The actor was heard shouting, swearing in December about the need to practice social distancing.

LONDON — Paramount Pictures on Thursday temporarily shut down production on the British set of Tom Cruise’s seventh “Mission: Impossible” film after someone tested positive for coronavirus.

“We have temporarily halted production on ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ until June 14th, due to positive coronavirus test results during routine testing,” a Paramount spokesperson said in a statement. “We are following all safety protocols and will continue to monitor the situation.”

The company provided no further details.

In December, Cruise launched an expletive-laden rant at colleagues on the “Mission: Impossible” set, after he reportedly spotted two crew members violating social distancing rules. In audio released by the Sun tabloid, Cruise can be heard warning that anyone caught not following the rules to stay at least 2 meters (more than 6.5 feet) away from others will be fired.

The film, which paused production for months early last year along with the rest of the film industry when the coronavirus pandemic took hold, is scheduled to be released in 2022.

Read More

The home in North Kenwood where blues legend Muddy Waters lived was granted preliminary landmark status by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks on Thursday. A great-granddaughter is converting the property at 4339 S. Lake Park Ave. into The MOJO Muddy Waters House Museum.

McKinley Morganfield was born in rural Issaquena County, Mississippi, in 1913, the son of a sharecropper who played guitar on weekends.

His mother died not long after he was born, and he was raised by his grandmother.

She’s the one who gave him the nickname “Muddy,” stemming from his “muddying” for fish in a nearby creek. And when he picked up his first musical instrument, the harmonica — moving on to guitar in his teens — no one could have predicted Morganfield was destined to become the international blues legend “Muddy Waters.”

That would come after he headed north in the Great Migration, settling in Chicago.

And on Thursday, the home in the South Side North Kenwood neighborhood where the blues icon lived and raised his family moved a step closer to becoming a city of Chicago landmark, granted preliminary landmark status by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.

“Muddy Waters was one of the most important figures in the development of the distinctive electrified sound that came to be known as the ‘Chicago blues.’ Muddy Waters skillfully married the raw acoustic Delta blues he learned in Mississippi, with amplification, to create a powerful new urban sound,” Kendalyn Hahn, project coordinator at the Chicago Department of Planning & Development told the commission.

Courtesy of Chicago Department of Planning and Development

“This 1891 structure served as the home of the blues musician and his family from 1954 to 1973. And musicians who came to record or perform in Chicago made the home an unofficial center for the Chicago blues community, a community largely composed of African Americans whose gifts to the world not only shaped American popular music and subsequent generations of musicians, but one which gave the world a uniquely American art form, which speaks to the incredible resilience of the human spirit,” Hahn said.

The property at 4339 S. Lake Park Ave. is owned by Waters’ great-granddaughter, Chandra Cooper, who is converting the brick two-flat — where Waters lived on the first floor, rented out the top floor and had his recording studio in the basement — into The MOJO Muddy Waters House Museum. The preliminary designation passed unanimously.

The project is among burgeoning efforts to honor Black history in a post-George Floyd era, and part of a wave of house museums — including those honoring Emmett and Mamie Till Mobley, Phyllis Wheatley, and Lu and Jorja Palmer — that nearly got blocked by a failed ordinance earlier this year by Ald. Sophia King (4th) to limit them.

Courtesy of Chicago Department of Planning and Development

The Waters house is in the 4th Ward, and while Cooper and King have sparred over roadblocks in recent months, King on Thursday spoke ardently in support of the designation.

“My family comes from the Mississippi Delta. And so this is truly personal for me as well. My grandfather would be proud of me, because he taught me to drive in the backwoods of the Mississippi Delta. My mother picked cotton there. My uncle had to flee there when he was 16 because of fear of lynching,” King said.

“So I lived these stories. To have somebody like Muddy Waters who really put the blues and rock ’n’ roll on the stage, not just here in Chicago but across the country and the world, I’m personally proud. All of the challenges I know he was faced with to break down such barriers and do such significant things — this is a no-brainer for me.”

