OKLAHOMA CITY — As if seeing the former Supersonics in the NBA Finals wasn’t discouraging enough, the city of Seattle heard NBA Commissioner Adam Silver say Thursday night that expansion is not “automatic” — a process that will either lurch forward or backward at the next Board of Governors meeting this July in Las Vegas.

At his annual Finals press conference before Game 1 in Oklahoma City — where the Sonics became the Thunder 17 years ago — Silver said he has received “a lot of unsolicited calls” from interested cities (believed to be Seattle, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Mexico City and more) and has told them “we’re just not engaging in that process right now.” That is consistent with Silver’s repeated claims that expansion is far from imminent.

“I’d say the current sense is we should be exploring it,” Silver said. “I don’t think it’s automatic because it depends on your perspective on the future of the league. Because as I’ve said before, expansion in a way is selling equity in the league. And if you believe in the league, you don’t necessarily want to add partners.”

The issues for the commissioner and the owners are three-fold. First, on the heels of the league’s 11-year, $77B national media rights deal, the BOG may not want to split the revenue with two new ownership groups unless the expansion fees are exorbitant.

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The Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, which oversees the Caesars Superdome and Smoothie King Center on behalf of the state, confirmed Thursday that it has notified Sodexo Live that its contract to handle food and beverage at the two venues “is not being renewed.” The company will be replaced by Legends, which manages the two facilities for the LSED. It is “not clear what exactly precipitated the board’s move,” but sources said that it has “been months in the making and was hastened by the 2024 acquisition of ASM Global,” the longtime management company of the dome and arena, by Legends, which has its own food and beverage arm. The LSED has not yet officially approved the new contract with Legends but is “expected to do so at a future meeting.” The board next meets June 26 (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 6/5).

SiriusXM has “parted ways” with Michelle Beadle and Cody Decker, who hosted a weekday show from 1-3pm ET on Mad Dog Sports Radio, just days after the pair found out their show was being replaced by one of ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith’s new shows with the network. Beadle also “confirmed the news” via her X account with a post “thanking listeners.” The split is “effective immediately” and “follows comments from Beadle that were critical of” Smith — saying she “didn’t respect Smith or his work.” One of Smith’s new SiriusXM shows is set to take over Beadle and Decker’s time slot in September. SiriusXM “plans to use different hosts in the time slot until then” (THE ATHLETIC, 6/5).

The NWSL will allow “intraleague loans for all teams” beginning in 2026, while the Boston and Denver expansion franchises will have “access to significantly more money to build their initial rosters.” The clubs can access up to $1.065M in allocation money beginning on July 1. The league will “fund half of that automatically;” the rest will be “funded out of pocket by each team at their discretion.” Intraleague loans will allow all 16 teams to loan players to other NWSL teams. All players being loaned “must consent to the move,” similar to how the new CBA states players must consent to all trades (ESPN.com, 6/5).

The loans will “not impact a player’s annual salary, with part of the negotiation process determining how much of their wages will be covered by the club acquiring the player.” Teams loaning in a player “must, at a minimum, meet the league’s minimum salary threshold on a prorated basis.” Teams can only “loan in or loan out a maximum of three players per partner club, and can have no more than 12 players (combined, in and out) on loan deals at any given time” (THE ATHLETIC, 6/5).

Texas Tech bounced back in Game 2 of the Women’s College World Series against Texas Thursday night, notching a 4-3 victory. Texas Tech’s win moved the series to 1-1 and forced a winner-take-all Game 3 tonight for the national championship. With both the Red Raiders and Longhorns looking for their first national championship, history “will be made on Friday night one way or another” (SI, 6/5). One day after gifting Texas Tech softball with varsity letter jackets and shoes for making it to the WCWS for the first time in program history, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes was in attendance for Game 2 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City. He is also “reported to have played a part in Texas Tech’s recruitment” of P NiJaree Canady during last offseason (USA TODAY, 6/5).

Friday’s Game 3 will be the first Game 3 in the WCWS since 2021 when Oklahoma beat Florida State (THE ATHLETIC, 6/5). Game 1 of the series drew 2.1 million viewers, up 11% from 2024 WCWS Finals Game 1, which previously held the record of most-watched. Through the WCWS thus far, games are up 21% YoY (ESPN).

