Naomi Osaka is famous for a lot of reasons around the tennis court. And the 24-year-old star is now leaving sports agency powerhouse IMG to start her own representation company, Evolve, according to Sportico.
Why it matters: Osaka, born in Japan, is just the latest sports star to leave a traditional sports agency, as more top athletes seek to take control of their growing wealth and branch off into business interests away from the playing surface.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek says the company is inching toward a reality in which all of ESPN is available direct-to-consumer (think: streamable like Netflix, no cable bundle required).
Why it matters: ESPN, like its competitors, is faced with the delicate task of building for the future (streaming) without cannibalizing the present (cable). Chapek's comments indicate how close the future is to becoming the present — and the present to becoming the past.
Brett Favre was sued this week by the Mississippi Department of Human Services for his alleged role in a yearslong welfare scheme.
Why it matters: $77 million worth of funding intended to help Mississippi's poorest residents was misspent in what an auditor has called the state's largest public corruption case in 20 years.
The NCAA D-I Board of Directors on Monday updated its name, image and likeness (NIL) guidelines for the first time since NIL launched last July, specifically targeting recruiting violations by booster-led entities called "collectives."
Why it matters: The original guidelines haven't been enforced as is, and the landscape surrounding NIL has evolved so rapidly in the past 10 months that the NCAA's latest move may be too little, too late.
Angels rookie Reid Detmers entered last night's game with a 5.32 ERA. He exited it having thrown the second no-hitter of the season in a 12-0 shellacking of the Rays.
Why it matters: At 22, he's the youngest pitcher in franchise history to throw a no-hitter and the youngest in MLB since Aníbal Sánchez in 2006 with the Marlins.
