The Big Ten announced Wednesday that it will begin its football season during the weekend of Oct. 23-24, backed by daily coronavirus testing for all on-field personnel and enhanced cardiac screenings.
Why it matters: The conference was the first Power 5 league to postpone its 2020 fall sports seasons because of coronavirus concerns.
The NFL is America's most valuable TV property, and it's even more important to networks and advertisers this year with entertainment production largely shut down due to COVID-19.
Driving the news: Last week's top six prime-time shows were all NFL, but despite outperforming all other forms of prime-time programming, Week 1 ratings for the league were down roughly 4% compared to the 2019 season, according to Nielsen ratings cited by CNBC.
The MLB playoffs are less than two weeks away, and the league announced on Tuesday that the later rounds will be played at bubble sites.
The state of play: Eight teams are set per league, seeded as follows: division winners by record (1-3), division runners-up by record (4-6) and the two best remaining teams (7-8).
Ouraon Tuesday will announce a partnership with mixed martial arts league Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the latest in its deals to get its smart rings onto the fingers of sports stars.
Why it matters: The deals provide the startup with both visibility and validation that its rings can offer meaningful data on sleep, health and other metrics.
A cycling boom has materialized as a result of the pandemic, with people around the globe taking part in the two-wheel revolution at unprecedented levels.
Why it matters: This has not only been a boon to the biking industry, but it also has the chance to permanently alter cities as bike-friendly changes to urban infrastructure got fast-tracked when the pandemic refused to relent.
Steve Cohen, a hedge fund billionaire from Long Island, has reached an agreement to buy the Mets.
Details: Cohen will own 95% of the team, with the Wilpon and Katz families retaining the other 5%. The sale values the Mets at $2.42 billion, per Sportico, making it the most ever paid for an MLB franchise, topping the $2.15 billion paid for the Dodgers and surrounding real estate in 2012.
Sports media companies are leaning further into sports betting as more states legalize the practice and the NFL and college football seasons kick into gear.
Driving the news: ESPN has entered into separate agreements with Caesars Entertainment and DraftKings, both of which include exclusive link integrations (i.e. affiliate partnerships) across ESPN's digital platforms.
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