Closing Bell

The NFL has signed up a series of funds as early investors in its new pro flag league it is launching with TMRW Sports, including Ariel Investments/Project Level, Bessemer Venture Partners, Blue Pool Capital, Dynasty Equity, Silver Lake and Sixth Street.

Also involved are 776/Alexis Ohanian, APEX Capital, Arctos Partners, Bolt Ventures, Next Legacy Partners, Trenches Capital and Trybe Ventures.

The league details were formally shared with NFL owners at their annual meeting in Phoenix. 49ers owner Jed York said the league needed the right investors, more venture-oriented capital funds that understand the long-term nature of the project.

“I think there’s definitely high upside, but any startup league is going to be difficult, and you have to make sure you’ve got the right investors for those types of things,” York said.

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The NFL has asked prediction market operators such as Kalshi and Polymarket to “refrain from offering trades on events that can be easily manipulated or determined in advance,” including “what announcers say during broadcasts, which celebrities attend games and the upcoming draft.” The league said that it “wanted to protect game participants from ‘unfair and unwanted allegations’ tied to gambling and prediction markets.” The NFL also objected to four types of offerings: “those that can be easily manipulated by a single person such as missed field goals, those that are knowable in advance such as draft picks, player signings and coach firings, anything related to officiating and ‘inherently objectionable’ topics such as player injuries and fan safety.” Most of the NFL’s objections in the letter are “similar to what it asks traditional sportsbooks to prohibit.” NFL EVP Jeff Miller said that the letter “follows months of conversations between the NFL and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission” (ESPN.com, 3/30).

The WTA is “looking for a new host for its signature year-end championships event, the WTA Finals,” departing the Saudi Arabian market that it entered to considerable debate two years ago, according to sources cited by BOUNCES. The WTA’s plan to depart the desert comes despite WTA CEO Portia Archer “indicating interest last year in extending the WTA’s controversial stay in Riyadh beyond the original three-year deal that ends this year.” Those talks between the WTA and the Saudi Tennis Federation did not ultimately lead to a renewal for Riyadh, so this year will be the final edition in Riyadh. The “leading candidate” city in North America to host the WTA Finals in 2027 and beyond “appears to be” Charlotte -- a city that has not hosted any official tour events since the 1970s. But tennis fans would have heard the city “mentioned more frequently in recent years.” When new tournament owner Ben Navarro threatened to move the Cincinnati Open out of Ohio in 2023, Charlotte was his “intended destination.” Also, the Charlotte Sports Foundation has organized an exhibition event called the Charlotte Invitational each of the last two offseasons (BOUNCES, 3/30).

LA28 announced that a multiplatform ticket resale program will be “available” starting in 2027. AXS and Eventim is the official secondary ticket marketplace of the Games, and Ticketmaster and Sports Illustrated Tickets also joined a multiplatform ticket resale program to provide verified resale tickets once the program opens in 2027. The first LA28 tickets will go on sale April 2-6 in a presale window reserved for Southern California and Oklahoma locals. The first general ticket window runs from April 9-19. There’s a “12-ticket maximum for each fan across all sports and sessions,” plus 12 tickets for soccer sessions that “don’t count toward the general maximum.” A four-ticket maximum per ceremony for the opening and closing ceremonies is included in the general limit. One million tickets beginning at $28 will be available across all sports, and two-thirds of the total tickets will be under $200 each, but prices “will vary depending on seat location, sport and session” (L.A. TIMES, 3/30).

MLS is implementing DataGrail’s agentic AI data privacy platform to ensure compliance and transparency for fans. The league office and 23 clubs are onboarding DataGrail’s Fan Genome 360 intelligence product; the remaining teams are required to adhere to MLS privacy standards but can choose alternative league-approved solutions.

MLS Chief Information Officer John Sullivan said DataGrail will help the league’s technology and legal departments with their collaborative effort to modernize the management and protection of fan data. Fan Genome 360, he added, would empower “clubs to operate independently while giving the league centralized visibility and control across a rapidly expanding digital ecosystem.”

DataGrail has integrations with more than 2,500 data partners. MLS has leaned into AI adoption through enhancements in its flagship league app.

The Univ. of Nebraska volleyball team will be playing an outdoor match at Wrigley Field against the Univ. of Missouri on Sept. 6, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, as part of a larger “Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week” reveal. Nebraska’s match will be part of a primetime doubleheader, with Penn State and the Univ. of Kentucky also squaring off in the famed baseball venue. The two matches will be on Fox at 6pm and 8pm, but the match order is pending. NU will also play Sept. 4 at DePaul Univ. at Wintrust Arena. Nebraska’s first outdoor volleyball match was played on Aug. 30, 2023, inside Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium. The match’s attendance figure of 92,003 was the “certified world record for attendance at a women’s college sporting event.” Wrigley Field has a listed capacity of 41,649. The doubleheader will be the first volleyball event at the Friendly Confines (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 3/30).

The College Football Playoff announced today that recently retired football coach Gus Malzahn “will join former Cal head coach Jeff Tedford on the College Football Playoff selection committee this spring.” Univ. of Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek “will return as the committee chair for the second season,” and Univ. of Louisiana-Lafayette AD Bryan Maggard will also “join the group.” The three new committee members will “serve three-year terms and replace outgoing members” College Football HOF coach Chris Ault, former longtime collegiate administrator Jeff Long and Miami Univ. (Ohio) AD David Sayler, whose terms have expired (ESPN.com, 3/30).

The 2026 FIFA World Cup host cities are exceptionally prepared, according to John Kristick. The Playfly Sports co-head of consulting shares why these cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico are ready.