NFL Combine Tests the Mind Too

Within the last decade, NFL teams have used the S2 Cognition test to measure how quickly the brain can process information in real time.

February 27, 2025

S2 Cognition Testing: How NFL Teams Use it to Evaluate Draft Prospects
“Things are happening at speeds that are very different than what you do in everyday interactions,” S2 Cognition co-founder Scott Wylie told The Athletic. “Their brains are wired to do things most human beings don’t appreciate and can’t do. You can imagine how that gives them huge advantages on the football field if they can see things a tick quicker, when you can anticipate with higher accuracy better than most, when you can process, recognize and track things with better precision and effectiveness.”
^{The Athletic}

Boxing Nears Its Spot on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Program as IOC Recognizes New Body
“Receiving provisional Olympic recognition from the IOC is an important achievement and demonstrates that our sport is on the right path. This decision brings us one step closer to our main goal - preserving boxing at the Olympic Games,” former boxing great Gennady Golovkin, who heads the commission tasked with establishing World Boxing as a credible body to run Olympic bouts, said in a statement.
^{AP News}

Fanatics Deepens Qatari Ties Via Five-Year Government Partnership
Sportico’s Eben Novy-Williams writes, “Fanatics is deepening its ties to the Qatari government via a new five-year partnership that will include sponsorship of the company’s flagship New York City fan festival, plus the possibility of events in the Gulf state further down the line.

"It’s the latest push into global sports for Qatar, whose sovereign wealth fund is already a Fanatics investor, and an opportunity for Michael Rubin‘s company to continue expanding its business into new overseas markets.”
^Sportico

TGL Grows International Media Distribution
TGL is growing its media presence with new international distribution that covers the Middle East and North Africa. The league this morning is set to announce a deal with the GolfLife Channel, which covers countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The new pact takes TGL’s distribution to 130 countries and territories across six continents, the league said.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Laura Rutledge Re-Ups With ESPN With New Multiyear Deal
ESPN is keeping Laura Rutledge in the fold, re-signing the host/reporter to multiyear deal. Rutledge, who started at the network in 2014, will continue to host “NFL Live” and be part of the broadcast team around NFL and college football games (as well as the NFL Draft, the Masters, “SEC Kickoff” and other programming). She also will stay as host of “SEC Nation” on SEC Network during the college football season.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Oklahoma Football Hires Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy as General Manager
Nagy has led the Senior Bowl, the annual college football all-star game that showcases NFL Draft prospects, since 2018. His hiring at Oklahoma continues a recent trend of Power 4 programs installing figures with NFL ties atop their scouting and personnel departments.
^{The Athletic}

Trace McSorley is Returning to Penn State as Assistant Quarterbacks Coach
McSorley was a three-year starter for the Nittany Lions (2016-18) and a sixth-round pick by Baltimore in the 2019 NFL draft. He appeared in three games for the Ravens over two seasons and started one of his six games for Arizona in 2022. He was on practice squads for the Bears and Steelers before Washington released him in training camp last year.
^{AP News}

No. 8 UNC, No. 9 NC State, No. 16 Duke Vying to Give State’s ‘Triangle’ Region 3 NCAA Host Sites
The Blue Devils, Tar Heels and No. 9 N.C. State — all located within a 30-minute drive of one another in North Carolina’s “Triangle” region — have made their home state the only one in the country with three different programs cracking the top 10 of the AP Top 25 this season. That has them all within reach of being seeded highly enough in the NCAA Tournament to host opening-weekend games together for the first time in more than a quarter-century.
^{AP News}

AEG Working to Grow ‘Spring Training For Soccer’ at Site of Coachella
SBJ’s Alex Silverman writes, “The CVI is part preseason training camp, part soccer exhibition and part festival, held, appropriately enough, at the site of the Coachella music festival.

“This year’s edition ran from Feb. 5 to Feb. 22, and included 14 teams from MLS, six from NWSL and three from the USL. That’s a marked increase from the six teams it had at its debut in 2022, and is another step in the CVI becoming what Kara Korber, AEG’s senior director of business development, called ‘spring training for soccer.’”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Dolphins, Vikings Top NFLPA Workplace Survey, But Falcons, Chargers and Commanders Make Big Gains
The Falcons, Chargers and Commanders made the biggest gains in the NFLPA’s annual survey of working conditions for players released today, while the Giants, Jaguars, Eagles and Bills declined the most. For the second straight year, the Dolphins and Vikings finished first and second, respectively.

The Commanders, who finished in last place last year, rose to 11th overall, with new owner Josh Harris responding to players’ concerns after years of negligence in team facilities and staffing.
^{Sports Business Journal}

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UTSA and LSU Athletics Partner with Playfly Sports to Launch Playfly Max
UTSA Athletics has announced the launch of Playfly Max, a first-of-its-kind integrated revenue solution designed for a new era of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) and the impending revenue sharing landscape for student-athletes.

LSU Athletics and Playfly Sports have announced the launch of NILSU MAX, a new, independent entity dedicated to identifying and securing NIL opportunities for Tiger student athletes.

Playfly Max is built on unlocking untapped revenue streams that have been historically underdeveloped in college sports. These opportunities have only expanded with the emergence of NIL, and Playfly Max aims to fully actualize them.
^{UTSA and LSU}

WNBA Players Rip Big Ten, SEC for Refusing to Meet With Players
FOS’ Amanda Christovich writes, “Last week, dozens of current women’s college basketball players came forward to say that they had formed an advocacy group—though not a union—through the United College Athletes Association. The players requested meetings with the commissioners of the SEC and Big Ten, according to The Washington Post, but the leaders of those conferences refused to meet with them. Now, WNBA players are coming to their defense.”
^{Front Office Sports}

Georgia, SEC Schools Expected to Pay Football Athletes About 75 percent of Revenue Sharing
The Athletic’s Seth Emerson reports: “Georgia’s athletic department is planning to pay football players at least $13.5 million in revenue sharing this upcoming year, as part of the expected settlement in the House settlement case. But while football and men’s basketball will be getting the vast majority of the revenue sharing, Georgia said it is now able to add more than 100 scholarships to other sports, thanks to the settlement terms.”
^{The Athletic}

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