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Kobe Bryant's daughter Bianka had a very special job to do at a Los Angeles Dodgers game honoring her late father. Joined by mom Vanessa Bryant, Bianka, 7, threw the first pitch to kick off the MLB team's matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, Aug. 25.
Diamond owns the linear TV rights for 15 NBA teams, 11 NHL teams and 11 MLB teams. But it's streaming rights that matter here. Diamond has the streaming rights for all of the NBA and NHL teams under its portfolio, but for only five MLB clubs -- the Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City Royals. These are the 15 NBA teams under Diamond: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, San Antonio Spurs.
As Towns sat down in front of the Zoom screen to recap the emotional night, he was well aware of newcomer Rougned Odor leading the Yankees to an extra-inning win against the Rays earlier in the day. He wore a Yankees cap and jersey on a Timberwolves team plane in 2019, during a Yankees-Twins playoff series, to reaffirm where his baseball loyalties lie. “A-Rod is one of the best baseball players that ever lived,” Towns said. “To have his charisma and his aura is going to make a lot of people gravitate towards here. From the standpoint of understanding players and the grind you go through, it’s something a former professional athlete can know.”
In Tampa, the Lightning, MLB’s Rays, and the NFL’s Buccaneers all have different owners. Hillsborough County owns Amalie Arena and Raymond James Stadium. The City of St. Petersburg owns Tropicana Field. The University of South Florida owns its arena, the Yuengling Center. Despite that, the various entities work together as often as possible, especially when it comes to major events and business opportunities. “Team Tampa,” as the parties refer to their collective under the Tampa Sports Commission banner, believes the success of each team or event like a Super Bowl or WrestleMania, only help the city flourish as a growing sports tourism destination. “The thing from the start was we just wanted to communicate that Tampa Bay is a community that would absolutely welcome the Raptors in a very big way, and we’re ready to roll out the red carpet,” said Jason Aughey, senior vice president of sports tourism for the Tampa Bay Sports Commission. “We wanted to act as a personal concierge of sorts.”
The Barclays Center is the latest in a growing list of sports venues to phase out cash purchases despite backlash from consumers and opposition from lawmakers. Home to the Brooklyn Nets and the Islanders, Barclays has quietly stopped accepting cash at most of its 28 concession stands and eateries, according to lawmakers who have talked with the stadium about the move. The Brooklyn arena is not the first to phase out greenbacks. Earlier this year, the Tampa Bay Rays and Atlanta Falcons both announced they will no longer accept hard currency at their sporting venues in exchange for hot dogs, beer or anything else they sell.
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Fox Sports Florida’s sideline reporter for Tampa Bay Rays and Orlando Magic broadcasts, Emily Austen, went on Barstool Sports’s daily Rundown show on Thursday, and proceeded to make a number of racist and anti-Semitic jokes. The Rundown, which was broadcast live on Facebook Live instead of being recorded like normal, then disappeared from Barstool’s Facebook page.
Tampa Bay Rays part-owner Randy Frankel and ComPsych Corp. founder Richard Chaifetz are among the bidders for the National Basketball Association’s Atlanta Hawks, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. Some of the bids were for about $900 million, the people said, declining to be specific. The people requested anonymity because the bidding isn’t public. The team, which is on the market after lead owner Bruce Levenson disclosed a racially insensitive e-mail, retained Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Inner Circle Sports to run the sale.
Minnesota Timberwolves star forward Kevin Love has had himself quite the little weekend taking in the sights and sounds of Boston. He capped it off on Sunday at Fenway Park by attending the Red Sox-Rays game. During the game, it appears he ran into Rajon Rondo, a moment one lucky fan caught and shared on Twitter.
The big man likes what Brooklyn did in the offseason, particularly its re-signing of center Brook Lopez. "Brooklyn got better," he said. O'Neal also thinks the Knicks-Nets rivalry will heat up now that Mikhail Prokhorov's team is in Brooklyn. "The good thing about (New Yorkers) is that they're always excited, they're very competitive," said O'Neal, who attended the Yankees-Tampa Bay Rays game Friday night in the Bronx. "(So) I'm looking for the Nets-Knicks rivalry to amp up a little bit more this year."
(Stan) Van Gundy was at Tropicana Field Saturday afternoon, catching up with his good friend, Atlanta Braves Fredi González, as the Braves came to town for a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
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While it appeared Geiger was ejected, a tweet from a Rays beat reporter said he was “not ejected, just relocated.” It seemed several fans recognized Geiger on his way out of the section, giving him high fives despite impeding the home team.
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