The latest news and trends that matter in America's major sports.

NFL, NBA, MLB & NHL

The latest developments that matter in the world of college sports.

NCAA

The latest developments in the industry that's upending how we consume sports.

Sports betting

The Omicron surge and China's increasingly scrutinized authoritarian practices provide the backdrop for this year's winter games.

Beijing Winter Olympics

Sports

National

Data: Legal Sports Report; Table: Thomas Oide/Axios

Americans have wagered more than $125 billion on legal sports bets since PASPA was overturned four years ago (May 14, 2018).

State of play: 30 states plus Washington, D.C., have live, legal sports betting markets. Five more have legalized it but are not yet operational.

Of note: The chart above only includes 25 states, plus D.C. Handle and revenue numbers are not yet publicly available for New Mexico, Washington, North Dakota, Wisconsin and North Carolina.

Americans have spent $125B on sports betting in last 4 years

30 states plus D.C. have live, legal sports betting markets. 5 more have legalized it but are not yet operational.

A chart showing sports betting handle and revenue by state.

Shifts in technology and media are changing the way we play, watch and understand sports. Business models are adapting and social change is forcing those in charge of teams and leagues to reconsider decades-old practices.

Axios Sports

Only in Canada do the Leafs fall in spring.

ICYMI: The Maple Leafs lost 2-1 to the Lightning on Saturday, their 10th straight loss in a series-clinching game and fifth straight loss in a winner-take-all game in the opening round. We've never seen anything like this.

The Leafs didn't blow it. In fact, they probably deserved to win the finale (70.5% chance) of a series that was shockingly even on aggregate: Toronto had 24 goals and 216 shots; Tampa had 23 and 215.

Wild stat: The probability of the Maple Leafs playing in five straight first-round series that went the distance, and then losing the decisive game in all five? 0.0036% (1 in 27,778 chance).

The big picture: When history keeps repeating itself in such excruciating ways, the word "cursed" gets thrown around. That built-up sense of inevitably heightens the pressure — and everybody feels it.

"We're getting sick and tired of feeling like this," a teary-eyed Mitch Marner, who joined the team in 2015, said after the Game 7 loss.

What's next: Toronto is in hockey hell: It's unclear what needs to change (the roster is stacked), but the streak has become so unbearable that they're almost obligated to make a bunch of moves anyway.

Rangers 4, Penguins 3 (OT): The Rangers are the first team in NHL history to record three consecutive comeback wins in elimination games within the same series. The clinching goal.

Flames 3, Stars 2 (OT): Jake Oettinger was brilliant (64 saves), but Calgary did just enough to set up a date with Edmonton — the first postseason Battle of Alberta since 1991. The clinching goal.

Hurricanes 3, Bruins 2: The home team won every game this series — the ninth time that's happened. After six straight multi-goal games, Carolina eked out a one-goal victory in front of a record crowd.

Oilers 2, Kings 0: Edmonton won its first playoff series since 2017 as Connor McDavid (playoff-leading 14 points) became the second player in NHL history to record six multi-point games in a series.

What's next: The second round kicks off Tuesday (Lightning-Panthers; Blues-Avalanche) and Wednesday (Rangers-Hurricanes; Oilers-Flames).

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in hockey hell

Toronto had its 10th straight loss in a series-clinching game.

The Maple Leafs' Jason Spezza hangs his head.

Photo: Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images

Nashville

Axios Nashville

The new Titans stadium project came into sharper focus last week. 

Mayor John Cooper submitted his annual capital improvement budget showing the plan will cost $2 billion and wrote a Tennessean Op-Ed outlining the generic parameters of a deal.

Why it matters: Cooper said the city's current lease agreement with the Titans isn't working. He committed to building a new indoor stadium through taxes paid by tourists and visitors to the Titans complex, which will finance the city's portion of the project.

He said the stadium won't be financed with general obligation bonds — the same financing tool used to build schools, roads and other public projects with the general taxpayers' money.

Details: The capital improvement budget is a spending wish list, not a detailed spending plan. However, projects must be included in it to be legally financed.

Council still must approve the CIB in the coming weeks.

