Brandon Moss, a baseball player who plays for the Cleveland Indians, hit his 100th career homerun last Tuesday.

But he didn't get to keep the ball until today when Apple CEO Tim Cook announced something special at the WWDC.

Why?

Because his teammates held it for ransom. 

The homerun ball he hit ended up landing in the Indians bullpen, and his teammates demanded a bunch of Apple products if he wanted to retrieve the special ball. The following note was given to him:

The note says "You get the ball when we get these items!" And every player on the list is demanding an Apple product, except for "Ricky," who's asking for either $5,000 in cash or an iPad.

Apparently, Moss - who makes $6.5 million this year in salary, according to ESPN - had not acquiesced to his teammates' demands, and the ball was held away from him. But Cook, standing on stage at the WWDC, announced that Apple has decided to pay for all the items. 

It's unclear why or when the gifts will be given out, but one thing is for sure: even ball players love owning Apple products.

SEE ALSO: Apple just revealed OS X El Capitan, its new operating system for Macs

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The New York Knicks have their highest draft pick in 20 years, selecting at No. 4 in this year's NBA Draft.

The No. 4 spot is actually a bit of a disappointment for the Knicks, who tanked and finished with the second-worst record in the NBA. Picking fourth is also particularly tricky in this year's draft.

Though this is considered a deep, talented draft class, the Knicks have needs at every position, and given how historically few and far between top lottery picks have been for the team, there's immense pressure to get this one right.

Falling to No. 4 in the lottery likely means the Knicks will just miss out Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor, and D'Angelo Russell, the three players generally considered the best in the draft. Towns and Okafor are potential franchise-changing big men while Russell almost perfectly fits the mold of a modern NBA point guard.

While there are good prospects below them, they all have bigger question marks, and the Knicks face the increased risk of missing on their highest, most important draft pick in two decades.

Emmanuel Mudiay is a big, athletic point guard, but he's a bit of an unknown after skipping freshman year of college to play a year in China, where he battled injuries. Ditto for Latvian big man Kristaps Porzingis, who the NBA world has little exposure to. Some of the NBA world is concerned about Mudiay and Porzingis because they never played in the NCAA. The success rate for prospects who only have professional experience overseas is iffy, and if either one doesn't live up to their potential, the Knicks will have wasted their most important draft pick in decades.

The Knicks could look into two defensive stalwarts in Justise Winslow and Willie Cauley-Stein, but both need to develop on offense and may have lower overall ceilings than the top tier of players. Winslow and Cauley-Stein project to be good players, but their potential weaknesses have caused some to wonder if the Knicks would be reaching by taking them No. 4.

One option is for the Knicks to trade down in the draft, getting back a player and a lower pick where there's less pressure for the prospect to immediately perform well in the NBA. Knicks president Phil Jackson has stated the team will consider trading down, and Knicks Blog's Keith Schlosser reports that the Knicks may consider it to draft Murray State point guard Cameron Payne. The inherent risk, of course, is whether the player the Knicks would get back and the lower draft pick would be worth more than a top lottery pick.

These are the same dilemmas almost every team faces in the draft, but the current state of the Knicks and this particular draft makes them more pronounced. The Knicks are trying to rebuild quickly through this draft and free agency. If they miss on their draft pick, it only adds to their list of needs in free agency, where money is precious.

The Knicks could luck out. Mudiay and Porzingis's size, potential, and seemingly steeper learning curve seems to fit the 76ers' brand of rebuilding, leaving Russell to possibly fall to the Knicks at No. 4 (assuming Towns and Okafor go in the top two). However, if Towns, Okafor, and Russell go in the top three like many people expect, the Knicks have a tougher choice to make, and it could have serious ramifications in the future.

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In a thrilling bout at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Miguel Cotto knocked out Danny Geale to set the stage for a presumed upcoming fight against former junior middleweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.