The St. Petersburg City Council on Thursday unanimously approved about $5.3M more “for repairs and expenses” to Tropicana Field. That marks a total of $38.5M approved to date, with the total cost of the project, “some of which will be covered by insurance,” still “on track to come in around” $56M. The Rays are “under contract to play at the Trop through the end of 2028, a year later than expected” after Hurricane Milton ripped the roof off last year, and under that agreement, St. Petersburg is “obligated to repair the Trop.” The first $1.67M approved is “for more waterproofing and remediation through Dec. 31, when the roof is expected to be completed.” The money will also “pay for about 5,000 ceiling tiles to separate air conditioned and non-air conditioned spaces, plus cleaning, sealing and covering the lower level seats.” Another $2.35M will go toward “repairing and replacing storm damaged metal wall panels inside and outside the stadium.” The council also “approved $284,000 for architectural and engineering plans for non-roof repairs, including mechanical, plumbing and structural engineering for rooms, playing fields and other repairs.” The city also is “picking up the tab for security costs at the Trop while it is under repair” (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 6/5).

The Dallas Park and Recreation Board on Thursday approved “usage of land in Far West Oak Cliff for a new Dallas Wings practice facility.” Board members “specifically authorized using a portion of Joey Georgusis Park” for the team’s facility, which will cost $55M. While some board members “had questions about other options considered for the facility and why this location was chosen, support for the item was generally widespread.” The park board’s action comes a week after the Dallas City Council “approved a proposal 12-3 to design the facility at the park that would open before next season.” The Wings’ offices would also be “based in that area of southwest Dallas.” The approval comes amid delays to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center redevelopment that “pushed back the Wings’ move-in date.” An April 2024 agreement with the Wings “binds the city to its duty to provide the facility on time,” and the Dallas City Council will “vote June 11 to adjust its contract with the Wings” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 6/5).

The Padres-affiliated nonprofit Ballpark District Community Partnership on July 1 will “take over the day-to-day upkeep of 22 downtown blocks surrounding Petco Park.” The group will be “responsible for the daily security, cleanliness and enhancement” of the area around the ballpark. The BDCP is “essentially replacing the Downtown Partnership’s Clean & Safe program for the ballpark blocks,” with a focus on the “daily cleaning and maintenance of the sidewalks and medians in the assessed area.” The formation of the BDCP suggests that the Padres and partner organizations are “dissatisfied with the status quo” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 6/5).

The PGA Tour at this week’s RBC Canadian Open is debuting a new “smart tracer” on its broadcasts. The shot tracer shows up in the form of an “on-screen graphic that changes in color while shots are in the air based upon the ball’s most likely outcome.” This will add to the tour’s “drone tracer” technology, which tracks shots in the air utilizing a moving drone camera. The smart tracer is an “enhancement to the preexisting tech rather than a replacement for it,” giving viewers a “deeper glimpse into the outcome of shots as they are unfolding in real-time.” The Tour’s broadcast partners — CBS, NBC and Golf Channel — have “experimented increasingly with probability-based visual graphics in recent years, leaning into the tour’s AWS partnership and the expansion of artificial intelligence to chart probabilities down to the hundred-millisecond” (GOLF, 6/5).

PitchCom, the sports communication device popularized by MLB, has expanded into professional football and is debuting this weekend with the start of the CFL regular season.

For this season, the contact sports version of the product, PitchCom Impact, will be utilized only by the defense. It is the first time in pro football that prerecorded digital communication will be made available to multiple players. The offensive coach-to-quarterback communication already in place in the CFL will remain unchanged.

PitchCom VP of Customer Relations Jon Updike said seven of the nine CFL teams are committed to using the new technology this year. He explained that the devices can be programmed so each defensive player hears either the entire play call or just what the player’s individual responsibility will be. Middle linebackers could even wear a unit and call audibles with it.

“Each team could use it their own way,” Updike said. “Their imagination is their limitation with it.”

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The Savannah Bananas went from dreaming of playing in MLB stadiums to filling football stadiums. With Banana Ball in full swing, team owner Jesse Cole shares why the football stadium tour is so important for the growth of the organization.

Integrity 9 is looking for a Talent Revenue & Marketing Exec. The hybrid-based position is responsible for securing new talent and influencer relationships for the agency, an aggressive outbound sales effort, developing strategy and processes to ensure our sales team is contributing meaningfully, as well as managing a complex selling process (Integrity 9).

MLS is looking for a Dir/Broadcast Graphic Design. The Stamford-based position is responsible for managing MLS Productions broadcast graphics projects with IMG, AE Live and Apple while also offering art direction for images and motion graphics airing in MLS Productions shows (MLS).

The Blackhawks are looking for a Manager/Brand PR & Corporate Communications. The Chicago-based position is responsible for developing and executing comprehensive, communication plans that drive brand awareness, reputation and growth with specific tactics and materials that target fans, customers, media, third-party organizations and employees (Blackhawks).

PWHL is looking for a Communications Manager. The West Coast-based position is responsible for developing and implementing communication strategies, decisions, policies, and initiatives both internally and externally for the PWHL with limited supervision (PWHL).

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“Founded in 1972, this company got its name from a term meaning ‘hit the target’ in the board game Go.”