Rixon Sports Report - Wed. May 28th, 2025

- EA Sports College '26 has cover stars

- Former NBA All-Star Kemp pleads guilty to shooting

- Aramark wins Vegas A's F&B deal

- PGA adjusts Tour Championship format

Transcript

Thank you for listening to the Rixon Sports Report, the fastest three minutes in sports business with today’s big stories for Wednesday, May 28th, 2025.

Starting in the gaming world, EA Sports has named the cover athletes for their 2026 version of College Football and wide receivers are getting all the love.  Alabama’s Ryan Williams and Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith will be gracing the cover of the second edition of the game’s return.  Last year’s version was the first in eleven years.  Williams and Smith are on the standard cover together, but deluxe editions will feature mascots and former athletes like Reggie Bush, Tim Tebow and Denard Robinson.  Associated Press with the full story.  The game is expected to be release July 10th, with pre-orders receiving access three days early on July 7th.  You can also get early access if you purchase the MVP bundle, which includes Madden as well.  Based upon how successful last year’s version was it would certainly be expected to perform well again this year.

Former NBA All-Star Shawn Kemp pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree assault from his role in a parking lot shooting in Tacoma, Washington in March of 2023.  No one was injured.  Kemp shot at two men in a Toyota 4Runner, with Kemp’s defense team claiming the men shot at Kemp first after the men broke into his truck and stole items from inside.  By pleading guilty Kemp will more-than-likely avoid a long prison sentence had he been convicted.  The standard sentence for his second-degree assault charge is three to nine months, and he’ll be sentenced in August.  More at Yahoo! Sports.

The Food and Beverage contract for the new A’s ballpark in Las Vegas has been chosen.  Aramark Sports + Entertainment is the winner, but it comes at a significant cost.  The Philadelphia-based company will spend $175 million according to sources.  This money includes an equity investment in the team.  The deal has not yet been finalized and neither party has confirmed the agreement.  Five of the F&B industry’s six largest players, including Aramark, Delaware North, Legends, Levy and Sodexo Live put their hats in the ring, and all but one was willing to consider an equity stake.  The Oak View Group the only major provider skipping the kid, as they have no baseball clients and are currently working with Allegiant Stadium.  A ton of consultants and partners involved in this deal.  This marks Aramark’s ninth MLB property. Sports Business Journal with the full breakdown.

Mark Schlabach at ESPN with the coverage of the PGA Tour’s new Tour Championship format, ditching the much maligned starting-strokes format in order to improve it’s season ending tournament.  All thirty players will start even par starting with this year’s event at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

The Player Advisory council evidently considered other ways, such as a bracket-style format with head-to-head play, but decided against it.  The changes come after fan input of the old format.  Some tweaks coming to the bonus format as well for the FedEx Cup, with the goal of , and I quote, rewarding season-long performance and recognizing the significance of the FedEx Cup end quote.  The tour also considering moving the championship after the 2027 season from East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.  While the location suits their major Atlanta-based corporate sponsors like Coca Cola and Southern Company, the sweltering heat is not popular amongst fans and players alike.

Thank you again for listening to the Rixon Sports Report, as always you can find links to these stories at RixonSports.com.  Have a great Wednesday.