Thanks for the great feedback on last week’s edition! Please keep it coming by responding to this email or on social media (LinkedIn, Twitter).

Forwarded this newsletter by someone in your network and want to receive it yourself? Subscribe here 

Good Thursday Morning. Bringing you an abbreviated, “snack size” version of SBP this week.

#1: Feels appropriate to start with this one after last week’s piece

🗯️ My thought bubble: This is unsurprising. If Jordan in his prime was out for the NBA ASG, it also would not do as well. The more important thing is to look at this year compared to 2023 and earlier. The W has raised its game, and given what we saw with the pregame display (below), the players want a larger piece of the pie.

I’ve seen a fair amount of delusion on both sides about this. The league is obviously making serious strides, and the narrative around how they haven’t turned a profit, the NBA subsidizes it, etc. is tired and going to become moot when the new 11-year, $2.2 billion media deal kicks in next year.

That being said, the W is also not going to be able to automatically start paying the players $1+ million per year. Is the average salary going to increase, and are Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson, and other top-tier stars still going to be worth several multiples above their new contracts? 100%.

But this process “for pay us what you owe us” is going to be much more incremental than the players and pro-W supporters want due to the way the league’s cap table is set up.

#2: PCA — man of the people

#3: College football in a nutshell

Shot:

Chaser (wonder what the collectives are now going to do 🤔):

#4: Scottie Scheffler, the anti-spotlight no. 1 golfer in the world won another major, and Nike dropped another banger

#5: This survey of U.S. sports bettors is 😶 

But you have to appreciate the optimism!

Until next time, sports fans!

-Alex