Closing Bell

Roy Kramer, who served as the SEC’s sixth commissioner and was a former Vanderbilt Univ. AD, passed away Thursday. He was 96. During his time as SEC commissioner, the conference expanded from 10 to 12 teams, adding South Carolina and Arkansas, and he created the SEC’s football championship game, the first of its kind at the FBS level. Kramer was also the architect and founding chairman of the Bowl Championship Series, which for years decided college football’s national champion. Kramer retired as commissioner in 2002. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2023, one of many halls of fame into which he was inducted (SEC).

Few figures in modern college athletics “shaped the landscape as profoundly as Kramer” (CBSSPORTS.com, 12/5). Kramer “worked out lucrative TV deals for the SEC.” He became “one of the most powerful officials in college football, overseeing SEC sports during a period in which the conference became the most financially successful in the nation” (ESPN.com, 12/5).

Reactions to Kramer’s passing poured in on social media:

• SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey: “Roy was a great leader and a great friend. He loved college football and all of college sports. Roy’s legacy continues. It is a sad day but we are grateful to have been impacted by Roy’s life.”
• Executive Associate AD at University of South Carolina Charles Bloom: “Commissioner Kramer meant so much to me. Here’s a blog post I did from his 2023 induction into the College Football Hall of Fame as an administrator. I hope readers will get a sense of what a wonderful person he was.”
• The Athletic’s Ralph Russo: “Roy Kramer changed college football.”
• The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel: “One of the most influential figures in modern college football history has passed away. Created the first conference championship game. Began SEC-CBS partnership. Spearheaded the birth of the BCS.”
• CBSSports.com’s John Talty: “The legendary Roy Kramer, the creator of conference championship games and former Commissioner of SEC, has passed away at the age of 96. An incredible man who left an amazing legacy in college sports.”
• On3’s Chris Low: “Few people were more influential with the evolution and growth of college football than Roy Kramer. Loved visiting with him and hearing his stories. He was sharp as a tack right up until the end. Prayers go out to his family.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- FIFA welcomed 1,800 guests to the Kennedy Center, along with a robust media contingent from around the world, for the 2026 World Cup draw on a snowy day in the nation’s capital. In typical FIFA fashion, the ceremony ran for more than two hours, with the technical draw itself running for roughly 45 minutes. The results of the draw determined the groups for the opening round of the competition, though full details on match locations and dates will be unveiled in a separate announcement on Saturday.

Attendees ranging from media members to sports industry power players waited in long lines in freezing temperatures to enter the premises due to stringent Secret Service security screenings and disorganized entry procedures. Among those seen braving the cold in the hours leading up to the draw included Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang, Earthquakes President Jared Shawlee and numerous host city committee leaders.

The draw was conducted by former Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand and international broadcaster Samantha Johnson. Cameos included World Cup ambassadors Matthew McConaughey and Salma Hayek. The draw also featured live performances by Andrea Bocelli, Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger and the Village People, as well as an unannounced reggae performance by Lauryn Hill.

FIFA awarded President Donald Trump its newly created FIFA Peace Prize after a video presentation listed his diplomacy around the world. In his brief acceptance remarks, Trump called the prize “one of the great honors of my life,” and he touted the U.S.’s strong working relationship with Canada and Mexico in preparation for the World Cup as tournament co-hosts.

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FIFA held the 2026 World Cup draw Friday in Washington, D.C., where the show was “almost as long as a soccer match, with the actual draw for the expanded 48-nation tournament starting in the 87th minute” (AP, 12/5). Spanish TV presenters were “starting to get clearly nervous about the length of the draw,” as they were “supposed to go to another programme in about 20 minutes.” It seemed “very unlikely that all groups - or even all the first seeds - will be drawn by then.” In Atlanta, the audience was “in ‘stopping to watch a train wreck mode,’ a mix of disinterest and quiet wonder” (THE ATHLETIC, 12/5).

Reactions on social media came in for the World Cup draw, largely criticizing the event for its length:

• The Athletic’s Adam Crafton: “Almost an hour into the draw and so far we have learned that Canada, Mexico and the USA will be playing at a World Cup hosted in Canada, Mexico and the USA.”
• The Athletic’s Tom Bogert: “did legitimately one single person ask for or want all of this? why are we doing all of this. why.”
• CNN’s Dana O’Neil: “Watching the World Cup draw show. Hereby rescinding with apology all of the times I criticized the NCAA Tournament Selection Show for its excess.”
• London Independent’s Adam Clery: “I no longer fear death because I watched the fifa 2026 world cup draw.”
• London Times’s Kaya Burgess: “This FIFA World Cup draw event is... the worst thing I have ever seen. It is an abomination in every conceivable way. It’s not even dreadful in an ironic way. Is almost impressive. An achievement in itself, to produce something so utterly awful.”
• N.Y. Post’s Stefan Bondy: “This World Cup draw show is some awful television.”
• The Sporting Tribune’s Arash Markazi: “Even the FOX broadcast of the FIFA World Cup draw is cutting away from Kevin Hart and Hedi Klum as Thierry Henry and Alexi Lalas are asking them to get on with the draw. This is painful.”

