USOPC Chair Gene Sykes has been put forth for IOC membership, a move that once voted on again would give the U.S. three members.

Sykes, a longtime Goldman Sachs exec, has been one of the country's most respected leaders in the movement after leading the L.A. bid and serving as LA28's first CEO. In January 2023, Sykes began serving his term on the USOPC board, and officials in the U.S. movement have been keen to have another voice on the IOC's board.

The U.S. has typically had three or four members on the IOC board but has only had two since former cross-country skier Kikkan Randall, an Olympic gold medalist, stepped down for person reasons in June 2021. 

The IOC's membership will vote at the session before the Paris Games in July on the recommendation from the executive board to put Sykes and seven other new members forward.

Once approved, Sykes would join longtime IOC member and former VP Anita DeFrantz and International Tennis Federation President David Haggerty as the Americans in the membership.

The first Olympic Esports Games "are set to be added soon to the IOC’s portfolio of events" as it "seeks to attract and retain young audiences." The IOC said today it will "ask members to approve a proposal to create a video game Olympics" when they meet next month in Paris. The governing body said it was in "advanced discussions with a potential host" that "should be announced soon after" the July 23-24 meeting in Paris. The Esports Olympics "will build on an IOC-backed week of video game competitions held last year in Singapore," which was "a mix of physical simulations of Olympic sports and traditional video games." Bach said the video games event "would have a financial model separate from the current sharing of revenue from the Summer Games and Winter Games" (AP, 6/14).

IOC President Thomas Bach said today the organization will "deploy AI in order to block any abuse on social media directed at 15,000 athletes and officials" at the Paris Olympics next month. The Games are being staged amid ongoing wars in Ukraine and between Hamas and Israel in Gaza -- "events that have already led to cases of abuse on social media." The Games are "expected to generate more than half a billion social media engagements" during the 16 days of the event. The IOC's measures "will cover all kinds of abuse, not just political attacks." The IOC "gave no details of what kind of access to their accounts athletes would be expected to give it" (REUTERS, 6/14).

World No. 2 men's tennis player Carlos Alcaraz has signed "a massive contract extension" with Nike that will see him placed "in rare air along his tennis heroes" -- getting his own custom logo. The deal, first reported by Spanish outlet Relevo, is valued at $15-$20M annually and will see Nike "develop Alcaraz's own unique brand logo, which is reportedly being designed now," as Nike did with Rafael Nadal's iconic bull logo and the Roger Federer "RF" logo. Alcaraz signed with Nike in 2019 and was initially under contract through 2025. The extension makes Alcaraz and rival Jannik Sinner "the faces of Nike men's tennis moving forward" (TENNIS NOW, 6/14).

Under Armour and the Univ. of Maryland have agreed to a 12-year, $98M extension to remain the university's uniform provider through 2036. Maryland AD Damon Evans said that the two sides have been "working on the extension over the past nine months." Maryland did not "open a bidding war with other athletic brands," with Evans claiming he was "pleased with Under Armour's offer." The new deal "would dwarf the previous 10-year partnership between the entities" and guarantees nearly $33M "in rights fees". Evans claimed that "while 'certain elements' of the revenue will go to the department's marketing fund," the rest has "not been earmarked" yet (BALTIMORE SUN, 6/14). The relationship between Under Armour and Maryland "goes back to 2004 when the football team became the first college team to wear Under Armour jerseys." Under Armour's "current collection of power five schools" will be Maryland, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Utah and South Carolina once Texas Tech and Auburn leave the brand (BALTIMORE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/14).

Yet another impactful SBJ Brand Innovation Summit is in the books! Here's a look back at what was discussed during this meeting of the minds in Chicago.

More:

• George Killebrew talks United Pickleball Association's future
• EA's Hopelain on what to expect from CFB game
• BIS: Inside HCL Tech's sports moves
• BIS: Cutting through the clutter in sports marketing
• Sports remain key in Rocket Mortgage’s marketing philosophy
• Don’t Quit’s Mark French wants to ‘drive traffic’ to retail partners
• How brands can interact with Gen Z sports fans
• Don't Quit lands partnership with iHeartMedia
• ‘Use your normal playbook,’ how agency consulting execs position women’s sports
• Google's Kate Johnson talks company's growing investment in women's sports
• Women's sports continue to see growing attention
• Toyota's Paris Games strategy taps into emotion
• Coca-Cola's Brad Ross: Creative thinking the most valuable part of any sponsorship deal

The NBA Mexico City Game 2024 will feature the Heat and the Wizards playing a regular-season game on Nov. 2 (X, 6/14).

NBCUniversal unveiled its first-of-its-kind "Paris Creator Collective" for its coverage of the Paris Games. In partnership with Meta, Overtime, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, NBCUniversal has developed a multi-platform social creator program that will see 27 creators tell the stories of the Games through on-the-ground access in Paris (NBCUniversal).

A tournament record 675,080 spectators attended the French Open, up 6.6% from last year (AP, 6/14).

WWE Live will return to the U.K. and Ireland later this year, visiting the Utilita Arena in Cardiff, the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, the Utilita Arena in Newcastle and the brand-new Co-op Live in Manchester this October. WWE Live then returns in November with shows at the 3Arena in Dublin, The O2 Arena in London, the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham and the Utilita Arena in Sheffield (WWE).

It probably should be Scottie Scheffler, but in terms of interest, matchups, personalities, fan intrigue, all that's gone on the last 2/3 years, etc., Rory McIlroy versus Bryson DeChambeau over the weekend at the U.S. Open would be about as good as it gets for men's golf.

— Shane Bacon (@shanebacon) June 14, 2024

It’s possible Taylor is a BallKnower. Need her thoughts on PFF’s grading system. https://t.co/48MWDKQFN8

— Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) June 14, 2024

#NASCAR … View of Turn 2 repave at Iowa Speedway pic.twitter.com/a2eEq2HI9D

— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) June 14, 2024

If you look at the WNBA viewership week by week the trend isn’t great. Social media and culture warriors have quickly bludgeoned the fun out of the most joyful story of the year and it sucks. Let these women play ball. https://t.co/BVuVhUPR7C

— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) June 14, 2024

"I think that with all of the growth that Caitlin [Clark] has brought, it has brought a lot of growing pains. ... Now you have the opportunity to educate people who are coming with you ... so that hopefully the focus can be on the game."

—@chiney on the WNBA's growth this year pic.twitter.com/Hn9tASwaoe

— First Take (@FirstTake) June 14, 2024

Bills S Damar Hamlin joined "Today" to talk about his recovery journey and his mission to raise CPR and AED awareness. 

42,427 -- The Elly De La Cruz City Connect Bobbleheads from Wednesday night's Reds game drew 42,427 fans, "the largest weekday attendance in the history of Great American Ball Park, excluding Opening Days." A "packed crowd" waited to enter the stadium before the gates opened (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 6/14).