Axios

New estimates show how brutal the pandemic was for MLB teams.

What happened: Sponsor revenues fell as much as 60% for most teams, while local media revenues plummeted even more, per Sportico.

The average MLB franchise is now worth $2.2 billion, according to Sportico's 2021 valuations, released on Friday.

The backdrop: "Every MLB team faced crushing losses in 2020, as combined team revenue plummeted $7 billion, or 67%," Sportico's Kurt Badenhausen and Peter J. Schwartz write.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) signed a law Thursday barring transgender women and girls from participating in school sports that align with their gender identity.

Why it matters: Republicans in at least 25 states have introduced more than 60 bills targeting trans youth since January. Arkansas is the latest state to pursue school sports as a vehicle for anti-trans legislation.

Caesars Entertainment is nearing a deal that will make the betting house the naming rights sponsor of the Superdome for the next 20 years, The Athletic reports.

Why it matters: This would be the first gaming-related naming rights deal in the NFL, which only recently loosened restrictions on teams aligning with betting companies.

The beauty of March Madness is in the diversity of its participants, evidenced by the remaining schools' total athletic department expenses.

By the numbers: The Sweet 16 runs the gamut from behemoths like FSU ($198.4 million in fiscal year 2019) to this year's Cinderella, Oral Roberts ($12.1 million).

Fitness centers are in trouble, especially in the U.S., according to a new report that surveyed nearly 12,000 gym members.

What we're hearing: "The data over the past year is clear, the situation hasn’t improved," Nick Rizzo, fitness research director at RunRepeat, says in an email.

The Tokyo Olympic torch relay began Thursday in Fukushima prefecture, Japan, one year after the world’s largest sporting event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the record: The relay underscores the Japanese government's resolve to forge ahead with the Olympics despite the pandemic. Confirmed deaths from the coronavirus in Japan remain under 9,000, but officials are still reporting more than 1,000 new cases a day — prompting health experts to warn that "a fourth wave is in sight," per the New York Times.