The USOPC will extend Sarah Hirshland's contract for five years, ensuring the CEO's tenure through the L.A. Games in 2028.

USOPC board chairman Gene Sykes announced the extension in a staff town hall on Wednesday and sent a letter to national governing bodies and other stakeholders in the movement. Financial terms of Hirshland's extension were not disclosed. But her total compensation in 2022, the latest year for which data are available, was more than $1.1M.

Hirshland has been CEO since August 2018, leading the USOPC through Congressional inquiries, lawsuits and reforms following sexual abuse scandals at several national governing bodies. 

RELATED: Hirshland says USOPC won't wait on Congress to create change

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ESPN for the second straight summer will carry the 2024 DirecTV Soccer Champions Tour , a series of six exhibition matches in the U.S. featuring top European clubs, across its linear networks and ESPN+ streaming service. The event is in its second year under the direction of global investment firm Sixth Street .  

This year’s edition features Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Manchester City and Chelsea. All six matches will be available in both English and Spanish. Sports Media Advisors provided counsel to the Soccer Champions Tour in its negotiations with ESPN.  

Legends, a firm in which Sixth Street holds a majority interest, manages commercial revenue for the tour, including sponsorship, premium seating, merchandise, ticket marketing and promotions. AEG oversees tour operations, team operations, stadium relationships and ticket sales. Two of the matches are produced in partnership with Florida Citrus Sports’ FC Series. 

College athletic departments are in need of new thinking around generating revenue -- and Playfly has ideas.

The company is set to launch “Playfly Max,” a service for schools centered on better monetizing existing revenue streams and exploring new ways to add dollars to athletic department budgets.

Penn State, Baylor and LSU are slated to be the first athletic departments to use the service, while an official announcement regarding Playfly Max is expected on Thursday.

“Change is going to continue in this space,” said Playfly President Christy Hedgpeth . “NIL is here to stay. That toothpaste is out of the tube -- and that's great -- but schools are never going to need less revenue. And that is our entire mindset. 

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The ownership group trying to bring an MLS NextPro team to Albany has hired Populous to design a proposed 8,000-seat stadium in the city’s downtown. Populous will develop the masterplan for the proposed mixed-use development as well as design a flexible stadium with capacity that can balloon to more than 12,000 for certain event types to anchor that district. Business For Good co-founders Ed and Lisa Mitzen and a group of real estate investors, including Jeff Buell and Chris Spraragen , are behind the bid to bring the third-tier soccer club to New York’s state capital.

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