The NBA is finding out that when it comes to the All-Star Game, you can’t have it both ways.

The league stated that Sunday’s star-studded game is a TV event, there will be no NBA-sanctioned events open to the public, and that fans should not travel to Atlanta. That request is falling on deaf ears. 

A search on Eventbrite for “All-Star Game Party” turns up around 700 events this weekend in Atlanta. The NBA sent over 100 cease-and-desist letters to event promoters using its name and logo.

The numerous gatherings are in direct opposition to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ statement telling nightlife establishments “not to host events in the city related to this game.”

The weekend has also put Mayor Bottoms at odds with local businesses hoping for a surge of customers after a challenging year.

Todd Schneider, whose company owns a Ferris wheel in Atlanta, told Bloomberg that he was excited to have the game coming to his city. “Next I hear the mayor say, ‘But don’t come.’ That’s painful,” he said.

A number of NBA players were publicly unenthusiastic about health risks the game could present to players and fans — though those grumbles have faded in recent weeks, and the league is implementing extensive health and safety protocols.

One sure winner of the game will be its broadcaster, TNT, which could take in around $24 million in ad and sponsorship deals, by one estimate.

What started as a joke in 2013 can score you seats at a Dallas Mavericks game today.

The Mavericks will now accept Dogecoin as a currency to pay for tickets and merchandise. Fans must be members of the team’s Mavs Fans For Life club to partake.

Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency that was created to playfully mock blockchain tokens, but it suddenly shot up in value this year and received publicity boosts from Elon Musk and Snoop Dogg. It now has a market cap of $6 billion.

Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban said the team is doing this for “one very important, earth-shattering reason, because we can!” He believes that “sometimes in business you have to do things that are fun, engaging, and hopefully generate a lot of PR. So we will take Dogecoin today, tomorrow, and possibly forever more.”

• The team will use the service BitPay to process purchases using Dogecoin.
• Dogecoin opened the year priced at around half-a-penny per token, grew 16-fold in February, and settled back down to around five cents apiece as of Thursday.
• The Mavs began accepting Bitcoin in 2019.

Blockchain tokens have become serious business for the league. NBA Top Shot, which sells blockchain-backed video highlights, reached $45 million in sales in one 24-hour period in February and still sees around $10 million in transactions per day.

Cuban advised people who want to learn more about crypto to “talk to your teenagers who are on TikTok and ask them about it.” 

Smashing Pumpkins frontman William “Billy” Corgan is resurrecting the National Wrestling Alliance.

The multi-platinum-selling rocker became president of the NWA after buying the league in 2017. The league’s March 21 comeback match will mark its debut on its new exclusive broadcasting partner, pay-per-view streaming service FITE.

“Our goal is to expand our programming past our in-studio show NWA Powerrr and quarterly PPVs, as well as create a twin marketing and merchandise strategy that marries our incredible past with our present,” Corgan told Front Office Sports.

The NWA started in 1948 as a governing body to create a territory system among wrestling leagues but has been through many shifts since 1983, when the World Wrestling Federation broke off and became the dominant force in U.S. professional wrestling. 

“I essentially view the NWA as a startup, despite our now-73-year history,” said Corgan.

Michael Weber, COO of FITE, welcomed the league back, saying, “At our core is a deep connection with the pro wrestling community, and NWA is a key element of that.”

Prior to the pandemic, the NWA featured matches and interviews shot in an Atlanta studio, typically in front of just a few rows of fans. For now, matches will be without fans or piped-in crowd noise.

Corgan anticipates the league’s return could be the first step toward rapid growth.

“Professional wrestling is ever-solid in its core audience draw and demographics, and is a great partner for the right brands,” he said.

Shaquille O’Neal made a big statement about inclusion this week.

The basketball legend co-founded Majority — an ad agency focused on diversity — with CEO Omid Farhang, former chief creative at ad agency Momentum Worldwide.

“Most agencies still struggle to meet a 25% diversity target,” O’Neal said. “We want to flip that diversity ratio to turn the minority into the majority.”

Shaq plans to play an active role in the business, joining meetings, networking, and reaching out to contacts as needed. Majority is just one of the Hall-of-Famer’s many investments.

His first big hit came when his agent introduced him to Silicon Valley “super angel” Ron Conway, which led to Shaq investing in Google before it went public in 2004. “My only regret is that I wish I would have bought more,” he told Vanity Fair.

O’Neal also owns several restaurant franchises between Papa John’s and Auntie Anne’s, and once owned 155 Five Guys restaurants but has since sold his stake. He’s a minority owner of the Sacramento Kings, told the Wall Street Journal he’s interested in buying Reebok, and has made other significant investments in Lyft, Ring, and Vitaminwater.

Last month, a SPAC the four-time champion advises took fitness brand Beachbody public in a merger worth $3 billion. A week later, the same group filed for another SPAC, seeking $300 million to acquire a tech company.

Shaq has likely amassed a nine-figure fortune, but the exact amount isn’t clear. “My mother would be disappointed if I talk about numbers,” he said.