Florida
Florida Panthers Named ‘Sports Team of the Year’ at 18th Annual Sports Business Journal Sports Business Awards | Florida Panthers
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Sports Business Journal announced tonight that the Florida Panthers have been named ‘Sports Team of the Year’ at the 18th Annual Sports Business Awards in New York City. This award was judged from an eligibility period of March 1, 2024 through Feb. 28, 2025.
The Sports Business Awards celebrate excellence in the business of sports and factor all facets of the team’s operations both on and off the ice. The Panthers were nominated for ‘Team of the Year’ in 2023, with tonight’s recognition marking the first win for the organization. The other nominees for Sports Team of the Year were the Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA), Indiana Fever (WNBA), Inter Miami CF (MLS), Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB), USA Gymnastics & Washington Commanders (NFL).
“The Florida Panthers are honored to be named ‘Sports Team of the Year’, a humbling acknowledgement of how far our team has come under the passionate and steadfast leadership of the Viola family,” said Panthers President & CEO Matt Caldwell. “We are grateful to Sports Business Journal for this tremendous recognition that represents the unwavering and unified commitment of our players, coaches, staff members and ownership to success both on and off the ice.”
Off the ice, the Panthers sold out of season tickets for the first time in franchise history and generated a $125+ million impact on the local economy through the last two Stanley Cup Playoff runs. The club secured a new media rightsholder partnership with Scripps Sports increasing access to Panthers hockey to more than 2.6 million households for free, doubling viewership in the first year.
The organization amended and extended the Arena Operating Agreement for the County-owned facility Amerant Bank Arena committing to Broward County long-term, opened their new practice facility Baptist Health IcePlex and reopened a revitalized War Memorial Auditorium concert venue in Fort Lauderdale now operating four venues in Broward County from the Everglades to the beaches.
On the ice led, by President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Bill Zito and Head Coach Paul Maurice, the Panthers won their first-ever Stanley Cup championship in their 30th anniversary season and have made the playoffs in five consecutive seasons, including back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances (2023 & 2024). Florida signed several significant players to long-term, cost-effective contract extensions throughout the year including defensemen Gustav Forsling and Dmitry Kulikov, and star forwards Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell and are currently competing in their third consecutive conference final.
For a full list of winners from the Sports Business Awards, please visit SportsBusinessJournal.com.
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The Florida Attorney General’s Office on Thursday, Dec. 11, filed a lawsuit against popular online gaming platform Roblox, accusing the company of failing to protect its millions of underage users from predatory adults who would “find, groom, and abuse children.”
“Roblox aggressively markets to young children, but fails to protect them from sexual predators,” Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a post to X. “As a father of three little ones and as Florida’s attorney general, my number one priority is simple: to protect our kids.”
The lawsuit claims Florida children have been talked into taking and sending sexual images of themselves and lists several recent incidences, including a 20-year-old California man arrested last month for having sexually explicit conversations with a Palm Coast child and asking for nude photos.
A Roblox spokesperson said the lawsuit “fundamentally misrepresents how Roblox works.”
“We have advanced safeguards that monitor our platform for harmful content and communications,” Roblox Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said in a statement, adding that the company — currently the most downloaded game in the world — will be rolling out additional safeguards “beyond what is required by law and what other platforms do.”
Read Florida’s lawsuit against Roblox
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What is Roblox?
San Mateo, California-based Roblox, released in 2006, hosts millions of user-created games (or “experiences”) constructed with the platform’s built-in game engine. Any user can create a game and share it with others, and there are millions of games available of all types.
The game platform and most games are free to use, but some cost to play. There is also a thriving economy based on Robux, an in-game virtual currency used to purchase virtual items. Roblox offers a subscription service called Roblox Premium that provides access to more features and a monthly allowance of Roblox.
Voice chat is available, but only for users aged 13 or older with verified ages. Age ratings were introduced for games in 2022, and in 2023, 17+ games were permitted to include more graphic violence, romance, and drinking.
According to Roblox, as of 2020, the monthly playerbase included half of all American children under the age of 16.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The 2026 football schedule for the Florida Gators has been set. Next year’s slate was unveiled Thursday night on SEC Network.
The most notable dates are Florida’s SEC opener on Sept. 19 — a Week 3 trip to Auburn, where the Gators haven’t played since 2011 — along with a road game at Texas on Oct. 17 and home games against Ole Miss (Sept. 26) and Oklahoma (Nov. 7).
Next season will mark the Sooners’ first-ever visit to Gainesville. The teams have previously played twice in the postseason, with the Gators defeating Oklahoma 24-14 in their first-ever meeting to win the 2008 national championship.
The Gators open the season in The Swamp on Sept. 5 against Florida Atlantic. UF’s other non-conference opponents will be Campbell (Sept. 12) and at Florida State (Nov. 28).
Florida is also hosting South Carolina (Oct. 10) and Vanderbilt (Nov. 21). The Gators haven’t played the Gamecocks or the Commodores since 2023.
UF takes on Georgia in Atlanta on Oct. 31 after the bye week. Florida’s other road games are Missouri (Oct. 3), Texas (Oct. 17) and Kentucky (Nov. 14).
The Gators will be led by first-year coach Jon Sumrall. He won the American Conference title with Tulane last week and has the Green Wave in the College Football Playoffs. They will have a rematch against Ole Miss on Dec. 20 in the first round after losing in Oxford, 45-10, on Sept. 20.
Sumrall was back in Gainesville this week to assemble his staff. So far, he has hired offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, defensive coordinator Brade White and defensive line coach Gerald Chatman.
Date
Opponent
Location
Sept. 5
Florida Atlantic
Gainesville, Florida
Sept. 12
Campbell
Gainesville, Florida
Sept. 19
at Auburn
Auburn, Alabama
Sept. 26
Ole Miss
Gainesville, Florida
Oct. 3
at Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
Oct. 10
South Carolina
Gainesville, Florida
Oct. 17
at Texas
Austin, Texas
Oct. 24
Bye
Oct. 31
Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Nov. 7
Oklahoma
Gainesville, Florida
Nov. 14
at Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Nov. 21
Vanderbilt
Gainesville, Florida
Nov. 28
at Florida State
Tallahassee, Florida
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