Axios

NBC has hired sports reporter Maria Taylor after her ESPN contract expired this week and negotiations failed, according to NBC Los Angeles.

Why it matters: The journalist, who worked for ESPN since 2014, had been renegotiating her contract for serval months when the New York Times published leaked audio of basketball reporter Rachel Nichols suggesting Taylor, who is Black, had been promoted because ESPN was "feeling pressure" on diversity.

When the Summer Olympics debuted in 1896, 14 nations participated in the 42-competition event.

Why it matters: Those numbers have risen steadily over time, with the U.S. dominating the Games as the Olympics expanded. Now, there are 339 events with 206 nations competing.

The U.S. women's national soccer team filed an opening brief Friday in the appeal of their lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender-based pay discrimination.

The big picture: The brief, filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, seeks to reverse a prior district court decision "based on a flawed analysis of the team’s compensation, despite the abundant evidence of unequal pay," per a press release.

After a year-long delay, the Olympics finally got underway Friday as tennis star Naomi Osaka, who is competing for Japan, lit the cauldron, formally kicking off the Tokyo Games.

The big picture: Friday's opening ceremony looked, like many things over the last year, different than normal — multicolored seats replaced cheering fans, masks were a central part of the athletes' uniforms and a subdued, somber tone marked the occasion.

The Olympics opening ceremony kicked off Friday in a near-empty stadium in Tokyo.

The big picture: The ceremony, which featured fewer performers than usual, started with the idea of being apart but not alone, "recognizing and conveying the emotional connection for athletes training around the globe for the last 17 months, doing much of that in isolation," NBC's Mike Tirico said.

The Cleveland Indians baseball team announced Friday that it will change its name to the "Guardians," following years of activism and protests against a moniker considered offensive by many Native Americans.

Why it matters: It's the first time the team will change its name since 1915, a move that comes in the wake of the nationwide racial reckoning that began with the murder of George Floyd.

In the latest attempt to encourage players to get vaccinated, the NFL is threatening forfeits and the loss of game checks if an outbreak occurs.

Driving the news: If a game can't be played due to an outbreak among unvaccinated players/staff this upcoming season — and the NFL can't find "a suitable date to reschedule" — the team responsible will forfeit and both teams will lose their game checks.

About 100 of the total 613 Team USA competing athletes have not been vaccinated, NBC News reports, citing the team's top doctor.

State of play: The estimate comes from the health histories submitted by 567 athletes prior to the team's departure to Japan, Jonathan Finnoff, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s medical chief, told NBC News. He estimated that 83% of the competitors were fully vaccinated — a higher rate than the national average.

613 Olympians, plus a handful of alternates ready to step in at a moment's notice, will represent the U.S. in Tokyo over the next two weeks.

Why it matters: That's the largest contingent ever for a non-host nation, and the second largest in Team USA history (648 at Atlanta 1996). This is also the third straight Olympics in which women (329) outnumber men (284).

TOKYO -- On television, this year's Olympics opening ceremony may not look that different from years past. But pan back just a bit from the action on the field, and things feel more like a dress rehearsal than the real thing.

Why it matters: Already delayed a year due to COVID-19, little about the Tokyo Olympic Games is normal. Cheering is banned, as are most of the spectators, leaving the athletes to enter a largely empty Olympic Stadium.

For Americans, the Tokyo Olympics that officially begin with today's opening ceremony will be a test of what patriotism looks like in 2021.

The big picture: Americans who disagree on everything else will still be rallying around the same team, as a new Axios/Momentive poll makes clear. But they're sharply divided over whether athletes should use the Olympic stage to protest, with young adults more likely than older adults to approve of protests and less likely to feel pride in the U.S. flag.

In the days leading up to the Tokyo Games, journalists had two big concerns — whether the Olympics would really happen, and if they would ever get access to all the mobile apps and websites required to get into the country and do their jobs.

Why it matters: Battling COVID-19 is crucial, of course. But most of the challenges faced by media and other Olympics participants were technical obstacles that had little to do with preventing the virus' spread.

An amended sexual assault lawsuit against former Chicago Blackhawks assistant coach Brad Aldrich contains new allegations that Aldrich threatened a former player with a souvenir baseball bat before forcing nonconsensual sex, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Why it matters: Aldrich, who worked as an assistant high school hockey coach after leaving the Blackhawks, was convicted on criminal sexual conduct charges involving a student in 2013, per AP. The unnamed player sued the team earlier this year, alleging a pattern of inaction that enabled Aldrich to continue his behavior for years and later abuse the student.