Courtesy of Chicago Department of Planning and Development

Arriving in Chicago in 1943, Waters played house parties at night for extra money, eventually becoming a regular in local nightclubs. By 1948, Chess Records released his first hits, “I Can’t Be Satisfied” and “I Feel Like Going Home,” and his career took off.

By the early 50s, his blues band, at one time or another comprised musicians who went on to make their own mark — Otis Spann, Little Walter Jacobs, Jimmy Rogers, Elgin Evans, Sonny Boy Williamson, James Cotton — had become one of the most acclaimed in history.

Waters’ classics topped charts, becoming standards in the repertoires of English rock ’n’ roll bands of the ’60s, including The Beatles. The Rolling Stones took their name from Waters’ single, “(Like a) Rolling Stone.”

“On behalf of the family of McKinley Morganfield, we believe it essential for the legacy of African American history that this home be designated a landmark,” Chandra Cooper told the commission, accompanied by her mother, Waters’ granddaughter, Amelia Cooper.

Sun-Times Media

Amelia Cooper lived in the home with her grandfather from 1956 to 1973. Waters moved his family there in 1954, purchasing it in 1956. Independent record companies like Chess, King, Vee Jay, Chance and Parrot, and distributors like United and Bronzeville were then headquartered around Cottage Grove from 47th to 50th streets, and the home became a gathering place for musicians welcomed at all hours.

At one time or another, legends like Otis Spann, Howlin’ Wolf and Chuck Berry stayed on the top floor. Waters lived there until after the death of his wife in 1973. He moved to suburban Westmont, where he lived until his death on April 30, 1983.

“I didn’t think I was going to be that emotional, but just seeing the pictures, and thinking of him and the struggle we went through, it was overwhelming,” Amelia Cooper said later.

“When I was born in 1956, my mother brought me home to that house. When Chandra was born in 1970, I brought her home to that same house. We have a lot of love and pride for that house. This has been a hard fight, and I’m proud of Chandra for not giving up.”

Courtesy of Chicago Department of Planning and Development

Read More

DePaul’s Theatre School retools the MFA acting program to be less expensive and more relevant; plus news from Collaboraction and Playmakers Laboratory

Twenty years ago, actor Cherry Jones gave an interview to the industry trade Backstage, where she called out one of the problems facing those hoping to make acting their profession. “I’ll tell you the thing that frustrates me the most right now for young actors: Graduate programs now in this country seem to be the best way for a young actor to get a calling card into this profession.…Read More

The younger generation of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales are on average about three feet shorter than whales were 20 years, drone and aircraft data show in a study in Thursday’s journal Current Biology. Scientists say humans are to blame.

One of the giants of the deep is shrinking before our eyes, a new study says.

The younger generation of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales are on average about three feet shorter than whales were 20 years, drone and aircraft data show in a study in Thursday’s journal Current Biology.

Scientists say humans are to blame. Entanglements with fishing gear, collisions with ships and climate change moving their food supply north are combining to stress and shrink these large whales, the study says.

Diminishing size is a threat to the species’ overall survival because the whales aren’t having as many offspring. They aren’t big enough to nurse their young or even get pregnant, study authors said.

These marine mammals used to grow to 46 feet on average, but now the younger generation is on track to average not quite 43 feet, according to the study.

“This isn’t about ‘short’ right whales, it’s about a physical manifestation of a physiological problem, it’s the chest pain before the heart attack,” said Regina Asmutis-Silvia, executive director of Whale and Dolphin Conservation North America, who wasn’t part of the study. “Ignoring it only leads to an inevitable tragedy, while recognizing and treating it can literally save a life, or in this case, an entire species.”

There are only about 356 North Atlantic right whales left, down from 500 in 2010, said study co-author Amy Knowlton, a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium. Other estimates put the population around 400, though researchers agree the population is shrinking.

