Closing Bell

President Trump is expected to appoint former N.Y. gubernatorial candidate Andrew Giuliani as the executive director of the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026, according to sources with knowledge of the administration’s thinking. Giuliani is the son of former N.Y. Mayor and longtime Trump ally Rudy Giuliani.

Giuliani played college golf at Duke and was a minor professional golfer for several years. During Trump’s first term, he served as Special Assistant to the President and Associate Director of the Office of Public Liaison, a role that reportedly included arranging sports teams’ visits to the White House.

Host city organizers in the U.S. have been heartened by Trump’s announcement of the task force in March and are cautiously optimistic that the administration will support the appropriation of federal funds to help cities with security and logistics.

Trump will serve as chair of the task force, and Vice President J.D. Vance will serve as vice chair. The task force will be housed within the Department of Homeland Security and will include a range of cabinet officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

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Cosm and developer Bedrock broke ground on Cosm’s fourth location last Thursday in downtown Detroit. The venue will open in 2026, though the exact date hasn’t been announced yet.

The Detroit location of Cosm’s experiential entertainment venues will follow others in L.A. and Dallas -- that are already open -- and Atlanta, which hopes to open before the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup and is set for a mid-May groundbreaking.

Bedrock is Dan Gilbert’s Detroit- and Cleveland-based real estate development company. The company is heavily focused on commercial real estate development in Detroit but is also overseeing the Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center project for Gilbert’s Cleveland Cavaliers, expected to open in 2027.

Rossetti is designing Cosm’s Detroit location, which will sit near Campus Martius in the city’s downtown. HKS designed the first two Cosm locations, with Gensler designing the Atlanta branch.

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The Hawks have fired GM Landry Fields and “begun the search for a president of basketball operations.” The team has promoted Assistant GM Onsi Saleh to GM, “effective immediately.” Saleh came to the Hawks in 2024 after spending three seasons with the Warriors, where he served as VP/Basketball Strategy & Team Counsel. He also served five years with the Spurs, where he was Director/Strategy and Process & Chief of Staff (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 4/21). Fields came to the Hawks as Assistant GM just before the 2020-21 season, “one of the franchise’s most successful in recent history, ending with an unexpected run to the conference finals.” He was promoted to GM prior to the 2022-23 season, but Atlanta “has not replicated that success since,” missing the playoffs in each of the last two years (THE ATHLETIC, 4/21).

F1’s Miami race -- set for May 2-4 -- is “offering one-day tickets for the first time” this year, “allowing ticket buyers to attend the race either Friday, Saturday or Sunday.” Fans “can attend Friday for $65, $75, $100 or $125 -- depending on the grandstand they select -- to watch the first practice session and qualifying for Saturday’s Sprint race.” Those prices “increase to $200-$315 for the F1 Sprint race Saturday,” and $505-$910 “for Sunday’s main event.” Miami is also “offering a Sunday campus pass for $350 for the first time, while a campus pass for the entire weekend is $430.” A campus pass “gets you into the race to walk around and enjoy the event, but it does not provide a seat or access to grandstands.” The one-day ticket offering “is a result of feedback Miami race organizers received from fans” who attended the last three races, and organizers have “already seen immediate results” -- 81% of single-day grandstand buyers will be first-time attendees, including 39% coming from out of state (USA TODAY, 4/21).

Pro Football HOFer and ESPN personality Shannon Sharpe has been sued by a woman in a 13-page civil complaint, filed in a Nevada state court, alleging that Sharpe “committed assault, sexual assault, battery, and sexual battery, and that he engaged in the intentional infliction of emotional distress.” The plaintiff claims that they embarked on a “rocky consensual relationship” that lasted “nearly two years.” The complaint “seeks a minimum” of $50M from Sharpe. The plaintiff is represented by lawyers Micah Nash and Tony Buzbee, the latter of whom “rose to prominence in NFL circles” via the representation of more than 20 plaintiffs who sued Browns QB Deshaun Watson in 2021 (PROFOOTBALLTALK, 4/21).

April 21, 1989 -- George W. Bush and Edward “Rusty” Rose become joint CEOs of the Rangers. Bush helped arrange a syndicate to purchase controlling interest in the Rangers for $89M. He borrowed $500,000 to buy a small stake in the team and convinced an investor group to make him managing general partner. Bush became the public face of the team, while co-general partner Rose assumes control over the financial side. He received a reported salary of $200,000. Bush would resign from his role as Rangers CEO in December of 1994 after he was elected the governor of Texas but would retain his ownership stake. In 1998 Tom Hicks would purchase the Rangers for $250M.

Also happening this week:

• April 22, 1954 -- NBA adopts 24-second shot clock & 6 team-foul rule.
• April 22, 1996 -- WNBA is founded.
• April 24, 1974 -- NFL grants franchise to Tampa Bay.
• April 25, 1978 -- Phillie Phanatic makes 1st appearance.

Now is the time to nominate women leading the way and making an impact in sports business for SBJ’s 2025 Game Changers, which has recognized the women changing the sports industry for more than a decade. The deadline to nominate is midnight tonight.

The Game Changers conference takes place Sept. 24-25 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square in N.Y.