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NFL's smallest market prepares to host league's top offseason spectacle as draft comes to Green Bay

An elevated overall general view is seen of Lambeau Field during an NFL football game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Tyler Kaufman, File) GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Corey Behnke was a 7-year-old attending a Green Bay Packers preseason game with […]

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NFL's smallest market prepares to host league's top offseason spectacle as draft comes to Green Bay

An elevated overall general view is seen of Lambeau Field during an NFL football game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Tyler Kaufman, File)

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Corey Behnke was a 7-year-old attending a Green Bay Packers preseason game with his grandfather when he pointed to the homes across the street from Lambeau Field and vowed to live there eventually.

Now he has one of the best spots to watch as the NFL’s greatest offseason spectacle takes shape.

The NFL draft’s annual pilgrimage to cities across the league is arriving in Green Bay next week with all the pageantry that comes from operating in the home of the NFL’s only publicly owned franchise.

“I think it’s going to be iconic in a way that other drafts aren’t,” said Behnke, now president of the neighborhood association of the area adjacent to Lambeau Field.

As soon as the NFL started taking its draft around the country nearly a decade ago, Packers officials wondered what it would take to bring the event to Green Bay. They realized they’d never get a Super Bowl because of Green Bay’s small population and frigid February weather.

Hosting a draft would be the next best thing.

The possibility that Packers president/CEO Mark Murphy envisioned so long ago now becomes reality just as he prepares for his retirement this summer. As draft-related construction continues in the area around Lambeau, one of several Packers-themed signs in the yards of homes across the street from the stadium includes this message: “Draft Dreams on Murphy’s Turf.”

“For us, we’d been seeing how the draft has grown and what it’s become, and knew the kind of impact it would have, not just on the local Green Bay community, but the entire state,” Murphy said. “Since we’re a community-owned team, that’s really one of our top priorities, is to give back to the community. It’ll be the largest event ever held in Green Bay.”

Therein lies the challenge.

The Green Bay metro area includes about 320,000 people, according to Discover Green Bay spokesman Nick Meisner. The city itself has a population of under 110,000. Bringing the draft to a town of this size creates obstacles that league officials didn’t have to worry about when this event took place in Chicago, Philadelphia or other major metro areas.

Green Bay has about 5,000 hotel rooms, a figure that gets up to 10,000 when nearby Appleton is included. That means plenty of fans watching the draft may have to stay a couple of hours away in Milwaukee or Madison, though many of them already are accustomed to doing that for Packers home games.

“When people say, can the city handle it, well, what does that mean?” Behnke asked. “Do we have enough hotels? No, but we knew that. Does Wisconsin have enough hotels? Yeah, I think so. I think a lot of people (understand) the fact that it’s going to be a driving event. People are going to drive here. But I also think that’s how games are. … I think people are kind of used to driving an hour-and-a-half or two hours to get to Green Bay.”

The smaller population likely means a smaller number of people at this draft. Murphy said a total attendance of about 250,000 is expected, less than one-third of the record crowd of over 775,000 that attended last year’s draft in Detroit. Crowd figures are measured by adding the attendance numbers for each of the draft’s three days, so one person who attends all three days would be counted three times.

“The beauty of the draft is you can adapt it to any environment you’re in,” said Jon Barker, the NFL’s senior vice president for global event operations. “With each draft, there’s always going to be challenges that you need to overcome, but there’s also great opportunity.”

Those opportunities involve focusing on the tradition and history of a place Behnke calls “the best football town in America.”

For instance, one of the NFL’s greatest training-camp rituals occurs at Green Bay each summer, as players borrow children’s bicycles to ride from the locker room to the practice field. Packers officials referenced this tradition in their draft bid by sending a Packers-themed bike to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s office.

“We had our draft pitch in video form in the basket in the Packer bike,” said Gabrielle Dow, the Packers’ vice president of marketing and fan engagement.

