The National Football League and the National Basketball Association, along with their respective players' unions, will each contribute $1 million to the American Red Cross and other relief organizations to assist in the Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts. Additionally, both leagues and their network broadcasters are airing pregame and in-game messages soliciting donations from viewers. At least one NBA team, the Orlando Magic, also has pledged $25,000 to the Red Cross and, according to the team's website, "will recognize those impacted by the storm through in-game player messages, as well as raise awareness through player PSAs, social media and the team's website."
The National Football League and the National Basketball Association, along with their respective players' unions, will each contribute $1 million to the American Red Cross and other relief organizations to assist in the Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts. Additionally, both leagues and their network broadcasters are airing pregame and in-game messages soliciting donations from viewers. At least one NBA team, the Orlando Magic, also has pledged $25,000 to the Red Cross and, according to the team's website, "will recognize those impacted by the storm through in-game player messages, as well as raise awareness through player PSAs, social media and the team's website."
The National Hockey League, entrenched in a collective-bargaining dispute with its players, hasn't made an official donation. But a statement on its website is "encouraging fans to donate to the Red Cross disaster relief fund to help victims" - a move that prompted one commenter to write, "They encourage support, meanwhile they fight over millions of dollars." Another wrote, "I'm going to take the money I would have spent on hockey this year and donate it."
Meanwhile, Major League Baseball is blaming the storm for a leak of the Houston Astros' new throwback logo for 2013. According to Yahoo! Sports, "a visit to the team's website on Tuesday morning revealed that every player page contained the team's new logo, as well as a picture of the player wearing a hat that was poorly photoshopped onto his head." MLB's official Twitter page explained that "MLB Advanced Media, in advance of super-storm Sandy, inadvertently posted photos of players in their new uniforms on @Astros.com bio pages."
At least individual MLB teams, from the Oakland A's to the New York Yankees, are pitching in to help Sandy's victims. UPDATE: Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association announced Friday night that they are jointly contributing $1M to relief efforts.