Cotto, who hadn't fought in 364 days, showed no signs of rust — recording two knockdowns in an utter drumming of Geale. After knocking him down early in the fourth round, Cotto continued with a flurry of punches to floor Geale once more. Upon being asked by referee Harvey Dock if he wished to continue, Geale shook his head, and Dock stopped the fight giving Cotto the win by technical knockout.

Following the fight, Michael Yormack, the president of Roc Nation Sports, which promotes Cotto, all but guaranteed a fight against Alvarez was next for his champion fighter.

"It's a fight everyone wants to see," Yormack said. "It's the fight we're going to make. We have the framework of a deal done. Obviously, we had to wait until tonight was over, but now we can focus on Canelo and Miguel's next fight, and we're looking forward to it."

The potential bout between the two would be the biggest fight since Mayweather-Pacquiao. Many have called it "the biggest fight that can be made today." However, unlike the historic bout between the top two pound-for-pound fighters in the world, which fans and reporters called "a boring con job" and "a complete waste of time and money," many believe a fight between Cotto and Alvarez will bring the excitement that Mayweather-Pacquiao did not.

One such person is Alvarez's promoter, and president of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya. Following Cotto's knockout win, De La Hoya was already starting to hype the potential bout to Ring TV:

"The fight between Cotto and Canelo is huge. It's the biggest fight in boxing after Mayweather-Pacquiao. But the difference is that with Cotto-Canelo, you are guaranteed action. ...There's no other way around it. You're guaranteed action, and that's what people want to see."

De La Hoya's claim is not without merit. Cotto and Alvarez, who recently recorded a third-round knockout win over James Kirkland, are two of the most powerful fighters in the sport — both have recorded more than 30 knockouts a piece.

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Though the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled out a 95-93 overtime Game 2 win over the Golden State Warriors Sunday night, some Cleveland fans are still upset about a no-call on a clear foul on LeBron James.

On a crucial possession in overtime, James was hacked by Andre Iguodala, but the refs didn't call a foul, instead calling a 24-second violation on the Cavs.

It was clearly a foul, but the refs missed it:

Had the Cavs lost the game, this would have been an egregious no-call that could have drastically affected the whole series. However, the Cavs won, so the no-call it didn't affect the outcome

To meteorologist Mark Johnson of Cleveland's ABC5, the no-call was unacceptable.

Before giving a weather report, Johnson went on a mini-rant griping about the non-call on live TV. Johnson gave a demonstration of "new NBA rules," saying, "This is no longer a foul":

He continued, "That's no longer a foul. We learned that tonight in the Golden State game... Actually you should've come down and hacked me a little harder. You should've taken a saw and sawed off my arm!"

Johnson can take solace in the series going back to Cleveland for Games 3, 4, and 5, where James might get some more favorable calls.

Here's the full video:

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Whoever wins Game 3 of the NBA Finals will still be only halfway toward winning the title, but one metric suggests that Game 3 is much more important than that.

According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index, the Warriors' chances to win the Finals fell from 81% prior to Game 2 to 61% after the loss to the Cavs. But as we can see below, the series will still very much be on the line in Game 3.

If the Warriors can win Game 3 on Tuesday, their chances of winning the series will jump back up to 81%, making them a whopping favorite at 1/4 odds. However, if the Cavs can pull out a second-straight win, the series will still be close to a coin-flip with a slight edge to the Cavs.

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Lebron James has been a Samsung spokesman since 2012, appearing in numerous ads and marketing campaigns.

He's been one of the most famous celebrities to ever endorse Samsung, and his impact on its brand-image has been quite effective.

But James hasn't always been the most vocal supporter of Samsung in private, or at least it seems so. 

Last year, there was that famous Twitter gaffe where he mistakenly badmouthed Samsung and its Galaxy phone after the phone deleted everything in it.

"One of the sickest feelings I've ever had in my life!!!" he tweeted at the time (which was deleted shortly after).

And it looks like just last week, James gave out Apple Watches - not Samsung wearables - to his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates before the finals to show his appreciation for all their hard work.

