Tonight's NFL Draft has “taken over” Detroit’s downtown and is “expected to attract up to 400,000 people.” The league has been “planning the event for over a year, working with local partners to showcase Detroit-inspired art and design, a lineup of Michigan musical performances, and local food and other vendors for fans over three days.” The event's three central venues are the Draft Theatre next to Campus Martius, the Fox Theatre and Hart Plaza. NFL Dir of Event Operations Steve Farago said that while the focus of the Draft "is football, it has become a major entertainment event." The main stage of the draft is located in the Draft Theatre, which “will hold over 1,500 people.” Gates “will open to fans at noon” CT today and Friday, and 9am Saturday. Only invited guests “will be seated inside the Draft Theatre, but tens of thousands are expected to line up just outside and throughout Campus Martius to watch the draft and concert series.” Hart Plaza will host the immersive NFL draft experience for fans (DETROIT NEWS, 4/24).

Former WNBAer Sue Bird has joined the Storm’s ownership group Force 10 Hoops, which includes Lisa Brummel, Ginny Gilder and Dawn Trudeau -- a move that "many had speculated" since her retirement in 2022. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Bird is just the third former player to join a WNBA team’s ownership group following former Sparks F Lisa Leslie and Dream G Renee Montgomery. Two years ago, Bird became a minority investor in the NWSL’s NJ/NY Gotham FC. Bird was "surprisingly" not among the 15 investors who bought a stake in the Storm last year during a sale, which reportedly raised at least $21M and "helped finance" the construction of the team's practice facility and HQ that opened last week (SEATTLE TIMES, 4/24).

Thousands descended on the Delta Center yesterday to "welcome Utah’s new NHL team to its new home." An hour before the doors opened, lines of fans "vying to be among the lucky ones to be inside" with the team "wrapped around the outside of the arena." At the Delta Center, fans "enjoyed hockey-themed games, face-painting, live music, free food and even 4v4 roller hockey." They were then "invited inside and introduced" to the team’s players, head coach André Tourigny and GM Bill Armstrong in a special program. The Delta Center was "filled to capacity," while "hordes of fans hung out outside" and watched the broadcast of the team’s introduction. Cheers of, "'Let’s go, Utah,' pumped up the crowd" before the team walked onto the ice, and the cheers "only got louder throughout the program, often drowning out whatever players were saying over the microphone" (DESERET NEWS, 4/24). Players and coaches were "greeted at the airport" in the morning by a crowd of approximately 100 players from local youth hockey programs. The kids chanted "Go, Utah! Go, Utah!" (AP, 4/24).

Concessions workers at Wells Fargo Center are "going on strike for the second time this month" as the 76ers prepare to host the Knicks in Game 3 of the NBA Playoffs tonight. The roughly 400 members of Unite Here Local 274 who work at the arena, employees of Aramark, "called a work stoppage" this morning. The union said this strike "will continue until further notice." Game 4 between the Sixers and Knicks is set for Sunday at the arena as well. The union is "seeking a standard minimum wage and health benefits" for the hundreds of Aramark employees at all three South Philadelphia stadiums -- the Wells Fargo Center, Lincoln Financial Field and Citizens Bank Park. More than 90% of Unite Here’s Wells Fargo Center workers voted to authorize a strike late last month "if negotiations did not progress" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 4/25).

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey yesterday "dismissed any interest in engaging in conversations about a 'super league' in college athletics," instead "emphasizing his belief that 'there's a lot going right' in the current landscape." Sankey spoke at the conclusion of the annual College Football Playoff spring meetings, saying, "The fact that people have interest in throwing ideas out, that's up to them. I spend my time on what I have to do." In February, search firm TurnkeyZRG circulated a "confidential proposal" that included seven divisions with 10 schools each, but it has "failed to gain serious support." Sankey "pushed back" on the narrative that college sports "is in a crisis, pointing to recent interest in private equity as proof that the NCAA has a valuable product" (ESPN.com, 4/24).

The Dallas City Council yesterday approved a deal to pay the WNBA’s Dallas Wings $19M in incentives "to move to downtown Dallas from Arlington" starting in 2026. Under the 15-year deal, the Wings "will become the feature attraction" at the Dallas Memorial Auditorium. The deal is "still pending approval" by the WNBA’s BOG. Dallas plans to renovate the nearly 10,000-seat auditorium "as part of a larger redevelopment project anchored by a new convention center." The team plans to move into the convention center arena "by early spring 2026." The city incentives would be paid to the Wings "over three years," and the city "will retain ownership of the arena." The team will play the 2024 and 2025 seasons at the College Park Center in Arlington (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 4/24).

