Closing Bell

ESPN had its best men’s college basketball regular season since 2014-15 and its best women’s season since 2008-09.

Viewership of men’s games across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2 and ESPNU were up 25% from the 2024-25 campaign, highlighted by the best “Big Monday” window on record (which started in 1987). For all games on ESPN and ABC, the average viewership was 1.1 million viewers, which is the best for those two networks since 2018-19 (there were just five games on ABC this season). When ESPN2 and ESPNU are factored in, the company average dips well below 1 million. The 12 games on “Big Monday” averaged 1.6 million viewers on ESPN this season, up 78% from last season. That slate also had the nine best Monday men’s college hoops games on any network since 2018-19.

The ACC saw its best season on ESPN in five years, and Commissioner Jim Phillips talked about the gains on this week’s SBJ Sports Media Podcast.

ESPN drew 3.4 million viewers for North Carolina-Duke on Saturday night, marking the fifth-best men’s college hoops game this season (the first matchup was No. 4 with 3.5 million). That also means Duke played in four of the five most-watched games this season. The two UNC-Duke games were the best for the regular-season series since Zion Williamson was on campus in 2019. Overall, ESPN networks had 12 of the top 20 most-watched games this season.

Read More >>>

President Trump said that he did “not think it would be ‘appropriate’ for the Iranian soccer team” to attend the 2026 World Cup, citing “safety concerns as a reason.” Trump on Truth Social wrote, “The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.” Trump’s statement came a day after the Iranian sports minister said that the team would not participate in the tournament. FIFA President Gianni Infantino had publicly said that Trump “assured him the Iranian players and coaches would be welcome” (AP, 3/12).

Paris Saint-Germain is “positively and actively” preparing a bid for an NBA Europe franchise, the French newspaper L’Equipe reported Thursday, which means Rockets F Kevin Durant -- who holds a minority stake in PSG -- could wind up with a vested interest in the startup league.

But sources told SBJ Thursday afternoon that PSG is not the only entity pursuing an NBA Europe franchise in the city and that it could be outbid, supplanted or even joined by a second team in Paris.

With Tony Parker’s EuroLeague club ASVEL -- based in Villeurbanne -- also a frontrunner for an NBA Europe franchise, sources told SBJ it is now conceivable that as many as three teams could be based in the country.

The NBA certainly has not been shy about putting a Parisian team in the fledgling league, with Accor Arena -- host of Olympic basketball in 2024 --the likely home for at least one of the franchises. PSG actually played in that arena when it operated its last basketball club from 1992 to 2000 before disbanding due to financial losses. But the organization is now owned by Qatar Sports Investments, which has long held genuine interest in launching a team.

Read More >>>

The CW is getting NASCAR involved with one of its scripted series for the first time since their media rights deal started last year, with JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier making his acting debut in the drama series “Wild Cards.” The Nexstar Media Group-owned channel is now in the second season of its seven-year, $115M per-annum deal to air the entire season of NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. In its debut campaign last year, The CW got some NASCAR drivers involved with some of its live event programming outside of racing, like having Matt DiBenedetto attend a Savannah Bananas game and Cole Custer being part of a WWE NXT event. But with the benefit of added time, The CW is now getting drivers involved with its scripted efforts, starting with Allgaier appearing on the “Wild Cards” episode that will air on March 30 at 8:00pm ET. The show, which also appears on the CBC channel in Canada, is about a former con artist who teams up with a demoted cop to solve crimes in a dual shot at redemption. The episode that Allgaier will appear in is titled “The Hostage Always Rings Twice,” and it is about a hostage negotiation that involves a NASCAR race. Allagaier, who plays himself in the episode, said in a statement: “It was great getting the opportunity to be a part of ‘Wild Cards.’ To get the chance to work with that incredible group is just a testament to what this partnership truly is between The CW and the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.”

Professional Bull Riders on Wednesday announced the launch of PBR Bulls & Beats, a three-day Western sports and entertainment celebration set to debut at Colorado State’s Canvas Stadium, July 10–12, opening the 2026 PBR Teams season. The event will combine bull riding, the inaugural Collegiate All-Star Rodeo and three days of concerts featuring Brad Paisley, Bailey Zimmerman and Miranda Lambert.

