In January, Vince McMahon resigned from his position with TKO, the parent company of WWE, after a former WWE employee levied serious allegations in a sex-trafficking lawsuit filed against him, the company, and another former WWE exec. Now, more previously unreported details about the lawsuit have been uncovered in an exclusive story by Front Office Sports’ new director of features and news, Tim Marchman, along with wrestling reporters Brandon Thurston and John Pollock. This is the type of important journalism that FOS readers can expect moving forward.

What we found: WWE president Nick Khan—a dealmaker and former CAA executive who has earned a reputation as one of the most powerful men in sports media—and COO Brad Blum are the previously unnamed men identified as Corporate Officers No. 1 and No. 2 in the lawsuit filed in January by Janel Grant. Khan and Blum are not personally accused of sexual misconduct or violence, or of knowing of any such acts; rather, the suit claims that they and others facilitated and covered up Grant’s exploitation and were instrumental to a scheme in which McMahon arranged for Grant to be employed “in a completely undefined role, except for the understanding that she remain a sexual slave to be used and trafficked by McMahon within the WWE.” (McMahon has said the allegations in the lawsuit are “baseless” and that he intends to vigorously defend himself.)

The information about the identities of the corporate officers, which FOS confirmed with Grant’s attorney, offers a new lens through which to view Grant’s suit. Most attention has focused on the allegations of extreme sexual violence the suit makes against McMahon and his associates; it can, though, also be read as a set of claims about how McMahon made the highest-ranking executives in his company complicit in his conduct.

Some key takeaways from FOS’s story:

• McMahon presented Blum and Khan to Grant as key fixers.
• McMahon relied on Blum for assistance in placing Grant in an entry-level legal job for which she had minimal qualifications.
• Grant, according to the suit, listed Khan and Blum among people who knew enough about her relationship that their roles should have been addressed in an NDA, during negotiations over its drafting.

• The person identified in the suit as Corporate Officer No. 3 is McMahon’s daughter, longtime WWE exec Stephanie McMahon, whom Grant described as knowing of “other instances of [Vince] McMahon engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct.” (Stephanie McMahon did not respond to FOS for comment.)
• A WWE spokesperson tells FOS: “Neither Nick Khan nor Brad Blum, prior to the lawsuit being filed on January 25, 2024, were aware of any allegation by Ms. Grant that she was the victim of abuse or unwanted physical contact; nor does the complaint allege that either had knowledge of such.”

To read the entire story, visit FrontOfficeSports.com.

Over the past few years, Formula One has been making considerable inroads in the U.S. market, thanks in no small part to Netflix’s hit series, Drive to Survive. But now that races are dominated by Max Verstappen and Red Bull, is there enough drama to keep the crowds hooked? Jonathan Clegg, sports editor at The Wall Street Journal and co-author of the new book The Formula, joins the show to discuss how F1 can still attract fans and what lessons the Premier League might provide. 

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$1.2 million

The amount of money Russell Wilson will receive after reportedly agreeing to a one-year deal with the Steelers for the veteran’s minimum. Wilson, whose X avatar shows him in a Pittsburgh uniform, posted: “Year 13. Grateful. @Steelers” on Sunday. The Broncos, however, will pay the nine-time Pro Bowler $37.8 million after releasing him last week (and take an $85 million hit in dead money over the next two seasons). Wilson is still under contract with Denver until the start of the new league year, which kicks off Wednesday. The Broncos traded for the former Seahawks star quarterback in 2022 and handed him a five-year deal worth $242.6 million. Wilson went 11–19 in the Mile High City and was benched for the final two games of the ’23 season.

On this day four years ago: The NCAA announced the cancellation of March Madness, immediately ending the season for men’s and women’s college basketball, and also all its other winter and spring sports championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like every other major sports entity, the NCAA was trying to figure out in real time how to respond to a rapidly accelerating global health emergency that reached a scale not seen in the lifetimes of any of its senior leaders. Many of those other leagues similarly paused their events and schedules, in some cases for more than a year. But it was the loss of March Madness, one of the most-anticipated events each year, that was arguably the most notable immediate sports impact from the pandemic.

Today, that decision also remains one of the most lasting and impactful in sports as a result of the pandemic. The NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to a large swath of affected athletes, allowing them to still get four full seasons of play, and that ultimately became part of the recent Caitlin Clark decision in which she forfeited that additional year at Iowa to declare for the WNBA draft.