Weekly Roundup – May 7th, 2024

"Veteran Detroit sports journalist Rob Parker has announced the lineup for Sports Rap Radio (WXYT-AM). The station showcases an all-Black lineup as Parker envisions a platform that mirrors the community’s voice with a unique format mixing hip-hop and sports/talk.
The daily Sports Rap Radio lineup features prominent sports figures, including former Detroit Pistons player and NBA coach Lindsey Hunter. He was previously a host on Detroit Sports 105.1 until 2016 when the station dumped the sports/talk format. Hunter will co-host The Pitbulls during afternoon drive with Detroit native Montezz Allen.
Three-time NBA champion B.J. Armstrong will take middays, offering experience from both his playing days and his tenure as an NBA executive. Martin Weiss and JR Gamble will host The Bad Boys from noon to 3p.
Parker’s nationally syndicated show, The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard, will hold the evening slot."

"From MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani to now former NBA player Jontay Porter, recent stories surrounding sports integrity have predictably led to scrutiny of America’s still-new legal sports betting market.
These headlines wrongly depict the workings of the legal and regulated market and fail to recognize the persistent issues and predatory nature of the illegal market. It’s time to refocus on the facts and recognize that legal sports betting remains a solution, not a problem, when it comes to preserving the integrity of the games.
Remember, sports betting isn’t a new phenomenon. Prior to 2018, there were plenty of opportunities to bet — whether with shady bookies or navigating the murky waters of offshore websites. But the landscape has changed drastically in six short years.
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In fact, legal sports betting’s success requires absolute confidence in the integrity of competition. Fans will only bet on sports if they trust the games are fair. And that’s why American Gaming Association members — all licensed operators — have a vital interest in protecting the integrity of every game."

"ESPN is going hard on names that are already established.
Jason Kelce is joining ESPN, and a former ESPN voice sees the move as another sign of the changing times of the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
Dan Le Batard, the former ESPN host of several shows including "Highly Questionable," praised the ESPN's signing of Kelce to join its "Monday Night Football" studio show, in a report by The Athletic on Monday, August 29.
Speaking on "The Dan Le Batard Show," Le Batard added that the rise of Kelce, which is in part due to this association with Taylor Swift through his brother, is unprecedented considering his role on the football field."

"Difficulties have been piling up for Apple. In recent months, it has been sued by the Justice Department, fined by European regulators and challenged by the resurgence of a Chinese smartphone competitor.
On Thursday, the company added to its list of problems, reporting that its business was in a slump.
Apple said sales fell 4 percent to $90.8 billion for the three months that ended in March. Revenue from iPhones, iPads and wearables like the Apple Watch declined from the same quarter last year, while sales of software and services rose. Profit fell 2 percent to $23.64 billion, Apple’s first quarterly decline in a year.
Apple’s struggles were most worrisome in China, the world’s second-largest smartphone market, where sales fell 8 percent. The iPhone’s popularity there has waned since Huawei, which the Trump administration restricted from working with U.S. technology firms, introduced a new smartphone with 5G abilities last year. Last quarter, Apple’s share of smartphones sold in China fell 4 percent, according to Counterpoint, a technology research firm."

"Paramount Global's sale process is wide open after an exclusive window with Skydance Media lapsed, opening the door for Sony's joint bid with Apollo Global Management.
Why it matters: Time is of the essence. Deal talks have dragged on since December, and Paramount has a long list of reasons for wanting to wrap up an agreement soon, including its debt pile and struggling business.
Driving the news: Sony and Apollo Global Management have already submitted a $26 billion joint cash bid to buy the whole company, Axios reported.
The special committee overseeing the sale process at Paramount Global initially declined to look at a solo bid from Apollo for the same amount.
But now that Apollo is teamed up with Sony, and Sony is the majority backer of the bid, the special committee is expected to engage with the suitors.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Paramount's special committee directors are already negotiating with Sony-Apollo."

"Black Americans’ desire to vote in this year’s election is down sharply compared with four years ago, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll conducted last month — a potentially troublesome sign for President Biden, whose ascent was powered by Black voters in 2020 and who has intensified efforts to court them before November’s election.
The poll of more than 1,300 Black adults finds that 62 percent of Black Americans say they’re “absolutely certain to vote,” down from 74 percent in June 2020. The 12-percentage-point drop outpaces the four-point drop among Americans overall, from 72 percent to 68 percent.
The drop in turnout interest is sharpest among younger Black people, who have always been less enthusiastic about Biden and have now shifted to majority disapproval of his job performance. Overall, nearly 1 in 5 Black voters who turned out for Biden in 2020 say they are less than certain about whether they will vote at all this year.
The softening support includes voters like Michayla Crumble, who said she held her nose and voted for Biden in 2020 — and still cringes when she remembers Biden saying, in the midst of the 2020 campaign, that if an African American voter was having trouble deciding between him and Donald Trump, then “you ain’t Black.” Four years after voting for Biden to stop Trump, the 26-year-old student from St. Louis has left Biden’s camp altogether."