Sports

NBA Owners Still Looking To Form A European Circuit

Published

6 days ago

March 30, 2025

Austin Reed

David Stern wanted a NBA Europe conference two decades ago.

The league is exploring options.

The National Basketball Association’s Board of Governors, also known as the 30 franchise owners, has apparently decided to go ahead and try to figure out how to establish an NBA circuit in Europe. About two decades ago then NBA Commissioner David Stern was exploring a way to create a European conference but Stern concluded at the time, Europe lacked early 21^st century state-of-the-art venues and that the league could not succeed. The NBA Board of Governors will work with FIBA, the international governing body of basketball, in an attempt to build a league. But the timing of an American-owned sports league in Europe is coinciding with a possible trade war between the United States and the European Union. There are people protesting in Europe about the views of the present American administration. An American-owned league might be a difficult sell in countries with the population centers needed for the circuit. Those countries include France and Germany where the NBA presumably would like to place franchises in cities like Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt or Munich.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is of the thought that the NBA could build a league of 16 teams, with 12 permanent members and four spots available to play into or be tossed out of the group each season. There is nothing set in stone at this point and Silver admitted that. “One of the things I’m fascinated in exploring,” Silver said, “is to the extent we have the ability to create a league from scratch. How would we do things different based on 79 years of learning in the NBA and based on decades of learning for FIBA?” There is an established Europe league and established well known European teams. Building a league might be easy but jumping over the hurdle of geopolitics might not be as simple.

Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191

Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com

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Kansas City Mayor Claims The City Has Money For a Royals’ Stadium

Published

11 hours ago

April 5, 2025

Austin Reed

Quinton Lucas, Kansas City, Missouri mayor

The Royals’ owner wants a new stadium soon.

Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Quinton Lucas said his city has offered more than $1 billion to the owner of the Major League Baseball Kansas City Royals franchise John Sherman to help Sherman build a new downtown stadium or renovate the business’s 52-year-old home stadium. “We do have, I think, a very robust offer that combines state and local incentives,” Lucas said. “It’s my view that gets you to a $1.2 to $1.4 billion range with no tax increase. It doesn’t calculate or include the current Jackson County sales tax.” Sherman has been talking to political leaders in Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri and politicians in Kansas about getting a stadium-village built somewhere in the Kansas City market.

Sherman has been looking for a site for his business for a year after the Jackson County, Missouri voters said no to extending a sales tax that would have funded a new baseball stadium in downtown Kansas City and a renovated stadium for the National Football League’s Kansas City Chiefs franchise. Kansas lawmakers are still mulling over a proposal that would see STAR bonds used to pay 75% of the cost of building two stadiums in Kansas. Additionally, sports gambling and lottery gaming and sales tax revenue from businesses in the stadium development districts would cover bond debt. Another source of revenue to pay off the debt would come from a liquor tax. Kansas lawmakers could use a mechanism that would allow up to 100% of sales tax revenue on alcoholic liquor sales within a stadium district to pay off bonds for the structures. Chiefs’ owner Clark Hunt and Sherman should be in a good spot in 2025 as two states, Missouri and Kansas, might be ready to throw money at them to build stadiums for their businesses. It is a place that sports owners dream about. Sherman wants a stadium deal this year.

Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191

Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com

Royals Defeat Rays 4-2 — (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

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Mahle pitches 5 shutout innings for first win since April 2023 as Rangers beat Rays 5-2

Published

24 hours ago

April 5, 2025

Austin Reed

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Tyler Mahle throws to the Tampa Bay Rays in the first inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Tyler Mahle rebounded from a rough opening start to pitch one-hit ball over five shutout innings for his first win since April 3, 2023, and Kyle Higashioka’s RBI double highlighted a four-run third inning as the Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 on Friday night.

Mahle (1-0) allowed only a two-out single to Yandy Díaz in the third inning, striking out five and walking two on 83 pitches. He lasted only 1 2/3 innings last Saturday against Boston, walking three and allowing two hits with 31 of his 61 pitches called balls.

The 30-year-old Mahle had Tommy John surgery in May 2023 while with Minnesota, signed with Texas as a free agent that December, and made three starts last August without a win before being shut down with a stiff shoulder.

Texas’ first five batters in the third all had hits off Zack Littell (0-2). The streak ended when center fielder Jonny DeLuca made a diving catch to turn Wyatt Langford’s liner into a sacrifice fly. Littell also contributed an error on a high pickoff throw to first base that advanced leadoff batter Josh Smith to second base, where he scored on Higashioka’s double.

Smith homered in the seventh.

Luke Jackson struck out two in the ninth for his fourth save.

Key moment

Higashioka’s double on a 1-0 slider over the middle of the plate lifted chalk down the left-field line.

Key stat

Rangers pitchers threw 25 consecutive scoreless innings, winning 1-0 at Cincinnati on Tuesday and Wednesday, before the Rays scored on wild pitches by Shawn Armstrong and Chris Martin in the seventh.

Up next

In Saturday’s middle game of the series, Rangers RHP Jacob deGrom (0-0, 0.00 ERA) should be capped around 85 pitches after throwing 73 in his season debut last Sunday. He’ll face Rays RHP Taj Bradley (1-0, 3.00), who’s 4-0 in his career in March and April.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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Will The Trade Wars Impact John Fisher’s Las Vegas Stadium Plan?

Published

1 day ago

April 5, 2025

Austin Reed

The planned Las Vegas Athletics’ stadium.

There is no groundbreaking ceremony planned.

Are there some nervous people in Las Vegas where a nearly two-year dance is taking place? The dance where Major League Baseball’s Athletics franchise owner John Fisher continues to look for a partner to help finance his planned baseball stadium in town. The trade war has suddenly made building a stadium much more costly and Fisher’s two companies’ stocks, The Gap and Levi’s, have been hit hard. Because of that wealth, Fisher has claimed that he and his family have the wherewithal to fund the stadium that is projected to cost about $1.75 billion. Nevada politicians have put aside $380 million to help Fisher fund the project.

The saga of the Las Vegas stadium has been going on since April 2023 when Fisher decided to leave Oakland and a stadium proposal on the Oakland waterfront behind. Nevada is giving Fisher $380 million in seed money for the construction. That is in the bank but none of that cash becomes available until Fisher spends $100 million on the planned ballpark. The ballpark’s estimated cost has gone up and figures to rise. It is now $1.75 billion. The park will seat about 33,000 people and the original plan was for Las Vegas tourists to stop by and see a game and not count on local fans as much as other franchise owners do in their home markets. Fisher could not or would not make a deal with city of Oakland officials to build a ballpark village at Howard Terminal overlooking the San Francisco Bay and just ended talks with the city and decided there was gold to be found in Las Vegas. Fisher’s team is temporarily in Sacramento and this is supposed to be a three-year run with Las Vegas getting the team when the new stadium opens in 2028. Fisher still has to put up money.

Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191

Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com