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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.

“With the pandemic continuing to be a global threat, and with the COVID-related on-site restrictions in place for the Olympics that would make coverage very challenging, we felt that keeping our people home was the best decision for us.”

State of play: The network will instead "focus on covering the Games remotely," per the press release.

ESPN had originally planned to send four reporters to China, who will now join the network's remote coverage efforts.

The big picture:  An NBC Sports spokesperson confirmed to Axios on Wednesday that announcers for the Beijing Games will be calling events from NBC's Stamford, Connecticut, facility "due to COVID concerns."

ESPN won't send news personnel to Beijing Olympics due to COVID

"The safety of our employees is of utmost importance to us."

Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

2022 Winter Olympics

Coronavirus

Beijing Winter Olympics

Shifts in technology and media are changing the way we play, watch and understand sports. Business models are adapting and social change is forcing those in charge of teams and leagues to reconsider decades-old practices.

The U.S. faces a range of health care flashpoints — unaffordable drugs, opioids, vaping — as we debate whether to adopt universal care. For now, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, but Republicans want to issue it a final death blow.

Health

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.

The NCAA said the rules are in line with recent policy changes from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic committees, and International Olympic Committees. The previous policy was uniform across all sports and contingent on hormone therapy requirements.

What they're saying: "We are steadfast in our support of transgender student-athletes and the fostering of fairness across college sports," said John DeGioia, chair of the Board of Governors and president at Georgetown University, in a news release.

"It is important that NCAA member schools, conferences and college athletes compete in an inclusive, fair, safe and respectful environment and can move forward with a clear understanding of the new policy," he added.

"Approximately 80% of U.S. Olympians are either current or former college athletes," said NCAA president Mark Emmert. "This policy alignment provides consistency and further strengthens the relationship between college sports and the U.S. Olympics."

The big picture: The new sport-by-sport policy will be effective immediately, starting with the 2022 winter championships.

If a sport has no national governing body policy on transgender participation, then the sport's international federation policy will be followed, the press release states.

Worth noting: The University of Pennsylvania released a statement Thursday acknowledging the policy change and voicing support for Lia Thomas, a 22-year-old transgender swimmer whose record-breaking campaign became a focus of the national debate.

“Penn Athletics is aware of the NCAA’s new transgender participation policy. In support of our student-athlete, Lia Thomas, we will work with the NCAA regarding her participation under the newly adopted standards for the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship," the statement read.

NCAA calls on each sport to set eligibility rules for trans athletes

"We are steadfast in our support of transgender student-athletes and the fostering of fairness."

Photo: Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Transgender

NCAA

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.

Yes, that Tom Brady. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback. Former New England Patriots quarterback. Seven-time Super Bowl champion. Also, a crypto enthusiast who last year took a stake in FTX.

Autograph's other co-founders are father-and-son duo (and former MySpace owner) Richard Rosenblatt and CEO Dillon Rosenblatt.

Between the lines: Celebrities and the cryptocurrency world have a messy relationship. Earlier this month, Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather were sued over allegedly promoting a token and artificially boosting its price.

It doesn't help that there's a sense that celebrities are diving into a world that they don't fully understand when it comes to crypto. As the SEC said during the first crypto surge of 2017, "Celebrities who endorse an investment often do not have sufficient expertise to ensure that the investment is appropriate."

Yes, but: If investors pitched crypto's potential to upend banks in the industry's last surge, much of today's bull run has been about the consumer, with whom celebrities have outsized cultural equity.

At $13.3 billion, NFT marketplace OpenSea is now considered the second most valuable crypto startup in the world.

Dapper Labs, the startup behind NFT marketplace NBA Topshot, raised $250 million last fall at a $7.6 billion valuation.

Meanwhile, many celeb-backed NFTs have traded at lower prices in secondary markets. Still, some celebrities have held successful NFT auctions: A number of Paris Hilton drops for example resold for a higher valuation.

Bottom line: Investors are now looking to make the celebrity successes more common — and betting crypto could go mainstream with the help of the right star power.

Lucinda and Ryan Lawler co-author our new Axios Pro newsletter on fintech deals. Subscribe at AxiosPro.com.

