Closing Bell

The United Football League is shuttering the Memphis Showboats, Michigan Panthers and San Antonio Brahmas as it reorganizes the league heading into its third season, its first under the control of new investor Mike Repole.

The UFL already confirmed it would move a team into Columbus, but the other two new markets will be announced next week, the league said in a statement. Possible reported new destinations are Louisville, Orlando or Boise.

Despite speculation reported in July, the league will remain in Birmingham.

These are the first major moves under Repole to abandon mega-stadiums the UFL stands no chance of filling. The Panthers and Brahmas were the third and fourth-best drawing teams in the eight-team league in 2025, but Michigan’s Ford Field seats just over 58,300, and San Antonio’s Alamodome seats more than 73,000. Memphis never showed any market traction, finishing a distant last in attendance while playing in the 58,000-seat Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium last season.

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WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert will “speak Friday night ahead of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals for the first time” since Lynx F Napheesa Collier’s “blistering assessment that the league has ‘the worst leadership in the world’ with a commissioner who lacks accountability.” Engelbert is in the “midst of negotiations” for a new CBA that the players “say aren’t going well.” The commissioner also is “dealing with the potential sale” of the Sun. There’s “also been the season long critique of WNBA officiating by players and coaches” (AP, 10/3).

ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo said the broadcast duo of her and play-by-play voice Ryan Ruocco plan to “talk about this incredible action that’s going to be in front of us, the magnitude of this game and what it means” when asked on a conference call how they plan to broach the topic of Collier’s comments on the WNBA Finals broadcast. Lobo said if “something happens during the game that it’s natural for us to go there and it’s right in that moment for us to go there,” then “we will.” Ruocco said they will be “prepared to touch upon bigger-picture issues or news stories” if they “find their way to relevancy during the game.” Otherwise, a lot of the “more broad, newsy subjects get more fully dissected in studio” (ESPN).

The U.S. State Department has reportedly declined visa requests for an official Iranian delegation to attend the draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is scheduled to be held at the Kennedy Center in D.C. on Dec. 5. The Tehran Times, an English-language Iranian news outlet, reported Wednesday that the U.S. government has not issued visas for Iran Football Federation President Mehdi Taj, coach Amir Ghalenoei and seven other federation members seeking to attend the draw.

The report of a potential effort by the federal government to prevent the Iranian officials from attending the draw has naturally raised questions about whether the Iranian team, which has already qualified for the World Cup, will be able to participate in the competition itself next summer. President Trump issued an executive order earlier this year banning travel to the U.S. from 12 countries, including Iran, but included a carve-out for “major sporting events,” with specific references to the World Cup and Olympics.

FIFA VP and Concacaf President Victor Montagliani said Wednesday at Leaders Week London that he was not concerned about the Iranian national team being able to play matches in the U.S. during next summer’s World Cup despite the host country’s restrictions on travel from Iran. He said that where Iran plays its matches will be determined by December’s draw rather than any geopolitical considerations. “We already have assurances from all three governments [the U.S., Canada and Mexico] ... that teams that qualify will be allowed to come in and participate,” Montagliani said.

A State Dept. spokesperson declined comment to SBJ, citing visa record confidentiality.

Ahead of the start of the 2025-26 NHL season, Nex Playground, a youth-focused gaming console that uses artificial intelligence-powered motion tracking technology in its games, has launched a new title in partnership with the NHL called “NHL Puck Rush.”

Available to Nex “Play Pass” subscribers -- a service that prices $89 annually and offers access to more than 45 games -- NHL Puck Rush challenges users to score as many goals as they can in a limited period of time, with the puck’s direction and height determined by Nex’s camera-based system for reading body position/hand movement.

While Nex has existing games across sports like tennis (Tennis Smash: Racketville), baseball (Homerun Heroes: Starstrikers), basketball (Basketball Knockout) and soccer (Go Keeper), this is the first title on the console that includes licensed IP from a pro sports league.

“Sports is a strategic pillar of our content strategy, as it’s closely aligned with active play,” Nex co-founder & CEO David Lee told SBJ. “Over time, you’ll see us continue investing in original sports games and release fully licensed sports games.”

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ESPN is formally adding former Nuggets coach Michael Malone as a full-time NBA analyst this season, doing a combination of studio and games. Malone, who is repped by CAA’s Matt Kramer and Spencer Breecker, will see his primary role as an analyst on “NBA Countdown” alongside Malika Andrews, Kendrick Perkins, Bob Myers and Shams Charania.

He’ll make his debut Sunday night ahead of the Lakers-Warriors preseason game on ESPN. That telecast will also feature the new top ESPN NBA booth of Mike Breen, Tim Legler and Richard Jefferson. Malone first got some analyst reps with ESPN during the playoffs last season, just days after being let go by the Nuggets.

Grand Slam Track and founder Michael Johnson have “received emergency funding to pay athletes half of what they are owed for appearing in their events this year.” Some money “finally landed in the accounts of athletes still waiting payment” on Friday for their performances as far back as the opening meet in Kingston, Jamaica, in April. Grand Slam Track operations manager Karen Taylor said, in an email to athlete representatives, “With this payment each athlete will have been paid 50 per cent of the total appearance and prize money earned at this year’s Slams.” Taylor added this is the “beginning of Grand Slam Track’s reboot,” and said over the next 60 days, the league will be “working hard to make things right with everyone who helped make 2025 a success, to best position Grand Slam Track for 2026 and beyond” (London TIMES, 10/3).

Adidas introduced Trionda, the official match ball of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with displays across the U.S., Canada and Mexico this week. The brand opened the week with a tribute on the exterior of the Sphere in Las Vegas showing World Cup match balls that preceded Trionda.

The ball was depicted for the first time through a hologram on the East River in N.Y.C. Thursday night. More than 200 gathered in Toronto at the base of the CN Tower last night to see the Trionda hologram in the sky. And tonight in Mexico City at Estadio Ciudad de México, there will be another Trionda hologram (Adidas).