The intrigue: The Titans stadium wasn't the only ambitious project in the CIB. The Cooper administration also marked $500 million in infrastructure for an ambitious east bank renovation plan that has been in the works for about two years. The CIB also added funds for affordable housing and greenways on the east bank.

Taken together, the new stadium and the surrounding mixed-use development the football team is pursuing would completely transform the east bank of the Cumberland River.

What's next: One of the key tenets of Cooper's argument that a new stadium is a good idea for the city is that the current lease deal for Nissan Stadium is a burden for Metro.

Under the current deal, Metro pays for stadium upkeep and, in a more ambiguous provision, keeps the facility in a condition that matches other similarly aged stadiums.

Critics have argued the provision is vague, and the Titans are expected to present a report later this week with an estimate of how much the current lease deal could cost Metro.

Budget shows new Titans stadium estimated to cost $2B

The new Titans stadium project came into sharper focus last week.

Photo illustration of Nashville Mayor John Cooper  with lines radiating from him.

Photo illustration: Allie Carl/Axios. Photo: Leah Puttkammer/Getty Images

Politics

Columbus

Axios Columbus

The Crew set a Guinness World Record for the longest chain of sports fan scarves on Wednesday. 

Over 1,000 scarves measuring 4,848.56 feet were spread across the pitch at Lower.com Field.

Flashback: Fans started purchasing scarves in October to grow the chain and support Nationwide Children's Hospital and its "On Our Sleeves" campaign for children's mental health.

What's next: The team celebrates the achievement May 21 against Los Angeles.

Fans can buy one of the record-breaking scarves online for $25.

An aerial view of the scarves pattern on the Lower.com Field pitch

Photo courtesy of Nationwide Children's Hospital

Crew set world record with mental health fundraiser

On Our Sleeves is a Nationwide Children's Hospital campaign.

Rows of scarves on the Lower.com Field pitch, with #OnOurSleeves in the foreground

Photo: Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch/USA Today Network

Mental health

Stephen Curry graduated from Davidson College on Sunday, completing his degree 16 years after stepping foot on campus as a scrawny teenager.

Why it matters: Davidson only retires the jerseys of players who've graduated — no exceptions. At long last, the small liberal arts college (~2,000 students) will formally recognize its most famous son, with plans to hang his jersey in the rafters this year.

Curry received a bachelor of arts degree, with a major in sociology, as a member of the Class of 2022.

He couldn't attend commencement, but his name was in the program, causing a stir among students and attendees.

The backdrop: As a sophomore in 2008, Curry put Davidson on the map with an Elite Eight run. When he turned pro the following year, he told his parents and coach Bob McKillop that he'd be back to finish his degree.

Three years later, Curry returned to campus during the NBA lockout to take classes. He practiced with the team that semester, even playing the role of his brother Seth as Davidson prepped for Duke.

Curry quietly completed his final semester this spring, working with two members of the Davidson faculty, a Stanford professor and a UC Santa Cruz professor — both of whom taught him when they were at Davidson.

The last word: "I knew what I signed up for when I went to Davidson," Curry said in 2015 of the school's rigorous academics. In 2019, he shared a fond memory from the team's Cinderella run ...

I was coming back from dinner, after practice — the night before we played Kansas. ... And it was the strangest thing ever: I turned the corner down the hallway ... and I ran into about half the team. The guys were sitting there, right on the floor, with their warm-ups on and their clunky 2007 laptops out.

Like, this bunch of dudes that had just given back-to-back whoopings to Georgetown and Wisconsin. Sitting on the floor, typing away. And I'm like, "Umm ... what are y'all doing?" The whole group of them answer at the same time: "MIDTERMS."

No, for real. That's a true story. It's 12 hours to the Elite Eight, 12 hours to the biggest game of any of our lives — and those boys were literally writing term papers in the hallway. Straight up GRINDING in the Word doc. Man, I love Davidson with all my heart.

Stephen Curry graduates from college

Davidson College only retires the jerseys of players who've graduated — no exceptions.

Stephen Curry during an interview in San Francisco in August 2017.

