Florida Panthers take their place in history with Stanley Cup title defense

The Panthers became “only the 10th different franchise in NHL history to repeat as Stanley Cup champions” with their 5-1 win over the Oilers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final last night, also becoming the “third team in South Florida history to win back-to-back titles,” joining the Dolphins of the early 1970s and the Heat in the early 2010s. The team has “become the gold standard of how to run a sports franchise” (PALM BEACH POST, 6/17). The Panthers are now the “toast of sports” after winning their second straight Stanley Cup, complete with a fan base “built from nearly nothing with the kind of success in recent years that rivals the greatest South Florida teams ever” (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 6/17).

While the Panthers are “not quite a dynasty yet,” they are “well on their way.” There “have been better clubs in NHL history,” but it might be time to “wonder if there’s been a better back-to-front playoff team” (GLOBE & MAIL, 6/17). Panthers GM Bill Zito has “built the model franchise, not only for South Florida, but for the entire NHL.” He can now “be placed alongside South Florida roster-building heroes Don Shula and Pat Riley.” Zito “has constructed an emerging dynasty” and “will go down in South Florida sports lore” (PALM BEACH POST, 6/17).

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said that the team’s championship parade is “tentatively planned for Sunday” and the route “will ‘most likely’ be down A1A in Fort Lauderdale beach.” Last year’s beachfront parade drew an estimated crowd of at least 200,000 people “despite pouring rain and lightning” (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 6/17). Admission is “free to the parade and to the rally,” although the team and city “have set up special VIP areas which will not be accessible to the public” (FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW, 6/17).

NASCAR is “working toward finalizing a deal to race on a street course next year in the San Diego area,” according to sources. NASCAR and the city of San Diego “have not yet agreed on a deal, but discussions are ongoing,” and it is “expected that an agreement will be reached,” sources said. An announcement is “tentatively slated for next month, pending a finalized deal.” NASCAR has “explored multiple options to hold a points race in Southern California” — a “key market to the league, its teams, media rights partners and sponsors.” This search “led NASCAR to San Diego,” which has never hosted a Cup race and “offers a picturesque setting to construct the course, with the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop.” How San Diego “would fit within the 2026 schedule is not yet clear” (THE ATHLETIC, 6/18). SBJ first reported about NASCAR’s interest in San Diego in 2024 (SBJ).

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell “urged” NASCAR and two of its teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, to “settle their increasingly acrimonious legal fight that spilled over into tense arguments during a hearing on Tuesday.” Bell “grilled both NASCAR and the teams” on “what they hoped to accomplish in the antitrust battle that has loomed over the stock car series for months.” The “nearly two-hour hearing” was on the teams’ request to toss out NASCAR’s countersuit. Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney representing the teams, said outside court the two teams “are open to settlement talks,” but noted NASCAR “has said it will not renegotiate the charters.” NASCAR’s attorneys declined to comment after the hearing. Kessler said he “would file an appeal by the end of the week” after a three-judge federal appellate panel dismissed a preliminary injunction (AP, 6/17).

Levy will oversee the food and beverage program for the NASCAR Chicago Street Race, running this year July 5 and 6 through the city’s historic Grant Park.

The street race, previously named “Event of the Year” by Sports Business Journal in 2024, will feature an expanded collection of Chicago’s favorite restaurants and menus curated by Levy, including two of Levy’s own restaurants in Chicago — Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap and River Roast — alongside local, independently-owned staples Mr. Beef, Bronzeville Winery, Lexington Betty Smokehouse, Robinson’s Ribs and Josephine’s Southern Cooking, with more to be announced closer to race weekend.

Levy leads the food, beverage and hospitality experience at nearly 20 locations around Chicagoland, along with marquee racing events like the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600, and many other NASCAR Cup Series events. Across the Grant Park course, Levy and NASCAR will build on their existing sustainability programs with a renewed commitment to scaling up reusable products. Beverage locations across all areas of the event this year will use reusable cups.