Tom Brady's NFT startup has raised $170 million

Celebrities and the cryptocurrency world have a messy relationship.

Illustration of Tom Brady in football uniform catching a stack of cash.

Cryptocurrencies

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

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.

Yes, but: That wasn't because the experiment failed; on the contrary, the league explained that its own assessment of ABS was complete and that an MLB affiliate league would continue testing it.

Simple sleuthing all but confirms that ABS is coming to Triple-A in 2022: this job posting is recruiting ABS techs in 11 Triple-A markets.

How it works: Though the informal term calls to mind a dystopian future ruled by robot overlords, ABS still requires a human umpire to stand behind the plate all game.

Technology from Danish golf startup TrackMan determines if each pitch is a ball or strike. ABS then feeds its call to the ump via an earpiece, and he relays the call to the players.

The ump still makes calls like check swings, interference and plays at the plate. ABS simply eliminates guesswork from the strike zone.

An umpire wears an earpiece to hear balls and strikes called.

An umpire wears an earpiece to hear balls and strikes called. Photo: John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images 

Between the lines: At any level — be it the Atlantic League, Triple-A or the (likely) eventual adoption in MLB — players face a steep learning curve to undo the decades of nuance born of human error.

Light-hitting catchers who stay in the league thanks to elite pitch framing could be out of a job when their lightning-quick glove snaps fail to fool the computer.

Pitchers who make a living stealing strikes just off the edge of the plate may start reaching full counts more regularly when those borderline pitches are called for the balls that they are.

The big picture: Robo-umps were one of many MLB-driven experiments last season, with the others mostly aimed at either speeding up games or increasing action. Three notable examples, and how they fared:

Increased mound distance: The Atlantic League moved the mound back by a foot to help hitters, but results were inconclusive (and reviews were not good). The league scrapped this last week.

15-second pitch clock: Nine-inning MLB games lasted longer than ever last season. But in Low-A West, where a 15-second pitch clock was used, games decreased by 20 minutes.

Limited pickoffs: Across Low-A, pitchers could attempt only two pickoffs per at-bat. Runners absolutely feasted to the tune of 30% more stolen-base attempts and a 13% increase in success rate.

Go deeper: Yankees name Rachel Balkovec as 1st woman to manage minor league team

Robot umpires inch closer to calling MLB games

Simple sleuthing all but confirms that ABS is coming to Triple-A in 2022.

Illustration of a robot wearing an umpire's outfit.

Baseball

Automation and AI

NFL, NBA, MLB & NHL

Axios Sports

Most of NBC's event announcers for 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. 

NBC took a similar approach in Tokyo, but had on-site broadcasters for the most popular sports, including swimming and gymnastics.

Looking ahead: NBC has designated Feb. 13 as "Super Gold Sunday," as it will broadcast the Olympics and Super Bowl on the same day.

Prime-time host Mike Tirico will anchor from Beijing from Feb. 3-10, then fly to L.A. to host the next three days and the Super Bowl.

With Beijing 13 hours ahead of Connecticut, snowboarding analyst Todd Richards told USA Today he'll be on a "vampire schedule."

Go deeper: NBC readies "once in a lifetime" sports double header

NBC won't send most announcers to Beijing Olympics due to COVID

Many will make their calls from Connecticut.

Illustration of an old-fashioned television with colored bars on it and the Olympic logo

"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. 

Navarro, the subject of Season 1, signed a deal with the show's production company in 2018 that pays the school $30,000 per season, Sportico reports (subscription).

TVCC, which starred alongside Navarro in the recently-released Season 2, received the same $30,000 location fee.

What they're saying: "Everybody thinks we made a million dollars off of the show, and as you can see from the contract, we did not," Stacie Sipes, Navarro's director of marketing and public information, told Sportico.

Report: "Cheer" schools in Netflix docuseries paid just $30k

"Everybody thinks we made a million dollars off of the show, and as you can see from the contract, we did not."

Netflix

Tampa Bay

Axios Tampa Bay

In the aftermath of Rays bullpen catcher Jean Ramirez's death by suicide, people are wondering if the Rays — and MLB as a whole — may have a mental health problem.

