| | | | | | | Presented By Upside | | | | Axios Sports | | By Kendall Baker · Nov 02, 2022 | | π Happy Wednesday! The Nets fired Steve Nash on Tuesday and reportedly plan to hire suspended Celtics coach Ime Udoka. Full story soon. π Stat du jour: Luka DonΔiΔ has scored 30+ points in each of the Mavericks' first six games. The last player to do that? Michael Jordan in 1986-87. Today's word count: 1,857 words (7 minutes). Let's sports... | | | | | | 1 big thing: ⚾️ Home run derby in Philly |  | | | Bryce Harper signals to the crowd after his first-inning blast. Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images | | | | The Phillies homered early and often on Tuesday night, clobbering the Astros, 7-0, to take a 2-1 World Series lead, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes. Why it matters: In best-of-seven series tied 1-1, the Game 3 winner has gone on to win the series 69% of the time (68 of 98). Game recap: On Oct. 23, Bryce Harper's game-winning homer sent Philly to the World Series. Nine days later — on the very next pitch he saw at Citizens Bank Park — he went yard again in the bottom of the first, opening the floodgates for Philly's slugfest. By the numbers: Astros starter Lance McCullers, who may have been tipping his pitches, is the first pitcher in MLB history to give up five HR in a playoff game. Entering Tuesday, he'd allowed just four all year (58.2 IP). What's next: Games 4 and 5 are tonight and tomorrow in The City of Brotherly Love, where Philly still hasn't lost this postseason (6-0). - "It's our fanbase, plain and simple," said Harper after the game when asked about the Phillies' success at home.
- "They keep us going, keep us fired up. They believe in us, and we believe in them."
Go deeper ... 'I got beat': McCullers denies pitch-tipping at fault (ESPN) |     | | | | | | 2. π This just in: Prime adds Overtime |  | | | Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios | | | | Prime Video has signed a multi-year deal with Overtime Elite (OTE) for the exclusive global streaming rights to 20 live games per season for the next three years. Details: OTE is a six-team basketball league featuring some of the best players in the world ages 16 to 20. Players receive six-figure salaries and an education as they prepare for college and professional hoops. - The first broadcast will be this Friday, with a game featuring OTE's two most intriguing prospects: Twins Amen and Ausar Thompson, both projected lottery picks in the 2023 NBA draft.
- The 20 OTE games will air live on Prime Video on Friday and Saturday nights, broadcast from OTE Arena in Atlanta. Prime will also stream a season-long unscripted series set to debut in mid-2023.
- OTE, which broadcast its own games on YouTube during its inaugural 2021-22 season, will continue to produce the broadcasts in partnership with Prime.
Plus: Amazon also made an investment in Overtime — the company that owns and operates OTE, along with numerous other sports and media assets — as part of its Series D funding round. Graphic: Courtesy of Overtime Elite What they're saying: "I think we're both really interested in reimagining what the broadcast can do," Overtime CEO Dan Porter tells Axios. "For me, they were a dream partner, and the dream came true." - OTE streamed games on YouTube last year, which required the company to build out broadcast infrastructure (think: wire cams, control room). That helped when talking to streamers, says Porter.
- "When it came time to do a deal like this, we had full broadcast capability — we were plug-and-play for anybody. ... In the words of every pro athlete, 'We bet on ourselves.' And the bet paid off."
The backdrop: Overtime began in 2016 as a digital media company centered around high school sports and quickly gained a massive following through viral videos and a brand that spoke to Gen Z. - "When we started, we made a bet that people cared about discovery — that they wanted to know who was 'next,'" says Porter.
- "We built a whole business around telling you that Zion Williamson, LaMelo Ball ... all these people are 'next.' And now we've built a whole league around it."