Without giving too much away, Barker said part of Thursday’s draft opening will incorporate that bike tradition. A bike parade for children is planned for Saturday.

There are other local connections as well. When first-round picks hear their names called, they’ll go through a walkway featuring artwork from Milwaukee-based Ike Wynter, who will have made each of his pieces of reclaimed wood from discarded furniture collected across the state. Former Wisconsin Badgers such as Jonathan Taylor, Joe Thomas, Tim Krumrie and James White will be announcing picks on the draft’s second and third days.

Lambeau Field also will play a central role in this draft, though this sprawling event encompasses millions of square feet surrounding the stadium. Admission is free, and television screens all over the area will enable fans to watch the draft even if they’re far from the stage and taking in the NFL Draft Experience, a fan festival featuring games, exhibits, activities and autograph sessions.

When probable first-round selections make their red-carpet entrance Thursday before the draft, they’ll walk onto the field known for its Frozen Tundra nickname. Fans will be able to go into the stadium to watch the draft on the giant scoreboard. The stage on which the picks are announced is in a parking lot just east of Lambeau Field.

“I think it’ll be a three-day commercial not just for Green Bay but for the entire state,” Murphy said. “So many different things that are unique and special to Wisconsin, you’ll see that as a part of it.”

It also will showcase how much growth has taken place in the area around Lambeau Field.

The Resch Expo, a 125,000-square-foot facility just east of the stadium, opened in 2021 and will serve as the green room for draft prospects. The NFL Draft Experience will be at Titletown, a 45-acre development just west of Lambeau Field that features offices, shops, restaurants and apartments.

“If those developments don’t happen, I don’t think we get the draft,” Meisner said.

The draft should have an economic impact of $20 million for Brown County and $90 million for Wisconsin, according to Beth Jones Schnese, Greater Green Bay Chamber vice president of marketing/member engagement. She said that equates to the amount generated by three straight Packers home-game weekends. It also means some inconveniences for local residents with all the road closures and traffic headaches.

Then again, this community is used to expanding for several weekends each football season. This is just a super-sized example.

Behnke knows that as well as anyone. His family has owned Packers’ season tickets since Lambeau Field opened in 1957. He was born in Green Bay, started living across from Lambeau Field full-time about five years ago and co-founded the Cheesehead TV Packers fan site.

He believes the Packers are ingrained in the Green Bay community in a way that’s different from other cities that have multiple pro sports franchises. They’re accustomed to accommodating fans who consider visiting Lambeau Field a bucket-list item.

“I do think as stewards and ambassadors of the city, I think people take that very seriously,” Behnke said. “We’re not just Wisconsin nice or Minnesota nice or Midwestern nice. I think people understand we have an obligation and a responsibility to the people who come here, to show them a good time, which is what you see on gamedays. So I think that will just extend.”

NIL

Mark Richt cuts it up with ex-UGA QB Carson Beck’s on his NIL pay

Carson Beck and Mark Richt both won a lot of games in Sanford Stadium with Georgia football. Richt was the Bulldogs coach from 2001-15. Beck was quarterback on the team from 2020-2024, the last two seasons as starter. Soon after Richt was fired, he landed at Miami, his alma mater. Beck’s season ended in the […]

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Carson Beck and Mark Richt both won a lot of games in Sanford Stadium with Georgia football.

Richt was the Bulldogs coach from 2001-15.

Beck was quarterback on the team from 2020-2024, the last two seasons as starter.

Soon after Richt was fired, he landed at Miami, his alma mater.

Beck’s season ended in the SEC championship win over Texas last December when he sustained a UCL injury to his right elbow that required surgery.

He pulled his name out of the NFL Draft and transferred to Miami, where he hit it big in NIL in what some believe is around $4 million.

Richt, now an ACC Network analyst, had jokes about that on Tuesday, July 22, when Beck made the rounds at ACC media days in Charlotte.

“You were at Georgia, went to Miami. I was at Georgia, went to Miami,” Richt said on the ACC Network set. “The only difference is you got paid more than I did.”