According to Cleveland.com, James handed out brand new Apple Watches to his fellow ball-players after a night gathering intended to inspire and motivate the team, which is currently playing in the NBA Finals.

"I've been fortunate enough to work with some great partners and whatever I get, I like to share with my teammates...It's just my way of showing them that I care. That's it. It's not the first time and it won't be the last time," James told Northeast Ohio Media Group.

Being a spokesperson of a company doesn't mean you can't use a competitor's product, but it doesn't reflect well on the company being endorsed. Whatever the case is, it seems like Apple is the more popular product among professional athletes.

SEE ALSO: The reason Apple needs a music streaming service explained in one chart

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Bryce Harper is having a breakout season and is an early candidate for National League MVP. But that is only a part of his true value to the Washington Nationals.

Harper is on pace to hit .326 with 54 home runs and a 1.170 on-base plus slugging percentage, and he has already been worth 4.0 "wins" more than a typical replacement player (based on the Wins Above Replacement stat, via Fangraphs.com). To put that in perspective, Mike Trout, with a WAR of 8.0, was the only player in MLB last season valued at more than 6.8 "wins."

Now consider that Harper is 22 years old and is making just $2.5 million in salary this season, a mere pittance in an era in which the top players regularly make more than $20 million each year.

We can determine Harper's True Value by comparing how much he has been worth to the Nationals on the field in terms of WAR versus his actual salary. Every "win" in WAR is worth approximately $8 million. This is how much it would cost a team to acquire one "win" worth of talent in free agency.

Harper leads MLB with a WAR Value ($31.6 million) that exceeds his salary ($2.5 million) by $29.1 million.

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American Pharoah became the first Triple Crown winner in nearly 40 years after blowing away the field at the Belmont. But how would he have fared if he went up against the most dominant horse ever?

The Wall Street Journal recently released a great video that shows American Pharoah's 2015 Belmont race and Secretariat's 1973 Belmont race side-by-side.

It wouldn't have even been close.

Early on the two horses are relatively neck-and-neck, Secretariat leads by just 0.46 seconds at the 1/4 mile mark. However, by the 3/4 mile mark that lead has ballooned to 3.61 seconds. While American Pharoah does manage to close the gap at the end, Secretariat still leaves the recent Triple Crown winner in the dust, beating American Pharoah with a final time of 2:24.00 to 2:26.65.

When Secretariat hits the finish line, American Pharoah is still well behind:

Here's the full video:

And how the horses' Belmont Stakes splits compare:

• 1/4 mile mark: Secretariat- 23.60 seconds; American Pharoah- 24.06 seconds
• 1/2 mile mark: Secretariat- 46.20 seconds; American Pharoah- 48.83 seconds
• 3/4 mile mark: Secretariat- 1:09.80; American Pharoah- 1:13.41
• 1 mile mark: Secretariat- 1:34.20; American Pharoah- 1:37.99
• 1 1/4 mile mark: Secretariat- 1:59.00; American Pharoah- 2:02.33
• Final Time: Secretariat- 2:24.00; American Pharoah- 2:26.65

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Tiger Woods' 2015 season has been a major disappointment thus far.

After a 69th-place finish at the Players' Championship, Woods shot a career-worst 85 in the third round of the Memorial, finishing at +14 for the tournament.

While some may point to injuries as the problem — Woods pulled out of a tournament in February with a glutes problem and claims he popped a joint back into place at the Masters — many in the golf world think Woods' constant tinkering with his swing is the real problem.

Lead Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee believes Woods' decline has been his own fault.

After getting more muscular in recent years and moving onto his fourth swing coach, Chris Como, Chamblee chastised Woods on TV for "destroying the method" that made Woods so dominant early in his career.

"What's different about this, I don't know that it's sad, it's mysterious. It's mysterious because time hasn't robbed Tiger Woods of his game — he's done this to himself. He's traded his genius for the ideas of others. He's changed his body in the gym. That sinewy, perfect body that he had in 2000 that was so explosive, he's traded for bulk. So everything we see here is the result of what he's done over the last four, five, six, seven, eight years...