The big picture: This is Prime Video's latest move into live sports. In addition to "Thursday Night Football," it also has rights deals with the WNBA, Yankees and others. And the Pac-12 could be coming soon. | | | | | | | | 3. π CFP rankings: Vols debut at No. 1 |  Data: CFP; Chart: Axios Visuals Tennessee debuted at No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff rankings, with Ohio State, Georgia and Clemson rounding out the top four, Jeff writes. Why it matters: Tennessee has never even been ranked in the CFP top four, much less No. 1. Not bad for a team just two years removed from going 3-7. - Seven of the eight teams that sat atop the season's first rankings have ended up in the CFP.
- Only Mississippi State in 2014, the CFP's first year, missed out.
The intrigue: Clemson at No. 4 was a bit of a surprise, with many fans and pundits assuming Michigan was a top-four shoo-in. "If those two teams played next Saturday on a neutral field, you'd be hard pressed to find any oddsmaker or predictive metrics system that believes the Tigers would beat the Wolverines. ESPN's FPI would have Michigan favored by 4.1 points. Bill Connelly's SP+ would have the Wolverines favored by 9.9." — Nicole Auerbach, The Athletic ( $) State of play: This first batch of CFP rankings looks quite similar to the AP poll, with 11 receiving the same top 25 ranking. - No. 24 Texas the only CFP team who is unranked by AP (they took AP No. 23 Liberty's spot).
- No. 10 LSU (AP No. 15) is the only school whose CFP ranking is more than two spots apart from their AP ranking.
Looking ahead: The Vols debuting ahead of the Bulldogs creates even more hype around Saturday's blockbuster: AP No. 1 Georgia vs. CFP No. 1 Tennessee. | | | | | | | | A message from Upside | | How to fight inflation with your everyday spending | | |  | | | | The Upside app pays you back a little from each purchase to help offset rising costs. On average, users earn $148 annually. You can get cash back at: - Gas stations.
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Take back control of your budget and download the free Upside app. | | | | | | 4. ⚡️ Lightning round |  | | | Photo: Simon Holmes/NurPhoto via Getty Images | | | | πΆπ¦ Paid propaganda: Qatar is offering hundreds of fans an all expenses-paid trip to this year's World Cup in exchange for positive social media promotion about the tournament and the host nation. ⚾️ Gold Gloves: The 2022 Gold Glove Award winners include a record 14 first-time recipients. Cardinals 3B Nolan Arenado became the fourth infielder to win 10 straight Gold Gloves. ⚽️ Record viewership: The NWSL title game on CBS averaged 915,000 viewers, making it the most-watched game in league history. For reference, the 2021 MLS Cup on ABC averaged 1.4 million viewers. ⚾️ New Sox skipper: The White Sox have hired Pedro Grifol as their next manager, per ESPN. Grifol, 52, has been on the Royals staff since 2013, most recently as their bench coach. π Reid sentenced: Ex-Chiefs assistant Britt Reid, son of head coach Andy Reid, was sentenced to three years in prison for severely injuring a five-year-old girl in a drunken driving crash just days before Super Bowl LV. | | | | | | | | 5. π Historic NFL deadline day |  | | | Photos: Dustin Bradford/Getty Images; Nic Antaya/Getty Images | | | | The 2022 NFL trade deadline was the most active in league history, with a record 10 trades completed before Tuesday's 4pm ET deadline. Five biggest deals: - LB Bradley Chubb was traded from Denver to Miami for a 2023 first-rounder, RB Chase Edmonds and a 2024 fourth-rounder. Chubb has the third-highest pass rush win rate among edge rushers this season.
- TE T.J. Hockenson was traded from Detroit to Minnesota, going from last place in the NFC North (1-6 Lions) to first place (6-1 Vikings). Hockensen ranks fifth in receiving yards among TEs this season.
- WR Calvin Ridley, currently serving a one-year suspension for betting on NFL games, was traded from Atlanta to Jacksonville for picks. Ridley, the 26th pick in 2018, has one year left on his rookie deal.
- RB Nyheim Hines was traded from Indianapolis to Buffalo, which is welcome news for MVP candidate Josh Allen. Since entering the league in 2018, Hines has the fifth-most receiving yards among RBs.
- WR Chase Claypool was traded from Pittsburgh to Chicago for a 2023 second-rounder. Claypool is in just his third season and already has more TD catches (12) than any active Bears WR.
Go deeper: Winners and losers (The Ringer) | | | | | | | | 6. π΅ ESPN boss address DraftKing rumors |  | | | ESPN chair Jimmy Pitaro at the Axios BFD event. Photo: Courtesy of Beatrice Moritz | | | | ESPN chair Jimmy Pitaro is looking to capitalize on the network's brand equity through betting partnerships, possibly licensing ESPN's brand to a sportsbook, Axios' Sara Fischer reports. Why it matters: A brand licensing deal could meaningfully expand ESPN's foray into betting without going so far as facilitating actual bets. What they're saying: "We know that our brand has a ton of credibility, a ton of trust. We are contemplating whether we should leverage our brand in that capacity," Pitaro said last week at Axios' first annual "BFD" deals conference in New York. Driving the news: A recent Bloomberg report suggests a large-scale deal between ESPN and DraftKings, an existing promotions partner, is imminent. - Asked explicitly about licensing the ESPN brand to a company like DraftKings, Pitaro said, "Everything's been on the table."
- Yes, but: "We're not interested in being the place where people actually create their bets," he said, noting it doesn't feel appropriate for ESPN.
Go deeper: Media doubles down on sports betting (Axios) | | | | | | | | 7. πΊ Watchlist: Game 4 in Philly |  | | | Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images | | | | The World Series resumes tonight in Philadelphia (8pm ET, Fox). Here's a look at the starters: - Aaron Nola: Philly's co-ace will look to bounce back in his fifth start of the postseason: after two brilliant outings, he's had two clunkers, allowing 11 runs across nine innings.
- Cristian Javier: Less known than Houston's other starters, but no less effective: after closing the season with four scoreless outings, he has a 1.35 ERA across 6.2 postseason innings.
More to watch: | | | | | | | | 8. π¨ The Ocho: Extreme Ironing | | Source: Giphy "Extreme Ironing" — a sport in which people take ironing boards to remote locations and iron items of clothing — is a real thing that exists. The backdrop: Depending who you ask, extreme ironing was invented by one of two Englishmen in either 1980 or 1997. - 1980: While in Yorkshire Dales National Park, Tony Hiam was inspired by his eccentric brother-in-law who ironed his clothes even while camping.
- 1997: When Leicester resident Phil Shaw came home from a hard day of work, he wanted to go rock climbing but also had some chores to do. Rather than choose, he decided to do both.
π Watch: 25 insane examples of extreme ironing (YouTube) | | | | | | | | 9. π NFL trivia |  | | | Photo: Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images | | | | Browns RB Nick Chubb is on another level right now, leading the NFL in both rushing yards (841) and rushing TD (10). - Question: Which other two players are also in the top five for both stats?
- Hint: Both AFC.
Answer at the bottom. | | | | | | | | 10. ⛳️ 1 young star: Atthaya Thitikul |  | | | Photo: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images | | | | Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand unseated Jin Young Ko as world No. 1 on Monday, ending Ko's streak of 38 weeks at the top, Jeff writes. Why it matters: Thitikul, 19, is the second-youngest golfer in history — man or woman — to reach No. 1, trailing only Lydia Ko (age 17 in 2015). | | | | | | | | A message from Upside | | This app is helping users treat themselves | | |  | | | | Upside is on a mission to make sure that, even during expensive times, people still have a little extra money for a rainy day fund. The free app gets users cash back on: - Gas.
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On average, users earn $148 annually. Download the free Upside app to start earning. | | | | Talk tomorrow, Kendall "Chills" Baker Trivia answer: Derrick Henry (3rd in yards and TD) and Josh Jacobs (4th in yards and TD) π Have a great day! Follow us for more (@kendallbaker and @jeffreytracy). Friends can sign up here. Thanks to Bryan McBournie for copy edits. |  | | 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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