Beck smiled at that.

“I don’t know about that,” he said.

“If you go year by year, I think you got me by about a million,” Richt said.

Richt got an $800,000 raise after the 2014 season to bring his total pay to $4 million entering what turned out to be his final season in Athens. That made him the fifth-highest paid SEC coach at the time.

Georgia paid him a $4.1 million buyout after his time at Georgia ended and he was paid more than $4 million in his final year at Miami in 2018.

Beck spoke Tuesday about his departure from Georgia but it was unclear exactly how things went down.

Gunner Stockton helped Georgia rally to the SEC championship win. Beck came in on the last play and handed the ball off for the game-winning score.

Bryan Fischer of SI.com asked Beck if coach Kirby Smart said Georgia wanted him back in 2025.

“Yeah, absolutely, those conversations were had,” Beck said.

But he told Jacksonville radio station 1010XL when they asked him about fans moving on to Stockton, “I was at a school for five years and that’s kind of the route that they chose. It is what it is, but I’m here at Miami now. Excited to get started.”

Beck spoke highly of his time at Georgia on Tuesday.

“I’m just so appreciative and thankful of my time there at the University of Georgia,” Beck said on ESPN’s SportsCenter. “We were able to play in some of the biggest games imaginable, right? To win two national championships have two rings, play in SEC championships, things of that sort. …Being able to take all those different pieces and parts and ultimately bring it to this university and share it with the guys around me, I think will hopefully have a significant impact.”





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Operations Coordinator, Men’s Soccer in Providence, RI for Brown University

Details Posted: 22-Jul-25 Location: Providence, Rhode Island Type: Full-time Categories: Coaching Coaching – Soccer Sector: Collegiate Sports Required Education: 2 Year Degree Internal Number: REQ203358 Brown University Athletics and Recreation is currently seeking candidates for the Operations Coordinator, Men’s Soccer position. Located in Providence, Rhode Island, and a member of the Ivy League, our intercollegiate […]

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Details

Posted: 22-Jul-25

Location: Providence, Rhode Island

Type: Full-time

Categories:

Coaching

Coaching – Soccer

Sector:

Collegiate Sports

Required Education:

2 Year Degree

Internal Number: REQ203358

Brown University Athletics and Recreation is currently seeking candidates for the Operations Coordinator, Men’s Soccer position. Located in Providence, Rhode Island, and a member of the Ivy League, our intercollegiate athletics program consists of 34 varsity teams with approximately 1,000 athletes who participate within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA-D1).

The Operations Coordinator reports to the Head Coach, Men’s Soccer and is responsible for the coordination and organization of the day-to-day operation of the Brown Men’s Soccer program. This position assists the Head Coach in all phases of the daily operations and promotion of a Division I intercollegiate men’s soccer program.

  • Associate’s Degree or equivalent combination of education and experience required; Bachelor’s Degree preferred.

  • 1-2 years related experience in soccer (collegiate playing, coaching or operations); Division I experience preferred.

  • Excellent organizational, interpersonal, communication (verbal and written) and computer skills, necessary.

  • Experience planning and organizing team travel, preferred.

  • High attention to detail, necessary.

  • Demonstrated ability to interact positively with student-athletes, parents, alumni, colleagues and the public.

  • Strong commitment to the welfare of student-athletes.

  • Ability to independently coordinate multiple tasks at one time.

  • Basic proficiency in Excel, Word, internet and email capabilities.

  • Social media experience, helpful.

  • Prior experience with video editing software, helpful.

  • Knowledge and understanding of, and commitment to comply with, NCAA, Ivy League and University rules and regulations.

 

All division employees are required to demonstrate exemplary ethical conduct and conformance to NCAA rules and regulations; the duties of the position are to be performed in compliance with all NCAA, Ivy League rules and regulations; and any rules violations on behalf of themselves or any knowledge of violations within the division are to be reported to the compliance office and appropriate parties. Employees in coaching positions must receive annual rules education on NCAA legislation related to recruiting by the compliance office and maintain current AED/CPR and First Aid certification (certification is available at no cost through the Division).

