On the heels of selling a piece of the team to Tom Brady and Richard Seymour, Raiders owner Mark Davis is shaving off even more of the equity in the franchise.
Fifteen percent more, in all.
Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal reports that Silver Lake co-CEO and Endeavor chairman Egon Durban has a deal in place to buy 7.5 percent of the Raiders.
Under league rules, the move would require Endeavor to divest itself of the WME Sports’ football representation business.
Said WME Sports co-head Josh Pyatt in a statement to Fischer: “WME Sports’ football group continues to operate business as usual, and we are prepared for various scenarios as it relates to our football representation business, which is thriving, Our priority remains creating growth and opportunity for our clients and partners.”
The WME Sports football division is led by agents Brian Ayrault, Ben Renzin, and Joel Segal. The group represents 78 NFL players, including Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson, and 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa. WME Sports represents four first-round picks in the 2024 draft, tied for second among all agencies.
Davis is selling another 7.5 percent to luxury golf resort developer and operator Michael Meldman and his family.
The total sale of 15 percent of the team comes from shares held by Davis and by the Boscacci and Lovingfoss families. They are the descendants of two of the original Raiders investors, Eugene and Arnold Boscacci.
The terms haven’t been reported. Per Fischer, Durban and Meldman will be paying a “much higher price” than the sweetheart deal Brady received — $220 million for 10 percent and $24 million of the “flip tax” tracing to the relocation of the team from Oakland to Las Vegas.
The news that the homes of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce were burglarized last month was weird. The latest wrinkle in the situation is even weirder.
According to NBC News, the FBI is investigating whether the incidents were part of a “transnational crime ring, such as one from South America.”
The article mentions two other recent burglaries, targeting Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley Jr., whose house was robbed while he attended a Vikings game in September.
Medina, Minnesota police told NBC News that, as part of the Conley case, it is working with other departments from other states that are investigating burglaries at the homes of high-profile individuals.
“We are aware of some of the other athletes in different states that have had their homes burglarized,” the statement from the Medina police to NBC News said. “Our investigator is working with those agencies and other state and federal partners. We can’t say for sure that they are all related.”
A separate report emerged on Wednesday that the Starfish Lake, Minnesota home of Cowboys and former Vikings defensive tackle Linval Joseph was robbed in a series of burglaries in the affluent St. Paul suburb. The Sunfish Lake burglaries reportedly share similarities with other crimes targeting professional athletes.
West St. Paul police chief Brian Sturgeon told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that the thieves are “using some sophisticated techniques” to determine when people are not in their homes and where exterior cameras are situated. One victim said that burglars are entering second-floor windows that lack glass-break sensors, since security companies usually don’t install such devices on windows that would require the building to be scaled.
So to anyone who might be concerned about being targeted, make sure all windows have glass-break sensors, and make sure the property is blanketed with cameras.
Also, make sure to turn the security system on whenever you leave the house.
On Monday night, a large metal sheet fell from the roof of AT&T Stadium to the playing field. Via ESPN.com, City of Arlington communications coordinator Susan Schrock has since said that the venue is fine.
“Our building inspector and our deputy fire marshal did talk to AT&T Stadium crews today and determined that there weren’t any structural issues with the venue or the roof,” Schrock said. “And that this was in fact just a piece of metal that was a covering lid to one of these cable trays that was blown off by a gust of wind.”
It nevertheless speaks to a design flaw that previously was unknown. Wind gusts happen, and engineers and architects are supposed to take that into account when designing the roof, including the covering lid to the cable tray.
So what else don’t they know about? It’s easy to say there are no structural issues as to the piece that fell. There might be other design flaws that haven’t become obvious yet because there hasn’t been a gust of wind, or an equivalent trigger, to expose it.
Bottom line? Arlington should demand something more than an assurance that the issue with the falling metal on Monday night has been identified and rectified. It should mandate a full review of the building to ensure that no other problems are lurking.
If they don’t — and if there’s a future incident that gets someone injured or worse — the fact that a top-to-bottom review wasn’t done after Monday’s incident will become evidence of failure to ensure that the building is safe for employees and customers to enter.
Beyond being a basic question of liability, it’s also a fundamental matter of right and wrong. The powers-that-be are on notice that there could be unknown issues at the stadium. If they don’t fix it, shame on them.
The Seahawks’ team training facility lost power as a result of severe winds that hit Tuesday night, Brady Henderson of ESPN reports.
The bomb cyclone, carrying winds of 50-75 mph, killed two people in western Washington and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands.
The Seahawks were working off limited backup power Wednesday, forcing them to adjust their schedule.
Position meetings were held in the same room.
“We pushed some things back,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. “There’s some things we don’t have in the building, but we’re just fine.”
The Seahawks were able to practice outside Wednesday afternoon after the winds subsided.
“It’s all about the way you look at it,” receiver DK Metcalf said. “I don’t think it’s impacted us as much. We still got to come in. We still got to install. The Cardinals aren’t making any excuses, so we can’t make an excuse for ourselves. We still got our install in and we still were able to walk-through and now go out there to practice.”
The inability of Netflix to deliver an acceptable and consistent experience during the Jake Paul real-world boxing fantasy camp featuring Mike Tyson has already spawned litigation.
Via multiple reports, at least two class actions have already been filed by customers seeking compensation for Netflix’s failure to deliver the promised product.
It’s relevant to the NFL for two reasons. First, if a similar problem happens with one or both of the Christmas games to be streamed by Netflix five weeks from today, Netflix and the NFL could face legal scrutiny. Especially since the NFL now has reason to know that Netflix might not be able to accomplish the task of delivering the games to viewers.
Second, it shows how easy it is for class-action lawsuits to be filed. The NFL faces the constant risk of such claims as a result of wagers gone bad due to bad calls that the NFL has failed to reasonably eradicate, or because of the failure of teams to disclose injury information.
As to the Paul-Tyson fight, separate liability could emerge for similar reasons. Anyone who bet on Paul to win by KO or TKO could craft a lawsuit based on this comment from Paul, when asked whether he took his foot off the gas during the third round: “Yeah, definitely. Definitely a bit. I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.”
Hell, he’s admitting it. Admitting that he didn’t go all out. Admitting that he passed on a chance to knock Tyson out.
Why would Paul do it? By not knocking out or otherwise embarrassing the 58-year-old fighter who looked every minute of his age, Paul could fight more over-the-hill boxers — and make a bunch of money for doing it. Carry them, don’t humiliate them, and keep doing it. Again. And again. And again.
Until, of course, the audience gets wise to it. But if the audience isn’t wise to it already, the audience never will be.
Tommy DeVito was the third quarterback on the depth chart until Monday when he jumped to QB1 after the Giants benched Daniel Jones.
Drew Lock, the No. 2 quarterback who signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Giants this offseason, admitted surprise. DeVito wasn’t.
“I wouldn’t say surprised,” DeVito said, via Jordan Raanan of ESPN. “I was open for all outcomes. It was kind of something that I had been trying for since last year. You always stay ready. You never know.”
DeVito-mania was a thing last year when he threw eight touchdown passes and three interceptions as the Giants went 3-3 in his six starts. Yet, the Giants signed Lock in the offseason without a competition for the backup job.
“Last year was a good story and all, how it happened,” DeVito said. “All the fun and games outside, it was fun. That was last year. I’m sticking to football now. Not that I wasn’t before.
“The external stuff will be on pause. I already had talks with everybody around me, my inner circle. Want it to stay very tight and make sure that everything is about production on Sunday.”
DeVito took all the first-team reps at Wednesday’s practice, with Lock working with the scout team, as usual. Jones was fourth in line during individual drills behind even Tim Boyle, who signed to the practice squad earlier this week.
The Giants won’t risk Jones’ $23 million injury guarantee by playing him or practicing him.
For now, it’s DeVito who replaces him as the starter.
Cardinals defensive lineman Darius Robinson is nearing his NFL debut.
Neither he nor coach Jonathan Gannon is committing to Robinson playing this week, but he had his first back-to-back practices since injuring his calf Aug. 22.
“It’s hard to put into words,” Robinson said, via Darren Urban of the team website. “When it’s time, I’ll just put it on tape.”
He played 10 snaps in the preseason but hasn’t played a real game since the Cotton Bowl in January while he was still at Missouri.
The Cardinals made Robinson a first-round draft pick in April.
His calf injury sent him to injured reserve to start the season. The Cardinals designated him to return Oct. 9, and he had a limited practice.
But Robinson’s mother died, so he didn’t practice again until this week.
Robinson said he was “heartbroken” over the loss of his mother.
The Cardinals activated him from injured reserve Oct. 28 before his 21-day practice window closed.
When Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was a limited participant in practice a couple of weeks ago, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said he was dealing with an ankle issue after the team listed him as resting.
Sirianni tried to say that he thought he was asked about someone else, but it seemed clear he was talking about the quarterback at the time and it seems even clearer this Wednesday. Hurts was listed as limited because of his ankle this time around.
Hurts said at a Wednesday press conference that the limited workout was part of a program the team put together after last Thursday’s game to take advantage of the extra time off to make “sure you’re doing the things you need to do to keep on top of stuff.”
Edge rusher Bryce Huff is having wrist surgery and missed practice. Linebacker Jalyx Hunt (ankle), wide receiver DeVonta Smith (hamstring), and defensive tackle Milton Williams (foot) were also out.
Linebacker Nakobe Dean (groin) was limited and wide receiver Britain Covey (shoulder) was a full participant. Covey was designated for return from injured reserve on Wednesday.
The Cowboys have three of their starting offensive linemen on their injury report, and both guards missed practice Wednesday.
Right guard Zack Martin (ankle/shoulder) and left guard Tyler Smith (ankle/knee) did not participate in the team’s walk-through.
Left tackle Tyler Guyton (shoulder) was estimated as a full participant.
The Cowboys also practiced without fullback Hunter Luepke (calf) and linebacker Nick Vigil (foot).
Wide receiver Brandin Cooks (knee), linebacker Eric Kendricks (shoulder), defensive Marshawn Kneeland (knee), wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (back/foot) and cornerback Jourdan Lewis (neck) were limited.
Cornerback DaRon Bland (foot) could make his 2024 debut this week as he returned to full participation, and swing tackle Chuma Edoga (toe) appears ready to return from injured reserve after a full practice.
Defensive end Will Anderson appears to be closing in on a return to the Texans lineup.
Anderson took part in practice on Wednesday as a limited participant, which is a significant change from the last few weeks. Anderson injured his ankle against the Jets on Halloween night and he missed the last two games due to the injury.
Anderson is tied with Danielle Hunter for the team lead with 7.5 sacks so far this season.
Defensive end Denico Autry (knee, oblique), defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi (foot), and tackle Blake Fisher (concussion) missed practice Wednesday. Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair (knee) and cornerback Derek Stringley (hip) were limited along with Anderson and cornerback Kamari Lassiter (concussion) was a full participant.