The NBA Finals are now averaging 9.2 million viewers ahead of Thursday’s Pacers-Thunder Game 6 on ABC, which has the league eyeing its least-watched Finals since Lakers-Heat from the bubble in the fall of 2020 (7.5 million over six games). Pacers-Thunder is down 19% from the 11.6 million that the five-game Celtics-Mavericks series drew last year. For now, Pacers-Thunder is below the 9.9 million that the six-game Bucks-Suns series drew in 2021 (which was dragged out into mid-July due to a COVID delay to start the season).

No game in the 2025 NBA Finals has topped 10 million viewers, and Pacers-Thunder Game 6 will need to do that to finish ahead of series like the Spurs’ sweep of the Cavaliers in 2007 (9.3 million) and the Spurs’ win over the Nets in six games in 2003 (9.9 million).

Game 5 on Monday night for Pacers-Thunder drew 9.5 million viewers, off 22% from the comparable Celts-Mavs Game 5 last year. Excluding the bubble in 2020, Monday night was the least-watched NBA Finals Game 5 since Spurs-Nets on a Friday night in 2003 (9.3 million).

While none of the NBA Finals games have hit 10 million viewers, the five games are still the most-watched primetime programs on all of TV during May/June.

Wider sidewalks and new security bollards “could soon come to Wrigley Field” via a $32.1M package that is set to face a final Chicago City Council vote today. Wrigleyville Ald. Bennett Lawson “hopes the security upgrades funded by a mix of team, city and state money will also help the Cubs land” the MLB All-Star Game. The proposed plan would also “settle a land dispute between the team and the city over a Waveland Avenue parking lot by moving fencing to widen a narrow alleyway.” To help pay for the deal, the state “plans to pay” $12M, the city will chip in up to $10M and the team will cover an $8M chunk, “plus any cost overruns and long-term maintenance work.” Lawson called the plan the “‘final piece’ of Wrigley Field’s gradual redevelopment” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 6/17).

FIFA says it has “sold close to 1.5 million tickets for Club World Cup matches as of Tuesday” as “images of empty stadium seats during weekday games have become a prevalent storyline” during the tournament’s first week in the U.S. FIFA says “more than 340,000 fans attended the first eight matches” of the tournament (Saturday-Monday) and “expects more than 50,000 fans to show up to the top-selling group-stage matches in the next week.” FIFA says fans “from more than 130 countries have purchased Club World Cup tickets,” with the U.S. “leading the way,” followed by buyers from Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Canada, France, Japan, Germany, Portugal and the U.K (USA TODAY, 6/17).

Meanwhile, the matchup between South Korea’s Ulsan HD and South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns at Inter&Co Stadium — home of Orlando City SC with a 25,500-seat capacity — “was delayed over an hour due to adverse weather,” and “when it finally kicked off, just 3,412 fans were in attendance, making it the lowest crowd of the tournament so far.” In addition, Tuesday afternoon’s 0-0 draw between Serie A club Fluminense and Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund “brought in 34,736 fans” at MetLife Stadium, which seats 82,500. Two days earlier, 46,275 fans showed up to the same venue for Palmeiras’ match against Porto (ESPN.com, 6/17).

International Money Express (Intermex), a money remittance provider, has signed on as a sponsor of the Red Bulls. The agreement is the company’s third MLS club deal in the past month, coming on the heels of deals with the Galaxy and Dynamo. The blitz of MLS deals is the company’s first foray into sports marketing.

Intermex will receive naming rights to the main gate at Sports Illustrated Stadium and exposure through field-level and concourse signage, in-stadium activations, community outreach events and cultural initiatives focused on Latino families across the Tri-State area. Sportfive represented the club in negotiations. Financial erms of the multiyear deal were not disclosed.

Intermex, which is based in Miami, largely serves Latinos throughout the U.S. seeking to transfer money to and from countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The company primarily provides money remittance services to Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.