"His complete and utter belief in the ideas of others, turning over this great game of his, I think that's mysterious to me. His desire to build a great golf game and then destroy it, build another one and destroy it. The gym and the swing, and it's the perfect combination that robs somebody of the belief and confidence you have to have in your own self." 

Chamblee then argued that there's never been an athlete at the top of their sport who completely abandoned the method that made them dominant. He noted that Woods has changed his swing coach four times — he won eight grand slam titles with his first coach, Butch Harmon, six with his second, Hank Haney, and zero under his last two coaches.

"He's been at this for about eight months with Chris Como. I think that's plenty," Chamblee continued. "He's had eight months, Tiger Woods, to move off of the ball and to stay taller and do all of these things that seem pretty simple, and he really hasn't done it."

Though Chamblee has been critical of Woods in the past, he's not the only person to criticize Woods for tinkering with his game and perhaps bulking up too much and changing his body. In 2014, Haney said he thought Tiger had gotten too muscular. Later that year, Harmon said he thought Tiger was over-thinking his game by hiring new coaches and should just hit some shots instead.

However, there is reason to hope that Tiger could turn his slump around. As Chamblee noted, golf has a wide window for success, and Woods is only 39. Additionally, at the Masters, Tiger seemed to be over his case of the yips and improved his short game dramatically before falling back into a slump in recent tournaments.

There isn't a ton of optimism that Tiger can turn his game around after several disappointing years, but it seems that finding a method of success and sticking to it could be a beginning.

Watch the entire Golf Channel segment below:

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On Monday, Kanye West turned 38-years-old.

In order to celebrate the occasion, West's wife, Kim Kardashian, threw her husband an unforgettable birthday bash.

First, Kim blindfolded Kanye and he had no idea where they were heading.

Surprise! Kim paid a reported $110,000 to rent out the Staples Center, home of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Khloe Kardashian posted: "Kim rented out staples bitch!!! Him and his boys are going to ball!!!! Happy birthday Yeezy!!!!

Tons of NBA players and Kanye's celebrity friends were in attendance to play in a East vs. West game, including basketball stars James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and John Wall, as well as, Tyga, Justin Bieber, and Pusha T.  

Kanye was obviously team "West."

Looks like Kanye's got game.

But this was no ordinary basketball game. John Legend was on hand to sing the national anthem.

There was an NBA finals trophy cake and DJ A-Trak provided the tunes.

Kim even hired Lakers’ cheerleaders to provide a little entertainment as the men played, and had real NBA referees officiating the game. 

Her famous sisters were in attendance, too.

Even the jumbotron was personalized for Kanye.

Ultimately, Team West defeated Team East.

After the game, Kanye made sure to take plenty of pictures.

It was a good day to be Kanye West. 

SEE ALSO: Kim Kardashian's 3 rules for succeeding in business

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It will be years before we know who really won the 2015 MLB Draft, but thanks to a controversial decision in last year's draft and a little bit of luck this year, the Houston Astros ended up with three of the best players available.

This year's haul was set up by last year's draft when the Astros created controversy by not signing pitcher Brady Aiken, whom they selected with the top pick in the draft. After initially reaching an agreement on a $6.5 million contract, a physical raised red flags, causing the Astros to lower their offer. Aiken declined the lower offer, and eventually tore a ligament in his elbow pitching for a baseball academy and needed surgery.

One reason the Astros were able to play hardball with Aiken is that baseball rules compensate teams who fail to sign high draft picks as long they make an offer that reaches a minimum threshold. By failing to sign Aiken, the Astros were awarded a comparable pick in this year's draft: pick No. 2.

As a result, the Astros entered the 2015 draft with two of the top five picks in the draft, the No. 2 pick and the No. 5 pick (their regular pick).

With those two picks, the Astros took shortstop Alex Bregman from LSU and high school outfielder Kyle Tucker. Bregman was considered the 4th best player in the draft by both MLB.com and Baseball America. They also had Tucker ranked as the No. 7 and No. 8 prospect, respectively.