In the past, scientists and activists have concentrated solely on whale deaths, but now they realize there’s a problem afflicting surviving whales that can still cause populations to further dwindle, said study co-author Michael Moore, marine mammals director at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. The authors were able to take pictures of 129 of the right whales and use a computer program to compare them to right whales of similar age 20 years ago.

The issue emerged from a research trip several years ago when Knowlton and others saw a few small whales and a dead one. They figured the small whales were calves, less than a year old, because of their size, but checking showed the whales actually were about two years old. Whale calves normally double in size in two years, said study lead author Joshua Stewart, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researcher.

The study authors said the No. 1 issue with smaller right whales is entanglement in fishing gear, especially ropes that have become stronger and harder for whales to shed.

“Over 83% now of the species has been entangled at least once in their lifetime, some as many as eight times,” Knowlton said. “If it doesn’t kill them, it’s certainly going to affect their ability to reproduce.”

Collisions with ships is another problem. Both fishing gear and ship crashes have been addressed with government regulations in some normal feeding grounds for the whales. But since 2010, climate change has caused plankton the marine mammals eat to move north and east to areas without regulations, so entanglements and crashes increased, Knowlton said.

The shifting of feeding grounds has added more physical stress to North Atlantic right whales, which already were skinny compared to their southern cousin species, Moore said.

“We know that climate change has affected some of their key prey sources, so entangled whales are likely experiencing a triple whammy of less food around, less ability to forage for it, while burning more energy,’’ said Dalhousie University marine biologist Boris Worm, who was not part of the study. “It’s heartbreaking to think about the lives that some of these whales lead.”

Patrick Whittle contributed from Portland, Maine.

___

Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Read More

Opendorse’s deal with Twitter will give college athletes at schools that use its service the opportunity to start earning money from content they create and tweet.

A company that has partnered with dozens of college athletic departments on name, image and likeness programming announced a deal with Twitter on Thursday that will allow athletes to monetize video posts on the social media platform.

In less than a month, several state laws will go into effect that will make it possible for college athletes to be paid for endorsements, sponsorship deals and personal appearances.

The NCAA is also hoping to have new rules in place by the end of June to govern all Division I athletes and NIL compensation from third parties.

Opendorse’s deal with Twitter will give college athletes at schools that use its service the opportunity to start earning money from content they create and tweet with just a few taps on a smart phone.

Blake Lawrence, the co-founder of Opendorse and a former Nebraska football player, said the deal with Twitter will ensure that college athletes align with approved advertisers and videos published are compliant with NCAA rules and various state laws.

Among the schools that have deals with Opendorse are Nebraska, Texas, Ohio State, LSU, Indiana and BYU.

Opendorse also partners with several professional sports league players’ associations, including the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball.

“We’ve built a system that allows the activities of an NBA player to be evaluated differently from that of an NFL player,” Lawrence said. “So that same approach you can bring to the collegiate space.”

He said if there is a state-by-state approach to NIL legislation, the company is equipped to evaluate activities differently for an athlete in Florida, for example, as opposed to one in Mississippi.

The video athletes can monetize cannot come from the schools and broadcast partners. They must be independently produced.

“This fall when a college sports fan is scrolling through Twitter, they’re going to see a video from their favorite student-athlete and that video could be that athlete providing a post-game recap. Their thoughts on the game they just played,” Lawrence said. “The fan hits play on that video and they will see a five- to 15- to 30-second advertisement before the video plays.

“The difference between that video this fall and that video today is that video this fall will result in compensation directly to that student-athlete.”

The athlete will be paid based on engagement with the video and number of followers.

Read More

“You can’t come out walking at nights because there is shooting everywhere,’ said Jessica Martinez, 38. “I’m scared to take my babies to the park.”

Maria Medina was on her way to tend to her backyard when she saw a young teen walking her dog with her boyfriend.

