Cautious optimism, is that you?
Leveling The Playing Field
Hi there!
Just over 50 days out from the World Juniors tournament in Alberta, Prime Minister Mark Carney said yesterday that Russia will not be allowed to compete amid the ongoing war in Ukraine — despite the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to reinstate the country.
- This story is far from over, especially with the men’s World championship looming next year. Staying tuned as we scroll through today’s news.
Flag football
🏈 The flag bearers
The GIST: A hot new league just entered the pro sports space: Premier Flag, the flag football brainchild of the NFL and TMRW Sports, is set to launch next summer — one year before the sport’s debut at the 2028 LA Olympics. There are flags on this play, but only the green kind. Let’s discuss.
✅ The details: Premier Flag will feature both a women’s and men’s league — great news considering women’s flag football is a sanctioned varsity sport in 25 states and flirting with NCAA championship status in 2028. League play will be hosted in a still-to-be-named U.S. city, emulating the single-host format seen in other start-up leagues (including Unrivaled and Athletes Unlimited).
- Just like the location, a lot of the specifics are still TBD, including the number of teams, league format, and season length. But this venture is backed by all 32 NFL owners and big-name investors like Serena Williams and Peyton Manning, so it’s bound to be good.
💪 Why now?: Flag football is a sport on the rise. Girls flag football is the fastest-growing high school sport in the U.S. and upwards of 20M people — more than quadruple the number of tackle football participants — play flag football worldwide, with high school girls’ participation in the U.S. increasing nearly 60% from 2024 to 2025.
- Premier Flag’s priorities are simple: create a paid, professional space where players can quit their day jobs and focus their time and energy on honing their craft.
- The league will also offer a clear (and hopefully lucrative) end goal for the sport’s development pipeline, adding a paid tier to a flag football ecosystem that already includes youth, high school, collegiate, and international building blocks. Talk about a touchdown.
TOGETHER WITH Proline
🏒 You could be a few clicks away from sitting rinkside
🏒 Hockey night just got a major glow-up. We teamed up with PROLINE to give GISTers an exclusive chance to snag the Most Interesting Seats in the House at a Toronto Maple Leafs home game. We’re talking the kind of experience* that’ll have your group chat going off with envy:
- 👯♀️ Two seats in PROLINE’s Most Interesting Seats in the House
- 👕 A PROLINE prize bundle for each guest (including a tote bag, toque, and Leafs jersey)
- ⭐️ Premium lounge access at Scotiabank Arena
- 👀 And maybe even a Jumbotron cameo during intermission
📈 WNBA Finals Game 7 averages 3.3M viewers making it most-watched playoff game in league history
The championship decider was a bad day for the rapidly dwindling “nobody watches women’s sports” contingent. The Valkyries’ victory was Saturday’s most-watched program on cable, beating out all college football programming (yes, way). It also registered as the WNBA’s second-most watched game since the league’s opening weekend nearly 30 years ago.
- In other W news, the NY Liberty are searching for their third head coach in three seasons after firing Chris DeMarco on Monday. That leaves openings in two of the league’s biggest markets: NY and LA. Stay tuned.
🎓🏀 No. 3 USC’s JuJu Watkins drops 21 points in highly-anticipated return
Back like she never left, the projected 2027 No. 1 WNBA draft pick played an efficient 25 minutes in her first game action in 588 days, helping the Trojans dismantle unranked UNLV 100–68 on Monday. As for the other juggernauts, No. 1 South Carolina and No. 2 UConn also tallied wins in their debuts: The Gamecocks topped No. 20 Maryland 101 –93, and the Huskies routed Cornell 100–35.
- And while the women’s openers were par for the
coursecourt, the men opted for a little chaos. No. 22 UCLA stunned No. 5 Arizona 84–75, and unranked Memphis upset No. 18 Iowa State 80–76.
⚾ MLB proposes delaying salary cap until 2028 as CBA negotiations continue
With the December 1st CBA expiration date looming, MLB issued its latest proposal yesterday, offering to delay the implementation of a salary cap and floor system until 2028 instead of next season as initially proposed. MLB is notably the only major North American pro league without a salary cap, the main point of contention in the negotiations.
- And that leads us to the players union’s response: a resounding no. The MLPBA remains staunchly opposed to a salary cap, citing reductions in player compensation and rights among other concerns. Lockout watch sadly rolls on.
Together With Canadian Tire Corporation
⭐️ Y’all know the difference a great fanbase can make. Canadian Tire Corporation saw the love Canadians have for women’s sports, and they’re showing up with you.
- In 2023, they had one goal: put at least 50% of their sports sponsorships towards women’s pro sports through their Women’s Sport Initiative.
- Three years later, they’re the only Canadian company equally investing across women’s and men’s professional sports. Can we get a woop, woop?
We’ll Make a Fan Out of You is Canadian Tire’s rallying cry to grow fandom for women’s sport, and they want you to be a part of it. We love a company putting their money where their mouth is.
🏀 NBA: Toronto Raptors vs. Denver Nuggets — Tonight at 9 p.m. ET — TSN
- Not only is Canada’s team in action (albeit sans Kawhi Leonard), they’re playing one of the country’s most beloved exports: Kitchener-Waterloo product Jamal Murray, who’s averaging a career-best 27.3 points per game. Not too shabby, eh?
🏒 NHL: Ottawa Senators vs. Buffalo Sabres — Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET — Prime
- After blowing a three-goal lead on Sunday, there’s no time like the present for the Sens to make amends, especially against a surging division rival. That said, if a bounceback win is in the cards, Ottawa’s power play — currently third-worst in the NHL — needs more, well, power.
🏈 NFL: Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Baltimore Ravens — Tomorrow at 8:15 p.m. ET — TSN
- Between quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Bhayshul Tuten, the Jags’ offense has been absolutely humming — unlike the Ravens’, who had to turn to emergency backup Joe Fagnano last week after both Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley exited with injuries. Oof.
- Do with that what you will when you make those Pick’ems selections.
ICYMI, we’re celebrating the holiday season with gift recommendations every Sunday in The Group Chat. The most clicked link from this week? The softest yoga top your giftee (or you!) will ever wear. Nama-slay.
Today’s email was brought to you by Lisa Minutillo, Lauren Tuiskula, Rachel Fuenzalida, Grace DePaull, and Charlotte Mackenzie. Fact-checking by Elisha Gunaratnam and Molly Potter. Ops by Elisha Gunaratnam and Briana Ekanem. Managing edits by Lauren Tuiskula and Lisa Minutillo. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.