The K.C. Current have fired Carlos Jimenez, the head of their medical staff, for violating the NWSL's policy against fraternization. Yesterday, a report from The Athletic alleged the policy violation "involved a relationship with an unidentified KC Current player." The NWSL instituted a series of workplace discrimination, harassment, bullying and non-fraternization policies in 2022 in the aftermath of sexual coercion and misconduct investigations into former coach Paul Riley. Jimenez is the second member of an NWSL club to be fired this season for a violation of those policies. In March, the Houston Dash fired goalkeeping coach Matt Lampson after an investigation revealed he’d "violated the same anti-fraternization policy and code of conduct" for NWSL coaches. Lampson was subsequently "suspended by the league for the rest of the season" (K.C. STAR, 4/24).

The Kansas State football team will go abroad to open its 2025 season, playing a Big 12 game against Iowa State on Aug. 23 at Aviva Stadium in Dublin for the annual Aer Lingus College Football Classic. This will mark the second time Kansas State will play a football game outside the U.S. -- the Wildcats faced Nebraska in Tokyo in December 1992. It will also be the "first Big 12 matchup in Ireland" and the fourth edition of the Aer Lingus Classic (Topeka CAPITAL-JOURNAL, 4/24). This will be the sixth college football game ever played at Dublin’s 48,000-seat Aviva Stadium. Georgia Tech and Florida State will play there Aug. 24 of this year (THE ATHLETIC, 4/24).

Clark County has "approved a commercial demolition permit application" for Tropicana owner Bally’s Corp. that values the hotel’s implosion at $15M. Bally’s has until Oct. 20 to carry out the demolition (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 4/24).

The Basketball HOF enshrinement ceremony will be moved to Oct. 12-13 "to accommodate the 2024 Paris Olympics," which will be held in July and August. The original dates for the enshrinement ceremony were Aug. 16-17, while the Olympics' closing ceremonies are on Aug. 11 -- so "it's unclear exactly why there were requests to move the event" (CBSSPORTS.com, 4/24).

The Quebec government has awarded the organization that manages Montreal’s Olympic Stadium up to $40M "to pay for repairs and decontamination" after a March 21 fire (CP, 4/24).

The NLL announced a multiyear presenting partnership with Tampa General Hospital as part of its grassroots NLL UnBOXed initiative. TGH will join the League to bring the NLL to more young boys and girls throughout the Tampa Bay area. The “Tampa Bay Snowbirds presented by Tampa General Hospital” will begin the initial phase of NLL UnBOXed activations this year (NLL).

Walt Disney Studios Canada, the NHL and the NHLPA have come together during the Stanley Cup Playoffs to promote the release of Disney and Pixar’s "Inside Out 2." The collaboration in Canada launched with a unique brand-new TV spot today (NHL).

ANDSCAPE looks at the NFL Draft under the header, "NFL draft confirms Black quarterbacks as face of the league." For the "second time in as many years," two Black quarterbacks are expected to be selected among the top three picks in the three-day NFL Draft that begins tonight, and three "could go in the first round." In the last two NFL seasons, Black passers won both the AP league MVP and the Super Bowl MVP awards. The league’s "best player," Patrick Mahomes, is a Black quarterback. The league’s "best newcomer," the Texans' C.J. Stroud, is a Black quarterback. After being "sidelined because of discrimination for most of NFL history," Black quarterbacks "now dominate pro sports' most successful league," and Caleb Williams of USC, Jayden Daniels of LSU and Michael Penix Jr. of Washington "are eager to join the accomplished group."

More on the NFL Draft:

• Decades ago, the NFL draft dialed up its 'pizazz' on giant helmet phones.
• Meet Eliot Wolf, the man forming the Patriots' future and his legacy at the NFL Draft.

Also:

• Plenty to be excited about in TopSpin 2K25, which successfully recreates the joy (and frustration) of tennis.
• Robert Kraft’s fight against antisemitism began long before Oct. 7.
• The Caitlin Clark Effect and the uncomfortable truth behind it.

Fans are wrapped around @deltacenter on a warm spring afternoon in downtown Salt Lake City hoping for a chance to get inside and welcome the #Yotes to Utah. pic.twitter.com/F3JbZcExHd

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) April 24, 2024

Let's hope these top QBs tonight don't end up traded for pennies on the dollar in three years, but chances are one or more will. https://t.co/tnjq9vueUt

— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) April 25, 2024

🚨 Personal news: I was recently laid off and am a free agent! 💼

If you know of any opportunities that apply to my past experience (social media, influencer marketing, broadcast, etc.) please reach out, & RT if you can help spread the word in the golf/sports world! 🤗 pic.twitter.com/XrFLiD1MrG

— Samantha Marks (@SamanthaSMarks) April 24, 2024

"Decorated with an illustration of the Montgolfiers’ craft, the smoking room aboard this could be accessed only via an airlock."

"What is the Hindenburg?"