She recognized the 14-year-old girl, her family were nice people from the same Back of the Yards neighborhood where Medina has lived for over 30 years. From the back of her house Medina heard two gunshots and, when she thought it safe, ventured to the front to find paramedics trying to save the seventh-grader’s life.

“It’s so sad,” Medina, 76, said in Spanish.

The teen and her boyfriend had just bought snacks from a store at the corner of Wood and 48th streets around 6 p.m. Wednesday when they were confronted by three young gunmen, according to police and the alderman of the ward.

They asked if she was in a gang and she said she wasn’t, at which point the three chased her half-way down the block and opened fire, according to Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), who said he got the details from police.

The gunmen jumped into an SUV and sped off. The girl was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head, police said. She underwent surgery Wednesday night.

No one was in custody.

Anthony Vázquez / Sun-Times

A classmate of the girl said she is outgoing and always befriending new people. She is an avid drawer and part of their school’s art club.

“She could talk to anyone and make you feel so comfortable,” the classmate said. “And she really loved her dog.”

A young boy walking with his mom Thursday said he knew the girl and was hurt by what had happened.

“I wasn’t her friend or anything like that, but this is really sad,” he said. “I can’t believe this happened.”

Police have said little publicly about what led to the confrontation. Medina said that, in all her years living in the neighborhood, she’s never seen anything like it.

The Back of the Yards neighborhood has been a hotspot for homicides over the years, but within the last year they have significantly dropped. In 2020, the New City community area — which includes Back of the Yards and Canaryville — had 11 homicides. It has seen only 3 this year so far.

Even so, some residents say shootings have gotten worse recently.

“You can’t come out walking at nights because there is shooting everywhere,’ said Jessica Martinez, 38. “I’m scared to take my babies to the park that’s nearby, and I don’t understand what’s going on.”

Lopez tweeted that he heard shots near a grade school as he watched police work the scene where the girl was shot.

“What the hell is going on tonight?” he asked. “I’m still on scene for the gang shooting in Back of the Yards and now 17 rounds fired off in front of Shields Elementary School in Brighton Park.”

Others at the scene were clearly on edge.

Mariah McClinton, 20, said she heard two gunshots and ran to the window to see what was going on. The shooters had already left, but she saw a crowd gathering near the girl and shouting that one of the gunmen had run into her apartment building – which wasn’t true.

“This guy, I don’t know who he was, but he ran up in our building and he started banging on my door,” McClinton said. “I was terrified because he was banging on the door so loud and kicking it that I thought he was going to break it down. I didn’t know if he was one of the shooters trying to hide or who he was. I thought me and my daughter were going to get shot.”

McClinton was alone in the apartment with her 3-year-old daughter. As the banging grew more intense, she pushed her refrigerator in front of the door.

“I called the police telling them there is some man banging on my door, that they need to send someone to stop him,” McClinton said. “But the operator just said it might be the police since they are investigating an incident nearby and I should probably answer the door.

“I knew it wasn’t the cops,” she said. “After what seemed like forever, officers came and stopped the man.”

McClinton said her landlord just informed her that her rent is going from $500 a month to $1,200, but after Wednesday’s shooting she is preparing to move.

“I get they are trying to make this neighborhood more high-end because it has gotten somewhat better in terms of crime, but there is still too much of it here,” McClinton said.

Lopez said a new gang in the area has been recruiting from neighborhood schools – focusing on kids 15 years and younger. He blamed the glorification of gang culture for violence in his ward.

“This elevation of gang life has to come to an end. It’s not cute. It only comes to one outcome, what we saw last night,” he told the Sun-Times.

The girl’s classmate, who is in eighth grade, said the new gang had been encroaching on the block, with members in both high school and middle school. The classmate once saw them on the block talking to young people.

“She was friends with everyone and tried to be if she could, even people who were affiliated with the old and the new gang,” the classmate said. “I think it’s related to that, and I just want police to know this information.”

Meanwhile, community activist Andrew Holmes urged neighbors who may have cameras on their homes to give footage to the Chicago Police Department.

“These streets belong to the children, the parks belong to the children,” Holmes said Wednesday outside Comer Hospital. “Give our city back to our youth.”

Since last week Thursday, at least 10 people 18 or younger have been shot in the city.

Through the end of May, 1,386 people were shot in Chicago, a jump from 1,116 during the same time in 2020. Murders have risen 5% compared to 2020, with the department reporting 252 murders so far this year.

Anyone with a tip can call Area 1 detectives at (312) 747-8384.

Read More

Read More

Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be sunny with a high near 86 degrees. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a low around 67. Tomorrow will be mostly sunny with a high near 89.

Top story

Chicago ready to move to full reopening on June 11, Lightfoot says

Mayor Lori Lightfoot today abandoned her July 4 timetable for a full reopening and said Chicago is ready to join the rest of the state in lifting all capacity restrictions on June 11.

She made the announcement that bars, restaurants and hotels have been waiting for on the Facebook live show that Chicago Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady has been hosting during the pandemic.

“The numbers are looking great. Better than they’ve been, I think, through the entirety of the pandemic,” the mayor said, pointing to the 135 cases-a-day in Chicago and to the city’s 2% test positivity rate.

Face masks will still be required in schools, in health care settings, on public transit and in some businesses. Anyone who is not vaccinated should continue to wear a mask.

Now is the time, if you haven’t been vaccinated, to get the shot, Arwady said.

Fran Spielman breaks down what to expect during Phase 5 here.

More news you need

1. Three teens chased a 14-year-old girl down a sidewalk in Back of the Yards and shot her in the head yesterday after asking what gang she belonged to. She was walking her dog and headed to a corner store before being confronted, officials said.
2. A bill creating a 21-member elected school board in Chicago is likely to pass the House after already passing the Senate, Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said today despite opposition from Lightfoot. The mayor recently branded the proposed board “unwieldy,” saying it’ll make the search for a new CPS head more difficult.
3. After the death of Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s mother, Stratton made it her mission to help others caring for Alzheimer’s patients. It’s culminated in a bill making Illinois the first state to require Alzheimer’s training in health care.
4. The remains of a local Navy sailor have been identified nearly 80 years after the St. Charles man died during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Leslie Delles will be formally buried Oct. 23 in Sutter, California.
5. Vaccinated Illinoisans can now get an alcoholic beverage of their choice under a bill Gov. Pritzker signed into law last night. The bill also extends a business’ ability to sell cocktails for pickup and delivery.
6. Bubba Wallace stopped by Pilsen’s Boys & Girls Club yesterday to make a few donations and win over some new NASCAR fans. A driver on Michael Jordan’s racing team, Wallace said it felt like a full circle moment.
7. Beloved piping plover pair Monty and Rose’s nest was attacked by a skunk at Montrose Beach Dunes last night. They are OK, but the skunk ate all four of their eggs.

A bright one

Bud Billiken Parade to return Aug. 14 to the South Side

Bud Billiken is back.

After a year hiatus due to the pandemic, the parade will return to the South Side for the 92nd time on Saturday, Aug. 14. The typically annual event attracts tens of thousands of spectators and marchers to Washington Park.

The parade route will be shorter, though, starting at 51st Street and continuing to 55th Street, rather than launching from 39th as it has been in the past. The route has been shortened in hopes of limiting crowds, said Antawn Anderson, executive administrator and program director of the Bud Billiken Parade.

The number of parade performers, including dance troops and bands, will also be cut in half due to COVID-19 safety precautions.

James Foster/Sun-Times

But bringing back the event will restore a tradition featuring dances and performances that generations of South Siders and others have enjoyed.

“It’s more than a parade, and it’s more than one day,” Anderson said. “Individual leaders and dance directors put their lives into these children. And the reality is, in our community, dance saves lives.”

