Sports Business Journal

Carol Stiff's relentless advocacy for women's basketball during her 31-year tenure at ESPN has significantly elevated the sport's national profile 🏆 Rising from a temporary position in 1989 to Vice President of Women's Sports Programming, Stiff was instrumental in securing national broadcasts for women's games, notably fostering the Tennessee-Connecticut rivalry in 1995. Her efforts laid the foundation for the sport's current prominence. In this week's #SBJ, we're celebrating Carol Stiff as one of our 2025 Champions: https://ow.ly/z3zw50VybsG

LA28 will be a milestone for gender equity in the Olympic Games, as women will receive more than half of the quota spots for the first time 🌟 Key changes include: ✅ Women’s soccer field expanding from 12 to 16 teams, while men’s is reduced to 12. ✅ Women’s water polo increased to 12 teams and boxing now has seven weight classes. ✅ New mixed team events in six sports and expanded 3x3 basketball to 12 teams. Read more from Rachel Axon: https://ow.ly/f9oQ50Vy91c

The National Football League (NFL) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) just teamed up to launch 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝗜𝗤 — a new analytics dashboard designed to give fans a deeper look into NFL Draft decisions. Built by the NFL Next Gen Stats team and powered by Amazon QuickSight, Draft IQ offers: 📊 Team profile pages 🔁 Trade likelihood predictions 📋 Draft pick breakdowns 🕰️ Real-time updates every 5 minutes during the Draft It’s designed to help fans answer: "Who will my team pick?" — factoring in team needs, schemes, prospect evaluations, reported interest, and GM tendencies. https://ow.ly/g4sX50Vy6Nu

Ultimate Fighting Championship 314 is set for today at Miami’s Kaseya Center — and brands are showing up in a big way. 🍗 Wingstop Restaurants Inc. & Dave's Hot Chicken are activating, with Wingstop promoting a “Fight Night” bundle 🍕 Papa Johns is running its first UFC campaign, including in-octagon branding 🤝 Bud Light, Budweiser & TurboTax are returning as presenting sponsors 🤖 IBM and Meta are highlighting new AI tools 🎬 Paramount+ and Warner Bros. Discovery are promoting upcoming content 📶 Verizon is supporting its Total Wireless prepaid service https://ow.ly/M4Gm50Vy7IU

What a week at Augusta National. I pinch myself every day that I get to experience moments like this (see above Tom's head). It was great seeing everyone. Some #content from the week. ▪️ Fred Ridley detailed new facility projects in the works for the Masters: https://lnkd.in/eVQYDnrK ▪️ All the folks I saw under ANGC's oak tree: https://lnkd.in/e2Pg4vZg ▪️ AT&T, a Champion Partner of the tournament, debuted a new campaign: https://lnkd.in/eKTQdmhP ▪️ Similarly, Mercedes-Benz integrated the Masters app into its vehicles: https://lnkd.in/eFvxZDia ▪️ We had news on the LPGA commissioner search, which is down to two: https://lnkd.in/eVrXR_jS ▪️ How the Double Eagle Club keeps pressing on: https://lnkd.in/e4Y-hikG

New heights for women’s sports in the Bay Area ✈️🏀 The Golden State Valkyries and United Airlines have announced a multiyear partnership, making United a founding partner and the official airline of the WNBA’s newest franchise. United will also donate $1 for every mile the Valkyries travel this season to support organizations driving girls' participation in basketball. https://ow.ly/ArKZ50Vz9y4

🚨 Stadium news out of Ohio 🚨 Hamilton County and the Cincinnati Bengals have officially requested $350M from the state toward an $830M renovation of Paycor Stadium — a significant shift from the $1.2B master plan previously floated. The proposed overhaul includes upgrades to elevators, escalators, club-level seating, suites, AV equipment, concourses, and roofing — but not a new team HQ or expanded practice facility. Via Cincinnati Business Courier https://ow.ly/ucOX50Vz92v

The Connecticut Sun have signed Walgreens as their jersey patch sponsor for the 2025 WNBA season 🏀 As the team’s official retail wellness partner, Walgreens will support the Game Action Givebacks initiative—donating for every assist—and team up with the Sun on wellness-focused activations. https://ow.ly/anPt50Vzc4o

Ultimate Fighting Championship’s media rights are officially hitting the open market now that its exclusive negotiating window with ESPN has closed. But that doesn’t mean the partnership is over. While UFC is exploring its options — reportedly targeting $1B+ annually — ESPN has made it clear they’re still very much in the conversation. Here's what ESPN Chair Jimmy Pitaro had to say at SBJ HQ this week ↓

The National Football League (NFL) and NFLPA revealed the results of its annual helmet safety tests on Friday. After seeing the fewest number of concussions ever in 2024, league brass acknowledged there has been a huge step forward in helmet safety awareness and technology. As for how quickly the technology and research is moving — some of the top-rated helmet models just three years ago are already considered obsolete. More from Joe Lemire 🔻 https://ow.ly/x1NF50Vz7zn