On top of those picks, the Astros also owned the No. 37 pick, and this is where Lady Luck helped them.

Daz Cameron, a high school outfielder who was considered one of the top six players available, fell in the draft. According to John Heyman of CBSSports.com, teams were scared away by his $5 million contract demand. If he goes unsigned, Cameron intends to play college baseball at Florida State.

When Cameron was still on the board at No. 37, the Astros jumped. He was ranked No. 6 by MLB.com and No. 5 by Baseball America.

In other words, the first-place Astros, one of the biggest surprises in baseball this season, just added three of the top eight players available in the draft.

Of course, the Astros still have to sign all three. But Houston has the negotiating advantage at this point with three top players. If one player's price is too steep and they sign just two of the players, they will still have had a wildly successful draft.

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1. Before his team earned a shock draw in a 3-3 thriller against Sweden in their opening game at the Women's World Cup, Nigeria national team coach Edwin Okon talked to the media about what he knew about the fifth-ranked team in the world.

"I know nothing about Sweden. I am very sincere," he said. "We just have to prepare well to meet them, I do not know or haven’t read about them."

Scouting is notoriously difficult at the Women's World Cup, but it's even tougher for national teams that don't have the money or resources of the programs the U.S. and Germany do. While Sweden coach Pia Sundhage complained that it was tough to get her hands on Nigeria game film because they rarely play outside of Africa, she also added the kicker, "However, we have a great scouting team. We are well-prepared."

When asked about scouting Sweden, Okon said he didn't have to.

"I don't need to know your name, I don't need to read about you," he said.

Nigeria is the last-ranked team in Group D at 33rd in the world. Their other three opponents in the Group of Death— the U.S. (2nd), Sweden (5th), and Australia (10th) — are all ranked in the top 10. Faced with the task of taking down some of the biggest teams and names in world soccer, it's hard to think of a better philosophy than, "I don't need to know your name."

2. This lack of scouting manifested itself in the first-half goals that put Sweden up 2-0. Both came off of corner kicks, and both were horribly defended by a Nigeria team that looked like they had no idea what to expect (they didn't).

The first goal, an own goal, was particularly ugly:

3. Nigeria is good though. They aren't a compelling underdog because they try hard and overachieve, they're a compelling underdog because they think they're good enough to take down the best teams in the world, and they actually might be. Twenty-year-old forward Asisat Oshoala was named BBC women's player of the year. Francisca Ordega has two goals and two assists in four starts for the NSWL's Washington Spirit. 

Nigeria had 14 shots to Sweden's seven and held the majority of possession. They didn't pack numbers behind the ball and hope for some luck, they attacked again and again and consistently beat Sweden's back line with speed and smartly timed runs.

On the first equalizer, Oshoala shrugged off a defender before cooly finishing:

On the goal that made it 3-3, a perfectly weighted pass sent Ordega in on goal:

Nigeria is an underdog that doesn't play like an underdog. It's only after the goals — when you see through their celebrations how much this means to the players, coaches, and staff — that you get a sense that they aren't used to scoring gorgeous goals against top teams on the sport's biggest stage.

Here was the sideline after Oshoala made it 2-2:

Coaches, players, fans, the whole package:

4. Nigeria can advance out of Group D. Australia, their next opponent, is not as highly regarded as Sweden. And the United States, their final opponent, has a shaky defense that Oshoala and friends should be able to get in behind. Nigeria advancing to the knockout stages wouldn't just be good for the team and women's soccer in Africa in general, it'd be great for this specific World Cup because one of the most fun teams in the world would be four games from the trophy.

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The NFL world isn't quite sure where Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks are in negotiations for a contract extension for Wilson.

After initial reports that the Seahawks would give Wilson a historically big extension, it came out that the two sides were "tens of millions" of dollars apart.

According to Terry Blount of ESPN, Wilson's agent, Mark Rodgers, sent the Seahawks a 16-page letter detailing exactly what he and Wilson are looking for in an extension.

