Axios Sports: The James Brand

Plus: Americans' favorite Olympic sports. | Monday, July 19, 2021

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Babbel   Axios Sports By Kendall Baker ·Jul 19, 2021 👋 Happy Monday! No NBA Finals tonight, which is a shame, because this series is wonderful. Game 6 is tomorrow in Milwaukee. ⚾️🏈 Wild stat: Professional baseball has now produced more 24-8 final scores (two) than the NFL (one) despite that being a seemingly football-type score. Today's word count: 1,480 words (6 minutes). Let's sports...     1 big thing: 🏀 LeBron's storytelling future Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage via Getty Images   LeBron James' media venture, SpringHill Company, is exploring a possible sale in the $750 million range, per The Information (subscription) — and Nike is among the potential suitors. Between the lines: SpringHill has 120 employees and three businesses: Springhill Entertainment (production company), Uninterrupted (athlete empowerment brand) and The Robot Co. (marketing agency). SpringHill produced "Space Jam: A New Legacy," which scored a hit at the box office this weekend, and "Naomi Osaka," the new Netflix docuseries about the sensitive tennis star. It's also behind "The Shop" (HBO talk show), "The Wall" (NBC game show), and has expanded into podcasts, commerce and live events. The firm was founded by James and his friend and business partner, Maverick Carter, and is named for the Akron apartment complex where James and his mom moved when he was in sixth grade. My take: Could SpringHill be the modern iteration of the Jordan Brand? Amid the "Space Jam" hoopla — and now Nike's reported interest — it's worth exploring the parallels. In the 1980s, Nike and Michael Jordan teamed up to create shoes. In the 2020s, perhaps they're interested in teaming up with James to create stories. The big picture: Today's athletes are increasingly marketing themselves, rather than relying on the media to do it for them. If a future Nike athlete comes in with ideas — maybe they want to launch a podcast, for example — SpringHill could be an interesting platform for that. The ways in which athletes connect with fans — and move consumers — is changing. Sneakers and apparel are still effective avenues, but so are content and community.     2. 🥇 Poll: Americans love gymnastics Data: Morning Consult; Chart: Will Chase/Axios Gymnastics is the most highly-anticipated Olympic event among U.S. adults, according to a new Morning Consult survey, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes. By the numbers: 62% of respondents said they were somewhat or very interested in watching gymnastics, which is headlined by Team USA's biggest star, Simone Biles. Top five: Swimming (56%), diving (51%), track and field (49%) and beach volleyball (48%) round out the top five. New sports: Baseball and softball (44%), back in the Games for the first time since 2008, lead the way for new events, followed by surfing (35%), karate (34%), skateboarding (34%) and sport climbing (24%). More Olympics: Positive tests: Coco Gauff is out after testing positive, two South African soccer players tested positive in the Olympic Village, and now an unnamed U.S. female gymnast has, too. USA hoops: The men and women needed wins Sunday to boost morale after going a combined 1-4 in exhibitions. The women crushed Nigeria, 93-62, and the men beat Spain, 83-76. Next stop, Tokyo. Go deeper: Japan goes to war with Olympic chief over Hiroshima (Daily Beast)     3. ⛳️ The Open: Morikawa wins second major Photo: Warren Little/R&A via Getty Images   Collin Morikawa (-15) played a flawless final round at Royal St. George's to win his Open Championship debut, Jeff writes. Why it matters: The 24-year-old Morikawa also won his PGA Championship debut last year, making him the first men's golfer to ever win two majors in his first attempt. By the numbers: Morikawa's eight major starts are the fewest needed to win twice since Bobby Jones (1926), and he's the second golfer to win both The Open and PGA Championship before turning 25 (Tiger Woods). Wild stat: Since 2000, just three final rounds in a major win have featured no bogeys and a score of 66 or better. Rory McIlroy's 2012 PGA Championship — and Morikawa's two wins. The guy loves Sundays. Through 50 PGA Tour events as a pro, he's won five tournaments and earned $14 million in prize money. What they're saying: Jordan Spieth, who finished second, was impressed with Morikawa's composure in front of a packed gallery after spending much of his young career playing in front of limited or no crowds. "It's harder with big crowds. You feel it more. You know where you are. It's a bigger stage. I think that's impressive." — Spieth on Morikawa The runners-up: Spieth (-13) and Jon Rahm (-11) continued their stellar seasons, while Louis Oosthuizen (-11) was again the bridesmaid — his third straight major with a top-three finish and no trophy to show for it. Looking ahead ... After a stretch of seven majors in 346 days due to the pandemic, we'll have to wait 259 days for the next one (2022 Masters).     A message from Babbel Here's a skill you can show off this summer     Travel, friends, adventures – it's happening. What you're missing: Get ready with Babbel and start having conversations in a new language in as little as 3 weeks. Sign up today and get 55% off one of 14 languages including Spanish, French, and German.     4. 🏈 NIL update: Custom jerseys, media access Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axio   The annual SEC Media Days begins today in Hoover, Alabama, which for many people signals the official start of college football. The state of play: The upcoming season should be fascinating thanks to the brave new world of name, image and likeness. Each week, we gain a better understanding of how athletes will be paid — and for what. The latest: Custom jerseys: Michigan fans can order custom jerseys with players' names and numbers through the school's officially licensed retailer, and players get paid per jersey sold. In the past, retailers were prohibited from selling jerseys with current players' names on them. Media access: Two Texas A&M football players will each be paid $10,000 by fan site TexAgs.com for "exclusive feature interviews" ahead of SEC media days.     5. 🇺🇸 Photos across America Photo: Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images PHOENIX — In the most consequential sequence of the season, Jrue Holiday stole the ball from Devin Booker and connected with Giannis Antetokounmpo on an alley-oop to lead the Bucks to a Game 5 win. Photo: Mitchell Layton/Getty Images WASHINGTON, D.C. — Gunshots went off near Nationals Park on Saturday, causing panicked players and fans to seek shelter in dugouts and under their chairs. Terrifying scene. Photo: Bill Barrett/ISI Photos/Getty Images KANSAS CITY — The USMNT beat Canada, 1-0, thanks to Shaq Moore's goals 20 seconds into the match. The Americans are in the Gold Cup quarterfinals after winning Group B, but they didn't look great Sunday.     6. 🌎 Photos around the world Photo: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images PARIS — 22-year-old Slovenian Tadej Pogačar won the Tour de France for a second straight year, claiming the yellow jersey (winner), polka-dot jersey (top climber) and white jersey (best young rider). Seems good. Photo: Lars Baron/AFP via Getty Images SILVERSTONE, England — Lewis Hamilton (second in F1 standings) won the British Grand Prix thanks in part to a collision with Max Verstappen (first in F1 standings) that sent the latter to the hospital. Photo: Michael Kappeler/Picture Alliance via Getty Images TOKYO — Did you know Japan has three Statues of Liberty? The most popular one is on the artificial island of Odaiba, overlooking Tokyo Bay.     7. ⚡️ Lightning round Data: Our World in Data; Chart: Will Chase/Axios 😷 Déjà vu: With football season just around the corner, COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in the U.S. — particularly in football-mad states like Florida and Louisiana. Go deeper. 🏀 Of note: Seven of the eight NBA head coaching vacancies this offseason have been filled by Black coaches, a notable development for a league that has been criticized in the past for having too few. ⚾️ Hit machine: Angels 2B David Fletcher's 26-game hitting streak ended Sunday. It was MLB's longest since 2016 (Freddie Freeman: 30). ⚽️ 20 million likes: An Instagram photo of Lionel Messi holding the Copa América trophy is now the most-liked sports photo in Instagram history, breaking a record previously held by Cristiano Ronaldo. 🏈 Fun ranking: ESPN ranked all 130 FBS college football coaches as players (subscription). The top 3: Josh Heupel (Tennessee), Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern) and Jim Harbaugh (Michigan).     8. 📆 July 19, 1996: The Michael Johnson Olympics Photo: Mike Powell/Getty Images 25 years ago today, the 1996 Summer Olympics opened in Atlanta — the most recent Games to take place on American soil. These Olympics are perhaps best known for the tragic bombing at Centennial Park, or for Kerri Strug's legendary vault on a bum ankle. Yes, but: They're also synonymous with Michael Johnson, who channeled Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis before him, to put on the performance of a lifetime. The backdrop: Four years earlier, food poisoning got in the way of Johnson dominating in Barcelona. But in Atlanta, he made the most of his second chance and looked incredible doing it. What happened: Johnson — favored in the 400 and coming off a world-record 200 at trials — was vying to become the first man to win gold in both events at the same Olympics, so he and Nike went all in, debuting his golden shoes to hopefully make history in style. He won the 400-meter dash with ease, setting a new Olympic record (43.49 seconds) and winning by nearly a full second. The 200 was even better, as he shattered his month-old record with a 19.32-second masterpiece that represented the largest improvement ever on a 200-meter world record. What's next: The Summer Olympics will return to the U.S. in 2028 when Los Angeles hosts for the third time (1932, 1984). 🎥 Watch: Johnson's gold-medal runs (YouTube)     9. ⚾️ MLB trivia Photo: Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images   Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the second player in MLB history age 22 or younger to hit 30 HR within his team's first 90 games. Question: Who's the other? Hint: Won nine World Series. Answer at the bottom.     10. 🎥 Top plays: Weekend edition Courtesy: X Games   🏀 Giannis' alley-oop throwdown 🛹 12-year-old lands historic 1080 🏏 One-handed diving catch ⚽️ Reverse volley goal ⛳️ Ace at The Open ⚾️ Full extension 🥍 Double behind-the-back 🏀 Biggs called game ⚽️ What a save 🏀 Ferocious slam Watch all 10.     A message from Babbel Take live online classes with top language teachers     Start speaking a new language with Babbel Live, where each live online class is limited to six students. Here's how: Choose a topic and level and then schedule a time that works for you. Plus, you'll get full access to the Babbel App. Sign up now to get 50% off.   Talk tomorrow, Kendall "Focusing on the present" Baker Trivia answer: Joe DiMaggio 🙏 Thanks for reading. Don't forget to refer friends (axios.com/referral) and follow us on Twitter: @thekendallbaker and @jeffreytracy. Like this email style and format? Learn more about Axios HQ. It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: