The WNBA boom continues heading into the All-Star break, as data provided by Fanatics shows that sales of league merchandise across the retailer's network of sites have increased by over 500% since the beginning of the regular season compared to the same period last year. This marks the highest in league history for fan gear sales for the first half of the season. Data includes sales on Fanatics.com and the WNBA Store website. 

Player-specific merchandise, such as jerseys and T-shirts, have seen a 1,000% increase in sales. Sales of league-specific merchandise -- which also includes the orange WNBA hoodie that has gained popularity -- are up 200%. Through the first half of the season, the top-five selling players are Fever G Caitlin Clark, Sky F Angel Reese, Liberty G Sabrina Ionescu, Aces G Kate Martin and Aces F A’ja Wilson. The five top-selling teams are the Fever, Sky, Liberty, Aces and Storm, showing similarities to the player rankings.

The baseball world is "gathering again in Cooperstown" for the Baseball HOF induction weekend, where 3B Adrian Beltre, 1B Todd Helton, manager Jim Leyland and C/1B Joe Mauer will be enshrined in a ceremony at 1:30pm ET Sunday on the grounds of the Clark Sports Center. A number of HOFers were spotted at the airport arriving yesterday, including Johnny Bench, John Scheurholz, Ozzie Smith and Tony Oliva. Other HOFers "scheduled to attend" include Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Ken Griffey Jr. and Cal Ripken. Lawn seating for the event in Cooperstown is "unlimited and free of charge." All of the attending HOFers "will also participate in the Parade of Legends" at 6pm Saturday on Main Street in Cooperstown (Albany TIMES-UNION, 7/18). The Baseball HOF will also honor longtime Red Sox radio play-by-play voice Joe Castiglione with the 2024 Ford C. Frick Award on Saturday (WBUR.org, 7/19).

The baseball world is "descending upon Cooperstown" for the annual celebration weekend, and Baseball HOF Dir of Communications Craig Muder said the town "is preparing to welcome tens of thousands of visitors through Sunday’s ceremony." The museum "expects 54 Hall of Famers and 25,000 to 30,000 visitors" to attend this weekend's festivities (WXXINEWS.org, 7/19). Induction weekend "is upon us," and the "one-stoplight village will be bursting at its 108 seams" (THE ATHLETIC, 7/19).

 

The NFL Flag Championships are underway today in Canton, "showcasing youth talent from across the country and offering a chance for fans to get involved." The "premiere youth flag football tournament" runs through Sunday at the HOF Village on the campus of the Pro Football HOF. The "majority of action" is taking place at the ForeverLawn Sports Complex, and "select games" will be played at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Tickets are available to fans "for free," but "registration with NFL OnePass is required for attendance." In addition to watching the games, fans can also access the "NFL Experience," a football festival "available for free. The event will receive "complete live coverage" on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, ESPN YouTube and NFL+. When the championship finals begin, coverage "will expand" to include ABC, Disney Channel, Disney XD and ESPN Deportes and streaming on Disney+, ESPN+ and NFL+ (Canton REPOSITORY, 7/18). ESPN football analysts Robert Griffin III and Tedy Bruschi will be "a part of the broadcast crew" (CWCANTON.com, 7/18).

RELATED: NFL borrows from baseball playbook with flag football event

Apple will begin rolling out new series and films specifically for the Apple Vision Pro in a format called Apple Immersive Video, which uses 3D video recorded in 8K and displayed with a 180-degree field of view.
Specific to sports, this fall Apple will release a film from the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend, which took place at Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse, a finalist this year for Sports Facility of the Year at the Sports Business Awards. The film will highlight the three-day event, featuring the All-Star Game, as well as other events like the debut of the NBA vs. WNBA 3-Point Challenge between Warriors G Stephen Curry and the Liberty G Sabrina Ionescu.

This adds another NBA experience to the device, which debuted in February. The NBA released an AVP app to go along with headset’s release, which features a multiview option to stream five games at once. The NBA, PGA Tour and MLB were all early movers on producing AVP apps.

A new documentary from Grassroots Baseball, titled "See Her, Be Her," is hoping to "shine a light on the growing number of women playing" baseball and the "barriers that still face them in many countries," including the U.S. The 90-minute film will debut between Games 2 and 3 of the 2024 World Series on MLB Network. The documentary follows "the lives of seven women baseball stars" who represent the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, Japan, South Korea, Cuba and Uganda, "set against the backdrop of the World Cup Championship." Baseball HOFers Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Pérez and Ferguson Jenkins, as well as retired MLBers Ichiro Suzuki, Chan Ho Park and Jimmy Rollins, all feature in the film (THE ATHLETIC, 7/19).

Aflac, through a relationship with the WNBPA, is supporting WNBA players by offering a supplemental bonus of $55,000 each to the winners of the skills and 3-point challenges at the WNBA All-Star Weekend. This effort helps these exceptional WNBA players achieve parity with their male counterparts (Aflac).

USL League One club Union Omaha and its owners, Alliance Sports, announced the additions of architecture firm Perkins&Will, RDG Planning and Design and developer Hines to the project team for its 18-acre stadium and mixed-use development. The stadium will cost $60M and is expected to open in spring 2026 (Bret McCormick, SBJ).

The Univ. of Alabama system BOT "has ensured that, at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Nick Saban’s name will forever be writ in Crimson flame," as the honorary degrees and recognition committee for the board met Friday and approved the name change for Alabama football’s playing surface to "Saban Field" (AL.com, 7/19).

While Wisconsin has not yet legalized sports betting (something SBJ’s Bill King wrote could be for 2027 or 2028), DraftKings and FanDuel were among the hosts this week for an after-hours cigar lounge at Fiserv Forum during the Republican National Convention. (POLITICO PM, 7/19).

Premier League club Aston Villa announced today that U.K.-based sportswear retailer JD has been named the club's Official Retail Partner (Aston Villa).

Nike launches its new Olympic campaign:

“Winning Isn’t For Everyone”

Narrated by Willem Dafoe, it is the brand’s biggest campaign investment to date. pic.twitter.com/Mi6Lxhe1vy

— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) July 19, 2024

Kyle Larson never got to race the paint scheme with the McLaren orange at Charlotte. It is back for Indy. pic.twitter.com/CqFLFQwvYd

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 19, 2024

attendance per home game this year pic.twitter.com/kAoZ6H5zFh

— BrooksGate (@Brooks_Gate) July 19, 2024

Just…wow

Bestmaze Corn Maze, Williamston, MI

📸 @schingeck21 pic.twitter.com/XpdFYRQLvR

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) July 19, 2024

Wondering how college football sideline tablets will actually work? Here’s what it looks like.

Every FBS conference, except the SEC, will use DVSport software. Three camera angles, uploaded instantly.

🎥 pic.twitter.com/aGQkTPaa7g

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) July 19, 2024

Union MF Cavan Sullivan spoke with NBC's Today about his historic debut as a 14-year-old, making him the youngest player in MLS history and the youngest to debut in any major professional U.S. sports league.

 

2.2 million --The number of unique players that played EA Sports College Football 25 during the Early Access play period. The game officially released today (EA Sports).