Closing Bell

Change is coming to which sports are included in the Olympic Games, with the International Olympic Committee’s executive board taking a first official step in that direction on Wednesday.

The board voted to approve a new process to review disciplines in the program and those which could be added by future hosts. The EB approved changes to the Olympic charter that would allow the membership to vote on changes to the sport program, with future evaluation done at the discipline level.

While some sports include one discipline -- such as rugby sevens, in the Summer Games -- others include many. Those which add to operational complexities, including by requiring unique venues, or don’t have broad appeal could find themselves up for removal from the core Games program.

“We should be able to have the flexibility, the agility to recognize new disciplines or events that are coming across us, our world globally at a rapid pace,” IOC President Kirsty Coventry said. “As we stand right now, we don’t have that process. We don’t have a clear process that follows criteria that’s transparent for everyone to get behind. And now we do.”

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A sponsorship connection could “help fans get to the front of the line” for the second round of 2028 L.A. Games tickets. Before the second Olympic ticket drop starts Aug. 10, there will be a “presale for Visa cardholders that will run from July 29-31.” Visa has sponsored the Olympics for 40 years and is the only credit card accepted for payment in Olympic zones. Fans can register for the second ticket drop online until July 22. Those who registered for Drop 1 but were not selected or did not purchase their full 12-ticket allotment are “automatically entered into the lottery for Drop 2″ (L.A. TIMES, 6/10).

Texas Tech representatives have told Big 12 officials that “any Big 12 sanction” related to QB Brendan Sorsby would be “met with another courtroom challenge,” according to sources cited by YAHOO SPORTS. School representatives are “actively exploring potential legal action not only against the league itself but individual conference universities whose officials claim they would not play the Red Raiders.” A source said, “If you want to go to battle with Texas Tech, get ready: We’re going to battle.” While conference and school officials have mostly remained quiet publicly, that “could soon change” if the league’s board of presidents and chancellors “sanctions the school through a provision in the conference bylaws -- something seriously under consideration” (YAHOO SPORTS, 6/10).

Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt said in a statement posted to social media before the YAHOO SPORTS report, “To my colleagues: I understand the frustration.” He added, “We are open to ongoing conversations about how to best handle these issues as an industry going forward.” He also said he has “heard the word ‘integrity’ used a great deal in the last 48 hours,” adding he believes integrity is “central to our industry’s success” but that it “applies on more than one front” (X, 6/10).

Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said that while the injunction received by Sorsby allows him to play after a two-game suspension, that does not mean Sorsby “will be ready to play by the third game.” He said playing Sept. 18 against the Univ. of Houston “is still a stretch” (LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL, 6/10).

Opportunity and unease surround college sports as rapid change reshapes the landscape and raises new questions about its future. At the NACDA convention, college sports leaders shared candid perspectives on where the industry stands and where it could be headed next.

NWSL club Gotham FC plans to move into the Red Bulls’ former training site in Whippany, N.J., and turn it into the club’s first dedicated training facility. Renovations, designed in collaboration with SHoP Architects, will begin later this summer and aim to be completed by summer 2027. In addition to performance and operational spaces, the site will have a dedicated content studio and press room, along with space for families (Gotham FC). The club estimates that construction will cost $35M and is “being privately funded.” The project “includes a 15-year lease that begins Sept. 1″ (THE ATHLETIC, 6/10).

It is believed that USC will be the first college football program “to name a director of AI for football” when it announces Conor McQuiston will hold the position, according to sources cited by USA TODAY. McQuiston, who has past experience “working in analytics in both the NFL and college football, will report directly” to GM Chad Bowden. USC also intends to hire “additional, full-time staffers to support the football program’s analytics department and research” (USA TODAY, 6/10). It is unclear what McQuiston’s “focus will be as the director of AI,” as the sport is “still in the early stages of deploying it across the football landscape” (THE ATHLETIC, 6/10).

CHICAGO – When a TikTok fan came up with a conspiracy theory involving Toyotathon and Packers QB Jordan Love, Toyota was able to react and capture the cultural moment.

“Good brands chase culture, great brands move with it,” Toyota North America VP/Marketing Communications Dedra DeLilli said Wednesday at SBJ’s Brand Innovation Summit.

So when a fan noticed in 2024 that Love’s numbers improved during the long-running, annual Toyotathon promotion, here’s how Toyota moved: After listening to consumers, the carmaker extended Toyotathon to ensure Love and the Packers played well throughout the regular season. Toyota redid an ad to mention Love, and brought him aboard for a partnership.

“The Toyotathon spot was running nationally and we decided let’s just have fun with this, right? Let’s not take ourselves too seriously,” DeLilli said.

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National Association of Broadcasters CEO Curtis LeGeyt “advocated for broadcast” during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing that is analyzing the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act. LeGeyt said the act was built on a “simple public interest bargain.” He added that the bargain “worked for decades, but now fans are not getting what they bargained for.” LeGeyt: “Games from the four major professional leagues are now spread across Amazon Prime, Netflix, YouTube TV and Apple TV. Fans increasingly need multiple paid subscriptions to watch their favorite teams, and survey after survey shows that fans are confused and frustrated.” He added that many fans “can’t afford to go to games in person and when fans are ‘priced out of the stadium and games are moved behind paywalls, the public loses twice’” (NATIONAL NEWS DESK, 6/10).

U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said that the investigation by the Justice Department into whether the NFL has engaged in anticompetitive tactics in broadcast rights “appears aimed at helping Fox Corp” (REUTERS, 6/10).

The CFTC is “seeking the ability to block prediction wagers it finds aren’t in the public interest or that seem highly susceptible to manipulation.” The rules would “likely limit certain types of sports-related trading such as bets on player injuries and so-called first-pitch gambling.” The CFTC had “already offered some preliminary guidance on what types of betting should be avoided,” and Kalshi and other prediction market platforms have “moved to get ahead of the new regulations” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/10).

The proposed framework released on Wednesday would “leave the door open for most but not all sports-related trades,” which have driven massive profits for prediction markets. The CFTC states that each event contract “would be reviewed individually,” though it outlines “several sports-related examples that are likely ‘to be found to be contrary to the public interest’ and therefore prohibited” (ESPN.com, 6/10).

FuboTV signed a distribution agreement with NBCUniversal that will bring the company’s slate of networks back to Fubo subscribers. Spanish-language networks Telemundo and Universo are available for streaming starting Wednesday, while NBCU’s English-language networks, including the new NBC Sports Network, RSNs and FAST channels, will launch in the coming weeks. The new deal ends a blackout that started in November (FuboTV).