Blount reports that it's unknown exactly what Rodgers said in the letter, but the common belief is that it echoes what Rodgers said on 710 ESPN Seattle two weeks ago — that Wilson is prepared to play out the fourth year of his rookie deal, which pays him $1.5 million this season, if the two sides can't agree on a deal that Wilson likes.

Though Rodgers made the negotiations sound slow, but civil, he said he and Wilson are looking for a "fair" deal that rewards Wilson's performance in his first three years.

During his radio appearance, Rodgers said:

"Russell Wilson's under contract with the Seahawks and he absolutely, if he has to, would certainly be fine playing his fourth year under a four-year contract that he signed coming out, and then moving on from there. I don't feel any particular crunch on time and any real particular deadlines."

...

"I think what he's looking for is what everybody's looking for, and that's a deal that feels fair, that feels reasonable and that at the end of the day makes him feel comfortable with the compensation he's receiving for the skill and the performance that he's delivering."

Rodgers also added that he would characterize the negotiations as "positive and encouraging."

Though he didn't get into specific numbers for Wilson's deal, there's reason to believe he and Wilson want a deal that would blow away the $80 million offer the Seahawks were offering, as reported by Danny O'Neil of 710 ESPN Seattle in May.

Cam Newton's recent $103 million extension, with $67 million guaranteed, could help set the bar for Wilson. While Newton is a talented quarterback, his on-field success doesn't compare to Wilson, who is virtually in a category of his own after going to two Super Bowls in his first three years. If Wilson is looking for a "fair" deal, as Rodgers states, it almost has to mean that he's looking for something well over what Newton just received.

SI's Peter King pondered the negotiations and similarly believes that Wilson is still looking for a mega-deal that would make him the highest- or nearly the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL. King writes:

"I don’t know what Rodgers wants, but I can assume it must be close to making Wilson the highest-paid quarterback in football...  The highest-paid player in football today, in average compensation, is Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, at $22.0 million. He signed the contract in 2013, when the league’s salary cap was $123 million. Suppose Wilson signed a deal averaging $22 million per. This year the cap is $143.3 million. Rodgers’ deal, in year one, was for 17.8 percent of the Packers’ cap. Wilson’s $22 million average deal, if that’s anything near what he wants, would be for 15.4 percent of the Seahawks’ 2015 cap. I only say that because it’s fair to think Mark Rodgers would be taking into account the fact that teams have $20 million more to spend this year, and the cap is only going to go up."

King adds that Wilson's agent knows the salary cap will go up next season when Wilson will be finished with his rookie deal. If Rodgers and Wilson are trying to make a deal comparable to the market value of other top NFL quarterbacks, the rising cap will mean that in 2016 the percentage of the cap will be more money. That gives the Seahawks incentive to get a deal done this season before the percentage Wilson would receive goes up with the cap.

Rodgers says that Wilson isn't caught up in labels like becoming the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL. However, Wilson is only slated to make $1.5 million this year, far below many of his peers, most of whom haven't tasted the success Wilson has had in his first three years. In the NFL, where career longevity isn't guaranteed, Wilson and his agent have to be looking to cash in on a big deal while they have the opportunity. 

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Former New York Giants running back David Wilson, who suffered a career-ending neck injury in his second season and was forced to retire at just 22 years old, has dreams of representing the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Wilson will attempt to take a major step in reaching that goal when he makes his pro track debut in the triple jump at the Adidas Grand Prix on June 13. Wilson wrote on his Instagram account that even though he's battling a hamstring injury, he still has his eyes set on competing: 

"Smooth but now time to hit the #track my first pro meet next weekend 13th #NewYork fresh off hamstring injury but last meet to make USA championships. Gotta suck it up and make the mark #realdrastic wish me blessing haven't competed since #2010 on the track"

While fumbling problems and poor pass protection relegated Wilson to be primarily used as a return man and change-of-pace running back during his two-plus seasons in the league, he still managed to record electric plays showcasing his blazing track-like 4.29 40-yard dash speed, like this one:

He also loved to show off his athleticism during his back flip touchdown celebrations: 

Wilson will hope that athleticism can help him make a smooth transition back to track and field. Prior to his NFL career, Wilson was a two-sport athlete at Virginia Tech — competing in both football and in the men's triple jump, where he placed sixth at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a best of nearly 16.2 meters (56 feet and 1.74 inches). That mark would've placed 10th at the 2012 US Olympic Trials.