 

The successful candidate for this position will be required to complete a criminal background and DMV checks satisfactory to Brown University prior to commencing employment.

Background Check – Criminal, Education and Motor Vehicle

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About Brown University

Founded in 1764, Brown University is a nonprofit leading research university, home to world-renowned faculty, and also an innovative educational institution where the curiosity, creativity and intellectual joy of students drives academic excellence.

Located in Providence, Rhode Island, and a member of the Ivy League, our intercollegiate athletics program consists of 34 varsity teams with approximately 1,000 athletes who participate within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA-D1).


Connections working at Brown University



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Sun Belt reuniting with Louisiana Tech a ‘no-brainer’ in realignment age – Crescent City Sports

NEW ORLEANS – College football’s future is oligarchy. Conference realignment, NIL and the transfer portal crush the little guy. Entering its 25th season on the gridiron, the Sun Belt Conference should be Flat Stanley. And yet, it keeps frolicking forward. The “Fun Belt” is bringing back the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, no later than July 1, […]

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Keith Gill

NEW ORLEANS – College football’s future is oligarchy.

Conference realignment, NIL and the transfer portal crush the little guy.

Entering its 25th season on the gridiron, the Sun Belt Conference should be Flat Stanley. And yet, it keeps frolicking forward.

The “Fun Belt” is bringing back the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, no later than July 1, 2027. Tech is the latest in a series of additions this decade, including Southern Miss, James Madison, Old Dominion and Marshall.

After 13 seasons in Conference USA, Louisiana Tech will plug a gap soon to be left by the Texas State Bobcats. They’re departing for the Pac-12, a Frankenstein-ed version of its former self that will kick off in 2026.

With Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” tuning up his optimism at Tuesday’s Sun Belt Football Media Day, conference commissioner Keith Gill instilled trust in Tech to continue a culture of growth in the face of chaos.

“The Sun Belt Conference foundation is built on schools with passionate fanbases, great football tradition, tradition of success in other sports, and proximity that creates regional rivalries,” Gill said in his opening statement. “Louisiana Tech allows us to be better in each of these areas.”

Gill noted that it’s an “open question” when the Bulldogs will officially become a member but that their return bodes extremely well for the Sun Belt’s future.

“It speaks to the strength of our conference,” Gill said. “It allows us to keep our momentum.”

Found almost immediately as Texas State’s replacement, Tech breathes new, logical life into the Group of Five. It has rich lineage with many current Sun Belt programs, and its football team is on a succinct upward trajectory.

Under coach Sonny Cumbie, the Bulldogs went 5-7 and snuck into a bowl game last season.

Led by Preseason Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year linebacker Kolbe Fields, Tech has sound defensive foundations and an aggressive team-building approach that fits well in the SBC.

Throughout a process of not wanting to rust, the SBC found Ruston.

“We started very broad and then ended up in a place where that just made a ton of sense and was a no-brainer,” Gill said.

Louisiana Tech annually taking on in-state foes significantly warps the Sun Belt’s outlook as a whole. Clashes with Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe and Southern Miss will return to the highly competitive West division after hiatuses that ranged from brief to a quarter-century.

It’s been 25 years since UL Monroe’s played the school just 30 minutes down the road. Coach Bryant Vincinent is admirably rounding the Warhawks into form as the battle for I-20 looms.

“When I stepped foot on campus, the first day, I heard about LA Tech, the rivalry,” Vincent said. “If we’re going to really rebuild this program and get it to where it needs to be, we need to play LA Tech.

“Northeast Louisiana needs the LA Tech and ULM rivalry to come back. It’s going to bring back fans, it’s going to bring back energy, it’s going to bring back passion. We’ve got a lot of respect for the guys up north, the guys in Ruston, but I can tell you this, we’ll have a plan to wreck Tech too, because that’s what everybody wants.”