What's happening: The 28-year-old's body was found last Monday near his home in Fort Worth, Texas, and ruled a suicide a few days later. 

In a statement released through the Rays, Ramirez's family said they want to honor his life by helping other families.

"The loss of our son has been the most excruciating experience we have lived. Unfortunately, we sometimes don't see the signs. Struggling in silence is not OK." 

Flashback: Rays relief pitchers Ryan Sherriff and Ryan Thompson both took breaks last season for their mental health, citing difficulties stemming from pandemic shutdowns.

Sherriff told Sports Illustrated: "As soon as I toed the rubber, I felt nothing. No emotions. No adrenaline. Nothing. I thought, Wow, what am I doing here if I don't feel a damn thing? We're winning 2–0. It's the seventh inning. That's when I knew: 'I need to leave.' "

Thompson told the Tampa Bay Times that just days after pitching in the World Series, he had a breakdown thinking about the sacrifices of his career. "I had all these revelations. … I had basically given up everything I could give up for this baseball dream."

Zoom out: It's not just the Rays. Several other MLB players also took leaves of absence last year for similar reasons. 

Within days of Sherriff's break, Angels pitcher Ty Buttrey retired from baseball and both Phillies outfielder Adam Hasely and reliever Chris Devenski took breaks from their teams. 

Context: The problem seems to be starting in the minor leagues, where players have historically faced poverty-level pay and poor housing while fighting for their chance to make the majors, leading to a "mental health crisis," per ESPN.

White Sox prospect Jake Burger recently spoke to The Athletic about how he wants to change the game for mental health in baseball by opening up about years of anxiety and depression.

What to watch: Beyond the announcement of Ramirez's death, not much is being said about mental health in the sport by MLB or major sports media outlets that cover it .

Representatives for the Rays and the MLB player's union didn't immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

In the midst of all of this, MLB is still in labor negotiations after locking out players in December. It's looking like spring training could be postponed. 

Suicide raises questions about MLB mental health

"Unfortunately, we sometimes don't see the signs. Struggling in silence is not ok."

Rays' bullpen catcher Jean Ramirez in a black and white headshot. 

Major League Baseball (MLB)

Axios Tampa Bay, anchored by Ben Montgomery and Selene San Felice, is here to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news and developments unfolding in their own backyard.

Axios Media Trends

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."

"Feb. 13 will be the most complicated event that any company has ever been involved with in terms of sports broadcasting," said veteran sports host Mike Tirico, who will anchor the Olympic primetime show in China from Feb. 3 to Feb. 10 before flying to Los Angeles to host the Super Bowl on Feb. 13. 

Driving the news: An NBC Sports spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that announcers for the Beijing Games, including figure skating, will be calling events from NBC's Stamford, Connecticut. facility "due to COVID concerns."

"We'll still have a large presence on the ground in Beijing and our coverage of everything will be first rate as usual, but our plans are evolving by the day as they are for most media companies covering the Olympics.”

Roughly 1,000 people from NBC will be in Beijing for the event, which runs from Feb. 4-20 — compared to the 1,500 that attended Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo last year, per Bevacqua. 

Other familiar faces will be on the ground aside from Tirico. Craig Melvin will serve as a prime-time host. Lindsay Vaughn will be a prime-time correspondent. 

Be smart: Executives touted a new coverage plan ahead of Beijing based on learnings from Tokyo to streamline events so they're easy to find and follow on live TV and streaming.

"We've really focused on making the thousands of hours we produce more intuitive, findable," said Molly Solomon, executive producer and president of NBC Olympics Production. 

This year, every Olympic sport and event will be available via streaming on Peacock's premium tier, eliminating confusion about what's digitally available.  

Be smart: The overlapping events will create some unique business opportunities for NBC. The company has leveraged the proximity of the events to do cross-marketing and ad sales. 

Super Bowl ads are "virtually sold out," said Dan Lovinger, ad sales EVP at NBC Sports Group. At roughly $6 million for a 30-second ad, rates are about 20% higher than ad rates were for NBC's last Super Bowl in 2018.

