France and Ireland are the next two countries to join the NFL’s global markets program, which allows some teams to organize fan groups, sell media and sponsorship in those countries year-round. Also, two new teams are joining the 16-month old program, now up to 21 teams and 14 different countries: The Saints, who lead the way into France, and the Falcons, who will become the fifth team in Germany.

Ireland’s first team will be the Steelers, a logical pairing considering deceased owner Dan Rooney’s stint as ambassador from 2008-12, and his family’s historic ties. Notably, the Steelers’ rights include the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which would normally be awarded as part of United Kingdom rights.

"My family has deep roots throughout Ireland and being able to connect with our fans across the Island is something special to our organization," Steelers President Art Rooney II said in a statement. "My father did so much in Ireland during his lifetime, first as one of the founders of the Ireland Funds, then as Ambassador. We look forward to growing our fan base and the love of American football in the years to come."

The global markets program facilitates team activities year-round, and does not necessarily have any connection to the league’s scheduling of overseas games. France is next on the NFL’s strategic plan in Europe, said Peter O’Reilly, EVP/Club Business, International and League Events. The NFL’s hopes of landing flag football in the LA28 Olympics could be bolstered by the Saints marketing in France, home of the ’24 Games, and the youth audience there has proven responsive. 

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The PGA Tour has tapped longtime industry exec Joie Chitwoodto helm the 2026 Presidents Cup, slated for Medinah Country Club near Chicago where Chitwood has deep ties. Chitwood has been the tournament director of the Arnold Palmer Invitational since 2020, but in the past has extensive experience in motorsports at Daytona Int’l Speedway and at Chicagoland Speedway. 

Chitwood helped build Chicagoland and plan for its first NASCAR race in 1999, a similar project he’ll have on his hands at Medinah. The club’s No. 3 course is undergoing an extensive, $28M renovation ahead of the event that will include the construction of three entirely new golf holes. The golf course is currently under construction and should open back up in 2024.

“When you think about the opportunity, this tournament is so global in nature, how can you turn things like that down?” Chitwood told SBJ last week. “There was no way to turn down this opportunity.”

Chitwood is in Ponte Vedra Beach this week going through the onboarding process with the Tour, after which he’ll relocate to Illinois following Memorial Day. As executive director of the event, Chitwood will report directly to PGA Tour SVP/Championship Management Matt Rapp. The two have known each other for years, with Chitwood shadowing Rapp during his days running the Players Championship, and Rapp shadowing Chitwood – hardhat and all – when Chitwood was leading the Daytona Rising project. 

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The U.S. House of Representatives this week will see a "discussion draft" of a college-sports bill that would "cover athletes’ name-image-and-likeness (NIL) activities and provide schools legal protection being sought by the NCAA." This would include "safeguards from retaliation by an institution of higher education for student-athletes who have signed a NIL deal" as well as "the creation of a “new regulatory body tasked with establishing and enforcing rules pertaining to collectives, boosters, and student-athlete endorsement contracts." There would also be "a provision clarifying that student-athletes are not eligible for employee status" and "language providing liability protection to protect institutions from frivolous litigation." 

The bill will likely "be opposed by Democrats," who have said that "any type of college-sports bill covering NIL activities would need to provide new health and educational benefits for athletes, as well as language aimed at tightening Title IX’s provisions connected to gender equity in sports." Democrats also have "expressed reluctance to provide the NCAA with what would amount to antitrust protection" (USA TODAY, 5/23).

NBC’s coverage of the Beijing Games and Fox’s FIFA World Cup telecasts were "the big winners Monday night" at this year’s 44th annual Sports Emmy Awards, with NBC winning four and Fox winning three Emmys. ESPN, meanwhile, was "the night’s biggest winner among outlets," pulling 13 Emmys. Bryant Gumbel will "receive the lifetime achievement award" for his role in sports journalism (VARIETY, 5/22).

ESPN came into the ceremony with "a leading 42 nominations." Among programs, NFL Network’s NFL: 360 and NBC’s coverage of the Winter Games tied with a leading 10 nominations each, followed by 2022 March Madness, with eight noms (DEADLINE, 5/22).

Some of the notable individual winners on the night included NBC's Mike Tirico (Outstanding Personality/Studio Host), ABC's Mike Breen (Outstanding Personality/Play-By-Play), ESPN's Ryan Clark (Outstanding Personality/Studio Analyst), ESPN's Lisa Salters (Outstanding Personality/Reporter), ESPN's Peyton Manning(Outstanding Personality/Sports Event Analyst) and Fox's Greg Olsen (Outstanding Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent) (DEADLINE, 5/22).

On the day he was fired as the A’s TV play-by-play broadcaster, Glen Kuiper "apologized once again" for uttering a racial epithet live on the air while "lamenting that his verbal 'mistake' cost him his job." Kuiper was told he was let go on Monday morning by NBC Sports California. He had been suspended since May 6, one day after he "used an epithet in place of the word 'negro'" in reference to what he called "a 'phenomenal' visit along with broadcast partner Dallas Braden to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City." Kuiper was in his 20th season as the A’s play-by-play broadcaster (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 5/22).