"One level of competition has been taken away, but I'm not [just] a football player — I'm a competitor," Wilson told ESPN following his retirement from the NFL last August. "Track and field is something I can do at a high level. ...Rio is on my mind everyday."

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Now that American Pharoah has won the Triple Crown, his owners have vowed to keep racing, at least until the end of this year. However, once the prized horse does end his racing career, the big money will start rolling in.

One source told Yahoo Sports that American Pharoah will command a stud fee that will pay the owners of his breeding rights close to $200,000 per foal.

According to Kristian Dyer, a horse can sire "more than 100 foals per year." Those figures would translate to more than $20 million per year in stud fees alone.

For comparison, California Chrome, who won the first two legs of the Triple Crown in 2014 before falling to fourth in the Belmont Stakes, commands just $20,000 per foal which translates to $2 million annually if he sires 100 foals each year.

Despite being the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, there is no guarantee that American Pharoah will always command high stud fees. As Dyer explains, future earnings will depend on the success of his foals. If they prove to be excellent racehorses, the fee will remain strong. Of course, the opposite can happen also.

However, even without success, there will still be a premium for the chance to own an offspring of this generation's most recognizable horse.

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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is following up on the huge box-office opening for his disaster movie “San Andreas” with his first foray into serial television as the star and executive producer of HBO’s “Ballers.”

Johnson plays a former pro football player who becomes a financial advisor for current athletes. As the promos show, it looks like the series will give us a behind-the-scenes view of the stars we root for every Sunday during the season.

To pull this off, the need for authentic set dressing like NFL names and logos is crucial.

According to ProFootballTalk, which has already viewed multiple episodes, the show does use NFL licensed imagery.

“The first episode includes a scene from a conference room with a Packers logo on the wall. Later, one of the characters visits the fictional coach of the Miami Dolphins, who is wearing a hat with a Dolphins logo (the old logo, not the current one). The second episode includes multiple scenes at a Dolphins offseason practice, with the players wearing helmets bearing the Dolphins logo (the current one, not the old one).”

However, ProFootballTalk reports that "Ballers" does not have the consent of the NFL to use such logos.

“HBO is always mindful of other intellectual property owners, but in this context there is no legal requirement to obtain their consent,” HBO told the site, confirming that the NFL has no involvement with the series.

“Ballers” is the first TV series to have NFL logos without the consent of the league. It's also the first show to depict professional football since ESPN did it in 2003 with their series, “Playmakers.”

"Playmakers," which did not use any NFL properties (just like many movies that focus on pro football like “Any Given Sunday” or “The Replacements”), was canceled after one season due to pressure from the NFL, which was concerned with the show’s unfavorable depiction of the players off the field.

But HBO does already have one series in which the NFL is involved. Titled “Hard Knocks,” HBO cameras film the happenings of one team during their preseason camp.

BI’s request to HBO for comment was not returned., while the NFL has "no comment" regarding logos being used in "Ballers."

Watch the trailer for "Ballers" below, there's no featured logos, but we're not sure the NFL will be thrilled with how players appear to be portrayed:

SEE ALSO: How Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson went from WWE wrestler to Hollywood's box-office champ

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Every team in the NFL faces the same two difficult hurdles. That is, every team wants a franchise quarterback and once they get one, they have to figure out a way to pay them what they are worth and still be able to afford a quality roster around him.

With Russell Wilson still without a new contract — and it is looking more and more like he won't get one this offseason— the Seahawks are the envy of the NFL with a franchise quarterback scheduled to have a salary cap figure of just $1.7 million this season, or about 1.1% of their cap space. For comparison, the other 31 NFL teams have an average of 9% of their salary cap taken up by quarterbacks and many of them don't even have a franchise-quality signal caller on the roster.

