Tonight’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game ends the truncated, complicated COVID-19 season. 

Though each conference received $6 million for reaching the CFP Semifinals — and an additional $2.43 million for expenses — this season’s eventual windfall for all schools will drop. The 2020 regular season saw mass game cancellations in addition to limited, or a total absence of, ticket sales and hospitality.

For the CFP itself, executive director Bill Hancock projects a 10-15% drop in the organization’s annual revenue distribution, which in past years has paid out approximately $500 million. The pool benefits a range of powerhouse and small Division I schools, so the impact is significant.

Fan Outlook: 

• Hard Rock Stadium’s reduced capacity will hold about 16,000 fans for the showdown between Ohio State and Alabama.
• The last-second resale market has tickets sitting at $1,400-$4,600.

Gambling Market: The college football title game annually sees one of the heaviest handles in sports betting, only bested in the winter by the Super Bowl. 

Tonight, 53% of bets are backing Alabama as nine-point favorites, and 65% of the overall money is behind the Crimson Tide as well.

The PGA of America is cutting ties with President Donald Trump. 

The organization voted to move the 2022 PGA Championship — golf’s second major of the year — away from the Trump National course in Bedminster, N.J. on the heels of the violent riots at the U.S. Capitol.

The Trump Organization said in a statement it has “a beautiful partnership with the PGA of America and are incredibly disappointed with their decision.” 

“This is a breach of a binding contract and they have no right to terminate the agreement,” the statement added.

“This is not because of any pressures we feel. We’re not being forced into a decision,” PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh said. “We had to make a business decision.” 

The PGA of America, which operates separately from the PGA Tour, consists of about 29,000 golf professionals. It booked the Bedminster event with Trump National in 2014. 

The group canceled a 2015 event at a Trump course after he made racist remarks about Mexican immigrants during his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, and Trump National Washington, D.C. (in Sterling, Va.) hosted the 2017 Senior PGA Championship.

The 2021 event will take place at Kiawah Island from May 20-23. The PGA hasn’t yet announced the site of next year’s edition.

Keep, China’s most popular fitness app, closed a $360 million Series F financing round.

SoftBank’s Vision Fund led the round, which also included Hillhouse Capital, Coatue Management and Tencent. GGV Capital, Bertelsmann Asia Investments, 5Y Capital and Jeneration Capital also participated.

With the new round of funding, Keep is valued at approximately $2 billion.

Keep’s Key Points: 

• 300 million registered users
• 38 million average monthly active users
• 10 million users paying for personalized services
• Foreign versions launched in 2018 — but the company slowed promotion in 2019

Along with home workout videos from an ecosystem of fitness influencers, Keep offers connected stationary bikes, treadmills, smart wristbands and apparel.

The company says it currently has no plans for an IPO. The new funding is meant to build on its current offerings and further establish Keep as a keystone to China’s focus on “national fitness.”

At-Home Fitness’ Big Biz: Peloton has seen its shares rise more than 400% over the past year. Other connected fitness companies continue to raise big money, like cycling software company Zwift, which raised $450 million in September 2020.