FIFA meets FAFO
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
Leveling The Playing Field
Good morning!
Be sure to refresh your feed at 10 a.m. ET today — Cleveland’s forthcoming, yet-to-be-named WNBA franchise teased a major announcement for that time. Feeling blue…
NWSL
✂️ Contract terminated
The GIST: The NWSL hasn’t yet confirmed or denied if it’ll be starting the 2027 season a full month earlier due to the FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC), but it did surprisingly reveal the immediate termination of its media rights agreement with streaming partner Victory+ last Thursday.
- It’s been less than a year since the league announced Victory+ as its fifth media partner. The partnership goal was to increase the discoverability of games via free, ad-supported streams and Sunday primetime broadcasts. So how did it unravel so fast? Let’s dive in.
The details: The NWSL is the third major sports rights holder to exit the platform in less than a month following MLB’s Texas Rangers and the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. And although no official reason has been given for the NWSL termination, both the Rangers and Ducks cited that Victory+ had fallen behind on payments.
- According to the Sports Business Journal, the streamer has faced difficulties with securing additional financing since February. Interesting…
Zooming out: The direct-to-consumer streaming switch is an attractive option for teams and leagues who know fans are frustrated with blackouts, or not having cable at all. They also offer a consistent way for out-of-market fans to watch games, something that was important in Victory+’s NWSL deal as expansion teams Boston and Denver joined this season.
- All soccer games slated for Victory+ were immediately made available on NWSL+, a quick and smart pivot for the league. Still, with clients like the Minnesota Lynx, Atlanta Dream, Dallas Stars, and LOVB on its dwindling roster, this might not be the last loss for Victory+.
Soccer
🤝 FIFA meets FAFO
The GIST: FIFA president Gianni Infantino is in the “find out” phase after his plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity firms united the soccer world against him in record time. The proposal was officially abandoned on Friday but the backlash (and gaslighting) are just getting started. Delicious.
The background: Last week, FIFA announced plans to create a new company, FIFA Forward Enterprise, to oversee its main events, including the men’s and women’s World Cup…and sell a stake in that company to private investors to raise a total of $20B.
The boycott: Shortly after Infantino’s plan went public, European football’s governing body UEFA announced it would boycott FIFA–sanctioned events like the WWC qualifiers planned for fall. This would have been disastrous for the tournament with six of the top 10 teams in the world coming from Europe, including reigning champs Spain.
- North American soccer body Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation also rejected FIFA’s proposal. However, with Infantino’s plans abandoned, the European boycott will not proceed.
Looking ahead: Things are just getting started for Infantino who, instead of receiving a self-imposed 525% pay increase, will endure a more-contested presidential re-election campaign in March 2027. There are also rumblings of a vote of no confidence, but it would require 43 member associations to even trigger a vote and it’s unclear how many would actually be needed to oust him. A girl can dream.
💪 Nike continues to champion women athletes with two new drops
The sportswear giant is releasing Paige Bueckers’ Nike GT Cut 4 Shirley Buckets PE tomorrow, an ode to the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year’s obsession with Shirley Temples. Though Bueckers released her first shoe while at UConn, the 24-year-old now joins an exclusive list of active W hoopers with signature Nike shoe deals.
- The company also announced its new Studio Fleece Collection, with Olympic figure skating champ Alysa Liu and USC basketball superstar Jazzy Davidson headlining the campaign. Getting warm fuzzies.
🎓 Oregon State women’s basketball petitions for union status
Last week, the Oregon State women’s hoops team became the first group of women student-athletes to attempt to form a players’ union, following in the footsteps of Stanford football, who kicked off a push for collective bargaining last month, and Dartmouth men’s basketball, who led the unionization charge before dropping its petition in December 2024.
- What makes the Beavers’ case especially interesting is that Oregon State is a public institution (unlike Stanford and Dartmouth), meaning Oregon’s laws and governing bodies are responsible for determining the outcome — not the federal system. Watch this space.
⛳ World No. 1 Nelly Korda’s tops 2026 LPGA majors money list with $4.59M
The LPGA’s fifth and final major wrapped over the weekend, and while Korda couldn’t snag her third win of the season, her fourth-place finish still garnered $465K. All in, her Tour-best major winnings are $870K more than second-place Haeran Ryu…but that’s not what’s turning heads: Even after adding in the PGA’s top finishers, Korda’s still the third-highest earner. Yes way.
- The only men’s players to outearn Korda are No. 2 Rory McIlroy and No. 10 Wyndham Clark, who both won only a single major and recorded just two top-ten finishes between them in the other three events, results that pale in comparison to Korda’s consistency.
- Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but it all comes back to money: The combined purse for the PGA’s four majors is about $30M more than the combined purse for the LPGA’s five. Still so much work to be done.
⏸️ Athletes Unlimited is pausing basketball and volleyball operations for its 2026 and 2027 seasons. End Pause of an era.
🚩 TMRW Sports named a senior vice president for flag football operations: longtime NFL exec Champ Kelly, who will build women’s and men’s pro flag leagues in partnership with the NFL.
📈 The Mubadala DC Open has quadrupled its revenue since 2019, bolstered by gaining 500-level status on the WTA Tour in 2023 and attracting more of women’s tennis’ biggest stars. Aces.
🎾 Speaking of tennis’ biggest stars, Serena Williams partnered with Heineken 0.0 to send fans who saved ticket stubs from her old matches to the US Open. Williams and her sister Venus also snagged a doubles wild card bid to this month’s Cincinnati Open.
🤝 Joe and Clara Wu Tsai said their divorce will not affect their joint ownership of the NY Liberty and Brooklyn Nets.
⚽ Euro soccer clubs are targeting U.S. fans in the post–World Cup fandom boom: Spanish phenom Ferran Torres appeared on Today amid trade talks, and Liverpool plans to open brick-and-mortar stores stateside.
👔 Sports fashion brand Round21 launched a new collection in honor of the WNBA’s 30th anniversary Legacy Trail celebration: silk ties designed by Heather Saldivar. A little tied up at the moment.
🏀 The Golden State Valkyries and Chase debuted the franchise’s first custom court during Sunday’s home game against the Toronto Tempo — tune in tonight to see it in the rematch.
Today's email was brought to you by Rachel Fuenzalida, Lisa Minutillo, and Katie Foster. Fact checking by Bonnie Lee. Operations by Elisha Gunaratnam. Ads by Ali Haberstroh. Managing edits by Molly Potter and Katie Kehoe Foster. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.