Wilson is grossly underpaid for what he has accomplished in the NFL. But in the short-term, there is a huge advantage to the Seahawks to wait before they give him the big contract he deserves.

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After a heartbreaking overtime loss in Game 2, Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob made sure there will be at least a few Warriors supporters in the building when his team faces the Cavaliers in Cleveland in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

According to tweets spotted by SB Nation, Lacob chartered a flight so that every full-time Warriors employee could go to the game. Warriors account services executive Megan Reyes tweeted a picture of her and the other ecstatic employees before the flight over.

Lacob didn't stop there. He also booked 155 hotel rooms in the Cleveland area to accommodate all of those flying out. 

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In the most recent MLB All-Star voting update, the Kansas City Royals have seven players in line to start for the American League, with four of those players leading the league in votes.

As of now, Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer will start over two-time AL MVP Miguel Cabrera, and Royals second baseman Omar Infante, who has a .216 average and the lowest OPS+ this season among qualified players, trails Astros' Jose Altuve by only 150,000 votes.

Royals outfielder Alex Gordon is also behind reigning AL MVP Mike Trout by less than 300,000 votes. If both Infante and Gordon are able to overtake Altuve and Trout, respectively, then the entire American League All-Star starting lineup would be made up of Kansas City Royals.

Some fans and analysts were appalled by the results. Sports Illustrated's Cliff Corcoran wrote an article dedicated to "fixing the AL's All-Royals All-Star team," and encouraged readers to vote for non-Royals players instead.

While some of the results are perplexing to say the least, MLB Advanced Media CEO Bob Bowman stressed this isn't the work of a hacker or bots, just a lot of Royals fans, who can vote 35 times each under the league's rules.

"It’s just energized Kansas City fans both locally and nationally," Bowman told Business Insider. "Give the Royals and the Royals fans their due. They have been energized since day one."

"Many of their fans have already voted the maximum 35 times," he said.

After the latest All-Star voting update, fans who are critical of the voting rules took to Twitter to air their frustration:

While this is the first year of online-only balloting, 80% of votes for last year's game were cast online, Forbes reports. Bowman says there are no plans to change the voting system.

"There’s a lot of voting left to go, the last few days in voting could equal the first six weeks," Bowman said. "It's way premature [to think of changing the voting system], there’s a lot to go yet. We will have energized Tigers fans, energized Mariners fans, energized Orioles fans. These fans get energized for this."

Voting ends July 2.

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Leo Messi and his father will stand trial over accusations that they defrauded authorities of more than $4.5 million between 2007 and 2009, the Spanish newspaper El Pais reports.

A Barcelona judge rejected Messi's appeal, deciding that he had benefited from a scheme allegedly set up by his father to defraud Spanish tax authorities of 4.1 million euros ($4.6 million).

Whether or not Messi knew he was breaking tax laws, the judge ruled, did not matter.

The question of whether Messi knowingly participated in the alleged fraud, or if it was all his father's idea, will be addressed during his trial.

Messi and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, are accused of circumventing tax obligations in Spain by using companies in Belize and Uruguay to sell the rights to Messi's image. Messi's father allegedly set up the scheme when his son was still a minor.

Father and son have both denied the allegations, and Messi's lawyers have argued that he "has never spent one minute of his life reading, studying, or analyzing" the contracts involved in the alleged scheme.

Prosecutors retorted that Messi had signed the contracts when he turned 18 and was listed as a sole administrator of one of the fraudulent companies in question.

A judge first ruled against Messi and his father in October, stating that "in this type of crime, it is not necessary for someone to have complete knowledge of all the accounting and business operations nor the exact quantity, rather it is sufficient to be aware of the designs to commit fraud and consent to them."

The Messis' appeal of this ruling was finally rejected Wednesday. Father and son will appear in court sometime this summer.

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