At the parade’s end, the annual free community festival is set to take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Nina Molina has more about the parade’s return here.

From the press box

1. While Andy Dalton continues operating as the Bears’ starting QB, Justin Fields has been taking second-team reps over Nick Foles in the team’s OTA practices. It’s a good sign for the rookie passer that he’s already getting reps over one of the veterans, Mark Potash writes.
2. Post-COVID Wrigley Field isn’t exactly the same, but Neil Steinberg says he choked up for a moment the first time he gazed back upon the friendly confines from his seat at a recent Cubs game.
3. Michael O’Brien, who covered Jon Scheyer in high school, looks at how Mike Krzyzewski’s handpicked successor at Duke will handle stepping into some big shoes.
4. White Sox TV voice Jason Benetti will take some time this summer to call Olympic baseball games for NBC.

Your daily question ☕

What music genre defines Chicago? Tell us why.

Reply to this email (please include your first name and where you live) and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday, we asked you: Which Chicago neighborhood has the best food? Here’s what some of you said…

“Little Village because Mexican food is the best food.” — Raulito Hernandez Jr.

“Garfield Ridge: Three bakeries and several great pizza places.” — Phyllis Schriedel

“Greektown for all their Puerto Rican food.” — Rigo Banuelos

“River North has top-notch cuisine of every type, but the prices are high!” — Jerry Goldner

“Clearing. Lithuanian, Polish, Mexican.” — Andrea Moore

“That depends on your taste! I have gotten good food from Pilsen to Cabrini and everything east to west!” — Charles E. Blalark

“Downtown and Rogers Park because there are all types of foods.” — Myrna Kar

“Andersonville, N. Clark and Foster. Three traditionally Swedish Restaurants: Svea, Tre Kronor, and Ann Sathers. Sorry, Ann Sathers closed years ago!” — Randy Johnson

“Bridgeport for three places: Connie’s Pizza, Phil’s Pizza and Ricobene’s! You can’t find better anywhere else.” — Mark Quintero

“Anywhere you go every neighborhood has its own unique foods. CHICAGO is the best!” — Deborah Betancourt

Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

Sign up here to get the Afternoon Edition in your inbox every day.

Read More

“In compliance with MLB’s existing COVID-19 protocols, Andrew Vaughn has been placed on the injured list,” GM Rick Hahn said. “Andrew is currently asymptomatic.”

The White Sox placed rookie outfielder Andrew Vaughn on the injured list in compliance with MLB Covid protocols on Thursday.

Infielder/outfielder Gavin Sheets was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte.

“Andrew is currently asymptomatic and our hope is that, similar to our other IL placements of this nature, he will return shortly to the active roster,” general manager Rick Hahn said. “At this time, no other players on the roster are impacted.”

Vaughn did not play in both ends of the Sox’ doubleheader against the Indians in Cleveland on Monday and returned to the lineup Tuesday. Manager Tony La Russa said Vaughn was held out of those games because of allergies.

Vaughn is batting .226/.316/.394, four homers and a .711 OPS. A first baseman, Vaughn has successfully transitioned to left field after left fielder Eloy Jimenez suffered a long-term injury during spring training.

Sheets, 25, impressed during spring training and is batting .319/.360/.500 with four home runs and 20 RBI over 23 games with the Knights. He has played in 14 games at first base, nine in right field and one in left.

Read More

DraftKings, FanDuel aren’t the only sportsbooks pushing their way into mainstream sports media, but they’re certainly the boldest.

A trend is happening in the sports-betting world that has nothing to do with money lines, point spreads or totals.

When the Supreme Court ruled in May 2018 that states could decide whether to allow sports betting, we all expected sports radio and TV to produce content dedicated to gambling. It would cater to an underserved audience and provide advertising and sponsorship dollars.