Stephen Curry during an interview in San Francisco in August 2017. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images 

Legendary golfer Phil Mickelson withdrew from the PGA Championship, keeping himself on hiatus from professional golf, tournament organizers announced on Friday.

Why it matters: Mickelson stepped away from golf after he made comments about Saudi Arabia and human rights abuses that he said he thought were off the record.

The PGA said that "we would have welcomed him to participate."

Flashback: Mickelson stepped away from golf in February after comments he made about Saudi Arabia came to light in a report by ESPN.

In the biography about him, Mickelson said that he was involved in a potential new Saudi-backed golf league, despite the country's human rights abuses, Axios' Ivana Saric writes.

What he said: "They killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights," Mickelson told the biography's author in an interview, per ESPN. "They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates."

Mickelson apologized for the comments, saying he thought he was speaking off the record. 

He said the "pressure and stress" of golf impacted him at a "deeper level."

"I know I have not been my best and desperately need some time away to prioritize the ones I love most and work on being the man I want to be.”

Of note: Mickelson is just the third PGA champion who will not defend his title over the last 75 years, per AP.

Tiger Woods didn't defend his crown in 2008 due to knee surgery.

Ben Hogan couldn't play in 1949 after "recovering from his car getting struck by a bus," per AP.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson drops out of PGA Championship

Mickelson is just the third golfer in the last 75 years to not defend his title.

Phil Mickelson at the PIF Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.

Phil Mickelson. Photo: Oisin Keniry/Getty Images

Golf

The Delaware State women's lacrosse team recently saw a traffic stop in Georgia turn into a search for drugs. Now, the HBCU is demanding answers.

Why it matters: The school believes this was a case of racial profiling and is pursuing legal recourse as the incident — which was caught on video — gains national attention.

Details: The lacrosse team was returning home from a game in Florida on April 20 when their bus was pulled over in Liberty County, Georgia, for driving in the wrong lane.

Players noticed their bags from under the bus were being searched by officers, all of whom were white (bodycam footage). They then boarded the bus and said they were looking for drugs.

"If there is something in [your luggage] ... please tell me now because if we find it, guess what? We're not going to be able to help you," said the officer (video). "Marijuana is still illegal in the state of Georgia."

The players don't believe the police had probable cause. No drugs were found and no citations were given. The initial stop is also being contested since the lane they were in restricts trucks, not buses.

What they're saying: "The biggest surprise was seeing the dogs immediately pulled out," one player told SI. "That shows the immediate effects of driving while Black."

The other side: William Bowman, Liberty County's first Black sheriff, told the Savannah Morning News that the search was legal because it was prompted by a K9 dog "alerting" the officers to something. He admitted they "frequently have false positive alerts."

Search of HBCU's lacrosse team draws racial profiling claims

Delaware State believes this was a case of racial profiling and is pursuing legal recourse.

A screenshot of a YouTube video with a law enforcement officer addressing a team on a bus.

Russian authorities extended American basketball star Brittney Griner's detention for another month, her lawyer Alexander Boikov told AP.

Driving the news: Griner, who appeared Friday in a Moscow court for a hearing on her detention, was also denied a request for house arrest, per ESPN. 

Catch up quick: Griner was detained at a Moscow-area airport in February when authorities claimed that they found vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage.

Russian authorities had previously denied U.S. officials from seeing Griner, but she has since been seen by a U.S. official.

A State Department spokesperson earlier this month said Griner was "wrongfully detained" by Russia.

Go deeper ... U.S. says Brittney Griner "wrongfully detained" by Russia

Russian authorities extend Brittney Griner's detention

Griner appeared Friday in a Moscow court for a hearing on her detention.

Brittney Griner #42 of the Phoenix Mercury durring pregame warmups at Footprint Center on October 10, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona

Brittney Griner during pregame warmups on October 10, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo:  Mike Mattina/Getty Images

Russia

World

Austin

Axios Austin

A vaunted college football player eager to transfer schools visited the University of Texas this week, meeting with the team's head coach and key players — just as the NCAA warned big-school boosters not to dole out money to recruits.

