How conference shake-ups all shook out

The sports world is hungry to attract a Gen Z and Gen Alpha audience, and one way to do that may be partnering with Twitch streamers like Kai Cenat. Cenat, who’s already making headway in the NBA and sneaker space, pulls historic streaming numbers from young audiences, offering a whole new demo to women’s sports leagues.

It’s been 945 days, but Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton — the winningest driver in F1 history — is back atop the podium after winning yesterday’s thrilling British Grand Prix (GP), his hometown race. The W marked a historic day for Hamilton and a reminder that parity — and all the drama that comes with it — just might be back on the grid. Vroom, vroom.

After a week spent observing Canada Day and Independence Day, and as national pride is at an all-time high ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics (which start in 19 days!), we’re diving into nationalism in sports — the good, the bad, and the ugly.

This era of athlete empowerment isn't without its tradeoffs.

U.S. Olympic rugby (and TikTok) star Ilona Maher and former NCAA swimmer Ann Ragan Kearns launched a skincare line today, called Medalist. The brand’s products are specifically designed for women athletes, which involved rigorous testing from Maher and other athletes across different age groups and sports.

It's one of the major forces shaping college sports.

The gender gap in sports viewership and valuations may be closing, but there’s one area of the women’s sports ecosystem where supply is far behind demand: merchandise. On Wednesday, payment network Klarna and fan intelligence company Sports Innovation Lab (SIL) estimated the value of the women’s sports merch market at $4B.

Today marks the 52nd anniversary of Title IX — the landmark U.S. legislation that gave women athletes the right to equal opportunity in sports. So, today’s Scroll is all about the history of the law, the progress that’s been made, and the work that lies ahead in order to level the playing field.

Today’s Juneteenth — a U.S. holiday celebrating Black history and commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people in the States. But the landmark day only became a U.S. federal holiday in 2021, following a summer of protests against racial injustice in 2020.

All they do is win, win, win, no matter what.

This feature is brought to you by the Toronto Raptors and MLSE Foundation’s A League of HER Own, a girls-only basketball league created in partnership with the Toronto Community Housing Corporation to address the gender participation gap in sports.