After a one-year delay that is projected to cost organizers $3 billion, the Tokyo Olympics will no longer host any spectators.

Following another COVID-19 outbreak and a fourth state-of-emergency declaration, the Japanese Olympics Committee said no fans, foreign or domestic, will be allowed to attend. The opening ceremony is July 23.

The news is another hurdle for Japan’s economy after foreign visitors dropped to 4.1 million last year. In 2019, the country brought in $44 billion in revenue from 31.9 million tourists.

Before fans were banned, the event was already a financial burden.

• Total costs for the Tokyo Olympics could reach $25 billion.
• Japan projected ticket revenue to reach $830 million.

Sponsors like camera maker Canon announced plans to pull their promotion booths from the event. Other sponsors have scaled back entertainment plans for clients.

Around $3 billion was spent by roughly 60 Japanese companies for original sponsorship rights, and another $200 million was spent for contract extensions after the games were delayed, per Reuters.

By 2032, NBCUniversal will have paid a total of $12.5 billion for U.S. broadcasting rights since 2014. The broadcaster still thinks this year could be the company’s most profitable Olympics ever.

Michael Avenatti was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison by a federal judge Thursday, likely ending a saga that started with his attempt to extort as much as $25 million from Nike.

Avenatti, best known for representing Stormy Daniels and flirting with a run for president, must also serve three years of supervised release as part of the sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe. Restitution has not been determined. 

“Michael Avenatti used illegal and extortionate threats and betrayed one of his clients for the purpose of seeking to obtain millions of dollars for himself,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement. “Not only did Avenatti attempt to weaponize his law license and celebrity to seek to extort payments for himself, he also defrauded his own client.”

Avenatti, 50, was found guilty in February 2020 after a three-week trial.

In 2019, Avenatti threatened to hold a news conference where he said he would expose corruption at Nike linked to college basketball, but told the shoe giant he’d keep quiet in return for millions paid to him and his client, a youth basketball coach.

Nike said in a statement in March 2019 that the company “will not be extorted or hide information that is relevant to a government investigation.”

The MLB leaderboards are filled with dynamic superstars, but you won’t find many of them on the list of highest-paid players.

The top earner, per Forbes’ list unveiled on Thursday, is the New York Mets’ Francisco Lindor, who is making $45.3 million, including a $21 million signing bonus, in the first year of his 10-year, $341 million contract extension.

Otherwise, the top 10 is littered with injured pitchers like Justin Verlander ($34.2 million), Stephen Strasburg ($34.1 million), and Clayton Kershaw ($33 million), plus David Price ($32.5 million), who is in a reduced role this year.

The top two pitchers, Trevor Bauer ($39 million) and Gerrit Cole ($36.5 million) are currently the players most identified with the crackdown on pitchers using “sticky stuff” to improve their grips. 

Both have seen their results fall off since MLB began enforcing that rule. Bauer is also on administrative leave following allegations of domestic violence.

Many superstars are not included because MLB players make the league minimum for their first three years, then have their contracts determined through arbitration for the next three.

• Shohei Ohtani, who is leading the league with 32 home runs while also holding a 3.49 ERA as a pitcher, is making $3 million this season.
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr., second in home runs with 28 and first in batting average with .341, is making $605,400 on a league-minimum contract.

Bryce Harper ($5 million) and Mike Trout ($3 million) are the only two players making more than $2 million off endorsements. For comparison, LeBron James made $65 million off the court over the last year.