Olympics/NFL's Conscious Coupling

SI’s Mitch Goldich writes, “Ten years ago, it may have seemed silly. The idea of superstar NFL players standing atop an Olympic podium wearing gold medals for their exploits in flag football. But, frankly, it’s a perfect fit.”

May 22, 2025

The NFL and the Olympics Can Use Each Other to Achieve Their Expansion Goals
SI’s Mitch Goldich writes, “With NFL superstars becoming flag football Olympians, two of the sports world’s most growth-obsessed organizations have finally joined forces.

“Ten years ago, it may have seemed silly. The idea of superstar NFL players standing atop an Olympic podium wearing gold medals for their exploits in flag football. But, frankly, it’s a perfect fit. It should be no surprise at all that the NFL and the IOC would be willing to use each other for mutual benefit over the next three years and possibly beyond … Tuesday’s announcement that NFL owners will allow their players to participate in the 2028 Olympics only made it official.”
^{Sports Illustrated}

MLB’s First Rivalry Weekend Brings Increased Viewership, Engagement
The May 18 Yankees-Mets game averaged 2.54 million viewers on ESPN, making it the most-watched “Sunday Night Baseball” game since 2018. Meanwhile, the May 17 Fox primetime regionalized window (led by Braves-Red Sox) averaged 1.91 million viewers, a 74% increase over last year’s same window.

Saturday was also the second-most watched day ever on MLB.tv (2023 Opening Day). Mets OF Juan Soto’s return to the Bronx marked the No. 3 (May 17) and No. 4 (May 16) games ever on MLB.tv in terms of audience.
^{Sports Business Journal}

NBC/Peacock Wins 10 Sports Emmys for Olympics
The 46th Sports Emmy Awards were held Tuesday night in N.Y., where key winners “included NBC/Peacock for its coverage of the Summer Olympics,” which received ten wins, while Steven Spielberg “earned two for for producing and writing the ‘Land of Stories’ opening.” TNT’sa Charles Barkley was “recognized for studio analyst, ESPN’s Peyton Manning for event analyst, and Fox’s Joe Davis for play-by-play."
^{Variety via Sports Business Journal}

Jordon Hudson Reportedly Demanded Content Approval, Partial Ownership of UNC 'Hard Knocks' Before NFL Films Killed Project
Yahoo Sports’ Jack Baer writes, “An offseason version of ‘Hard Knocks’ was supposed to cover Bill Belichick as he embarked on his first season as head coach of UNC. We now know why that project fell apart.

Shortly before NFL Films and HBO were set to announce the docuseries, Belichick's girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, demanded both content approval and partial ownership of the show, according to Katherine Rosman of The New York Times via Yahoo Sports. Rather than hand control of the long-running show to the 24-year-old Hudson, who has made no shortage of headlines this offseason.”
^{The New York Times, Yahoo! Sports}

Piggybacking off the story above… ^👇🏼

AFC Contender Set to Appear on 'Hard Knocks' During Training Camp
SI’s Patrick Andres writes, “The Buffalo Bills will be the subject of the annual docuseries, the NFL announced Wednesday afternoon. It will mark the first time the Bills have appeared on the show.

“Buffalo is coming off a 13-4 season—its fifth straight winning 11 or more games. Despite their prodigious regular-season success—and quarterback Josh Allen's first MVP award last year—the Bills have been unable to solve the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs; the Chiefs have ended four of Buffalo's last five seasons.”
Sports Illustrated

Scott Hanson to Return to Peacock for 2026 Winter Olympics ‘Gold Zone’
FOS’ Michael McCarthy reports: “Scott Hanson is signing a new NBCUniversal contract to host Peacock’s Gold Zone during the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games …Peacock will announce the partnership with the popular NFL RedZone host on Wednesday. Next year’s Olympics mark the first time Gold Zone will stream on the platform during a Winter Games.”
^{Front Office Sports}

ESPN Bet Faces Make-or-Break Year for $2 Billion Disney-Penn Deal
Sportico’s Brendan Coffey writes, “Although Penn Entertainment is only about a year and a half into its decade-long deal for the ESPN Bet brand, Owusu expects ESPN parent Walt Disney to start to consider alternative partners to take over at the end of 2026 if Penn doesn’t make sufficient progress toward being more competitive in the U.S. sports betting market. Right now, DraftKings and FanDuel together command most of the sportsbook market outside of Nevada, with 37% and 35%, respectively as of March, according to data compiled by Casino Reports, an industry publication. ESPN Bet has 3.2% market share, lagging competitors including BetMGM, at 8%, and Caesars Entertainment, with 5%.”
^Sportico

FIFA Planning Dynamic Pricing Model for 2026 World Cup Tickets
The Athletic’s Adam Crafton reports: “It is expected that exceptions will be made for fixed pricing in the small per game allocation which will be provided to football associations whose teams are competing in the tournament, but general sale tickets will be subject to dynamic pricing.

“In the ‘United’ bid for the U.S., Canada and Mexico to co-host the World Cup, the countries submitted ‘a ticketing revenue estimate of $1.8 billion’, which it claimed was ‘conservative.’ FIFA announced in March that it has a revenue target of $13billion for the four-year cycle culminating in the World Cup in 2026, up from $7.6billion between 2019 and the men’s World Cup in Qatar in 2022. This underlines what FIFA see as the scale of their money-spinning opportunity in the North American market.”
^{The Athletic}

Penske Fires Top 3, Including Tim Cindric, From IndyCar Organization as Part of Cheating Scandal
SBJ’s Jenna Fryer reports: “Two-time defending Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden and teammate Will Power were found to have an illegally modified part on their cars ahead of Sunday’s final round of qualifications for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.”
Sports Business Journal

Looking to fill an open position with top talent in the sports media industry? Advertise in the Sport & Story Daily to reach over 25,000 senior-level executives and professionals—and connect your job opportunity with the right audience.

Trump Hosts NCAA Basketball Champion Florida Gators at the White House
AP News’ Will Weissert reports: “President Donald Trump honored the 2025 NCAA basketball champion Florida Gators at the White House on Wednesday, proclaiming that ‘lesser teams would have crumbled’ during its nail-biting title game victory.

“Florida secured the program’s third title in basketball, and Trump noted that it is the only school to have a trio of NCAA titles in that sport and in football. When the Gators basketball team won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007, they visited President George W. Bush at the White House.”
^{AP News}

Iowa State’s Pollard: College Sports Delaying ‘Inevitable’ Without Structural Fix
Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard said that the college sports industry is “prolonging the inevitable” by “not fixing” structural issues. Pollard, appearing on “The Rush,” said, “The problem is you cannot put a professional model over the top of college sports, but then want to run it like college sports.” He noted that he anticipates the House settlement “will happen,” and that the ISU athletic department is “planning for it.” However, Pollard noted college sports leaders have “shown absolutely no history” of “policing ourselves.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Place your brand in front of the Sport & Story Daily audience and connect with the most influential people in sports.

Thanks for reading!

Sport & Story Daily is the sports industry’s daily resource for business news. In addition to serving up exclusive trends, Q&As, and columns, the newsletter connects readers to top platforms and stories from across the sports landscape.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here!

Feel free to read our Privacy Policy