The big picture: Despite the business opportunities, the pandemic and geopolitical tensions with China will create some challenges for NBC.

"We understand that there's some difficult issues regarding the host nation, so our coverage will provide perspectives on China's place in the world, and the geopolitical context in which these games are being held, but the athletes do remain the focus of our coverage," Soloman said.

NBC will bring two China analysts, journalist Andy Brown and Chinese cultural historian Jing Tsu, to join anchors on the ground in prime time. 

Bottom line:  "It's one of the great days in sports. It's just never happened before," said Fred Gaudelli, executive producer of NBC's "Sunday Night Football." NBC is marketing the double-header as a "once-in-a-lifetime" event.

NBC readies "once-in-a-lifetime" sports double header

Screening 2 events simultaneously amid pandemic will create "operational challenges" but advantages worth it, NBC says.

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.

Buffalo (32nd-biggest media market of 32 NFL teams, per Nielsen)

Of note: Their franchise valuations are similarly low: Bengals (32nd), Bills (30th), Titans (28th), Chiefs (20th).

The big picture: The AFC is the "small-market conference," with just four of the top 17 NFL teams by media market size: Jets (t-1st), Chargers (t-3rd), Texans (10th) and Patriots (12th). The other 13 are all NFC teams, including the entire NFC East and NFC West.

What to watch: If the Buccaneers (15th) and Packers* (28th) beat the Rams (t-3rd) and 49ers (8th), respectively, they'll join the AFC in forming an all-small-market final four.

Go deeper: The NFL has an extraordinary grip on America’s media diet

*Milwaukee is considered the Packers' home market for ratings purposes. Green Bay would rank last behind Buffalo. 

Small-market NFL teams dominate AFC playoffs

Bills, Bengals, Chiefs and Titans form the smallest average media market size of any conference's final four since 1970 merger.

National Football League (NFL)

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?

When overtime arrives, players are tired and often in foul trouble. Defenses have made adjustments, coaches are running low on plays; at that point, it's all about digging deep and staying composed.

Coach Leonard Hamilton's calm, cool and collected presence appears to be infectious, and it has resulted in an improbable achievement worth celebrating.

This was Hamilton's 55th win against an AP Top 25 team when unranked, passing Bob Knight for the most ever.

The bottom line: "Never get involved in a land war in Asia, and never get involved in an overtime game against Leonard Hamilton," tweeted CBS Sports' Matt Norlander.

Florida State sets overtime win streak record with upset victory over Duke

The Seminoles have now won 13 straight overtime games, the longest streak in Division I history.

Basketball

Picture of the word "Seminoles" behind a basketball net

Denver

Axios Denver

It's not unusual for Colorado to land on travel destination lists. 

Driving the news: A new ranking of the "best mountain towns" published by Boulder-based Outside magazine is no different.

Why it matters: Here in Colorado, we take mountain town rankings seriously — because if half the list is not in our state, something's not right.

State of play: Among Outside's top 24 places, Colorado appears just twice.

Telluride ranks third — behind Jackson, Wyoming, and top-spot Park City, Utah — for being "not just some manufactured ski-resort village but an actual community."

Durango lands at 19th for its "four seasons of adventure," including rafting, hiking, skiing and mountain biking.

The rub: We can rattle off a dozen of our favorite Colorado places that got snubbed in favor of mediocre other picks.

John's favorite: Crested Butte. It's the launch pad for everything outdoors — great skiing, off-roading, biking, hiking and paddle boarding.

Alayna's favorite: Idaho Springs. It's less than an hour from Denver and still boasts the quaint charm and stunning scenery of Colorado's most remote destinations. 

This story first appeared in the Axios Denver newsletter, designed to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news unfolding in their own backyard. Subscribe here.

Colorado mountain towns, ranked by Outside magazine

In Colorado, we take our mountain tows seriously.

A view from the gondola in Telluride. Photo: Santi Visalli/Getty Images

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Axios Denver, anchored by John Frank and Alayna Alvarez, is here to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news and developments unfolding in their own backyard.

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