FedEx on Thursday asked Washington, D.C.'s NFL team — whose stadium the company sponsors — to change its name amid growing pressure from investment firms to halt business with the team.
Why it matters: Team owner Daniel Snyder has been adamantly opposed to changing the Washington Redskins name, arguing that it "represents honor, respect and pride."
Nine more NBA players tested positive for the coronavirus after league-wide testing of 344 players from June 24 to 29, the NBA Players Association announced Thursday.
The big picture: With the NBA set to restart on July 30 in Orlando, 25 of 351 players have received positive tests since the league began testing on June 23. The league announced last week after a previous round of testing that 16 players had tested positive.
The national dialogue about racism has renewed calls for the Washington Redskins to change their name — and now protesters are targeting their sponsors, something a former high-ranking team official called "different."
Driving the news: Nike, FedEx and PepsiCo each received letters signed by 87 investors and shareholders worth a combined $620 billion asking the brands to cut ties with the Redskins unless they change their name, AdWeek reports.
No fans will be in attendance when baseball returns this month, as games are set to be played in empty ballparks across the country.
Yes, but: A handful of apartments, hotels and rooftops offer views of MLB ballparks, meaning a small contingent of lucky residents, hotel guests and traveling fans will still presumably get to enjoy live baseball in 2020.
Soccer commentary is full of racial bias, according to research conducted by Danish sports data company RunRepeat and published by the Professional Footballers' Association.
By the numbers: Researchers sampled 80 games from the 2019-20 seasons of the English Premier League, French Ligue 1, Italian Serie A and Spanish La Liga, analyzing over 2,000 statements made by commentators about 643 players.
July is typically a quiet month for American sports. The kind of quiet that leads to routine double-plays making SportsCenter's "Top 10," and saw July get just 0.5% of votes in our pre-coronavirus "best sports month" poll (poor August got 0%).
The state of play: For Hollywood, it's quite the opposite. Studies suggest we're more likely to go to movies when the weather is warm and kids are out of school, so July is one of the biggest box-office months and a prime blockbuster release window.
Given how important live sports are to the advertising industry and the linear TV model, leagues will likely continue commanding large sums for media rights during and after the pandemic.
Yes, but: The lasting damage to the global economy — from networks cutting costs, to leagues adjusting schedules — could soften the market after years of explosive growth.