But some surprising branches have grown from the sports-wagering tree of life. Sportsbooks aren’t merely offering facts and figures; they’re creating their own content with the purpose of competing in an already-crowded sports-media landscape.

DraftKings bought Brent Musburger’s Vegas Sports Information Network (VSiN) in March. In April, it agreed to a content and distribution deal with former ESPN Radio host Dan Le Batard’s Meadowlark Media. DraftKings and Le Batard hit the air Friday with a live 24-hour show on YouTube.

FanDuel reached an exclusive deal last July with NFL punter-turned-media personality Pat McAfee to carry his talk show on its platforms. Last month, it became the exclusive odds provider for the Associated Press as part of an agreement that includes content sharing.

These aren’t the only sportsbooks pushing their way into mainstream sports media, but they’re certainly the boldest. And with partnerships in place for both with professional leagues – including the NFL, which had long eschewed the mere presumption of gambling – executives say they’re only getting started.

“Leagues and media companies are seeing an unbelievable opportunity to make a lot of money,” said Bynum Jaeger, an agent at Harlan Sports Management in Chicago. “Money drives everything in business, especially coming out of a pandemic. It was an untapped resource for a long time.”

“I still do a double-take when I’m watching ‘MLB Tonight’ and on the bottom crawl now, not only do you get the score, you get the odds,” said Joe Ostrowski, who hosts “BetQL Daily” and The Score’s “Early Odds” on Saturday mornings. “I still am like, ‘Wow, it’s amazing to think that we’re there.’ ”

How did we get there so fast?

“The pace of legalization is easing companies’ policies,” said Adam Kaplan, FanDuel Group’s general manager and vice president of content. “The added benefits of operating in a legalized market are significant, creating a safer experience and more comprehensive for customers.”

“The idea of bringing that business into the regulated market that’s taxed, that creates jobs, there’s tremendous support for that,” said Matt Kalish, president of DraftKings North America and co-founder. “And then that’s branched into the media company side of things.”

That side can create stars, at least in the gambling world. Jaeger represents Sam Panayotovich, a Chicago native and Mount Carmel grad who talks sports betting at NESN in Boston and contributes to Fox Sports’ digital operation. He worked for Musburger when VSiN started in 2017.

“Sammy has become one of the go-to guys in the space,” Jaeger said. “While he was out there in Vegas, he developed relationships with insiders from all different parts of the space. Now he’s able to educate the masses and occasionally he may be able to create an edge for people.”

McAfee already had made his mark in sports media when he made his FanDuel deal, which was described as a first-of-its-kind arrangement between a sportsbook and a sports personality. Kaplan called it the company’s most prominent and successful investment.

Former ESPN 1000 program director Adam Delevitt is mining content as the director of broadcast and streaming media at Rush Street Interactive, a Chicago company that operates gaming websites and works with BetRivers, including Rivers Casino Des Plaines.

“The demos align well,” Delevitt said. “Similar demographics consuming certain sports media are also following those games the personalities watch and play. Like buying the same brand of clothes because your favorite personality is wearing them.”

Which begs the question: With sportsbooks willing to spend, could they eventually pursue a prominent mainstream media figure to drive their business?

“I don’t wanna give away too much about our future plans, but it’s a fair question to ask,” Kaplan said. “It’s not impossible that one day someone could leave a major network to be a spokesperson for a gambling company. There’s a lot of interesting talent out there, not only across the major networks but folks that are up-and-coming or have been creating content on their own.”

Kalish said he has encountered a number of people who see the momentum behind sports betting and view it as a potential next phase of their careers. Jaeger, who already has a handful of clients in the industry, said it provides a great opportunity for talent who can leverage content.

“I don’t see why mainstream network sports talent wouldn’t want to bring their game and brand to a sports-gaming company,” Delevitt said. “As more states continue to legalize, the growth in this area will be enormous. I think we are in the top of the first inning in this rise of sports content and wagering entertainment.”

Read More