PSG's social media accounts "have experienced spectacular growth" over the past few days, as the Lionel Messi "effect is already in play" ahead of his expected signing. The club, followed by 38.7 million users on Instagram, "gained 5.17 million followers, or around 24,000 per day on average, between January 1 and August 4" of this year. From August 4-9, that number "increased to 211,600 new followers per day." The spike is "carrying over to all of the club's social accounts," with PSG's Spanish-language Twitter account "gaining 8,400 new followers since last Friday" (LE PARISIEN, 8/9). Several hundred PSG fans "gathered outside the Parc des Princes" Monday hoping to celebrate Messi's arrival, although there efforts were "in vain" as Messi reportedly remains in Barcelona pending final contract details (LE PARISIEN, 8/9). ESPN.com's Gabriele Marcotti said that CVC Capital Partners, who are set to invest over $3B into the league, could "be like, 'Well, is this really worth $3.2 billion (with no Messi in the league)? Do we want to take another look at this?' It’s a whole other element to it" ("ESPN Daily," ESPN.com, 8/9).

Meanwhile, Liga MX side Puebla has tried to lure Messi to Mexico with a social media campaign and now, a "replica home shirt with 'Messi 10' on the back." The shirt is available via the club's online store with a retail price of $1,599, although at the moment fans "can only add it to their 'wish list' rather than place an order" (ESPN.com, 8/9).

PSG also announced that the Parc des Princes will welcome fans at full capacity for the first time since the pandemic hit Europe in early '20. A sellout of 47,900 is expected for the club's Ligue 1 home opener against Strasbourg on Aug. 14. To enter the stadium, all fans must garnish a Health Pass, which consists of proof of full vaccination or proof of a negative Covid test or lack of contagiousness (PSG).

The BBC saw its peak TV audience "drop by more than half" during Tokyo 2020, "with the men’s 100m final watched by just 5 million viewers." Only 36.4 million tuned in to watch coverage over the course of the last three weeks, making it "the least watched Olympics compared with the previous three," and the audience for the 100m drew "significantly fewer than the 11.1 million" who tuned in to watch cyclist Jason Kenny claim Gold in the Rio 2016 final. The total is also a "significant drop-off" from the 45.2 million who watched the last Olympics in Brazil, which attracted a "record television audience for an overseas Games." It was also "marginally down" on the 37.5 million people who watched the Beijing Games in 2008 and considerably lower than the 51.9 million who tuned into the '12 Games.

The eight-hour time difference in Japan, which meant much of the action took place overnight, can be partly attributed to the fall in numbers, although Tokyo "marked the end of the BBC’s longstanding history of wall-to-wall coverage" (London TELEGRAPH, 8/9).

Japan had its "best Olympic production in every category:" the most Gold Medals (27), the most overall (58) and a third-place finish in Gold Medals behind two "much larger countries" -- the U.S. and China. The country's "previous best in gold was 16," both in '64 and at the '04 Athens Games. Home countries "always get a medal bump, usually by investing more time and money than they would ordinarily." With no fans, "some of that home-field advantage was lost." Still, Japan "made up for the lack of fans" with a "historic haul," including medal-winning finishes in the five sports added to this year’s Olympic program: baseball-softball, sports climbing, karate, surfing and skateboarding (AP, 8/8).

• Meanwhile, Australia enjoyed a "terrific" Olympics, with a final medal tally of 17 Gold, seven Silver and 22 Bronze. There is "no doubt" Tokyo 2020 was a huge success Down Under, as the Gold Medal count "drew level with its all-time benchmark" of 17 Golds in '04, with swimmers winning nine of those. That number is more than Australia’s entire Olympic team managed at each of London 2012 and Rio 2016 (AAP, 8/7).
• Britain Chef de Mission Mark England hailed the team's achievement as "the greatest in their Olympic history" after the team matched its medals total from the '12 London Games, with 22 Gold, 21 Silver and 22 Bronze, good for fourth place in the medals table (REUTERS, 8/8).
• Canada finished with 24 medals -- seven Gold, six Silver, and 11 Bronze, a "Canadian record for a non-boycotted summer Olympics." Of those, 18 (75%) of Canada's total medals were captured in women's events (CBC, 8/8).
• Mexico’s 161 Olympic athletes captured "just four medals," all Bronze, marking the country's worst Olympic performance '96 (L.A. TIMES, 8/6).

Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates "will retire from the AOC presidency at its AGM in May." Coates, who is also an IOC VP, "will work with the Queensland government to ensure a successful 2032 Olympics" and will remain on the IOC exec through Paris '24. His career achievements include helping Sydney win the 2000 bid; facing a strong Melbourne-led 2017 challenge to his AOC presidency and steering the IOC and Brisbane to win host city of the 2032 Summer Olympics (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 8/9).

Meanwhile, Swimming Australia CEO Alex Baumann has "quit the sport effective immediately, citing personal health concerns in a major shock to the sport just days after the Australian team’s stunning Tokyo Olympic Games success" -- Aussie swimmers won nine Gold Medals -- that matched their "greatest Olympic performance in the pool." Baumann, a two-time cancer survivor, said that stepping down was a "decision he came to after significant consideration following recent health issues" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 8/9).

Sydney is "set to go without any Test rugby for the first time in 44 years as Rugby Australia prepares to move" the men's national team's match against South Africa to Perth. The Wallabies were scheduled to face the world champions at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sept. 12 but Sydney’s "prolonged battle with the latest COVID-19 outbreak has left RA with little choice but to move the match." It’s the "second Test match the SCG will lose this year" and the first time since '77 -- when there "were no Tests played -- that Sydney will go without a Wallabies match" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 8/9).

Meanwhile, the National Rugby League will "consider moving the grand final to New Zealand after watching the Wallabies play the All Blacks in front of a huge crowd at Eden Park in Auckland." Desperate to "play the biggest game of the season in front of a crowd," NRL CEO Andrew Abdo confirmed he would "investigate the idea because of the volatile COVID-19 infection rate in Australia’s eastern states." The NRL "will make a definitive call on the location of its grand final at the start of the finals series" next month (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 8/9).

The Athletics Federation of Nigeria is "working to see if it can salvage" the recently terminated $2.7M deal with Puma, which it says was caused by Sports Minister Sunday Dare "rejecting athletes' use of the kits delivered for the Tokyo Olympics." The AFN added that the leadership crisis, "which has rocked the federation, should be resolved soon," giving the "rightfully elected" Ibrahim Shehu Gusau camp "proper autonomous control and preventing another testing blunder at the Olympics." Nigeria's Olympics campaign "was hit by a series of scandals," from news of "poor testing, which saw a number of athletes made ineligible to compete, to a subsequent protest by the athletes, which caused a social media ruckus, to the Puma scandal" (NAIRAMETRICS, 8/9).

A TikTok video of Nigerian shot put thrower Chukwuebuka Enekwechi washing his uniform last Wednesday was "yet another low moment in a disappointing Olympics" for Nigeria, with a "low medal count and serious drug-testing issues." In the clip, Enekwechi said he "had to wear the same apparel" for his semifinal and final events, because he had just one set for the Games (QUARTZ, 8/5). Dare said that he was "not aware of jersey shortage in Team Nigeria’s camp until a video was distributed on social media" (PUNCH, 8/9).

England will "raise the possibility" of postponing this winter’s Ashes cricket series "unless guarantees about quarantine exemptions for players’ families can be given when they hold talks with Cricket Australia this month." Several England players have told the management team that they would "not be willing to undertake the three-month tour unless their families can join them for the second half covering the Christmas and New Year period."

Even if entry to the country is permitted, a number of the players’ families would still "not travel if they were required to quarantine for two weeks in a hotel room with babies and small children and that if that was mandated, at least six players would withdraw from the series." England’s Dir of Cricket Ashley Giles and England head coach Chris Silverwood are "not prepared to take a heavily weakened team on what is the most brutal of all the tours that England undertake." Officials from the ECB will "hold crunch talks" with CA in the coming weeks in which they will "seek some guarantees and will discuss the possibility of postponing the series" (LONDON TIMES, 8/9).

BT Sport has become the exclusive broadcaster of Serie A in the U.K. and Ireland in a "three-season deal agreed with Infront" running through '24 (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 8/9).

EPL side Chelsea has signed a three-year partnership with international tech and betting company Parimatch Tech (Chelsea).

A Barcelona member has "filed complaints with a French court and with the EU's European Commission" with the aim of "blocking any move by Lionel Messi" to PSG (REUTERS, 8/9). 

The Scottish Professional Football League has asked the Scottish FA to rule on their £8M ($11M) cinch sponsorship battle, claiming it is "in conflict with a current Gers sponsorship deal," over fears it "could impact on their prize money payout" (Scottish DAILY RECORD, 8/9).

The Brazilian Olympic Committee will "take action against its men’s soccer national team" after the players refused to wear the nation’s official Olympic uniform during the medal ceremony at the Tokyo Games on Saturday (AP, 8/8).

Netball Australia has "launched an official bid to have the sport included in the Brisbane 2032 Olympics after receiving official backing from governing body World Netball" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 8/9).

Bundesliga side Union Berlin announced that Comedy Central will be its sleeve partner for the club's Europa Conference League and DFB Pokal (German Cup) matches in '21-22 (Union Berlin).

Tech company Monterosa appointed sales exec Alex Regan as Head of Sports Sales to expand its presence in the sports sector. Monterosa's customers include Liverpool, EA Sports and The Jockey Club (Monterosa).

Avatar tech company Genies added PSG MF Xavi Simons to its roster of athletes and entertainers, which includes Cardi B, Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Lakers G Russell Westbrook (Genies).

"I don't understand why, while Barcelona fans were crying about Messi's exit, [President Joan] Laporta was eating seafood with the president of [Real] Madrid. One has to consider the image" -- former Barcelona official Jaume Llopis, on Laporta's handling of Lionel Messi's contract negotiations (MARCA, 8/9).

"I am convinced that it is going to be approved on Thursday because it has the backing of of the majority of teams because we understand that it is a magnificent operation. CVC is an industrial partner that has already participated in sporting projects of great magnitude" -- LaLiga side Levante Manager Quico Catalán, on LaLiga's reported agreement with CVC (AS, 8/9).

The Sydney Morning Herald looks at the "highs and lows of the Tokyo Olympics, through the eyes" of the newspaper's sports reporters.

The Athletic's Caoimhe O'Neill reflects on fans' presence at Liverpool's home preseason friendly against LaLiga side Athletic Club on Sunday under the headline, "It had been 515 days since Anfield felt like this."

ESPN.com's Graham Hunter argues that although Lionel Messi has left Barcelona, LaLiga "promises drama once Real Madrid, Atletico, Sevilla begin."

I hope they brought a fold-up chair and a blanket. https://t.co/kTLQ0VTpQj

— Luis Miguel Echegaray (@lmechegaray) August 9, 2021

About last night... 😍#Tokyo2020 #ClosingCeremony #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/pNhqa0lWcN

— Olympics (@Olympics) August 9, 2021

BREAKING: Hearing that Ian Darke and Steve McManaman will commentate Barcelona vs Real Sociedad game live from Camp Nou this Sunday on ABC & ESPN+, according to multiple sources

— World Soccer Talk (@worldsoccertalk) August 9, 2021

As expected, no Shanghai Masters for the second year in a row, cancelled due to Covid. Indian Wells expanded to 11 days

— Simon Cambers (@scambers73) August 9, 2021