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New Balance executive Chris Davis: With baseball, it’s not too dissimilar at the top of the pyramid. We have individuals like Shohei Ohtani and Francisco Lindor, but we’re about to announce the next generation of great signings that we have this upcoming year on MLB rosters, and we have a number of the top prospects in Triple A. So it looks like all these athletes are coming out of nowhere to be the face of the brand for New Balance, but in reality, we have top individuals in every age group who are ascending to stardom, who haven’t necessarily attained those heights yet.
NBA games on NBC are averaging 2.6 million viewers on average, while ESPN/ABC games are averaging 2.06 million viewers, and streaming-only games on Amazon are averaging 1.06 million viewers. By those numbers, the NBA is winning the viewership battle of late. Yet, MLB has posted better numbers for big events in recent years. The 2025 World Series far surpassed the NBA Finals in viewership for their two respective Game 7s: Thunder-Pacers drew 16.61 million viewers, while Dodgers-Blue Jays averaged 25.98 million viewers. That was a continuation of a recent trend in viewership for the two sports, where average viewership for the World Series surged above the Finals.
“An economist would say, the proof is where your money is,” Matheson said. “Revealed preference tells you what’s most popular. And revealed preference is: What do I do when I have money in my pocket? As of now, the NBA and MLB are pretty much tied (in revenues). Investors’ money thinks that the NBA is the better long-term bet, hence higher franchise valuations.” Matheson offered two reasons that leagues with similar revenues might have vastly different franchise values. The first is that investors expect revenues to grow faster in the NBA than in MLB. The second is that they are focused less on revenues than profits, and it could be that they view NBA franchises as more likely to be profitable because, beyond the booming revenues, the NBA has the cost certainty of a salary cap. MLB owners do not have that — though they are expected to again fight for it soon.
Austin Reaves: “I mean, I always had delusional confidence. The weirdest story was, like I said, I’m from a town of a thousand people, so there’s nothing to do. You hunt, you fish, you do all the country stuff. I remember my mom’s best friend at the time took me hunting one day, and we were sitting there talking. I was probably nine years old, and she asked me, ‘What do you want to do when you get older?’ And I said, ‘Oh, I want to play in the NBA.’ And she was like, ‘You mean the MLB?’ And I said, ‘No, I want to play in the NBA.’ And she thought it was the craziest thing, because I played, but I didn’t really actually play like that yet. But when it really came to reality, I was at Oklahoma, and Lon Kruger followed me out of practice one day and told me, ‘I think you could be a first-round pick.’ And, you know, he’s been around basketball forever. So once he said that, I was like, ‘Oh, I’ve got a chance.’”
Rose appeared on a live edition of the "Joe and Jada Unfiltered" podcast last week and said the "only sports that have salary caps are Black led" as he talked about his problem with the system. He named leagues like MLB, NASCAR, golf and tennis that do not have salary caps. Though he failed to mention that the NHL has a salary cap as roughly two dozen NHL players are Black. "The second thing is they have no after high school restrictions," he continued. "So, that’s a residue of slavery because we’re going to get money off of you for multiple years for free. There’s no way around it. So, what happened in the game, it became so obvious because of social media and because of information, it’s like ‘We’re making a billion dollars, we gotta pay them something.' That’s how it ended up happening."
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This statement was not even correct when it was made. Years before, MLB had absorbed a small number of teams from defunct baseball associations only later to recognize the records from those leagues in their entirety. Now, with the NFL’s recent decision to accept AAFC statistics, the wobbly plank purporting to hold up the NBA’s justification has collapsed entirely. The NBA’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge ABA records does not make sense. After all, the ABA boasted major-league talent. Indeed, the rival association won most of the 155 exhibition games played between the two entities.
Mike Vorkunov: Wasserman has a number of major clients in the NBA (Evan Mobley, Klay Thompson, Sabonis) and WNBA (Paige Bueckers, Breanna Stewart, Brittney Griner) and MLB (Matt Olson, Giancarlo Stanton, Zack Wheeler, Yoshinobu Yamamoto)
A major private equity firm bought the leading sports investment firm, the companies announced Thursday. KKR took control of Arctos Partners in a deal valued at $1.4 billion, giving the private equity giant a significant foothold in professional sports. Arctos holds an extensive portfolio of ownership stakes across every major North American sports league, from the NFL and NBA to MLB, and in the NHL and MLS. In the NBA, it holds minority stakes in the Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, Utah Jazz and several others, including a stake in the Washington Wizards, which it acquired in December. It bought an 8 percent stake in the Los Angeles Chargers last year and also holds shares in the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs. It also has a percentage of the soccer giant PSG.
With nine MLB teams still likely poised to abandon Main Street Sports Group, three sources said Friday their exit could create financial flexibility for Main Street to avoid immediate liquidation and pay NBA and NHL teams reduced rights fees the remainder of this season. “What is bad from MLB might be good for us,” said an NBA and NHL team source asking for anonymity due to the sensitivity around the topic, which has many industry stakeholders on edge.
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The NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, NASCAR, UFC and WWE have unveiled an agreement with Fanatics, the White House and America250 that will see an exclusive USA 250 patch and logo featured on athlete uniforms and performance gear, as well as in the venues where they compete during marquee moments throughout 2026.
Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal reported Wednesday that “multiple” NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball franchises are in “emergency talks” with Victory+ ahead of the potential shuttering of Main Street Sports Group, operator of the FanDuel Sports Network RSNs. Per previous reporting, Main Street has until the end of this month to line up a buyer before the nine MLB franchises with which it is partnered — all of whom opted out of their deals earlier this month — leave for good.
The commissioners of four major U.S. sports leagues are in conversations over being present at the Oval Office next week when President Donald Trump unveils the latest plans regarding the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. Four people briefed on the planning, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter, confirmed to The Athletic that the NFL’s Roger Goodell, the NBA’s Adam Silver, the NHL’s Gary Bettman and MLB’s Rob Manfred are currently set to attend the event. The exact date may be subject to change in accordance with the president’s schedule and the schedules of those expected to be in attendance. The White House and the four major leagues did not respond to requests for comment.
The commissioners of four major U.S. sports leagues are in conversations over being present at the Oval Office next week when President Donald Trump unveils the latest plans regarding the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. Four people briefed on the planning, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter, confirmed to The Athletic that the NFL’s Roger Goodell, the NBA’s Adam Silver, the NHL’s Gary Bettman and MLB’s Rob Manfred are currently set to attend the event.