Good evening!

What do Tom Brady, Russell Crowe, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Lewis Hamilton, Jay-Z, Natalie Portman, Usher and Justin Timberlake have in common?

There’s a clue in this newsletter, and the answer is near the EPL schedule at the bottom of the newsletter (happy Opening Round to those who celebrate).

I’ve got 10 seconds

Stat of the day

1
Australian golfer Minjee Lee’s ranking at the Women’s Scottish Open, the last major tournament before the British Open in the coming weeks. If she can hold onto the lead, Lee will become only the second Australian to win the tournament since it started in 1986.

Quote of the day

“It’s any football fan’s dream to be an owner of the club they support, and I feel so grateful for this opportunity… This is just me putting some money into the club I love… so please don’t get on to me with signing suggestions or tactics to play!”
Musician Ed Sheeran after he bought a 1.4% stake in English football club Ipswich Town. Sheeran is a lifelong fan of the club, which will play in the English Premier League for the first time since 2002 this season.

Random fact of the day

AFL was invented in the 1850s to keep cricketers fit during winter.

I’ve got 1 minute

Six NRLW players will be inducted into the league’s Hall of Fame for the first time.

Leading the cohort is Natalie Dwyer, the first captain of the Jillaroos, the national women’s rugby league team. She’s joined by fellow Jillaroos Katrina Fanning, Tarsha Gale, Veronica White, Karyn Murphy and Tahnee Norris.

Australian Rugby League Commission Chair Peter V’landys said all six “significantly helped to put women’s Rugby League in the strong position it is in today”.

2024 Success

This year, the NRLW’s State of Origin set new attendance records in Game I and Game II. Television ratings were also up on the year before.

An official induction ceremony will be held next Wednesday night.

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I’ve got 2 minutes

Boxing gold medallist Imane Khelif has named JK Rowling and Elon Musk in a legal complaint filed in France this week.

Khelif’s lawyer alleges she was targeted by a “misogynist, racist and sexist campaign” during the Olympics, after one of her opponents pulled out of a match after 46 seconds.

In the legal complaint, reported by U.S. outlet Variety, Khelif alleges Rowling and Musk were among several public figures who amplified online harassment against her.

Background

Khelif faced Italian competitor Angela Carini in the preliminary round of the Olympic women’s 66kg boxing, earlier this month.

Carini pulled out of the match after 46 seconds, saying she had “never felt a punch like this”. Soon after, Carini apologised to Khelif, saying she “was angry because [her] Olympics had gone up in smoke”.

However, the incident had already sparked online speculation about Khelif’s gender. There is no indication she is trans or intersex.

In March 2023, Khelif was disqualified from the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) World Championships for failing a gender eligibility test. The IBA isn’t recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

No official details have been revealed, but IBA President Umar Kremlev alleged to Russian state media that Khelif had XY chromosomes, typically found in people assigned male at birth.

Khelif was disqualified after she beat a Russian competitor. The IBA had a sponsorship deal with Russia’s state-owned oil company Gazprom until May 2023.

Comments

During the Olympics, Harry Potter author Rowling, who has been accused of posting anti-trans content, questioned Khelif’s gender on social media platform X.

Separately, another athlete’s post in support of Carini, which said: “Men don’t belong in women’s sports” was reshared by Musk (billionaire owner of X), who added: “Absolutely”.

Rowling has 14 million followers on the platform, while Musk, its owner, has 195 million.

Lawsuit

This week, Variety reported Khelif had submitted a legal complaint in France, naming Musk and Rowling.

The complaint was lodged with France’s National Centre for the Fight Against Online Hatred.

In a statement to Instagram, Khelif’s lawyer Nabil Boudi said an investigation ”will determine who was behind this misogynist, racist and sexist campaign, but will also focus on those who fed the online lynching.”

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How major sporting events are trying to attract Gen Z audiences

According to a recent study, Gen Z are more likely to tune into Netflix and TikTok over live sports. Though it remains important, Gen Z watches a lot less sport compared to older generations, like Boomers.

Deakin’s Dr. Josh McLeod highlights how Gen Z’s ‘digital nativity’ influences their sports consumption, with young people preferring online or shorter format content and following individual athletes over teams.

Major sporting organisations like the Olympics have tried to combat this by appealing to young audiences – partly through the appeal of celebrities and influencers.

“Snoop Dogg at the Olympics is a perfect illustration of the buzz and interest that he can create and bring into sport,” Dr. McLeod says.

There’s also the inclusion of new events, like Breaking, Bouldering and Skateboarding.

“Skateboarding is a sport that is played and performed by young people,” Dr. McLeod says. “The Australian gold medalist is a perfect illustration of that – the people who are performing at the highest level in Skateboarding are very young, and that's leading to young people watching those sports, too.”

Who knows what the 2080 Olympics will look like?

Think beyond the field. Study sport at Deakin.

Looking back…

Looking forward (all times in AEST)…

They all own a part of a professional sporting team!

Tom Brady (English football, Birmingham FC), Russell Crowe (NRL, South Sydney Rabbitohs), Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (Welsh football, Wrexham FC), Lewis Hamilton (NFL, Denver Broncos), Jay-Z (NBA, Brooklyn Nets), Natalie Portman (U.S. WSL, Angel City), Usher (NBA, Clevland Cavaliers) and Justin Timberlake (NBA, Memphis Grizzlies).

TDA asks