SBJ Unpacks: What shifts will define sports in 2026? - Sports Business Journal

10.01.2026Members of the Game Changers Class of 2026 celebrate in New York City on Wednesday night. Marc Bryan-Brown A packed ballroom of friends, family and colleagues celebrated this year’s class of SBJ Game Changers: Women in Sports Business with cheers, tears and hugs on Wednesday night at the Marriott Marquis in N. Y. It was the largest class of honorees to attend the awards ceremony, with 55 of the 60 class members in attendance, including seven of the 10 Game Changers from outside North America. Winning the unofficial honor of traveling the farthest was Stephanie Rudnick of Angel City FC, MKTG Sports + Entertainment and The Yellow Brick Collective, who made the trek from Sydney. And two Game Changers -- LaRhonda Burley of Spartan Ventures at Michigan State and Emily Dillinger of Good Karma Sports -- celebrated their birthdays at the event. Welcoming the guests, SBJ Publisher and Executive Editor Abe Madkour noted that Game Changers are leaders of organizations of all sizes from across the sports industry. “They’re relentless. They are change agents. I would consider them fearless, optimists, mentors. They’re definitely role models,” he said.

Richard Butler, seen here batting with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999, is facing fraud charges in Durham region. A former Toronto Blue Jays player and his wife are accused of siphoning money from a youth baseball training program into their own accounts before feigning bankruptcy, police say. Richard Butler, a Toronto-born outfielder who played with the Blue Jays in 1997, is charged with taking funds from an Ontario Devil Rays baseball program that never delivered on the services it promised, Durham police said.

The Pittsburgh Penguins said that their team plane had to return to Salt Lake City on Tuesday due to a medical episode involving forward Ben Kindel. The Penguins said the plane returned to Salt Lake City International Aiport shortly after takeoff.