After winning the Sun Belt West with a 9-4 campaign, coach Michael Desormeaux’s Ragin’ Cajuns are ready to rekindle their flames up north. UL and LA Tech have not met since 2015, and the Cajuns have not defeated the Bulldogs since 1996.

Now, they’ll have a chance to reshape a Louisiana football ecosystem that better caters to local fans.

On a grander scale, it keeps the Fun Belt eternally entertaining on its rise to national prominence.

“That’s what our conference has done such a good job of,” Desormeaux said. “You’ve created all these regional divisions where the matchups matter to people … I don’t see any scenario where it’s not good for all of us.”



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Auburn raids SEC foe for new assistant general manager

Auburn can’t recruit? Guess again.  The Tigers are fortifying their personnel and recruiting staff at the onset of a critical year for Hugh Freeze, FootballScoop has learned.  Sources for the past few days told FootballScoop that Auburn was pursuing Arkansas’s Jovon Hubbard for an upper-level off-the-field position within the Tigers’ football program. Now, that deal […]

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Auburn can’t recruit? Guess again. 

The Tigers are fortifying their personnel and recruiting staff at the onset of a critical year for Hugh Freeze, FootballScoop has learned. 

Sources for the past few days told FootballScoop that Auburn was pursuing Arkansas’s Jovon Hubbard for an upper-level off-the-field position within the Tigers’ football program.

Now, that deal is complete — with a signed contract, FootballScoop has learned. Hubbard is exiting his director of football personnel role in Sam Pittman’s Arkansas program to become the assistant general manager of Auburn football, where he will take on a key role in Freeze’s program and work underneath the well-regarded Will Redmond, a former FootballScoop Player Personnel Director of the Year.

It’s a reunion of sorts for Freeze and Hubbard, who previously worked together across three seasons at Liberty.

Hubbard additionally has some NFL chops on his resumè; he participated in NFL internship programs with both the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons. He had been a key member of Pittman’s Arkansas personnel organization for some two years.

The impending addition of Hubbard is a strong hire for Auburn, which has been scrutinized for its current very deliberate pace on the recruiting trail; the Tigers have 11 current commitments, according to 247Sports and including their highest-rated pledge, Jaquez Wilkes, who joined the class Monday. Four-star quarterback Peyton Falzone also committed less than a month ago, signaling some momentum on the trail for the program.

Additionally, in recent days, multiple sources told FootballScoop that Auburn isn’t done bolstering its personnel, recruiting and scouting staff; the Tigers have had in-depth conversations with a notable NFL executive this month, FootballScoop has learned.

The Tigers open their 2025 season Friday, Aug. 29, at Big 12 Conference member Baylor; they host a pair of Group of Five opponents the next two weeks before beginning SEC play Sept. 20 at Oklahoma. 



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How much money is being offered to top recruits? A dozen anonymous Power Four commits sound off on NIL

How much money is really being offered to top recruits in the NIL era? To find out, we spoke with a dozen anonymous Power Four commitments from the 2026 class. Their responses offer a behind-the-scenes look at what’s actually being put on the table for elite high school prospects. From six-figure payouts to differing deal […]

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How much money is really being offered to top recruits in the NIL era?

To find out, we spoke with a dozen anonymous Power Four commitments from the 2026 class. Their responses offer a behind-the-scenes look at what’s actually being put on the table for elite high school prospects.

From six-figure payouts to differing deal structures, the feedback paints a picture of an NIL world that’s exponentially grown over the last few years.

Recruits, who were granted anonymity, share their top offer, which school offered that amount and whether they took the top offer on the table:



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UCLA transfer Kaedin Robinson files lawsuit against NCAA to play 2025

Former Appalachian State wide receiver and UCLA transfer Kaedin Robinson has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California in an attempt to play the 2025-2026 season in Westwood. The NCAA denied Robinson’s waiver to play for UCLA in March because he did not meet the […]

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UCLA transfer Kaedin Robinson files lawsuit against NCAA to play 2025

Former Appalachian State wide receiver and UCLA transfer Kaedin Robinson has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California in an attempt to play the 2025-2026 season in Westwood.

