The GIST

Brands turn to emerging women’s sports leagues to reach young digital natives

Softball. Baseball. Lacrosse. What do these sports have in common? In 2025, they all fielded brand-new professional women’s leagues.

January 10, 2026

Breaking down the NFL’s first five Wild Card Weekend games

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But wait, there’s even more high-stakes playoff football on deck: It’s also NFL Wild Card Weekend, giving us five straight days of touchdowns, tackles, and tension. We’ll preview Monday’s tilt between the Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers in our next newsletter. Until then, here’s a two-minute drill on this weekend’s five games. That NFL bracket won’t pick itself, after all.

January 09, 2026

No. 10 Miami tops No. 6 Ole Miss; will face winner of No. 1 Indiana and No. 5 Oregon in CFP title game

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Settle into your best RBF — the College Football Playoff (CFP) national title game is halfway set following last night’s heart-stopping semifinal, and one more squad will punch their ticket to the January 19th championship tonight. Here’s what you need to know ahead of the 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff.

January 09, 2026

TGL announces WTGL in partnership with LPGA as women’s golf attracts young, tech-savvy audience

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After months of consideration, Tomorrow Golf League (TGL) is teaming up with the LPGA to launch the WTGL, a virtual offseason golf league featuring LPGA athletes. When announcing the league on ESPN’s SportsCenter, LPGA star Lexi Thompson said WTGL “brings in a whole different fan base” than traditional golf does.

January 08, 2026

LOVB Austin off to a raucous start in second season

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LOVB Austin off to a raucous start in second season

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The second League One Volleyball (LOVB, pronounced “love”) season is officially underway. Here’s what went down during Wednesday’s season-opening rematch between defending champ Austin and runner-up Nebraska, plus where to watch the NCAA-stars-turned-LOVB-rookies you know and love this weekend. Bump to it.

January 08, 2026

No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 10 Miami clash in College Football Playoff semifinal

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And then there were four. The College Football Playoff (CFP) semis kick off with tomorrow’s 7:30 p.m. ET Fiesta Bowl, featuring No. 6 Ole Miss and bracket-busting No. 10 Miami, followed by the Peach Bowl slated for Friday.

January 07, 2026

Everything you need to know about LOVB and MLV

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It’s officially pro women’s volleyball season. Two leagues — League One Volleyball (LOVB) and Major League Volleyball (MLV) — will begin their second and third seasons, respectively, this week, so we’re serving up a deep dive on the surging sport.

January 07, 2026

PWHL shows strong Takeover Tour attendance despite YoY dips

Sports Business

PWHL shows strong Takeover Tour attendance despite YoY dips

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January 06, 2026

We’re six stops into the PWHL’s third Takeover Tour, which expanded significantly this year in terms of length, number of stops, and brand partners. While Canadian tour stops are pulling more fans than U.S. ones, the tour is proving successful in every city when it comes to attendance.

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The GIST of It Podcast

Ep #521

Meet the real-life “Heated Rivalry” Olympians

January 08, 2026

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Meet the real-life “Heated Rivalry” Olympians

It’s a love story, baby.

Just like everyone on the Internet, today we’re talking about “Heated Rivalry.” However, considering Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams haven’t answered our DMs yet, we’re going in a different direction.

On today’s episode of The GIST of It, co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Steph Rotz detail the real-life “Heated Rivalry” love story from the women’s hockey world — because before there was Shane and Ilya, there was Team Canada captain Caroline Ouellette and Team USA captain Julie Chu. Spoiler alert: They live happily ever after.