Former NFLer ROB GRONKOWSKI unveiled the $2M Gronk Playground at the Charles River Esplanade in Boston yesterday, a “fully ADA-accessible space for inclusive play.” Funded by his Gronk Nation Youth Foundation, the playground “features a slide with a football-shaped climbing structure and scaled-down Boston landmarks for kids to clamber up and swing from.” There is a life-sized Gronkowski figure “standing in the middle of the playground with a hand outstretched for high-fives.” Massachusetts Gov. MAURA HEALEY, Patriots owner ROBERT KRAFT and family and friends of Gronkowski “turned out to celebrate the opening” (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/19).
DOWN IN ATLANTA: A who’s who of the golf business was at Nan Thai Fine Dining in midtown Atlanta on Tuesday night ahead of the Tour Championship. CHARLIE and NAN NIYOMKUL, owners of the restaurant, catered VIJAY SINGH’s Masters Champions Dinner in 2001 at Augusta National. Spotted at Nan Thai’s on Tuesday: A four-person table with NBC’s DAN HICKS, BRAD FAXON, PETER JACOBSEN and GARY KOCH. Another NBC cohort that included BRANDEL CHAMBLEE, RICH LERNER, EAMON LYNCH, ALEX RUSSELL and COURTNEY HOLT. CAA’s MEGAN NICOL, BEN GANNETT and BILLY MCGRIFF among others at a table. Wasserman’s BUD MARTIN and ANDY BILODEAU seated at a table with their clients from the Travelers Championship: NATHAN GRUBE and ANDY BESSETTE. Seated between Bessette and Grube? PGA Tour player and Wasserman client NICK TAYLOR. Also spotted were Boston Common Golf’s MARK LEV and TEDDY MITROPOULOS dining with ARNAUD LABORDE, a key player in Rolex’s golf sponsorships. Others spotted at Nan Thai’s: TGL’s CHRIS REIMER and ADAM FREIFELD along with Read The Line’s KEITH STEWART. Others spotted at East Lake on Tuesday: Excel Sports Management’s LANCE YOUNG, Rory McIlroy Inc.’s NIALL O’CONNOR, Sportfive’s JEREMY ELLIOTT and TOMMY RIEHLE (Josh Carpenter, SBJ).
PUT THE GLOVE UP: Basketball HOFer SHAQUILLE O’NEAL has accepted an Officially Celebrity Boxing match with CHARLES ALSTON, former bodyguard to actor WILL SMITH. Alston this week explained the two men have a beef “dating back to an encounter years ago” (USA TODAY, 8/20).
RECORD SIGNING: NWSL club Orlando Pride are “finalizing a deal to sign” F LIZBETH OVALLE from Liga MX Femenil club Tigres in a deal that would “represent a world-record transfer fee” in women’s soccer, according to sources. The Pride are expected to spend $1.5M in fees to acquire Ovalle (THE ATHLETIC, 8/19).
NAMES: The annual Hockey Night in Brampton — billed as Canada’s largest charity hockey game — will be held today at the CAA Centre and will raise “funds for the transformation of Peel Memorial into Brampton’s second hospital.” Maple Leafs F AUSTON MATTHEWS will captain the event and will be alongside Maple Leafs D CHRIS TANEV, Sabres D OWEN POWER, former NHLers RYAN GETZLAF, CURTIS JOSEPH, JEREMY ROENICK, sportscaster RON MACLEAN and more (TORONTO STAR, 8/19)….Former NBAer TYLER HANSBROUGH is joining UNC professor LIVIS FREEMAN to teach a sports communications class at his alma mater (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 8/20)….Former Heat security officer MARCOS PEREZ pleaded guilty yesterday to “transporting and transferring millions of dollars worth of stolen game-worn jerseys and other memorabilia” (AP, 8/19)….Spurs C VICTOR WEMBANYAMA this summer stayed at a Shaolin temple in Zhengzhou, China, for more than a week — where visitors “study meditation and kung fu” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/19)….The F1 Business Summit is scheduled for Nov. 20, the first day of the three-day F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, at Wynn Las Vegas. Notable speakers that will take part in the event include F1 CEO STEFANO DOMENICALI, Fanatics founder & CEO MICHAEL RUBIN, Raiders President SANDRA MORGAN, HOF sportscaster JIM GRAY, Sphere President & COO JENNIFER KOESTER, Liberty Media CEO DEREK CHANG, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President & CEO STEVE HILL, Las Vegas Grand Prix President & CEO EMILY PRAZER and Mercedes AMG Petronas principal TOTO WOLFF (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 8/19).
