There's already a self-proclaimed "King of NIL," just one year into the new rule allowing college athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes.

• After NIL went live one year ago this month, Norfolk State running back Rayquan Smith reached out to 100 companies hoping to strike a few deals.
• He's since signed at least 69 deals for well into the five figures, per Forbes, including with larger brands like Arby's, Boost Mobile and Pedialyte.

The big picture: This is a prime example of "athlete-driven" NIL deals that let college athletes act as entrepreneurs, Blake Lawrence, CEO of NIL marketplace Opendorse, tells the L.A. Times.

• More than 100,000 athletes have signed modest endorsement deals ranging from local car dealerships to national brands like Buffalo Wild Wings.
• Most NIL compensation has come from social media posts, but athletes are also earning money by making appearances, signing merchandise and creating their own content.

Yes, but: What keeps the NCAA up at night are "athletics-driven" deals, where boosters and booster collectives (groups of donors who pool NIL resources) are inducing recruits to sign with their school under the guise of NIL.

By the numbers: College athletes pocketed $917 million during year one of NIL, per estimates from Opendorse.

• Football players earned 49.9%. Men's (17%) and women's basketball (15.7%) were the only other sports to crack 3%.
• The average transaction was $1,815, per INFLCR, another marketplace. Football transactions were higher ($3,396), but not the highest — female gymnasts, for example, earned over $7,000 per deal.
• The median transaction was just $53 — evidence that a majority of deals were in fact "athlete-driven."

What's next: The NCAA recently updated its guidelines in an effort to crack down on collectives, but more than 100 already exist, with more expected to form.

The Orioles are 44-44. Last year, they were 44-93.

State of play: The O's won their ninth straight game on Tuesday, their longest winning streak in a season since 1999. The last team to win nine straight a year after losing 110+ games? The 1889 Louisville Colonels.

Zoom out: It's mid-July and there are no losing records in the AL East. The Yankees remain MLB's top dog, and the rest of the division is in a battle for the three Wild Card spots.

1. Yankees (61-26)
2. Rays (47-40)
3. Red Sox (47-41)
4. Blue Jays (46-42)
5. Orioles (44-44)

Fun fact: This is the fourth time in the Wild Card Era that an entire division was at .500 or above on July 12 or later. The other three: 2012 AL East, 2005 NL East (all finished there) and 2000 AL West.

If a company's name is on a "Big Four" sports stadium, that company is likely part of these "Big Three" industries: financial services, insurance or telecom, Jeff writes.

Driving the news: Heinz Field, home of the Steelers, is now Acrisure Stadium after the Michigan-based insurance firm bought the naming rights, the team announced Monday.

• Kraft Heinz and the Steelers struck a 20-year, $57 million deal when the stadium opened in 2001.
• That $2.85 million annual payment is now well below market value, so Heinz threw in the terrible towel rather than re-up.
• Acrisure will reportedly pay more than $10 million annually during its 15-year deal.

The big picture: Acrisure is the 52nd of 97 (54%) sponsored stadiums across the Big Four sports leagues whose naming rights are owned by a company in financial services (29), insurance (12) or telecom (11).

• Three other industries sponsor more than five stadiums: automotive (9), food and beverage (7) and retail (7).
• The others: Technology (5), energy (3), airline (3), shipping (2), health care (2), crypto (2), environmental (2), gaming (1), aerospace (1) and chemicals (1).

Of note: Just 14 unsponsored stadiums remain — eight of which are in tradition-rich MLB and two of which are only temporary.

• MLB (8): Angel Stadium, Dodger Stadium, Kauffman Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Nationals Park, Wrigley Field, Oriole Park at Camden Yards
• NFL (3): Lambeau Field, Soldier Field, Paul Brown Stadium
• NHL (2): ASU Multi-Purpose Arena (the Coyotes will temporarily share an arena with Arizona State), FLA Live Arena (interim name after BB&T deal expired).
• NBA (1): Madison Square Garden (also NHL)

The backdrop: Heinz's fate is reminiscent of what happened to two other classic consumer brands recently: Staples was replaced by Crypto.com and Miller Park became American Family Field.

🏒 Malkin's back: Evgeni Malkin has agreed to a four-year, $24.4 million extension with the Penguins, ending a tumultuous week between the two sides. The core of Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang will remain.

🏀 120 points: The Grizzlies beat the Nets 120-84 on Tuesday to tie the Las Vegas summer league record for most points scored in a game.

🏈 Snyder update: The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform has accepted an offer for Commanders owner Dan Snyder to testify virtually on July 28 — but only if he agrees to do so under a subpoena.

🏀 NBA supports ABA players: The NBA board of governors voted Tuesday to pay $24.5 million to former ABA players, many of whom are struggling to buy the basic necessities to live.

12 MLB players signed with new teams this offseason for at least $100 million. None was selected to next week's All-Star Game.