The NCAA denied Robinson’s waiver to play for UCLA in March because he did not meet the criteria for an extension of his collegiate eligibility, having already exhausted it all, according to the NCAA.

In his 19-page complaint filed last Tuesday the receiver claimed that the NCAA penalized him for playing with the ASA Brooklyn Avengers, a junior college in New York, as well as facing “significant” disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Robinson further alleged that the NCAA’s decision severely limits his opportunities, and that the organization relied on an “unlawful” five-year eligibility rule that violated antitrust laws.

​​“The NCAA’s anticompetitive conduct, coupled with its unreasonable denial of Robinson’s meritorious request for a waiver, thus threatens him with immediate irreparable harm,” the lawsuit states.

Not only does the NCAA decision prevent him from playing his final collegiate season at UCLA – where he could be Nico Iamaleava’s top pass-catching target – it also prevents him from receiving the $450,000 Name, Image and Likeness contract that UCLA offered him.

Robinson’s lawsuit comes after former Vanderbilt quarterback – and past JUCO player at the New Mexico Military Institute – Diego Pavia was issued an extra year of eligibility following an injunction from a Tennessee federal judge in December.

Similar to Robinson, Pavia sued the NCAA in November, claiming that the body violated antitrust laws by not allowing him to earn compensation from the NIL and by counting his year at a junior college towards his overall NCAA eligibility. The body deemed him ineligible for an additional season in accordance with the Five-Year rule.

While the decision from Judge William Campbell is not a final ruling, it allows Pavia to compete until the case is resolved, throwing a cog in the NCAA’s decision-making process regarding Robinson and other JUCO athletes.

“Despite the obvious and immediate harm that Robinson will suffer if not granted the requested relief, the NCAA has refused to grant him a waiver of the Five-Year Rule (and thus also refused to grant him the Pavia Waiver, which is dependent on the waiver of the Five-Year Rule),” the lawsuit states. “The NCAA has done so confusingly and inconsistently – even though it granted the Pavia Waiver on a blanket basis for purposes of the Intercollegiate Competition Rule. This Court’s immediate intervention is needed to right this wrong.”

The NCAA’s Five-Year rule allows students four years of play in a five-year period. However, that five-year period starts on a student-athlete’s first day of classes at a “collegiate institution,” which includes junior colleges and other non-NCAA institutions.

This Five-Year rule has faced intense backlash and antitrust lawsuits from JUCO athletes, as it penalizes athletes who competed at schools that the National Junior College Athletic Association governs, where opportunities to earn compensation through NIL are limited.

The NCAA issued a blanket waiver for the 2025-2026 academic year in response to Pavia’s injunction, granting an extra year of eligibility to Pavia and other junior college athletes who would have otherwise exhausted their collegiate eligibility.

The inconsistency in application between Pavia’s case and Robinson’s has led to the lawsuit, where Robinson is seeking the restoration of his eligibility alongside the retrieval of compensatory and punitive damage payments as well as attorneys’ fees.

After his JUCO stint, Robinson spent a season at Central Florida, where he logged just one catch – a thirty-yard touchdown grab. He then spent the following three seasons at Appalachian State, boasting 14 touchdowns and amassing over 2,000 receiving yards.

Robinson initially came to Westwood with former Appalachian State quarterback Joey Aguilar, who was slotted in as the team’s new signal caller before Iamaleava transferred to UCLA.

The 6-foot-2 pass catcher had his best season to date in 2023, when he caught 67 catches for 905 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also earned an All-Sun Belt First Team selection in 2024, catching 53 passes for 840 yards before suffering a season-ending injury just nine games into the season.

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