In Chicago, Ryan Taylor reported the White Sox have sold out today's game at Guaranteed Rate Field against the Dodgers, marking the “first of the season for the South Side.” However, it likely has "little to do with the 21-60 White Sox" and instead the presence of Shohei Ohtani, “inarguably the league's best and most popular player.” The White Sox this season rank 27th in MLB in attendance, “averaging 16,709 fans per game at home” (NBCSPORTSCHICAGO.com, 6/25).
AUCTION CANCELED: In Phoenix, Corina Vanek, in a front-page piece, reports Coyotes ownership “found out the same day as the public” that the Arizona State Land Department had “canceled the auction for land where the team’s owner had wanted to build a new arena and entertainment development.” Arizona State Land Department spokesperson Lynn Cordova said the Coyotes' ownership was notified on Friday, “the same day the department sent out a public notice that the auction was canceled.” Cordova said that the possibility of canceling the auction “had been discussed with the team in the weeks prior.” The scrubbed auction “was likely the final nail in the coffin for any hope of an arena” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/26).
SLIGHTLY SURPRISED: SI’s Albert Breer wrote it is “wild” that Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper was able to get $650M in public funding to renovate Bank of America Stadium “just a couple of years after his Rock Hill practice facility project went kaput.” South Carolina pledged $290M in public funding for that project, but Tepper "wound up shutting the whole thing down” when funding did not arrive quick enough. The positives are that the stadium has "one of the best physical locations in the NFL” and Charlotte has “proven to be a good market for the league in the 30 seasons since coming aboard as an expansion team.” Breer: “I just can’t imagine there are very many other NFL cities where Tepper would’ve been able to take the route that he did” (SI, 6/25).
