It's a weekend anchored by huge sporting events in Columbus, as the city hosts the Arnold Sports Festival and Ohio Stadium's first-ever hockey game.

Why it matters: The two events are projected to bring 200,000 spectators and $35 million in revenue to Central Ohio, boosting the city's national stature along the way.

State of play: It's the Arnold's 37th year of physique competitions and strength sports, while the NHL's popular Stadium Series pits the Blue Jackets against the Detroit Red Wings in a unique outdoor hockey game.

• The Arnold expects 100,000 visitors in 2025, while around 90,000 fans (mostly Jackets enthusiasts) are expected at Ohio Stadium.
• That's about five times the capacity of the Jackets' home ice at Nationwide Arena.

By the numbers: All those fans should translate to substantial revenue.

• Experience Columbus spokesperson Cam Tirado says the Arnold is expected to generate $15.6 million in direct visitor spending, including 8,400 hotel rooms for visitors from all 50 states and at least 80 countries.
• Greater Columbus Sports Commission spokesperson Jesse Ghiorzi says the Stadium Series game is expected to generate $20 million in visitor spending around what should be one of the top five attended hockey games of all time.

Between the lines: Ghiorzi tells Axios that Columbus has "leveled up, in terms of the national landscape of event host cities" in recent years, particularly thanks to a busy and high-profile 2024.

• Last year, in addition to regular games and events, the city hosted the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the MLS All-Star Game festivities and a College Football Playoff game.

If you go: Tickets to both events are still available.

• The Arnold Sports Festival continues through Sunday with varying daily schedules and ticket prices.
• The Stadium Series game starts at 6pm tomorrow. Tickets start at $60.

🏒 Scratch your OSU-Michigan itch when the Buckeye men's hockey team hosts the Wolverines at the Schottenstein Center.

• 6pm tonight, 555 Borror Dr. $20-$60.

🤵‍♂️ Have a classy night with the Columbus Symphony as guest conductor Thomas Wilkins performs "Appalachian Spring" at the Ohio Theatre.

• 7:30pm tonight and tomorrow, 39 E. State St. $38-97.

🛹 Relive your golden Warped Tour days with The Warped Band featuring Hawthorne Heights singer JT Woodruff at the A&R Music Bar.

• 7pm tomorrow, 391 Neil Ave. $22 advanced tickets, $26 day of show.

Go deeper: Our full weekend events list

A social media controversy erupted this week when a Worthington restaurant owner posted a now-deleted video that led people to believe his bar was fundraising for a convicted killer.

State of play: Shakers Public House posted a pair of Facebook videos — one featuring a man convicted of murder and a second defending the first — that viewers thought implied the establishment was using its Smoke Stack burger to fundraise for the man.

• The videos garnered dozens of critical comments before being deleted and were later re-shared in a Reddit thread with over 150 comments.
• The posts led to a wave of negative reviews on Yelp and Google.

Catch up quick: On Tuesday, the Shakers page shared a since-deleted video featuring Jason Martin, a Newark resident who was convicted in 2009 of fatally stabbing a man and is now serving a prison sentence of 54 years to life.

• In the video, Martin says he helped create the restaurant's Smoke Stack burger, and that "some of the proceeds from those sales help me with commissary."
• Martin asks viewers to "hit Shakers up as much as possible."
• Shortly after, business owner Spencer Campbell posted another since-deleted video saying he did not regret the original post.

Driving the news: By Wednesday, both videos and the comments beneath were taken down.

• Campbell shared a new post with public comments restricted.

What they're saying: Campbell tells Axios the burger doesn't raise money for Martin and said the video was a way to make an old friend "feel involved" with a burger he let Martin design while incarcerated.

• Campbell says Martin filmed the video with the GettingOut app, which connects friends and family with incarcerated people.

Between the lines: Campbell has stayed in touch with Martin since they met in prison more than a decade ago, and named the burger after Martin's nickname, "J Smoke."

• Campbell said he didn't know the details of Martin's conviction, saying he only knew the story Martin told him, "never even saw a news article about him" before this week.

The big picture: Campbell often uses Shakers to raise money for local causes like Box 15, a charity providing firefighter rehabilitation services.

What they're saying: While defending his support for Martin, Campbell says he also plans to reach out to the family of Martin's victim.

Go deeper

Did you know Ohio is the birthplace of multiple Oscar-winning actors?

The big picture: Ahead of Sunday's 97th Academy Awards, Axios dove into the Oscars' database to find out where Best Actress and Best Actor winners were born.

Zoom in: Three of the 86 Best Actor winners and one of the 87 Best Actress winners were born in Ohio.

• That includes 1930 winner Warner Baxter (Columbus), 1935's Clark Gable (Cadiz), 1987's Paul Newman (Cleveland Heights), and 2002's Halle Berry (Cleveland).
• Baxter was born here in 1889, and starred largely in silent films before his Oscar win for "In Old Arizona."

Go deeper: Where to watch 2025 Oscar-nominated movies

Our Girl Scout cookie poll ended in a split decision.

• Our readers gave Thin Mints and Samoas 142 votes each.
• Those headliners dwarfed third and fourth place Tagalongs (51) and Do-si-dos (45).