AROUND THE HORN
MLB: Major League Baseball is ending a 70-year relationship with trading card company Topps after signing a new partnership with a rival company. The loss of the MLB partnership immediately scuttled a deal announced earlier this year that would have made Topps a publicly traded company. The special-purpose acquisition company Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corporation II said Friday that its agreement to merge with Topps to take the company public was terminated by mutual agreement after it found out that MLB and the league’s players’ union would not be renewing their respective agreements with The Topps Co. when they come up for renewal at the end of 2025 and 2022, respectively. ESPN reported on Thursday that it obtained a memo from the Major League Baseball Players Association that a company created by the sports merchandise company Fanatics that has yet to be named will be the exclusive licensee for baseball cards once its current licensing agreements expire at the end of next year. The Fanatics deal also includes the players’ unions for the National Basketball Association and the National Football League.
Braves: Braves have agreed to an $8 million contract extension with catcher Travis d’arnaud that ensures his return in 2023, as well as a club option that could extend the deal for a second season. D’arnaud recently rejoined the firstplace Braves after missing more than three months with a thumb injury. The deal announced Friday includes an $8 million club option for 2024 with no buyout.
Brewers: One month after leading the Bucks to their first NBA title in half a century, Giannis Antetokounmpo is teaming up with the city’s other major pro sports franchise by joining the Brewers’ ownership group. “Man, this is unbelievable,” Antetokounmpo said Friday at a news conference. “This is a dream come true for a kid from Sepolia, Athens, Greece, born from immigrant parents. I could have never imagined I would be in this position.” Antetokounmpo is the first new individual investor who has been added to the Brewers ownership group since Mark Attanasio purchased controlling interest of the franchise in 2005. “Milwaukee made me who I am today,” said Antetokounmpo, who signed a supermax contract extension with the Bucks in December. “It made me a better person.”
Athletics: The Athletics are proceeding with “parallel paths” planning new ballparks in Oakland and Las Vegas, determined to find the best fit and relocate if the club can’t secure what it wants along the downtown waterfront Howard Terminal site. Team president Dave Kaval is planning another trip to Las Vegas soon — traveling there every couple of weeks, he said — to evaluate the options with that potential spot. He spoke on the field Friday ahead of the A’s hosting the Giants in the Bay Bridge Series at the Coliseum, a site he still insists is not right for baseball going forward. “I think we’ve been really clear, I think the league’s been really clear that this site does not fit the 21st century vision for baseball in North America,” Kaval said. The A’s are the last professional franchise remaining in Oakland after the NBA’S Warriors relocated to San Francisco and the NFL’S Raiders to Las Vegas.