New pro curling league scheduled to start in 2026 with hopes of prolonging the Olympic spotlight

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USA skip Korey Dropkin guides a stone towards the house during his country’s session against Norway at the World Men’s Curling Championship in Moose Jaw, Sask., Monday, March 31, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Scotland skip Bruce Mouat, front right, lines up a stone as Switzerland’s skip Benoit Schwartz-Van Berkel, back right, and Yannick Schwaller, left, look on during the gold-medal game at the world men’s curling championships in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

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The Olympic rings adorn the Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio, which will be called Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, venue for the curling discipline at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, Jan.16, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

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Canada’s Marc Kennedy and Ben Herbert sweep Brett Gallant’s stone towards the button as skip Brad Jacobs looks on during World Men’s Curling Championship action against Italy, in Moose Jaw, Sask., Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Scotland’s Grant Hardie, left, and Bobby Lammie, right, sweep a stone during the gold-medal game against Switzerland at the world men’s curling championships in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Canada skip Rachel Homan, front right, and third Tracy Fleury, front left, call a shot as Scotland skip Bruce Mouat, back right, and third Grant Hardie, back center, look on during the Battle of the Sexes curling matchup in Toronto, Monday, April 7, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Scotland skip Bruce Mouat throws a stone during his team’s match against Austria at the men’s world curling championship in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Scotland skip Bruce Mouat reacts after his winning stone gave his team victory over Switzerland in the gold-medal game at the world men’s curling championships in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

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United States skip Korey Dropkin throws a stone during his team’s match against Canada at the men’s curling world championships in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Friday April 4, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

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United States skip Korey Dropkin watches his stone during his team’s match against Germany at the men’s curling world championships in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Friday April 4, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

By JIMMY GOLEN

💬

Curling is getting its first professional league, stocked with past and future Olympians competing in a six-week, six-team season touring internationally starting next April in the aftermath of the Milan-Cortina Olympics.

The Curling Group, which owns the Grand Slam of Curling event series, announced the creation of Rock League on Thursday. The six-week circuit will include stops in Canada, the United States and Europe, where six teams of five men and five women each will play a variety of formats to be determined.

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“As an athlete, I could have only dreamed about being able to participate in a professional curling league,” said Jennifer Jones, a 2014 Olympic gold medalist who is an adviser to the league. “Now, having the opportunity to help make that dream a reality for the next generation of curlers is a true honor – and it’s what inspires us every day as we work to build this league.”

There will be two teams apiece from Canada and Europe, one from the United States and one from Asia. Among the athletes signed up as captains are Olympic medalists Bruce Mouat of Scotland, Brad Jacobs of Canada and Chinami Yoshida of Japan.

Korey Dropkin, a world mixed doubles champion who would represent the U.S. at the 2026 Games, will captain the American team. Canadian Rachel Homan and Alina Paetz of Switzerland, both two-time Olympians, are the other captains.

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John Morris, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and adviser to the league, said the captains were chosen based on leadership, ability to work with teammates and curling skill.

“Our goal is to create a one-of-a-kind experience that brings out the very best of curling – where longtime rivals might end up as teammates, and rising stars have the chance to cement their legacy as professional athletes,” he said.

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Olympic Hightlights

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FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

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FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

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FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

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Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

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USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)