July 29, 2024

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The Olympics are starting with a bang, both in Paris and in NBC Sports’ viewership reports. … The feud between Jaylen Brown and USA Basketball is growing. … McKenna “Mak” Whitman makes U.S. soccer history after her NWSL debut. … Plus: More on Mark Cuban, Michele Kang, the NFL, and the Browns.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]] and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony, Saturday TV Ratings Way Up [[link removed]]

Andrew P. Scott-USA TODAY Sports

The momentum is back for Olympics viewership.

The initial two days of data from the Paris Games have supported many of the hopes of NBCUniversal and parent company Comcast, and showed a strong reversal from record lows posted in Tokyo in 2021 and Beijing a year later, in large part because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NBC Sports said viewership for Friday’s opening ceremony [[link removed]] averaged 28.6 million viewers in the U.S. across platforms, marking the best such figure since 2012, and bettering the comparable figure from 2021 by 60%.

Those numbers were then improved Saturday, the first full day of competition from Paris, as that day averaged 32.4 million viewers across all platforms, 83% better than the comparable figure from Tokyo. Further growth is expected later Monday once numbers arrive from Sunday’s events, including the first game for the U.S. men’s basketball team.

These numbers, comparable to a top regular-season or wild-card game for the NFL, further reinforce the Olympics as one of the most powerful entities in all of sports media.

“We are off to a strong start that is in line with the expectations of our NBC stations, and our distribution and advertising partners,” said NBC Sports president Rick Cordella. “We are in a great position as we look forward to the next two weeks of competition.”

Peacock Burst

As had been hoped [[link removed]], the Peacock streaming service has been an increasing driver of the robust initial Olympic viewership numbers. For the opening ceremony, Peacock generated more than 2.5 million viewers, representing the No. 1 entertainment event in the platform’s history. Across all of NBCUniversal’s streaming platforms, including Peacock, the company also generated more than 1 billion minutes of consumption through Friday—six times the comparable figure from Tokyo.

Saturday, meanwhile, brought 4.7 million viewers to Peacock, marking its second-best day of engagement ever, trailing only an exclusive NFL wild-card game in January that set [[link removed]] a U.S. streaming record.

Water Concerns

Rain in Paris throughout Friday and most of Saturday is now throwing new levels of doubt as to whether the water quality in the Seine will be sufficient to allow for open-water swimming events in the Olympics. Swimming in the Seine has been illegal for a century, but Paris 2024 preparations included a massive clean-up effort in hopes of making it usable for the Games.

But pollution in the Seine, particularly E. coli levels, often increases after heavy rains in the area. Because of that, training in the Seine for upcoming triathlon events was canceled for a second straight day Monday. The latest testing has deemed the water unsafe, but organizers are hoping for improving conditions with the men’s triathlon scheduled for Tuesday and the women’s triathlon due to follow the next day.

“Given the weather forecast for the next 36 hours, Paris 2024 and World Triathlon are confident that water quality will return to below limits before the start of triathlon competitions on July 30,” the two organizations said in a joint statement.

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Jaylen Brown–USA Basketball Feud Escalates Over Snub, Nike Allegations [[link removed]]

Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

There’s a new chapter in the feud between Celtics star Jaylen Brown (above, right) and USA Basketball.

Brown has been public about his displeasure [[link removed]] over being snubbed from the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team. The 2024 NBA Finals MVP was not selected to the original roster announced in April, then essentially missed the team again earlier this month when it chose his Celtics teammate Derrick White to replace Kawhi Leonard.

Grant Hill, managing director of the U.S. men’s basketball team, explained on The Dan Patrick Show [[link removed]] how they decided to select White over Brown and other candidates.

Hill’s reasoning was that the team discovered in its practices leading up to the Olympics that they wanted to play a bench lineup that featured Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis, two players they had originally envisioned as centers. That decision created a “logjam” at the four position.

“LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum (above, left), now Bam Adebayo—all these guys can play the four and we envision them playing the four,” Hill said. “And so O.K., let’s not bring another guy who might play that three-four position in. Let’s bring in someone now who can really give us great defense at the point of attack.”

A Conspiracy Theory?

Brown’s public criticism of USA Basketball started after White’s selection. He posted several [[link removed]] cryptic [[link removed]] tweets, but took one direct shot at Nike, implying that the brand that sponsors the U.S. team influenced the selection.

Brown posted [[link removed]] on July 10 asking Nike, “this what we doing ?”

Less than a week later at NBA Summer League, Brown, who has not signed a sneaker deal since his contract with Adidas expired in 2021, was asked whether he thinks Nike played a part in the decision to leave him off the roster.

“I do for sure,” Brown said. “There will be more stuff to come with that. As of now, I’m not gonna comment on it.”

Hill denounced Brown’s comments, stressing that the decision was based on finding the right “balance” for the team’s roster.

