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Front Office Sports - The Memo

Afternoon Edition

August 26, 2026

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The fallout from the controversial and now-deleted Good Good Golf video continues. Dick’s Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy, and PGA Tour Superstore have pulled their Good Good merchandise from stores and off their websites.

—Ellyn Briggs

First Up

  • Exclusive: Michael Jordan isn’t expected to return to NBC’s NBA coverage. He was a “special on-air contributor” during the 2025–26 season.
  • NFL owners voted to ratify the league-record $9.6 billion purchase of the Seahawks by a group led by the family of Vinod Khosla from the Paul G. Allen estate.
  • College sports awaits the brewing legal battle among LSU, players, and the SEC over NFL players returning to play in college. 
  • Mark Walter’s TWG Global pushed back against the idea that the Lakers sale was part of a “fire sale” to raise money amid federal investigations.

Golf Galaxy, Dick’s Pull Good Good Merchandise Amid Ad Controversy

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Golf Galaxy and its parent company, Dick’s Sporting Goods, pulled Good Good Golf merchandise from in-person and online shelves Tuesday. It’s the latest consequence for the YouTube-channel-turned-major brand, which has been embroiled in controversy after posting a promotional video last Friday for a new driver—created in partnership with Callaway—that depicted Good Good cofounder Garrett Clark shoving a woman to the ground. 

Dick’s has yet to respond to repeated requests for comment from Front Office Sports about the status of its retail partnership with Good Good, but a search for the brand on Dick’s website currently yields a “no matches found” result. Good Good products are also no longer listed on Golf Galaxy’s website. 

FOS reached roughly a dozen Dick’s and Golf Galaxy locations across the country Wednesday morning; while some noted they still had Good Good merch on-site, all said the brand had been removed from their floors and its products were not available for sale. Several East Coast and Midwest locations of PGA Tour Superstore—Golf Galaxy’s biggest competitor—also said they had pulled Good Good merchandise when reached by phone Wednesday morning. One New Jersey store manager told FOS the move was a result of the backlash to the ad.

“The video does not reflect our values or our commitment to making golf welcoming for everyone,” a PGA Tour Superstore spokesperson told FOS in a statement.

Golf Channel announced late Tuesday it was postponing the premiere of a new show with the YouTube group, Big Break x Good Good, by a week to “allow for necessary production updates following a request from one of the show’s sponsors to remove its branding from the series.” Previous network communications about the show used the verbiage “Big Break x Good Good presented by Golf Galaxy,” suggesting Golf Galaxy is the dropout. (Golf Channel did not respond to a question asking about the sponsor.)

Also on Tuesday, Callaway admitted involvement in the ad with a statement attributed to its CEO, Chip Brewer, who said the company “sincerely apologize[s],” is “conducting both internal and external investigations,” and has “already made changes to [its] approval processes aimed at ensuring this will never happen again.” 

Calls for the PGA Tour to drop Good Good as the title sponsor of its Fall Series event taking place Nov. 12–15 in Austin, Texas, are growing amid backlash to the ad. Asked about this Tuesday at a Tour Championship press conference, Tour CEO Brian Rolapp indicated a change wasn’t on the table—for now: “It’s a bit of a fluid situation. … It sounds like in the last 24 hours they’ve made some progress. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and see how it develops.”

The fast-moving fallout represents a stunning turn of events for a brand that was otherwise red-hot. 

In an interview last month, Good Good’s VP of brand and marketing, Jeffrey Lefkovits, told FOS the company went from “roughly 800 to 4,000 retail doors in just the last year alone,” and claimed “a majority” of the top 10 best-selling hats at both Dick’s and Golf Galaxy in 2025. 

Dick’s, in contrast, had its worst day on record Tuesday. The retailer’s stock price dropped about 30% after reporting weak second-quarter earnings and slashing its full-year profit outlook. In addition to its almost 800 eponymous stores, Dick’s operates more than 70 Golf Galaxy locations across the United States. 

Extreme Backlash?

Some onlookers have begun to wonder whether the reactions have gone too far. 