• Corey Seager (Rangers, $325m)
• Marcus Semien (Rangers, $175m)
• Kris Bryant (Rockies, $182m)
• Matt Olson (Braves, $168m)
• Freddie Freeman (Dodgers, $162m)
• Javier Báez (Tigers, $140m)
• Trevor Story (Red Sox, $140m)
• Max Scherzer (Mets, $130m)
• Robbie Ray (Mariners, $115m)
• Kevin Gausman (Blue Jays, $110m)
• Carlos Correa (Twins, $105.3m)
• Nick Castellanos (Phillies, $100m)

Between the lines: Most of these guys (outside of Báez, Semien and Castellanos) are having solid seasons, which just shows how hard it is to make the All-Star team. Bryant and Scherzer have missed significant time; Freeman and Gausman easily could have been All-Stars.

26 players — representing 10 different countries — were named to the 2022 MLS All-Star Game squad on Tuesday.

• USA (8): Paul Arriola, F/W (FC Dallas); Jesús Ferreira, F/W (FC Dallas); Jordan Morris, F/W (Sounders); Aaron Long, D (Red Bulls); DeAndre Yedlin, D (Inter Miami); Walker Zimmerman, D (Nashville); Sean Johnson, GK (NYC FC); Darlington Nagbe, M (Crew)
• Argentina (4): Valentín Castellanos, F/W (NYC FC); Luciano Acosta, M (Cincinnati); Sebastián Driussi, M (Austin FC); Emanuel Reynoso, M (Minnesota)
• Mexico (3): Chicharito, F/W (Galaxy); Carlos Vela, F/W (LAFC); Julián Araujo, D (Galaxy)
• Spain (2): Carles Gil, M (Revolution); Ilie Sánchez, M (LAFC)
• Canada (2): Kamal Miller, D (Montreal); Dayne St. Clair, GK (Minnesota)
• Peru (2): Raúl Ruidíaz, F/W (Sounders); Alexander Callens, D (NYC FC)
• Germany (2): Hany Mukhtar, M (Nashville); Kai Wagner, D (Philadelphia)
• Greece: Taxiarchis Fountas, F/W (D.C. United)
• Ecuador: Diego Palacios, D (LAFC)
• Jamaica: Andre Blake, GK (Philadelphia)

Looking ahead: For the second straight year, the MLS All-Stars will play the Liga MX (Mexico) All-Stars, this time at Minnesota's Allianz Field on Aug. 10.

ST ANDREWS, Scotland — Former Open Champions — from legends like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods to youngsters like Jordan Spieth and Collin Morikawa — posed for a photo on Tuesday.

• Go deeper: To win The Open, you have to go through the road hole (NYT)

MORZINE, France — Environmental protesters created havoc at the Tour de France on Tuesday after they chained themselves together and sat on the road, bringing Stage 10 to an abrupt halt.

• Go deeper: Follow along (Tour de France)

DUNEDIN, New Zealand — The haka.

Two studs at very different points in their careers toe the rubber tonight in St. Louis when the Cardinals host the Dodgers (7:45pm ET, MLB).

• Tony Gonsolin, 28, is having a season for the ages: He leads MLB in wins (11-0), ERA (1.62), WHIP (0.801) and hits-per-nine (4.9).
• Adam Wainwright, 40, is the gift that keeps on giving: 13 years removed from his first of four top-three Cy Young finishes, he's sporting a 3.15 ERA.

More to watch:

• 🚲 Tour de France: Stage 11 (8am, USA/Peacock)
• ⚽️ MLS: Minnesota vs. Sporting KC (8pm, ESPN); LA Galaxy vs. San Jose (10pm, FS1)
• 🏀 WNBA: Sun at Fever (12pm, NBA)
• 🏀 NBA Summer League: Seven games (ESPN2/ESPN3)
• ⚽️ Women's Euro: Sweden vs. Switzerland (12pm, ESPN2); Netherlands vs. Portugal (3pm, ESPN2)
• ⛳️ LPGA: Great Lakes Bay Invitational (3pm, Golf)
• 🌎 The World Games: Day 6 (9am-7pm, Olympics.com)

Donovan Mitchell, who could be traded, has averaged at least 20 points in each of his first five NBA seasons.

• Question: Who was the last guard to do that?
• Hint: Not currently active.

Answer at the bottom.

"Edge of the Earth," a four-part HBO documentary that follows elite action-adventures athletes on never-before-accomplished missions, premiered Tuesday night. The first episode was awesome.

• "Into the Void" (out now): A human-powered ski and snowboard expedition in the icy wilderness of Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska.
• "Raging Torrent": A first descent attempt of the potentially impassable Chalupas River in Ecuador.
• "Reaching for the Sky": An attempt at the first individual free climb ascent of a near impossible route on Pik Slesova in Kyrgyzstan.
• "The Great Unknown": A pursuit of never before ridden big waves along the remote West Coast of South Africa.