La Liga wants to “stage December’s scheduled domestic league fixture between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami.” Sources said the Spanish league has “held preliminary discussions to relocate the fixture,” which would ordinarily take place at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica home in eastern Spain, to Hard Rock Stadium. It would be the first time a European top-flight league fixture has taken place in the U.S. On Monday, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) “will discuss their approval of the proposal,” which “if granted, would lead to UEFA being asked to initiate the procedures for FIFA to grant authorisation for the fixture change.” The game in question is scheduled for the weekend of Dec. 20-21. However, there is already a Dolphins game currently scheduled for Dec. 21 against the Bengals, “so the actual date of the La Liga game may be moved around to accommodate the NFL calendar” (THE ATHLETIC, 8/10). La Liga President Javier Tebas “has been in favor of staging matches overseas for several years,” though Real Madrid is “reportedly in opposition” (CBSSPORTS.com, 8/10).

Meanwhile, La Liga starts its season on Friday and is coming off a 32% uptick for linear TV viewership in the U.S. across ESPN networks. There were also 5.4 billion minutes viewed of La Liga games in 2024-25 across all Disney TV/streaming platforms, a U.S. record. FC Barcelona is the most favorited team on ESPN Digital platforms, and Real Sociedad had the largest year-over-year growth (+60%). Real Madrid F Kylian Mbappé is the most favorited player, and Barcelona MF Lamine Yamal has the best YoY growth (+155%) (Austin Karp, SBJ).

Jen Pawol made history on Saturday afternoon as MLB’s first female umpire, “manning first base” in the Braves’ 7-1 victory over the Marlins. Her “game-worn hat will be displayed” at the National Baseball HOF “to cement the moment.” The fans “serenaded Pawol with an ovation” after her name was announced as a part of the four-member umpiring crew and “cheered again upon seeing her face on the big screen.” They “even created signs, ranging from ‘History made’ to ‘Welcome to the show.’” Pawol umpired third base for the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader and then called balls and strikes behind the plate for Sunday’s series finale (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 8/10).

When Pawol “shattered a glass ceiling” Saturday afternoon at Truist Park, “it was as wonderful as you would hope.” During one break, the video board “showed two fans holding signs in support of Pawol, prompting enthusiastic applause.” All in all, it was “a historic day and it was commemorated well,” down to Pawol donating her hat to the Baseball HOF (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 8/10).

IndyCar attracted a “lot of people from outside Portland” as Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou “secured his fourth IndyCar championship and third in a row by virtue of his third-place finish” in Sunday’s BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway. Attendance for the race was not released and the front straightaway grandstands had “plenty of empty seats,” but recreation vehicles “filled good spots on turns 4-8, and grandstand K at ‘Shelton Chicane,’ turns 1-3, had few empty seats and pitched tents and partying went on pre-race.” Enthusiasm for the race, which was won by Team Penske’s Will Power, “abounded,” and the city of Portland “worked with promoters to ensure fans would have access to cooling tents, misters and even a Blue Star bus for recovery from heat” on the 86-degree day. Green Savoree Portland VP/GM Jerry Jensen said that negotiations are “underway on a new contract for a PIR race,” and added that RV sites “were sold out” for Sunday’s race (Portland OREGONIAN, 8/10).

Palou joined Dario Franchitti, Sebastien Bourdais and Ted Horn as the “only drivers in series history to win three consecutive titles.” With two more races this season, Palou has a “chance to tie the IndyCar record for victories in a season set at 10″ by A.J. Foyt in 1964 and Al Unser in 1970 (AP, 8/10).

Bears Chair George McCaskey touched on the team’s ongoing efforts to build a stadium in Arlington Heights during a visit to the team’s broadcast booth during yesterday’s game against the Dolphins. Analyst Jim Miller said, “Sounds like the state, Cook County — everybody involved in the state of Illinois could benefit from such a great project.” McCaskey replied, “But we’ve got to convince them that this is going to be great for the state. That’s on us. We need to do more work in that area. We need to do more convincing. Kevin Warren is leading that effort; he’s doing a great job. He did it in Minneapolis and we’re confident he can do it here in Chicagoland” (“Dolphins-Bears,” NFL Network, 8/10).

In this week’s issue:

• Gene Smith has always had stories to tell, and he doesn’t mind sharing them. In our latest Champions package, SBJ staff writer Tom Friend tells the story of Smith himself, and how he overcame racial prejudice as a child to become a football star at Notre Dame and later the athletic director at Eastern Michigan, Arizona State and, finally Ohio State, where he helped make the Buckeyes a college sports juggernaut without ever making it about himself.
• ESPN just had one of the most memorable weeks in its history, and SBJ’s Austin Karp makes sense of all the big moves, from the NFL (keep an eye on the future of Red Zone) to the WWE (which is bringing its tentpole events to the network). Karp also explains how this will impact ESPN’s DTC strategy ahead of its launch next year.
• Netflix has been transforming itself through its sports offerings, and SBJ’s Bill King profiles the streamer’s multi-faceted Gabe Spitzer. Called a “player-coach” for his ability to wear multiple hats, Spitzer was Netflix’s first vice president of sports, and he is responsible for many of the documentaries that have brought millions of viewers to the service. Next up: an inside look at Jerry Jones’ ownership of the Cowboys, which premieres on Aug. 19.
• Finally, Na’Andre Emerson tells the story of a New Jersey man who is closing in on completing a quest he embarked on at age 12: collecting every Champions NBA jersey. He has almost 1,000 jerseys already, but still has more than 100 to go.

“At his trial, revolutionaries referred to the deposed Louis XVI with this last name, one used previously for a dynasty.”