The GIST

Everything you need to know about the 2026 CFP national championship

The history of determining college football’s national champion is…messy, and the sport’s leaders have been tinkering with the postseason format for decades to make it as fair, transparent, entertaining, and, well, profitable as possible.

January 19, 2026

The year-round marketing power of Eileen Gu illustrates opportunity around Olympic, Paralympic athletes

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The Olympics have a marketing problem: While passion for the Summer Games is a worldwide phenomenon, it’s only accessible to brands every four years. It’s even worse for the Winter Olympics, which has fewer marketing dollars and less media attention, demonstrating that brands often fail to harness the total appeal of winter sports.

January 17, 2026

Iga Świątek, Carlos Alcaraz chasing career Grand Slams at Australian Open

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The Australian Open, the 100th tennis Grand Slam of the 21st century, begins Down Under on Sunday, aka tomorrow on this side of the world. With the tourney’s largest-ever prize pool (a cool $74.9M) up for grabs, here are the men’s and women’s players to know.

January 16, 2026

West Coast wellness franchise Bay Club extends hand to WNBA athletes amid free agency woes

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As predicted earlier this week, the WNBA and WNBPA have agreed to a moratorium on free agency transactions as the two sides continue to iron out a new CBA. In the meantime, free agents are left in the lurch when it comes to training in offseason facilities — but universities and companies are closing the gap.

January 15, 2026

West Coast wellness franchise Bay Club extends hand to WNBA athletes amid free agency woes

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January 15, 2026

Crux Football expands women’s soccer portfolio as investors recognize opportunity

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Yesterday, Swedish football club FC Rosengård transferred ownership of its women’s club under a new holding, FC Rosengård Elitfotboll AB, which gives Crux Football 49% ownership. This is the second women’s football team under Crux, a multi-club ownership group investing across Europe.

January 15, 2026

History and records on the line in Unrivaled Week 2

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ICYMI, innovative 3v3 women’s basketball league Unrivaled is off and running in Miami, with records falling left and right. We launched Unrivaled Weekly, a Friday newsletter featuring stunning stats and deep analysis, to keep up with all the action — here’s a sneak peek at what you get by subscribing (for free, of course). Buckets on buckets.

January 15, 2026

Mike Tomlin steps down as Pittsburgh Steelers head coach after 19 seasons

Sports News

Mike Tomlin steps down as Pittsburgh Steelers head coach after 19 seasons

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January 14, 2026

The NFL Playoffs Divisional Round is officially set after the Houston Texans’ 30–6 Monday win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Eight teams remain in the hunt for the coveted Lombardi Trophy, but many more are searching for answers, including the now-eliminated Steelers. Let’s dig in.

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The GIST of It Podcast

Ep #522

Getting emotional watching figure skating

January 13, 2026

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Getting emotional watching figure skating

Axels, and lutzes, and salchows, oh my.

Still picking your jaw up off the floor after last weekend’s national figure skating championships? Same. That’s why today’s episode of The GIST of It is a twizzling, axel-filled ode to the newly-named figure skating Olympians representing the USA and Canada at the Milano Cortina Games next month. Tune in to hear co-hosts Ellen Hyslop and Steph Rotz wax poetic about one of the Olympics’ most popular sports.