Sports team owners in the four largest North American leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) have donated over $46 million in federal elections since 2015, according to research conducted by ESPN and FiveThirtyEight.
By the numbers: Over the past three elections, $35.7 million of that money (77.4%) has gone to Republican campaigns and super PACs, compared to $10.4 million (22.6%) to Democrats.
COVID-19 has taken a toll road racing, with the number of finishers in timed races dropping nearly 95% year-over-year between mid-March and mid-October, per the Wall Street Journal.
The state of play: Of the six designated World Marathon Majors scheduled for 2020, four (Boston, NYC, Chicago, Berlin) were canceled and two (Tokyo and London) were radically scaled back.
Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner will be investigated after he left isolation to celebrate with the team on the field, the MLB said in a statement on Wednesday. Turner’s case is the first positive of the playoffs, which closed with the Dodgers’ 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday.
Why it matters: This is the Dodgers’ first World Series title since 1988, and it now threatens to be overshadowed by the possibility of an outbreak. Outbreaks sidelined at least two teams before the MLB announced that the playoffs would adhere to the "bubble" concept adopted by other leagues.
The Boston Marathon, which is typically held in April, "will be postponed until at least the fall of 2021," because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Boston Athletic Association announced Wednesday.
The state of play: The BAA said it delayed the 125th annual event, which was scheduled for April 19, 2021, because road races are banned until Boston hits Phase 4 of its reopening plan. The city is currently in Phase 3 of 4.
Athletes Unlimited, a network of women's sports leagues that uses fantasy-style scoring, successfully completed its first season of softball last month.
Why it matters: While most leagues scrambled to create one-off bubble tournaments, Athletes Unlimited didn't have to change too much about its model, which was already designed for short, single-site seasons.
Golf giant Callaway acquired the rest of sports entertainment company Topgolf in an all-stock deal Tuesday, with the latter valued at ~$2 billion.
The backdrop: Topgolf was founded in 2000, and just six years later Callaway made its first investment, which included an exclusivity deal across all locations. In 2018, Callaway increased its stake to 14%; now it owns the entire company.
Circa, the first ground-up resort built in downtown Las Vegas since 1980, opens today with what's being billed as the "world's largest sportsbook."
The book: The three-story, 1,000 seat auditorium faces the world's largest TV screen, and the top floor is filled with media studios, where sports betting networks like VSiN will broadcast live shows.
The Los Angeles Dodgers won their seventh World Series in franchise history with a 3-1Game 6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday. Shortstop Corey Seager was named the series MVP.
The big picture: It's the Dodgers' first championship since 1988, though they've won the NL West division in eight straight seasons and reached the World Series three times in the last four years.