U.S. Soccer is launching its promotional campaign for the USMNT at the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a video titled, “Never Chase Reality.” The 90-second video is narrated by actor Marcello Hernandez and covers the USMNT’s history leading up to the World Cup. The campaign, which U.S. Soccer calls its largest national campaign to date, debuted in Times Square. It was developed in-house by the MarComms Department at U.S. Soccer (U.S. Soccer).

Michigan State Univ. received a record-setting donation that will include $290M which will “go to Spartan Athletics as part of the new ‘For Sparta’ initiative.” The university announced a $401M donation from Acrisure CEO Greg Williams and his wife Dawn on Friday. The donation dwarfs the previous record of $32M, given by former MSU basketball player, United Wholesale Mortgage CEO and Suns and Mercury owner Mat Ishbia in 2021 and is the “largest single donation in school history.” Then, the Williamses are investing $100M into “Spartan Ventures,” a “newly created non-profit, tax-exempt corporation ‘designed to advance, promote and support MSU’s department of athletics.’” Earlier in the week, the school’s athletic department launched “a massive” $1B capital campaign (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 12/5).

After NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell wrapped up hours of testimony that stretched over two days in the sport’s antitrust trial, Joe Gibbs Racing co-owner Heather Gibbs took the witness stand today to discuss her team’s displeasure with charter negotiations. Gibbs was called as a witness by the two teams suing NASCAR, 23XI Motorsports and Front Row Motorsports, the former of which pays $8M a year to have an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing. During the quickest questioning for any witness so far this week, Gibbs was quizzed about why she sent a letter to NASCAR leadership and ownership in mid-2024 imploring NASCAR to grant the teams a form of a permanent charter in what came to be referred to as “evergreen” versions. Gibbs said she wrote the letter after attending a meeting with NASCAR leadership in which Steve Phelps told JGR leadership that its spending on the sport was “reckless” and therefore contributing to the challenges in making a financial model work. Gibbs told the court that it “really bothered me that he shared that,” and she said the sport’s financial model is “very challenging for the teams,” particularly for JGR because it doesn’t rely on external businesses like some other major teams.

Gibbs also testified that it was “very upsetting” when NASCAR gave its apparently final deadline to sign the 2025 charters in September 2024, and that Joe Gibbs called Jim France that night to tell him “Don’t do this to us.” She said France responded by saying, “I’m done with the conversations. If I wake up and I have 20 charters, I have 20 charters. If I have 30, then I have 30.” NASCAR’s questioning of Heather Gibbs related to topics such as whether she acknowledged the France family has built the series over decades of investment -- which she referenced in her much-publicized letter to NASCAR last year -- as the sanctioning body’s lawyers work to make clear to the jury that NASCAR only earned its monopsony status through merit and hard work.

The MLS Cup Final watch party at B.C. Place, the Vancouver Whitecaps’ home stadium, on Saturday between Inter Miami and the Whitecaps “may outdraw the crowd that will be watching the final in person in Florida.” The Whitecaps “are prepared to have as many as 25,000 or so,” the rough maximum capacity of B.C. Place’s lower bowl. Anything over 21,550 will be a bigger crowd than what will fit into Fort Lauderdale’s Chase Stadium, Inter Miami’s home for the last five years. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Whitecaps had “sold more than 16,000 tickets” to the watch party they are hosting at B.C. Place, where the “centre-field video board will be lowered to serve as the largest TV anyone in attendance will likely ever see” (Vancouver PROVINCE, 12/3). Tickets for the watch party “are $15, with proceeds going to the Whitecaps FC Foundation.” Doors will open at 10:30am PT and the “first 15,000 fans will receive a free T-shirt” (CP, 12/1).

The NFL and the Big 12 Conference are “entering into a new strategic partnership.” Among the focuses, the leagues will “expand opportunities for joint training and evaluation programs for officials,” with Big 12 officials gaining “access to NFL clinics, weekly teaching tapes, advanced accountability tools.” The organizations will aim to “identify officials with the potential to advance in pro football.” The two are also “going to work together on global football initiatives, analytics, emerging technology and flag football expansion as well,” all aimed at growing and elevating the game (“Good Morning Football,” NFL Network, 12/5).

The Charlotte Invitational brought together top talent for one of the region’s most respected tennis events. We take a behind-the-scenes look at this year’s installment featuring Venus Williams, Madison Keys, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe.