Closing Bell

MLS has signed Polymarket as its official prediction market sponsor and will create an authorized operator designation in the emerging category, clearing the way for other prediction apps to use club and league marks if they agree to similar integrity provisions as legal U.S. sportsbooks.

The exclusive deal, signed though MLS commercial arm Soccer United Marketing, requires Polymarket to use official league data and third-party integrity monitoring and to refrain from offering markets that the league sees as easily manipulated, such as yellow cards, or prone to the use of inside information, such as manager firings and player movement.

Its authorized operator designation, open to other operators licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, also will require those integrity provisions.

“These guys all have markets on MLS,” MLS SVP/Emerging Ventures Chris Schlosser said. “So we need to figure out a way to get the best possible integrity protections, no different than our activities in sports betting.”

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ESPN will have PGA Tour coverage for the first time in 20 years on Thursday as Brooks Koepka makes his return at the Farmers Insurance Open. ESPN will simulcast the “Main Feed” from PGA Tour Live, which typically airs each week on ESPN+ on both Thursday and Friday from 12-3pm ET. The Main Feed on Thursday will feature four groups -- Koepka’s and then three other high-profile threesomes.

Koepka is slated to play with Max Homa and Ludvig Aberg. The other three groups are expected to be J.J. Spaun, Harris English and Xander Schauffele; Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Rose and Jason Day; Chris Gotterup, Keegan Bradley and Adam Scott. Tee times are expected to be announced Tuesday afternoon. For the Thursday-Friday windows, the tour said it is reallocating cameras to the Main Feed so it will have “uninterrupted coverage” of the Koepka group.

ESPN also will make the stream available on Disney+ and Hulu. It will mark the first time an official PGA Tour event -- not including majors -- will air on ESPN since the 2006 WGC-Barbados World Cup. Golf Channel’s rights deal with the tour began in 2007.

ESPN’s regularly scheduled afternoon programming, including “The Pat McAfee Show,” will air on ESPN2 on Thursday and Friday. Golf Channel will pick up weekday coverage at 3pm.

N.Y. Road Runners unveiled a rebrand, including a new logo and brand platform -- its first in 15 years. The rebrand marks the beginning of celebrations around the 50th anniversary of the NYC Marathon’s five-borough course, which will be commemorated at the 2026 race on Nov. 1. NYRR worked with brand consultancy Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv to develop a new visual identity centered on an abstract symbol inspired by the Statue of Liberty torch. Alongside the rebrand, NYRR worked with creative agency YARD NYC to develop its new brand platform, “Believe in Every Step,” replacing the long-standing “Run for Life” tagline (NYRR).

NYRR CEO Rob Simmelkjaer said the organization moved away from its logo depicting a male runner as they “want anyone to be able to see themselves in this.” Simmelkjaer: “Depending on the race, close to 50% of the runners are women.” In the most recent NYC Marathon, 45.86% of the finishers were women. The rebrand is also intended to “establish a better and more enduring link between the Road Runners and what is arguably the world’s most renowned marathon,” which attracted a record number of finishers (59,226) for any marathon last year (SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 1/26 issue).

Zoomph released a ranking on Monday of the media value generated, through organic social media in 2025, by NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, WNBA, NWSL, and minor league and college teams, by each team’s home state.

Notable takeaways from the data:

• Inter Miami was the top deliverer, with $223.8M in estimated value, followed by the Warriors, with $211.7M.
• California teams made up three of the five most valuable franchises, with the Dodgers (No. 3, at $182.2M) and the Lakers (No. 5, at $150.2M).
• A ranking of the top “hometown” deliverers by state, a college sports team was No. 1 in 24 states. That consisted of 17 football programs, three men’s and one women’s basketball, two men’s hockey, and two men’s soccer teams. The NFL leads the way among the pro leagues, with 12 teams, followed by the NBA (seven); MLB (two); and MLS, NHL, WNBA, minor league hockey, minor league basketball, with one team each.

Gersh Sports’ basketball division has gained more clients with the addition of NBPA certified agent Paolo Zamorano to its roster. Zamorano will be based out of S.F. and report directly to Gersh Basketball EVP and fellow NBPA certified agent Deirunas Visockas.

The L.A.-based agency was founded in 1949 by Phil Gersh and originally represented names in Hollywood throughout the movie, television and book industry from actor Humphrey Bogart to more contemporary names like Kristen Stewart and Adam Driver. But in 2006, the agency formed its sports group when it acquired sports management firm Steve Feldman & Associates. Since then, the agency has expanded out its sports practice with the acquisitions of Madrid-based sports and branding agency You First, which later led to the rebrand of Tandem Sports + Entertainment under the Gersh Sports banner.

