SBJ Morning Buzzcast
SBJ Morning Buzzcast: August 6, 2024
(upbeat music) - Good morning, it's Tuesday, August 6th, and I'm Ted Keith with your Morning Buscast. Yesterday marked the 103rd anniversary of a monumental moment in sports media, with the first commercial radio broadcast of a major league baseball game from KDKA in Pittsburgh. Broadcaster Harold Arlen sat behind home plate with a converted telephone as a microphone. From such humble beginnings has come a sports media landscape that's most recent milestone includes 5,000 hours of live Olympics coverage on Peacock. Try explaining streaming networks to Mr. Arlen. Speaking of baseball and the radio, the Minnesota Twins will need to figure out their radio home now that their contract with longtime broadcaster WCCO is ending after this season. That station has broadcast Twins games for 53 of the franchise's 64 years of existence since it moved to Minnesota from Washington before the 1961 season. At least two other stations are in the mix, a sure sign that the Twins will land at a familiar place for their fans. Elsewhere on the right's front, Ohio State Athletic Director Ross Bjork said he is open to putting, quote, "everything on the table," citing opportunities in and around Ohio Stadium, adjacencies to the field and even a jersey patch. Naming rights to the 102,000 seat stadium, which appropriately turns 102 years old this fall, could also be an option. Striking such a deal with an iconic venue would mark a monumental step forward, not just for Ohio State, but for college sports in general. As schools look to drive revenue, more athletic departments will be taking an approach similar to Bjork's as college sports continues its push into a new world order. Ohio Stadium was the site of the final stop on Manchester City's four game US tour. The reigning four time Premier League champions played their last match of their FC series on Sunday in Columbus against Chelsea. And they've been a major draw at stops in Columbus Orlando, Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and Chapel Hill. That's where I was able to check out the club and the atmosphere surrounding them a couple of weeks ago. It was a far smaller crowd at Keenan Stadium on that July 23rd evening compared to the FC series debut last year between Chelsea and Rexxham, but this time the crowd had very few divided loyalties. Unlike when Chelsea and Rexxham squared off, the match between Manchester City and Celtic was clearly one sided among the fans. Of the 30,000 in attendance, I would guess at least 25,000 were Man City supporters whose light blue knits and scarves fit right in at the Carolina blue drenched home of the North Carolina Tar Heels. It was another sign that Manchester City has done an exceptional job building its brand. According to the athletic, its US live match audience grew by 10% last year and its official club memberships are up 303% just in the past three seasons. Other clubs can't expect to see the same kind of growth at a star studded club such as Man City with big names like Erlang Holland can draw, but nevertheless, it's a sign that the FC series seems to be working as soccer continues to draw in more and more US supporters. Of course, the international sports scene is being dominated for these few weeks by the Olympics. In just a few hours, viewers on NBC will be able to watch Team USA men's basketball in its first knockout stage game against Brazil. During every summer Olympics, the basketball stars at Command so much attention all year see much of the spotlight to their brethren in less covered sports, from swimming to gymnastics to volleyball to dressage. But with the knockout stage beginning today, expect hoops to be a bigger part of the Olympic discussion. If you haven't heard yet, this might be the most competitive final eight the Olympics has ever produced with not just the star studded US team still alive, but a Serbian squad featuring three-time NBA MVP Nikola Yokic, France with NBA Ricky the Year Viktor Wienbanyama, and Greece with two-time MVP, Janis Antetikumpo. With Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles having finished their star turns in Paris, the spotlight will have plenty of room for some familiar names to basketball fans like LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant. Speaking of Biles, she concluded a spectacular return to Olympic competition with a silver medal in the floor exercise, giving her four medals in Paris and 11 overall in her Olympic career. I accomplished way more than I thought I would, she said. A couple years ago, I didn't think I'd be back here. Biles, now 27, had withdrawn from the games in Tokyo three years ago over mental health concerns, but her performance in Paris and her mindset seems to have improved to the point that she didn't even close the door in competing in Los Angeles in four years when she'll be 31 years old. Finally, SBJ is proud of the bold-faced names we've been able to get on our podcast over the years, but Rachel Axton may have landed the most famous and furry face yet, Elmo. Our Olympics reporter spent some time chatting up Sesame Street's cutest muppet on the sports media podcast. Elmo talked about going to the swimming pool, his special worm friend, and how he's helping NBC with its coverage. He's making great strides as a journalist, but for the best coverage from Paris, be sure to check out Rachel's SBJ in Paris blog. And you can see her full segment with Elmo in video form in today's Morning Buzz and get your full slate of SBJ podcast offerings at sportsbusinessjournal.com. I'm Ted Keith and this has been your Morning Buzzcast. I'll talk to you again tomorrow. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)