Rihanna, Jay-Z, Kylie Jenner and Selena Gomez. It also has endorsement deals with golfer Rickie Fowler, Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt and several other athletes in other sports.

In his one season at Duke, Bagley broke nine school records, including marks for most 30-point games (seven), double-doubles (22) and dunks (98), while leading the ACC in scoring and rebounding.

Bagley, who averaged 21.0 points and 11.1 rebounds last season, is expected to go in the top five in the 2018 NBA Draft on June 21.

–Field Level Media

Pro Basketball Writers Honor Barea

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DALLAS – Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Barea was named winner of the NBA’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, an honor given to a player, coach or athletic trainer that displays outstanding service and dedication to the community. The award is determined by the Pro Basketball Writers Association and recognized as the most prestigious of off-the-court awards in the league.

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J.J. Barea (left) with Carlos Arroyo of Puerto Rico

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Barea was one of five finalists in balloting conducted by more than 200 members of the Professional Basketball Writers Association. The others were Oklahoma City forward Carmelo Anthony, Golden State forward Kevin Durant, Houston guard James Harden and Miami guard Dwyane Wade.

Barea, a 12-year NBA veteran, participated in disaster relief efforts for his native Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. His parents and other relatives live in Puerto Rico, which was devastated by the September storm.

Barea coordinated five trips to Puerto Rico to deliver food, water, medical supplies, generators and other supplies. He also raised approximately $770,000 in cash and worked with the Mavericks to donate all single-game tickets sales revenue — which came out to $114,000 — from an Oct. 25 game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Barea, 33, averaged career-best figures of 11.6 points and 6.3 assists last season.

The award is named after J. Walter Kennedy, who was NBA commissioner from 1963-75.

–Field Level Media

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