Why it matters: Landing 20-year-old Jordan Addison would be a huge off-season win for a football program rebuilding after a 5-7 season. 

As a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh last season, Jordan Addison won the Fred Biletnikoff Award, given to the best receiver nationally.

But the team's quarterback headed to the NFL.

The intrigue: Pitt's wide receivers coach, who worked most closely with Addison, has been hired by Texas.

Among the teams at the top of Addison's transfer list are UT and USC, universities whose boosters can pledge millions of dollars to pay athletes to use their name, image or likeness to promote a product or cause.

Flashback: Last fall, we wrote about how UT athletes were capitalizing on their names and images.

Yes, but: The NCAA sent new guidance this week to its Division I member schools clarifying that rules "preclude boosters from recruiting and/or providing benefits to prospective student-athletes."

Reality check: The horse has left the barn.

Carefully crafted booster collectives already advertise the kinds of sponsorship deals that athletes can book if they come to campus. 

Late last year, UT donors announced the launch of a $10 million fund to bankroll name-image-likeness opportunities for student-athletes, another salvo in an increasingly bruising effort among boosters of top sports-playing universities to lure elite athletes.

Catch up quick: Last year, pressed in courts and by student-athletes, the NCAA lifted its long-standing ban against athletes earning money from sponsorship and endorsement deals. 

Still, athletes could not simply be paid for playing sports; compensation could not be used to lure an athlete to a particular school.

The bottom line: Among the UT athletes courting Addison this week was UT star running back Bijan Robinson — who happened to announce last week a name-image-likeness deal with the Austin Lamborghini dealership.

The wooing of a college wide receiver

Among the UT athletes courting Addison this week, star running back Bijan Robinson — who just announced a name-image-likeness deal.

Jordan Addison prepares to catch a ball. 

Jordan Addison of Pittsburgh makes a catch against Michigan State at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Dec. 30, 2021, in Atlanta. Photo: Adam Hagy/Getty Images

News

Tampa Bay

Axios Tampa Bay

Rosie Marie Ray is living proof that you never forget how to ride a bike.

She started riding a fat tire cruiser with a basket at 10 years old. Now, at 81, she's riding a custom aerodynamic bike "set up for speed" and has competed in more than 40 triathlons.

Driving the news: The St. Petersburg triathlete is competing in the triathlon, 5K and 10K cycling time trials at next week's National Senior Games in Fort Lauderdale.

She, along with Tampa runner Alan Grofé, is among 12 — out of 12,000 participating athletes — selected to be a Humana Game Changer — what the games recognize as "individuals who exemplify healthy aging and provide encouragement, motivation and inspiration for all to age actively."

Rosie's life hasn't been an easy ride, but she's always found a way to turn her pain into a way to help others.

In 2002, she lost her husband, 54-year-old Robert Ray, to sudden cardiac arrest while he was training for a triathlon at a St. Petersburg pool that didn't have a defibrillator. 

She started a memorial fund through St. Pete Mad Dog Charities, buying a defibrillator for every pool and rec center in St. Pete by 2003. 

Her movement prompted another family to fund defibrillators for St. Pete police vehicles. Now, she's working on a fundraiser to put the machines outdoors in public parks.

Four years after losing her husband, her "significant other" Sandy Scott broke his neck during a time trial cycling competition. But with Ray's help, he went back to competing a year later and has since won 20 state cycling championships in three states and earned a national title.

They documented the story in a book, "From Broken Neck to Broken Records, a Masters Cyclist's Guide to Winning."

She's also written "SuperWomen Do IT Less … Or a Helluva Lot Better!: A Millennium Guide to Having It All: Children, a Career, and a Loving Relationship"

St. Pete cycler to be honored at National Senior Games

Rosie Marie Ray's life hasn't been an easy ride, but she's always found a way to turn her pain into a way to help others.

Rosie Ray in a wind tunnel getting fitted for her bike for the time trial event in this year's National Senior Games. Photo courtesy of Coyne PR

Axios Tampa Bay, anchored by Ben Montgomery and Selene San Felice, is here to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news and developments unfolding in their own backyard.

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