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Front Office Sports - The Memo

Afternoon Edition

August 6, 2026

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Despite FIFA president Gianni Infantino calling off his plan to sell shares of the World Cup, UEFA says its conditions for ending its FIFA boycott have not been met, meaning the European governing body’s 55 member federations still will not participate in FIFA competitions, including World Cups.

—Ava Hult and Griffin Senyek

First Up

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  • Akron’s viral promotion giving season-ticket holders the chance to orchestrate the first drive of the team’s home opener has become a sales success story.
  • The most high-stakes sports TV talent negotiation of the year is poised to kick off among Troy Aikman, Joe Buck, and ESPN.
  • Bryson DeChambeau’s agency is denying playing any role in helping LIV Golf find its new mystery investor, despite a notable connection between the two.

Europe Still Plans to Boycott World Cups, UEFA Says  

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Sam Navarro

UEFA’s FIFA boycott is still in place, the European confederation said Thursday.

The 55 European federations voted unanimously to suspend their participation in FIFA competitions—including World Cups—at an emergency meeting July 30. One week later, the European governing body remains dissatisfied, despite FIFA president Gianni Infantino calling off his widely panned plans to sell shares of the World Cup. 

“UEFA’s associations were very clear about the conditions attached to the non-participation in FIFA competitions,” the governing body said in a statement. “First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn, and secondly, assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again. These conditions have not been met.”

UEFA also reiterated its lack of confidence in Infantino and his future as FIFA president in the statement.

Infantino convened FIFA’s top officials at a crisis meeting Wednesday in Morocco, as he sought to preserve support for his presidency. In an unsigned statement afterward, FIFA’s leadership acknowledged “errors” in how the proposal was handled, apologized to its 211 member associations for excluding them from “the process,” and promised that an internal review “will now be conducted.” The statement added that the “successful delivery of the FIFA World Cup” would not have been possible without Infantino. 

“FIFA’s top management is fully confident that the outcomes of today’s meeting will strengthen FIFA’s governance, help restore confidence in the organisation and enable us to prepare for the major events and challenges ahead,” the statement read.

The statement also said Infantino has the “full support” of FIFA’s management board and secretary general Mattias Grafström. 

But in an internal email obtained by the Associated Press, Grafström sought to reassure FIFA staff that they would be protected from the fallout of FIFA Forward Enterprise.

“You do not need to worry,” Grafström wrote Tuesday. “I assure you that you as members of the administration, you will be defended and safeguarded from the political context we currently experience.” 

“We have all been thrown into the middle of a turmoil, which is difficult to comprehend and accept,” Grafström added.

FIFA COO Kevin Lamour was not invited to the meeting in Morocco after previously saying that senior staff was “deceived” by Infantino. While Lamour remains with the governing body, Carlos Cordeiro, a former senior adviser to Infantino, resigned from his position, saying he had no involvement with the proposal and that he strongly opposed it.

Calls for Infantino’s departure have grown in recent days. Former Portugal star Luís Figo—who ran for FIFA president himself in 2015—said “Infantino must go,” while Jordanian federation president Prince Ali bin Hussein ruled out endorsing him in a social media post. 

Finland, Wales, and Serbia have withdrawn their endorsements of the FIFA president, and England followed Thursday. Infantino has retained support from several federations in Africa and Asia, including Qatar, Egypt, Morocco, and the UAE. 

Infantino is seeking a fourth term in FIFA’s March 2027 presidential election, though several European federations have already withdrawn their endorsements of him following the collapse of the FFE. CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani has been widely viewed as the challenger best-positioned to run against Infantino. No candidate has yet said they plan to step forward and run against Infantino, who was widely viewed as on a glide path to reelection until the FFE debacle.

FIFPRO also condemned the proposal Wednesday, saying it would permanently alter the ownership and governance of the World Cup. The global players’ union called the plan “a profound abuse of power” before delivering a set of demands for “structural safeguards to ensure these events can never be repeated.”

“The players did not create this crisis,” FIFPRO said in the statement. “They will insist that football emerges from it with stronger institutions, stronger safeguards and leadership worthy of the trust the game demands.”

The next FIFA event will begin Sept. 5 with the U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland, where six European nations are set to compete.

The general secretary of the Polish Football Association previously said the association believed the boycott would end quickly, with the tournament expected to proceed as scheduled. With UEFA continuing its boycott threat, the participation of European teams remains up in the air.

The U-20 Women’s World Cup could be the first of several events impacted if any prospective European boycott lasts an extended period of time. The biggest of those is the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Brazil and will kick off in July 2027. 

Asked whether the UEFA boycott will affect the U-20 Women’s World Cup in September, a representative from the governing body had “no further comment.” 

A representative for FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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ONE BIG FIG

FIFA Boosts Fox

Yannick Peterhans/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

$4.21 billion

That’s Fox’s revenue for its fiscal fourth quarter, elevated by the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup, which began during that reporting period. 

Overall, Fox averaged 7.74 million viewers for the entire 2026 World Cup, up 116% from the 2022 tournament in Qatar that was held late fall that year due to climate-related reasons, and also setting an event record. 

The World Cup, and its record-setting viewership, “illustrated how Fox can take events like this and amplify them in a way that’s frankly unique in the market,” company executive chair and CEO Lachlan Murdoch said on the company’s earnings call Thursday.

LOUD AND CLEAR

Card King

CardVault by Tom Brady

“I wouldn’t have been as good at math as I was had I not collected a lot of baseball cards.”

—Tom Brady in a recent interview with Front Office Sports about how he’s turned his childhood hobby into one of his post-NFL business ventures. 

Brady cofounded CardVault by Tom Brady in 2024. The company, which Brady owns half of, describes itself as the first “national retailer dedicated to sports cards, trading cards and collectibles.” It’s carving out a place in the resurgent trading card industry, which had a market size of between $10 billion and $14 billion before the COVID-19 pandemic and reportedly reached $50 billion this year.

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STATUS REPORT

Three Up, One Push

Dec 28, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (28) reacts after a touchdown during the first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Jonathan Taylor ⬆ The running back is reportedly signing a two-year, $44 million extension with the Colts. Taylor’s deal, which includes $39 million guaranteed and is worth up to $47 million, comes after Bijan Robinson reset the market for the position, signing a three-year extension worth $22.25 million annually Wednesday. 

Sunday Night Baseball ⬆ The Red Sox–Dodgers matchup on NBC and Peacock last Sunday averaged 3.8 million viewers, marking the third time in three consecutive weeks that Sunday Night Baseball topped 3 million viewers. The broadcast is averaging 2.84 million viewers this season on NBC and Peacock, up 56% from last year on ESPN.

Peloton ⬆⬇ The fitness company reported its first annual net profit of $63.2 million in fiscal 2026, up from a loss of $118.9 million the year before. Even so, shares fell roughly 13% in premarket trading after the company said it expects sales to fall in 2027.

Dillon Brooks ⬆ The forward agreed to a three-year, $73 million extension with the Suns. Brooks, who is in the last year of a four-year contract signed originally with the Rockets, had $20.9 million remaining on his deal. His career earnings will surpass $200 million after the extension’s completion in 2030. 

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Events Video Games Shop
Written by Ava Hult, Griffin Senyek
Edited by Katie Krzaczek, Dennis Young, Catherine Chen

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