Rixon Sports Report - Wed. May 14th, 2025

Pete Rose and others reinstated - ESPN

Mavs will take Cooper Flagg with first overall pick - ESPN

Trail Blazers are on the market - Sportico

ESPN reveals "Flagship" Product - Front Office Sports

Joe Pompliano on why you should be bullish on ESPN - Huddle Up

House Case Plaintiff's co-lead counsel puts approval odds at 95% - SportsWise

Transcript

Good morning, this is Joe Rixon with the Rixon Sports Report, the fastest three minutes in sports business with today’s top stories for Wednesday, May 14th, 2025.  

Pete Rose has been reinstated by Major League Baseball and is now technically eligible for the Hall of Fame.  Rose among several players, including “Shoeless” Joe Jackson to be reinstated today.  The rationale?  A dead person can’t threaten the integrity of the game.   Rose, the all-time hits leader, was banned in 1989 after an investigation revealed he had bet on games while managing for the Cincinnati Reds and passed away in September at the Age of 83.  Sixteen players in all being reinstated, including many of Jackson’s White Sox teammates from the infamous Black sox scandal.  More at ESPN.com.

ESPN also reporting that the Mavericks will not be trading their #1 overall pick and will take Cooper Flagg on draft night, June 25th, in Brooklyn.   The Mavericks do not control a first round pick from 2027-2030 and will more than likely immediately improve a team in disarray since it traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers.

Yesterday we touched on the Mohegan Tribe’s retainment of Allen & Company to facilitate their sale of the Connecticut Sun, and today they’ve been called upon by the Trail Blazers to do the same.  The team is owned by the estate of now deceased owner Paul Allen, who asked that his teams be traded upon his death.  The estate also has ownership of the Seattle Seahawks, however, they do not seem to be included in this deal.  Sportico with the story.  The Blazers are currently valued at $3.6 billion.  In 2023 the team sold the Moda Center, their venue, to the city of Portland for $1 and the land its on for $7 million, creating one of the nation’s most unique private-public partnerships.  

Front Office Sports with a comprehensive breakdown of ESPN’s new streaming app.  The project, originally with the working title of “Flagship”, will simply go by ESPN with a $29.99 price point unbundled, and $35.99 when included with Hulu and Disney Plus and is expected to be ready by 2025.  Joe Pompliano from Huddle Up with a great piece on his substack about why the claims of ESPN’s demise were greatly exaggerated and why you should be bullish on the future of the network and platform.

Gabe Feldman, host of the Sports Wise podcast, interviewed Steve Berman, co-lead counsel in the House case.  On the new agreement between the sides on grandfathering in current student athletes for roster limits, Berman says they were trying to go overboard to appease Judge Wilken.  He puts the odds of this latest version of the deal getting approved at 95%.  

Thanks again for listen to the Rixon Sports Report, as always you can find links to these stories at RixonSports.com.  have a great Wednesday!