A person familiar with the investigation said that "the decision was based on a variety of factors, including information uncovered in the internal review" (AP, 5/22). Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick said Monday that he was "disappointed" to see Kuiper fired and said that Kuiper "called him to offer an apology" after the incident occurred (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 5/22).

NJ/NY Gotham FC’s newfound on-field success is paying off at the box office, as the NWSL club has sold more than 10,000 tickets for its Pride Night match on June 4 against the San Diego Wave. That’s already a single-game record for Gotham. To keep up with demand, the club is making upper-deck seating available at Red Bull Arena for the first time in team history as it closes in on selling out the 11,000-seat lower bowl.

Gotham, which placed dead last in the league standings last season and has never finished better than fourth, sits atop the table through the first third of the 2023 season with a record of 5-2-1. The club has posted an average attendance of 4,734 through three home games, according to Soccer Stadium Digest. While that ranks 11th in the 12-team league, it's up from last year’s franchise-best of 4,415 per game.

The Premier Lacrosse League is adding Rebel Bourbon as a sponsor for the 2023 season, which begins June 3. The brand, which is part of Kentucky-based Lux Row Distillers, will get rights as the official bourbon of the PLL this season. Other assets include entitlement to the PLL’s penalty box, patches on the Chaos Lacrosse Club jerseys and a “Rebel of the Week” content series on PLL platforms. PLL Senior Director of Partnerships Jake Krantz led talks for the league.

Fanatics has made "yet another acquisition," this time making a move to "consolidate its position in the collectibles space" by purchasing PWCC for an undisclosed sum. PWCC has been "responsible for myriad innovations in the online auction marketplace," including allowing buyers to vault their items, which saves them sales tax and space. The deal will "allow Fanatics to immediately gain traction in the online auction space," which has been dominated recently by Heritage Auctions and Goldin (ACTION NETWORK, 5/22). As part of this acquisition, all of PWCC’s employees will immediately transition to Fanatics Collectibles (Fanatics).

The LPGA has a new partnership with Walmart that aims to make golf clubs and apparel more readily accessible to females breaking into the game, as well as junior girls players. The partnership sees multiple club sets available for women and junior players, complete with an LPGA-branded golf bag. The women’s set retails for $199; the junior set starts at $98. Also available are LPGA-branded polos, skorts, dresses and visors. Walmart also will sell spike-less golf shoes. All items are available in more than 1,200 Walmart stores, as well as Walmart.com. Senior Manager of Merchandising and Licensing Wilma Taruc led talks for the LPGA on the partnership. Walmart notably title sponsors the NW Arkansas Championship on the LPGA each fall.

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Lifeforce, a health optimization platform backed by Serena Williams and former NHLer Scottie Upshall, just closed a $12M Series D funding round, which was led by M13 and Peterson Ventures (Austin Karp, SBJ).

The Golden Knights have named Cirrus Aviation and Jet.AI an official partner of the team. The partnership with Cirrus Aviation and Jet.AI will feature brand exposure on the Golden Knights website and newsletters, as well as a Golden Knights Watch Party during the 2023-24 season at their hangar in Las Vegas (Golden Knights).

The Holiday Bowl is "looking for a new title sponsor" after San Diego County Credit Union, the title sponsor since 2017, decided "not to continue as the name sponsor for the annual college football bowl game." Sports San Diego CEO Mark Neville said they hope to have the new sponsor in place by “late summer, early fall" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 5/22).

“That’s kind of a blueprint for the modern NBA where you can have your years where you’re doing really well at what you are best at, but eventually you’re going to have to adapt, the game’s going to change and Carmelo did a good job of that” -- CBS Sports’s Colin Ward-Henninger, on Carmelo Anthony retiring after 19 NBA seasons and finishing as the ninth all-time scorer in league history ( “HQ Spotlight,” CBSSN, 5/22).

The Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE writes the NFL "continues to devour" the largest portion of the pro sports landscape. Unlike the NBA, the NFL "isn't dependent on the popularity of superstars." Patrick Mahomes is the "best and most magnetic player in the league, yet if he retired tomorrow, the NFL wouldn't blink." The NFL is an "unstoppable force." It is "popular because the games are well-produced dramas, and because the league's PR machine learned to promote the sport year-round, after decades of gifting the summer to baseball."

Also:

• The Charles Schwab Challenge is planning a Block party.

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Children’s Books.”

“The original 1900 printing of this book was in a pale green dust jacket stamped in a vivid jewel tone of green.”

The “Final Jeopardy!” category in Game 1 of the “Jeopardy Masters” tournament was “Literature.”

“In reviewing this novel, Carl Jung said it took place in one single and senseless day ‘on which, in all truth, nothing happens.’”

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“What is ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ by author L. Frank Baum?”

The answer to the “Final Jeopardy!” category in Game 1 of the “Jeopardy Masters” tournament was:

“What is ‘Ulysses’ by author James Joyce?”

The answer to the “Final Jeopardy!” category in Game 2 of the “Jeopardy Masters” tournament was:

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