Several money remittance firms have invested in North American soccer sponsorships in recent years. Western Union, one of Intermex’s major competitors, last year signed on as a sponsor of the Mexican National Team. Another competitor, Remitly, previously served as a sponsor of LAFC.

Dart Container Corp. brand Solo Cup, the red-colored cups often seen at tailgate parties and beer pong games, has lined up a trick shot with IndyCar team Chip Ganassi Racing to newly advertise in racing. The for now one-off arrangement is to be officially announced this morning, though CGR has been hinting at it in recent days with related programming on its social media pages.

While terms were unclear, Solo has been appointed primary sponsor of the No. 10 Honda driven by this year’s Indy 500 winner, Alex Palou, for this weekend’s Xpel Grand Prix at Road America. Deliverables include the team’s social media pages posting about Palou’s team using the cups such as playing what it’s calling ”SOLO-lympics” games at the team’s Indianapolis-based shop. The paint scheme is red and white to match the color of the Solo Cup, and there is also images of the cups on the front and rear wings. The deal was negotiated by Solo Cup in-house.

The Solo Cup as a product is intertwined enough with pop culture in America that late country singer Toby Keith had a hit titled, “Red Solo Cup,” which has 77 million views on YouTube. Ganassi is quick to note that it’s familiar with cups, too, with Palou having won IndyCar’s Astor Cup — the championship trophy of IndyCar — in three of the last four years. On top of plastic cups, Solo makes bowls and plates. Solo was founded in 1936 while the plastic cup was patented in 1976. Dart acquired the company in 2012.

For Ganassi, the agreement is another interesting sponsor win after a couple recent ones including what remains a potential coup with OpenAI. CGR, which used to compete in NASCAR, also did a deal with Big Machine Distilling around its Borchetta Bourbon label in part to celebrate the team’s 35th anniversary. It was unclear whether Solo Cup may sponsor other races with Ganassi past this weekend’s action in Wisconsin.

Cosm and the Premier Lacrosse League have announced a deal to show the league’s Lexus All-Star Game. The competition, taking place in K.C.’s CPKC Stadium on July 5, will air at Cosm’s L.A. and Dallas locations.

Financial terms of the deal were not provided to SBJ. Negotiations were handled by Cosm’s SVP/Media & Content Peter Murphy and Tom Brady, PLL’s Chief Media & Marketing Officer. The connection was boosted by existing Cosm partner ESPN, also the media rights holder for the PLL.

This will be lacrosse’s debut in Cosm’s shared-reality experience. The All-Star Game experience in the Cosm venues will also include various on-site fan activations like skill-oriented lacrosse games and PLL merchandise available for purchase.

The PLL Lexus All-Star Game adds to an ever-growing list of sports inventory for Cosm, which is currently showing both the Stanley Cup Finals and NBA Finals with the men’s College World Series finals on deck this weekend. Cosm recently won Breakthrough of the Year at this year’s Sports Business Awards and was named one of SBJ’s 10 Most Innovative Sports Tech Companies in 2024.

Cheerleading giant Varsity Spirit has announced the launch of the Pro Cheer League, the first professional cheerleading league for top athletes aged 18 and older. The league will offer cheer athletes a chance to continue competing beyond high school and college.

Varsity Spirit President Bill Seely said launching the league is the “logical next step” for a company that has led the way for years in continuing to innovate and elevate the sport of cheerleading.

The inaugural season will kick off with four teams based in Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, and San Diego. Led by team managers, each 30-member team will be selected through a competitive process beginning in September. Pro Cheer League team members will receive training, beginning in November, along with part-time compensation including wages, travel and lodging, uniforms, bonuses, and prize incentives.

The first season will debut in January 2026 with five events in Indianapolis, Houston, Atlanta, Anaheim and Nashville. Seely noted one of the challenges with launching a professional league is ensuring that the sport has an engaged following. The competition cities were selected because of their strong, existing fan bases, he added.

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