Miami Heat goes cold on deal with Conor McGregor after scandals

Celebrity News

exclusive

By Oli Coleman

June 29, 2023 | 8:16pm

Has the Heat got cold feet about Conor McGregor?

The MMA fighter has been on something of a quest to conquer America of late — and, as athletes from across the Pond have before him, the Irishman has struck up a warm relationship with the glitzy Miami Heat as part of the campaign.

But Page Six hears that his cozy cooperation with the heavyweight NBA team may have been KO’d after McGregor first sent the team’s mascot Burnie to hospital by punching him in the head in a skit-gone-wrong during Game Four of the NBA championship, then became entangled in a sexual assault scandal over an incident that allegedly took place at the team’s Kaseya Center arena after the same game. (McGregor has strongly denied the allegations, calling it a shake-down).

Insiders tell us that the UFC champ had inked a deal to make his new “cryo” pain spray the “official pain relief partner” of the team, an agreement that would see the players wear a Tidl Sports patch on their uniforms for the 2023-2024 season.

But we hear that after the series of regrettable incidents execs are quietly letting that deal go down for the count.

“This was very bad for an otherwise crystal clean organization,” said an insider, “I can’t imagine the Heat brass want the Tidl Sports patch on their jerseys — it’s a reminder of the 24 hours of hell the organization went through.”

The source said that there’s no sign of the deal on the team’s social media and it appears to have removed footage of McGregor, and there also appears to be no mention of the Heat on McGregor’s social media or Tidl’s.

When soccer superstar David Beckham moved in the US, he made his relationship with the Heat a centerpiece of his transition from famed foreign athlete to household name.

It seems McGregor won’t have the same leg-up.

Reps didn’t get back to us.