Sports betting had its biggest day of the year on Sunday, and will continue to be front and center as legalization spreads across the country.
Driving the news: Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, which will host this weekend's NBA All-Star festivities, recently announced plans to open an in-arena betting lounge in partnership with Fubo Sportsbook.
Pitchers and catchers were supposed to report to training camp Tuesday. Instead, they're at home as MLB's lockout reaches 76 days and counting.
Why it matters: Spring training likely won't start on time as collective bargaining agreement negotiations continue to move at a glacial pace, which means Opening Day (March 31) could be delayed.
More than 101 million Americans watched Super LVI on live TV Sunday across NBC and Telemundo, according to preliminary ratings from Nielsen. Across all of NBC's platforms, including its streaming platform Peacock, the game was watched by 112.3 million viewers, per NBC.
Why it matters: It's an improvement from last year's game, which saw ratings drop to a 10-year low.
Crypto went mainstream on Sunday, via a series of hyped Super Bowl ads that featured everything from LeBron to Larry David to a bouncing, technicolor QR code.
Be smart: This was a new customer land-grab, with crypto companies reaching to the edges of TAM. But new tech has a very mixed track record when it comes to this particular sort of spend, particularly if bankrolled by venture capitalists.
WSC Sports, a B2B sports video company, has raised $100 million in a series D funding round, led by ION Crossover Partners, to expand into new verticals and countries.
Why it matters: The Israel-based company's growth reflects the changes rapidly disrupting the sports media industry.
Russian Olympic figure skater Kamila Valieva skated in the women's figure skating short program Tuesday, her first event at the Beijing Winter Olympics since it was revealed she tested positive for a banned drug.
Driving the news: The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday ruled that Valieva was allowed to continue competing in the Winter Olympics, but no medals will be handed out if she finishes in the top three.
Eli Manning says he and his older brother Peyton are both committed to the next three seasons of ESPN's hit alternate broadcast, ManningCast, despite speculation that Peyton may be considering other career opportunities.
"I have talked to him about this," the younger brother said in an interview with Axios. In extending for another year, "that shows that we are enjoying this; we're committed to it; and hopefully, we'll continue to do it for a while."
Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic told the BBC in an interview that he doesn't want to be associated with the anti-vax movement despite choosing not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine and sacrificing his ability to compete in the Australian Open last month.
Why it matters: If he skips more Grand Slam tournaments over his vaccine stance, Djokovic risks forgoing a chance at overtaking Rafael Nadal's record of 21 titles. He's currently tied with Roger Federer at 20.