In his new role, along with representing clients and their playing contracts, Zamorano will work with Gersh’s off-court team to focus on strategic marketing, branding, community and public relations opportunities. Zamorano, a former college basketball player with the Univ. of San Francisco during the mid 2000s, began his career as an agent in 2013. Over the years, he has negotiated more than $25M in player contracts for former clients like NBAers Rodney Stuckey, Ed Davis and Austin Daye. In just the past year, he has also negotiated $8.5M in NIL agreements.

With the addition of Zamorano, Gersh Sports has gained new clients in Raptors G Chucky Hepburn, Suns G Jamaree Bouyea, Rip City Remix G Blake Hinson, former Penn State F Seth Lundy, and international talent in former Trail Blazers G Taze Moore, Cholet Basket G Chibuzo Agbo and Shanxi Zhongyu G Jaylen Nowell. Zamorano has worked as an independent agent for most of his career. This move will be a big step up, with him saying that “clients are immediately seeing the benefit of these additional resources and support.”

Charlotte Motor Speedway is “expected to shift its 2026 NASCAR Cup Series playoff race off the track’s Roval road-course layout and will instead use the track’s popular intermediate-sized oval,” according to sources cited by THE ATHLETIC. In addition to the Cup Series, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Truck Series will also “shift their playoff races from the Roval to Charlotte’s oval.” All three races “remain scheduled for mid-October.” CMS owner Speedway Motorsports in 2018 moved Charlotte’s fall playoff race off the oval to the Roval. Its early races “proved popular, heightening the entertainment factor” while also “differentiating the track’s two Cup race weekends.” But the “novelty of the Roval” has “waned in recent years, especially since the advent of the Next Gen car in 2022, which many believe has diminished the quality of road-course racing.” With the change, the 10-race Cup playoff schedule -- which will switch from an elimination-style format to a “Chase” format this year -- “consists entirely of races held on ovals” (THE ATHLETIC, 1/26).

The PGA Tour “announced the 16 members who will make up” the Player Advisory Council for the 2026 season” on Monday. PGA Tour golfers Lucas Glover, Hank Lebioda, Alex Noren and Neal Shipley will be “first-timers” on the PAC this year. The PAC, according to the Tour, “serves as a consulting body that vets and recommends changes to the PGA Tour Policy Board on behalf of the membership.” The Players Directors selected Glover and Adam Scott to “run for chairman” (GOLFWEEK, 1/26).

A scheduled game between the Blue Jackets and L.A. Kings Monday at Nationwide Arena has been postponed after a “large winter storm that caused a Level 3 snow emergency in Central Ohio forced a mutual decision by the NHL and Blue Jackets to postpone the game.” It will be “made up March 9, and tickets purchased for the Jan. 26 game will remain valid.” The Blue Jackets “held a morning skate at Nationwide Arena prior to the decision not to play.” The start time for the March 9 makeup game has not been determined yet, but “playing on that date now gives both teams an extra set of back-to-back games to play.” (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 1/26).

Because of the “snow and ice storm that hit roughly half of the nation” on Sunday, the 76ers’ game against the Hornets in Charlotte, “initially scheduled for Monday night, has been moved up” to 3pm. The NBA also postponed games in Memphis and Milwaukee -- Nuggets vs. Grizzlies and Mavericks vs. Bucks -- on Sunday “because of the massive winter storm that is creating dangerous travel conditions across much of the U.S.” The league “also changed the start time” for the Pacers’ game at the Hawks from 7:30pm to 1:30pm. Also, “at least two college women’s basketball games were postponed: No. 17 Tennessee’s visit to No. 18 Mississippi on Monday and Tulane’s visit to Memphis on Tuesday.” In men’s basketball, a game featuring Tennessee at No. 21 Georgia was “pushed back a day from Tuesday to Wednesday” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 1/26).

Four U.S. senators are “seeking answers from the Interior Department over its decision to terminate the lease governing” D.C.’s three public golf courses, “asking questions about transparency, environmental safety and the future” of recreational spaces. In a letter sent Monday to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and National Park Service Dir Jessica Bowron, U.S. Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said they were ”seriously concerned" by the Trump administration’s move to cancel the 50-year lease held by the National Links Trust, the nonprofit that has operated Langston Golf Course, East Potomac Golf Links and Rock Creek Park Golf Course since 2020 (WASHINGTON POST, 1/26).