| | | | | | | | | | | Axios Sports | | By Kendall Baker · Aug 02, 2022 | | 👋 Good morning! The college football season kicks off in 25 days. 🏈 Developing story: Deshaun Watson has been suspended for six games. The NFL has until Thursday to appeal the decision. We'll dive in tomorrow. Today's word count: 1,628 words (6 minutes). Let's sports... | | | | | | 1 big thing: 🎓 Opening up the NIL floodgates |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | In NIL's first year, only 4% of college athletes who struck a deal did so with a fan. That number should increase considerably in year two, Axios' Jeff Tracy and I write. Driving the news: NIL platform Opendorse launched a new marketplace on Monday that it hopes will create more opportunities for athletes to earn money, while enabling fans to support them with just a few clicks. How it works: Opendorse has over 80,000 athletes on its platform through partnerships with dozens of schools. - Athlete profiles feature a menu of NIL services like signing an autograph or posting a video. Pricing is based on deals they and similar athletes have made in the past.
- An example: Nebraska volleyball star Lexi Rodriguez will record a video for you for $11, or make a podcast appearance for $42. Think Cameo, but not limited to just videos.
What they're saying: "Communicating with athletes has always been a tricky proposition for fans, so endorsements have mostly been reserved for big brands, which does not benefit every athlete," Opendorse CEO Blake Lawrence tells Axios. - "The new Opendorse experience democratizes NIL for every fan and every athlete. It's not just for the big names," adds Lawrence.
- "There are roughly 20,000 collegiate sports sponsors across the country; there are 180 million college sports fans. And they've shown they want to support NIL, they just haven't had an easy place to go."
The backdrop: Opendorse isn't the only company creating new ways for athletes, fans and brands to participate in the emerging NIL economy. - Two former Sooners just launched Strengthening Oklahoma, where fans can pay for exclusive access to current OU football players (think: weekly interviews and raffles for autographed items).
- INFLCR, another NIL platform, recently launched its own marketplace — but that's for striking deals with brands (think: national ad campaigns on social media), not connecting athletes with fans.
The bottom line: The NIL world has largely been limited to big name superstars with the stature to land headline-grabbing deals, and companies (and boosters) with lots of money to spend. No longer. |     | | | | | | 2. ❤️ Love of the game |  | | | Photos: Rob Carr/Getty Images | | | | In sports, we celebrate the wins. But sometimes, there's beauty in the losses. Driving the news: Venus Williams and Andy Murray both lost their first-round matches Monday at the Citi Open, an annual hardcourt tournament in Washington, D.C. - Williams, 42, got off to a promising start in her first singles match in 12 months but faded down the stretch in a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 loss to Canadian qualifier Rebecca Marino.
- Murray, 35, whose intense injury struggles have been well-documented, ran out of punches in a rollercoaster 7-5 (8), 4-6, 6-1 loss to Sweden's Mikael Ymer.
The big picture: Williams and Murray — two legends far removed from their Grand Slam-winning days — continue to play tennis because they love it. Rather than retire, as many predicted they would by now, they continue to pour themselves into a game that gives them happiness. - "I love this sport," Murray told WashPost when asked what compels him to keep grinding on a surgically-repaired metal hip. "That's essentially why I am back and why I wanted to keep going: because I love the sport."
- Williams surprised fans when she played mixed doubles at Wimbledon this summer. That wasn't the plan when she arrived, but Venus was inspired by her sister's comeback and "saw the grass and got excited." Love of the sport.
The bottom line: Sometimes, amid the winners and the losers and the press conferences and the rankings, sports is about people doing something they love. And not giving up until the wheels fall off. Go deeper: The experience of watching Venus practice (WashPost) | | | | | | | | 3. 🏀 WNBA snapshot: Two weeks left |  Data: WNBA; Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios The final 13 days of the WNBA regular season should be exciting, with six teams fighting for three playoff spots, Jeff writes. State of play: Five teams have already clinched, while the next six teams — all of whom have multiple games left against each other — are separated by just two games. - The Liberty have the best chance to make up ground, with all seven of their remaining games coming against the five other teams.
- The regular season ends on Aug. 14 and the postseason begins three days later.
Looking ahead: For the first time since 2015, the playoffs won't feature single-elimination games. Instead of top seeds earning byes, all eight teams will play a best-of-three series leading into the best-of-five semifinals and finals. Go deeper: Power rankings (ESPN) | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Advertise in Axios Sports | | |  | | | | Are you a marketer looking to reach decision makers who care about sports? Consider advertising with us: - Reach hundreds of thousands of people daily.
- Achieve your KPIs around business development, awareness, and product sales.
- Over 60% of our audience earns six figures per year and makes business purchasing decisions.
Let's Chat | | | | | | 4. ⚡️ Lightning round |  | | | Trey Mancini will be missed dearly in Baltimore. Awesome human. Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images | | | | ⚾️ Deadline deals: Josh Hader (Brewers to Padres), Frankie Montas (A's to Yankees) and Trey Mancini (Orioles to Astros) headlined Monday's MLB trades. More should come today ahead of the 6pm ET deadline. 🏈 TNF news: Sports bars will be able to broadcast Amazon's "Thursday Night Football" on DirecTV, saving them from having to upgrade their streaming setup. Plus: Dude Perfect will host one of several alternate streams on Prime Video. ⛳️ PGA responds: A week after LIV Golf said it would have $405 million in prize money next year, the PGA Tour announced $428.6 million in prize money for the 2022-23 season, plus another $145 million in bonuses. 💵 Betting in Beantown: The Massachusetts state legislature reached an agreement on Monday to legalize sports betting. The bill now awaits the approval of Gov. Charlie Baker, who has expressed support. | | | | | | | | 5. ⚽️ In review: Summer USA tour |  | | | Angel Di Maria of Juventus and Karim Benzema of Real Madrid during a friendly at the Rose Bowl. Photo: Daniele Badolato/Juventus FC via Getty Images | | | | Eight European soccer powers just concluded their American summer tours, where they played friendlies across the country to prepare for the upcoming season, Jeff writes. Details: The tour featured 16 games in 13 cities, with teams from the Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga facing each other and a handful of MLS and Liga MX clubs. - Las Vegas: Chelsea 2, Club América 1 (July 16); Juventus 2, Chivas Guadalajara 0 (July 22); Barcelona 1, Real Madrid 0 (July 23)
- Orlando: Arsenal 3, Orlando City 1 (July 20); Arsenal 4, Chelsea 0 (July 23)
- Baltimore: Arsenal 2, Everton 0 (July 16)
- Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: Barcelona 6, Inter Miami 0 (July 19)
- Washington, D.C.: Bayern Munich 6, D.C. United 2 (July 20)
- Minneapolis: Minnesota United 4, Everton 0 (July 20)
- Houston: Manchester City 2, Club América 1 (July 20)
- Charlotte: Charlotte FC 1, Chelsea 1 (CLT 5-3, penalties) (July 20)
- Green Bay: Manchester City 1, Bayern Munich 0 (July 23)
- Dallas: Barcelona 2, Juventus 2 (July 26)
- San Francisco: Real Madrid 2, Club América 2 (July 26)
- Harrison, N.J.: Barcelona 2, Red Bulls 0 (July 30)
- Pasadena, Calif.: Real Madrid 2, Juventus 0 (July 30)
The big picture: Tours like this are neither new nor limited to the U.S., and are generally mutually beneficial: Fans abroad get to see their favorite teams, and those teams get to cash in on the excitement. What's next: The Premier League, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 begin regular-season play this Friday, while La Liga and Serie A kickoff next week. Go deeper: History of European teams touring North America (World Soccer Talk) | | | | | | | | 6. 📸 Pic du jour | | David Valero Serrano of Spain crosses the finish line in first. Photo: Dustin Satloff/Getty Images The Cross Country World Cup was madness this weekend, with hail, wind and rain turning the Snowshoe, West Virginia course into what can only be described as "peanut butter." 🎥 Watch: Race recap (YouTube) | | | | | | | | 7. 📺 Watchlist: Million-dollar game |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | Blue Collar U and Americana for Autism meet in The Basketball Tournament's championship game tonight in Dayton, Ohio (8pm ET, ESPN). The winner receives $1 million. More to watch: | | | | | | | | 8. 🛶 The Ocho: Let's talk about canoe slalom |  | | | Germany's Elena Lilik won multiple medals at the Canoe Slalom World Championships. Photo: Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images | | | | Germany dominated the 2022 Canoe Slalom World Championships, which concluded over the weekend near Munich — 50 years after the sport debuted at the 1972 Munich Olympics. How it works: Canoe slalom is a race against the clock on a whitewater course. Athletes compete in two types of boats — canoe and kayak — and try to navigate a combination of upstream and downstream gates. - In canoe, the athlete uses a single-blade paddle and is strapped into the boat with their legs bent at the knees and tucked under their body. In kayak, they use a double-bladed paddle in a seated position.
- The type of gate is designated by color (red for upstream, green for downstream). Touching a gate incurs a two-second time penalty and missing one will cost you 50 seconds.
The course. Photo: Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images Medal table: France (60) has won the most world titles, followed by East Germany (49), Germany (35), Czech Republic (34), Czechoslovakia (33), Great Britain (30), West Germany (25), the U.S. (25) and Slovakia (25). Athletes competing during the men's extreme slalom event. Photo: Christof Stache/AFP via Getty Images The intrigue: A new head-to-head event called extreme slalom, which begins with competitors sliding off a ramp and splashing into the water, could be added to the Olympic program in 2024. - Contact is very much allowed and it "really is a case of anything goes," per the International Canoe Federation's website.
- Athletes must navigate buoys and only have a short window to roll their kayaks (360 degree flip). Races take about a minute.
🎥 Watch: Final day broadcast (YouTube) | | | | | | | | 9. ⚾️ MLB trivia | | Source: Giphy Aaron Judge needed just 671 games to reach 200 career home runs. - Question: Who's the only player in MLB history to get there faster?
- Hint: 2008 World Champion.
Answer at the bottom. | | | | | | | | 10. ⚾️ 1 big debut: Jake's return |  | | | Jacob deGrom playing catch at spring training. Photo: Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty Images | | | | Jacob deGrom will make his season debut tonight as the Mets close out their series against the Nationals in D.C. Why it matters: The two-time Cy Young winner had a historic start to the 2021 season (7-2, 0.50 ERA through 12 starts) but hasn't pitched since last July due to multiple injuries. | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Advertise in Axios Sports | | | | | | | | Are you a marketer looking to reach decision makers who care about sports? Consider advertising with us: - Reach hundreds of thousands of people daily.
- Achieve your KPIs around business development, awareness, and product sales.
- Over 60% of our audience earns six figures per year and makes business purchasing decisions.
Let's Chat | | | | Talk tomorrow, Kendall "deBaker" Baker Trivia answer: Ryan Howard (658 games) 🙏 Thanks for reading. Follow us on Twitter: @kendallbaker and @jeffreytracy. And of course, tell your friends to sign up. |  | | Are you a fan of this email format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 300 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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