“Alright, the commercial was bad but what’re we doing,” Nate Geary, a Buffalo sports-radio host, wrote on X/Twitter Tuesday in response to a post about Golf Galaxy employees being ordered to pull Good Good merch. 

“My goodness this overreaction is getting out of control,” commented another user on the same post. “It was an ad made in poor taste…. they ended up pulling it & apologized.” 

Good Good, which has more than 2 million subscribers on its YouTube channel, has issued only one official statement on the situation so far. “We posted a video to our channels that ultimately depicted actions that are not aligned with our values as a brand,” the company wrote in a post on its X/Twitter account Saturday. “We have since taken that content down, and sincerely apologize. Good Good has always stood for making the game of golf more inclusive to all, and we will continue to ensure that is our mission moving forward.”

However, its CEO, Matt Kendrick, spoke with The Wall Street Journal on Monday. 

“We fully own that we did make a mistake. … As the CEO of the company, the buck stops with me and we should have had better processes in place,” he told WSJ. “Obviously the execution missed the mark and didn’t come across the way that we wanted to, and in no way were we trying to make light of or support violence. But it came across that way, and that’s our fault.” 

Kendrick added that the full 60-second video was meant to spoof the horror movie Obsession, released earlier this summer. 

FOS obtained a copy of a memo Kendrick sent to all Good Good staff on Monday. In the email subject-lined “Owning Our Mistake,” he said the company plans to donate all proceeds of the driver campaign to an “organization supporting women in [its] local community.”

Elsewhere, competitor brands are starting to pounce. Golf apparel and equipment provider Parsons Xtreme Golf (PXG) shared a video of women golfers using its drivers on Tuesday evening. It was captioned, “Our drivers play nice with everyone. #SheGolfs.”

SPONSORED BY E*TRADE FROM MORGAN STANLEY

Kerri Walsh Jennings on Building the Future of Volleyball

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings spent more than two decades competing at the highest level of beach volleyball. Now she’s focused on building the next era of the sport.

On Portfolio Players, presented by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, Walsh Jennings discusses her investments in Hero Volley and Major League Volleyball, why volleyball needs more consistent opportunities for athletes, and how women’s sports can attract the patient capital needed to build lasting leagues.

She also shares her thoughts on NIL, youth sports specialization, athlete wellness, and why she believes “joy is a competitive advantage.”

Watch now.

LOUD AND CLEAR

Tiger Talk

Rory McIlroy, left, and Scottie Scheffler were paired together at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, the first tournament in the FedEx Cup playoffs. Scheffler won the event by a whopping eight shots.

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

“I wouldn’t really consider that a Tiger record being broken.”

—Scottie Scheffler, on potentially passing Tiger Woods in PGA Tour career earnings, which he could do this week at the Tour Championship by finishing tied for 13th or better. With $120.39 million, Scheffler is just $608,505 behind Woods’s total of $120.99 million, despite having won 21 times on the PGA Tour compared to Woods’s 82—a record he shares with Sam Snead.

“I think a lot of success we’ve had out here, especially when you look at it from a financial perspective, Tiger has a lot to do with that,” Scheffler said Wednesday in his pre-tournament press conference at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. “It’s apples and oranges. The reason our purses are so large today is because of the influence and impact that Tiger had on the game.” 

Scheffler is not the only player that could pass Woods this week. Rory McIlroy is third in career earnings with $117.85 million, and needs at least a solo fourth-place finish at the Tour Championship to pass Woods.

Reporter’s Notebook

‘This Is Unacceptable’

Aug 23, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Turkish-American former basketball player and human rights activist Enes Kanter Freedom is seen prior to a game between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky at Wintrust Arena.

Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

Chicago Sky–Indiana Fever games have become appointment viewing since the 2024 draft, but I didn’t realize when I got to Wintrust Arena on Sunday night that it would turn into one of the WNBA’s most infamous games—and the most-watched game since 1997.

Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom attended the game and was ultimately removed from the arena. Freedom has insisted in recent weeks he wants to enter the 2027 WNBA draft, claiming he identifies as a woman. After Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said she wants to “protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men,” the league’s gender eligibility rules have become a flash point. 

I watched Freedom enter the arena about 40 minutes before tip-off. He walked to his courtside seat on the baseline across the visitors bench wearing a shirt that read “Woman noun. Adult human female.” 

For most of the game, Freedom’s presence made no waves. But in the third quarter he got into a verbal altercation with Sky guard Natasha Cloud, known as one of the league’s most outspoken players. I could see it coming from my seat in the 100s section. 

Cloud made a layup that led to a Fever timeout. Suddenly, she and Freedom were chirping at each other. Freedom stood up, raised his arms, and stepped toward the baseline. He was immediately restrained by security, who escorted him out of the arena. As he walked out, he egged on a crowd filled with both Sky and Fever fans that mostly booed him. 

I followed Freedom to the arena’s entrance, where he railed at Chicago police, “This is unacceptable.” I tried to follow him outside of the arena, but he was already out of sight.

The game was hijacked by the incident, and the story has not stopped. Freedom appeared on Fox News, trying to justify his actions. League sources told Front Office Sports on Monday that Freedom isn’t eligible to play in the WNBA, but one source said he won’t be banned from attending games as a fan. Sky owner Michael Alter announced Freedom’s indefinite ban Tuesday from Chicago home games. 

—Colin Salao

STATUS REPORT

Two Up, One Down, One Push

Golf - The 154th Open Championship - Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Britain - July 16, 2026 Brooks Koepka of the U.S. during the first round

REUTERS/Phil Noble

TGL ⬆ Brooks Koepka is joining the indoor team golf league founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy for its third season in 2027. Koepka will join Motor City Golf Club, which is becoming TGL’s seventh franchise and first expansion team since launching in 2025. TGL teams have four players each, but only three compete in matches, which are played at the 1,500-seat SoFi Center in South Florida. Players hit tee and approach shots into a giant simulator screen, and chip and putt on an artificial turf short game area.

Jim Furyk ⬆ Golf Channel signed Furyk to a multiyear deal to be the network’s full-time lead analyst. Furyk, the 2003 U.S. Open champion and 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, joined Golf Channel on a part-time basis this year. Furyk will now be in the booth for all Golf Channel and USA Sports coverage of top-tier PGA Tour events and major championships.

Alysa Liu ⬆⬇ The two-time Olympic gold medal winner announced on her Instagram page that she’s taking a break from competition this season following her success at the Milan Cortina Games. “I’m gonna take the time to recalibrate, fine-tune things & whatnot,” Liu wrote, adding she’ll “be back.” At the Winter Olympics in February, the 21-year-old became the first American woman to win an individual medal since Sasha Cohen in 2006 and the first American to win a gold medal since Sarah Hughes in 2002.

Northeastern facilities ⬇ The Boston-based university demolished the 115-year-old Matthews Arena in March to make way for a new $350 million–plus multipurpose athletics facility, set to open fall 2028. The date has been pushed out to spring or summer 2029, due to the discovery of asbestos at the construction site. Matthews Arena was originally closed due to structural issues and the presence of asbestos, lead, and other toxins found in the soil in 2024. The venue was home to Northeastern’s men’s and women’s hockey teams, which will now likely spend a third season without home ice. With an all-road schedule, the Huskies will play at various local rinks in the interim.

Editors’ Picks

DAZN Acquires EverPass Media, Gains NFL Sunday Ticket’s Commercial Rights

by Eric Fisher
The London-based company is expanding its U.S. foothold.

Unrivaled Valued at $650M After Latest Funding Round, Players Own 30%

by Colin Salao
Unrivaled will move out of its Florida arena in 2028.

Europe Set to Drop FIFA Boycott Ahead of Women’s U-20 World Cup

by Margaret Fleming
The tournament was set to be the first hit by the boycott.
Events Video Games Shop
Written by Ellyn Briggs
Edited by Lisa Scherzer, Catherine Chen

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