“I think this idea that there’s a conspiracy theory—I always love a good conspiracy theory—but it was really, truly a basketball decision.”

To Hill’s point, Tatum, Brown’s teammate on the Celtics and Jordan Brand athlete, was a DNP-CD in Team USA’s dominant 26-point win over Serbia on Sunday, while its Celtics counterparts Jrue Holiday and White both received significant minutes as role players.

But Brown clapped back [[link removed]] at Hill, particularly at his use of the term “conspiracy theory,” noting it was disappointing and that he has been “a VP since I was 21 years old,” referring to his position as a vice president for the National Basketball Players Association. He was selected by his peers in 2019—though he was 22 [[link removed]] at the time.

Brown followed his response to Hill by retweeting a post regarding sneaker politics and the Olympics, citing the famous 1992 Dream Team that was sponsored by Reebok. Michael Jordan, a Nike athlete, famously covered up [[link removed]] the Reebok logo during the team’s medal ceremony.

While Brown called foul at Hill’s comments, this isn’t the first time he’s been embroiled in issues related to conspiracy theories. In 2022, Brown retweeted [[link removed]], then deleted a post that indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic vaccine was not meant to protect the public.

ONE BIG FIG Another American Prodigy

Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

14 years, 1 day

Age of McKenna “Mak” Whitham (above)—the youngest to play in any major professional soccer league in the U.S., who signed with NJ/NY Gotham FC last week, just days before her 14th birthday—when making her debut in the 80th minute of the team’s win 1–0 win over the Washington Spirit on Sunday. She’s the second 14-year-old to debut in a professional U.S. soccer league in the last two weeks, as Cavan Sullivan broke the MLS record for youngest pro player at 14 years, 293 days on July 17.

The ongoing Paris Olympics have opened the door for more players to play in the NWSL. Whitham’s four-year deal with Gotham begins in 2025, but because she signed a national team replacement player contract, she was allowed to play during the international window. Gotham has seven players in the Olympics, including the USWNT’s Rose Lavelle and Crystal Dunn.

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STATUS REPORT Two Up, Two Push

Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports

Mark Cuban ⬆⬇ The billionaire has advocated for NBA players to stop playing in the Olympics for two decades now—and he brought his idea [[link removed]] up again on X on Saturday. The Mavericks minority owner [[link removed]] has written about how Olympic athletes are “ severely underpaid [[link removed]],” and because the Olympics are a “business,” that won’t change. His proposal, at least for basketball, is to create its own version of soccer’s World Cup so players may be compensated better.

Michele Kang ⬆ The Washington Spirit owner continues to bet on women’s sports. She is committing $50 million in funding and contributions to Kynisca Innovation Hub, a tech nonprofit that aims to revolutionize training for female athletes, according to Bloomberg [[link removed]]. The aim for Kang, who is also the owner of Olympique Lyonnais Féminin and London City Lionesses, is to raise a total of $100 million for the organization.

NFL ⬆⬇ Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (above) said that the NFL Sunday Ticket lawsuit, which could set the league back billions of dollars, might have an effect on the salary cap in the future, according to DallasCowboys.com’s Nick Harris [[link removed]]. Jones didn’t say what exactly he thinks will happen, but that he expects “a lot of ramifications on cap.” Jones’s comments come after there were reports [[link removed]] last week that some owners have considered pushing some of the cost of the lawsuit at the players.

Browns ⬆ The franchise wants a stadium change, but it’s still deciding whether it will renovate Cleveland Browns Stadium or build an entirely new one. Owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam claim [[link removed]] they are listening to what fans want, saying the decision will be 90% driven by what’s best for their fans. A new stadium [[link removed]] would be a domed structure built on 176 acres of land in Brook Park and would cost about $2.4 billion, while renovating the team’s lakefront stadium would cost about $1 billion.

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Conversation Starters Good Morning Football is back in its new L.A. studio, and the show got legendary announcer Michael Buffer to introduce its on-air crew. Watch it here [[link removed]]. South Sudan only became a country in 2011, but anchored by team president and former NBA All-Star Luol Deng, they won [[link removed]] their first Olympic basketball game Sunday. Olympic endorsement deals are not just for athletes. Molson signed the parents of nine Canadian athletes, whose contracts include TV time and beer during the games. Take a look [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Seine Water Quality Throws Olympic Triathlon in Doubt [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]] and Eric Fisher [[link removed]]Weekend rain caused triathlon practice to be canceled Monday. Dawn Staley Is Surprisingly Honest About Caitlin Clark Olympic Snub [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]‘The way that she’s playing, she would be in really high consideration.’ Olympic Surfers Won’t Get Their Full Paris Moment [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]‘We’re kind of separate off on our own little thing over here.’ DISCLAIMER

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