ESPN announced Thursday that it will not be sending news personnel to the Beijing Olympics due to concerns about COVID-19 and related pandemic restrictions.
What they're saying: "The safety of our employees is of utmost importance to us,” Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, event and studio production & executive editor, said in the press release.
The NCAA approved a new policy Wednesday for transgender athletes, calling for each sport's national governing body to determine its own eligibility requirements for participation.
Why it matters: The policy change comes amid a national debate on the issue of inclusion of transgender athletes in collegiate sports, which has dovetailed the introduction of Republican-sponsored anti-trans legislation across the U.S.
Autograph, an NFT collections startup, announced that it's raised $170 million in new venture capital funding co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins.
Why it matters: If the dollar amount isn't enough — after all, it seems as if every NFT-based startup is raising money right now — the company is co-founded by Tom Brady.
The Automated Ball-Strike system (ABS), the tech powering what's colloquially known as robo-umps, is inching ever closer to the big leagues.
Driving the news: The independent Atlantic League — which has partnered with MLB since 2019 — last week announced it was doing away with robo-umps after testing them for the past season-and-a-half.
Most of NBC's event announcersfor the Beijing Olympics, which open in 15 days, will make their calls from NBC Sports HQ in Stamford, Conn., rather than traveling to Beijing, because of China's strict COVID rules.
The big picture: "NBC's broadcasting teams for figure skating, Alpine skiing and snowboarding had been expected to be in Beijing, but those plans have been canceled," USA Today's Christine Brennan reports.
"Cheer," the much-buzzed-about reality series about junior college cheerleading, has been a smash hit for Netflix and turned the stars of the show into celebrities.
Yes, but: The two cheering programs at the heart of the series — Navarro College and Trinity Valley Community College, rival two-year schools near Dallas — haven't benefited nearly as much.
The overlap between Super Bowl LVI and the 2022 Winter Olympics in a few weeks will be a historic sports moment for sports fans and NBC, which has the broadcast rights for both marquee events this year.
Why it matters: If the double-header wasn't challenging enough, producing the two events simultaneously in the middle of a pandemic will definitely create "operational challenges," NBC Sports chair Pete Bevacqua said Wednesday during a media event, "but I think the advantages far outweigh disadvantages."
The four AFC teams still alive in the playoffs represent a victory for sports' universal underdog: the small-market team.
The intrigue: The Bills, Bengals, Chiefs and Titans form the smallest average media market size of any conference's final four since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
Florida State upset No. 6 Duke, 79-78 (OT), on Tuesday night, extending one of the most improbable streaks in sports.
Why it matters: The Seminoles have now won 13 straight overtime games, the longest streak in Division I history. Do you have any idea how difficult that is to do?
