For the first time in 27 years, MLB has canceled regular-season games because of a labor fight, as the longest lockout in its history rolls on.
State of play: For months, MLB and its players' union have accused each other of not wanting to strike a deal — a "deeply cynical premise" that illustrates the disconnect between them, as ESPN's Jeff Passan puts it.
A golf course is so yesterday: The thing to have if you're building a new luxury real estate development is a pickleball court, Architectural Digest reports.
Why it matters: When prominent architects and high-end developers sink their teeth into a consumer lifestyle trend, it's likely to stick around and attract big dollars.
Russian and Belarusian athletes will be banned from competing in the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, after the International Paralympic Committee reversed its original decision.
Why it matters: The IPC made clear in its statement Thursday that it faced boycott threats from some member nations after saying a day earlier that athletes from Russia and Belarus could compete at the Beijing Paralympics, but not as representatives of their countries.
Fanatics has raised $1.5 billion in a new round of funding that now values the company at $27 billion, Axios has confirmed. The investment was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Why it matters: Fanatics' valuation is the proverbial hockey stick, up more than four times in the past 18 months.
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich is looking to sell Chelsea FC, the British soccer team he's owned since 2003, amid calls for him to be sanctioned for his ties to President Vladimir Putin, he announced Wednesday.
Driving the news: The walls were closing in around Abramovich's ownership of the club this week, as Britain proposed legislation targeting oligarchs like Abramovich who obtained their wealth through ties with Putin.
NHL star Alex Ovechkin, a longtime supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has an opportunity to become as impactful off the ice as he is on it.
Driving the news: Ovechkin's comments on Friday regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine felt purposefully non-committal.
EA Sports will remove the Russian National Team and all Russian club soccer teams from its FIFA video game franchise, and remove all Russian and Belarusian hockey teams from the latest NHL video game franchise, the gaming developer announced on Wednesday.
Why it matters: The sports world's rebuke of the invasion signals a swift rebuke of the Russian government. The Ukrainian government has also called on video game companies and esports operators to bar Russian gamers and esports teams.
Oksana Masters, already primed to be one of Team USA's biggest stars at the upcoming Paralympics, will be under an even bigger spotlight given her Ukrainian roots.
Driving the news: Masters, 32, was born in Ukraine with several radiation-induced defects due to the nearby Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
The Warriors are poised to have the NBA's highest local TV ratings for the fifth time in six years, while the Nuggets are staring down the wrong kind of history.
By the numbers: Golden State averaged a 7.63 rating on NBC Sports Bay Area through mid-February, SBJ's John Ourand reports. That's more than double the second-place Cavaliers' 3.74 rating on Bally Sports Ohio.