The two Collegiate All-Star teams will showcase 60 riders from Learfield’s 19 college rodeo partner schools. Each student-athlete will receive prize money, with an escalator awarded to members of the winning team. Total prize money for the event will reach $180,000.

The announcement comes as 5.5 million pounds of dirt are being groomed in Tallahassee at FSU’s Doak S. Campbell Stadium for this weekend’s PBR Major.

Legends Global, the concessionaire at Doak Campbell, will offer themed cocktails riffing off PBR’s partnership with Pendleton Whiskey as well as a Cowboy Burger and Rodeo Nachos.

Read More >>>

Atlanta’s FIFA Fan Festival will “limit capacity to about 15,000 fans at any one time” during the World Cup. The fan festival also will have a “shorter runtime than originally expected,” with the free gathering at Centennial Olympic Park “open for 16 days.” That includes “all eight Atlanta matches” and the USMNT’s “first two group-stage matches on June 12 and June 19.” A festival on the day of the World Cup final is “not on the schedule, but that could change.” Organizers “prioritized hosting the festival the days prior to Atlanta matches to capture as many visitors as possible.” Atlanta officials have not disclosed how much funding the city expects (ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE, 3/12).

The upcoming X Games League will move one step closer to launch with its athlete draft at Cosm in L.A. on Thursday night.

The event will be broadcast digitally, including on the ESPN app, the Roku Sports Channel and the X Games’ YouTube and FAST channels. The draft is sponsored by XGL title sponsor MoonPay, as well as 805 Beer, High Noon, iHeartMedia, Kraken Rum, Monster Energy and Stake. General admission tickets, which include food and beverage, are being sold for $150 apiece.

The XGL’s four debut teams, representing Los Angeles, New York, São Paulo and Tokyo, will each draft 10 athletes across BMX and skateboarding. Selected athletes will receive $2,500 in XO Cash, a stablecoin issued by Exodus Movement. MoonPay’s title sponsorship includes a pass-through mechanic that enables participation by the crypto fintech platform’s partners.

Athletes in attendance will include skateboarders Jagger Eaton and Nyjah Huston and BMX riders Logan Martin and Hannah Roberts, among others. The XGL’s debut season begins in Sacramento this June, with later stops in Japan and New Orleans.

The College Basketball Invitational will “not stage a tournament this year” amid an “ever-changing college basketball postseason landscape.” The CBI in a statement on social media wrote, “Due to circumstances beyond our control, the CBI will not be held this year. We will see you next year!” With the College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas “emerging as a preferred alternative among non-NCAA qualifiers,” the CBI is the “second tournament in as many years to phase out postseason competition” after the College Insider Tournament ceased operations last year. The NIT remains in operation, but “many high-major programs have rebuffed overtures in favor of The Crown or have rejected postseason bids altogether” (THE ATHLETIC, 3/12).

It is “not entirely clear what the ‘circumstances’ were,” but the second- and third-tier tournaments have in recent years had “trouble filling out their fields.” The CBI was scheduled for March 21-26 in Daytona Beach, Fla. The tournament is a “pay-for-play” event, meaning schools who accept invitations are “expected to pay a fee of in the low-to-mid six figures” (AL.com, 3/12). NEWSWEEK went with the header, “Fans Outraged After College Basketball Postseason Tournament Is Abruptly Canceled.”

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips discusses his recent visit to the White House for President Trump’s summit on college sports. He breaks down what leaders in Washington are hearing, what’s working, what isn’t, and what actions he hopes the administration will take to stabilize the future of college athletics.

Pro Sports Logistics and Destination Sport are working together to launch a travel platform specifically aimed at the golf industry. The pairing will provide a golf travel management platform for tournament organizers, professionals and collegiate teams, and assist with travel experiences for corporate clients, amateur players and spectators (Destination Sport).

The Sports Bra, a Portland, Ore.-based sports bar that shows women’s sports, is “set to open a franchise in Portland, Maine.” The new venue in Maine will be called The Sports Bra Maine. The location and launch date have yet to be announced. Ann Freeman and Emily Lesher will co-own the franchise. Sports Bra founder Jenny Nguyen called Portland, Maine, “a perfect fit” for the brand’s mission (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/12).