Front Office Sports Today

The NFL has long owned Thanksgiving and expects big viewership numbers in its tripleheader this year, as FOS Tuned In columnist Michael McCarthy predicts the Chiefs-Cowboys game could average 50 million viewers and break the all-time record for a regular-season game. He and FOS newsletter writer Eric Fisher join Baker Machado to debate viewership expectations and explain how this day has become on...

Lane Kiffin is the hottest name in college football, with potential offers from LSU, Florida, and a new deal at Ole Miss that would all likely position him as the NCAA's highest-paid coach. FOS newsletter writer David Rumsey explains what will factor into Kiffin's decision and how it will change the SEC and college football as a whole. Plus, the Dallas Wings have won the WNBA draft lottery for the...

Lane Kiffin is the hottest name in college football, with potential offers from LSU, Florida, and a new deal at Ole Miss that would all likely position him as the NCAA's highest-paid coach. FOS newsletter writer David Rumsey explains what will factor into Kiffin's decision and how it will change the SEC and college football as a whole. Plus, the Dallas Wings have won the WNBA draft lottery for the...

Since the College Football Playoff began in 2015, data from the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database says severance pay for fired football coaches has nearly quadrupled and is expected to exceed $169 million for just 10 head football coaches this year. Amy Privette Perko, the CEO of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, joins to explain whether football buyout money is impactin...

Coming off a highly rated World Series and a regular season that saw increased attendance and viewership, Major League Baseball formally unveiled its new media deals for the 2026–28 seasons, where NBC and Netflix will now join ESPN, TNT, and Fox as broadcast partners. This announcement comes as commissioner Rob Manfred said the league will cooperate with a congressional inquiry relating to the gam...

Amid their contentious labor negotiations with players, the WNBA’s latest proposal would, for the first time, include a player max salary exceeding $1 million. FOS women's sports reporter Annie Costabile breaks down the latest offer and whether players might be satisfied with the offer before the Nov. 30 deadline. Meanwhile, in the past week, NBA stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Victor Wembany...

James Franklin is heading to Virginia Tech, and although the details of his new contract aren't yet known, Penn State will reportedly have to pay only $9 million of the $49 million in his contract buyout. FOS newsletter writer David Rumsey joins to explain the significance of this move, as well as the alleged deadline issued to Lane Kiffin to decide his coaching future. He also talks through the m...

YouTube TV and ESPN ended their two-week-plus standoff late Friday, just in time for a big slate of college football Saturday. FOS newsletter writer Eric Fisher joins to explain how the two sides reached an agreement and what ESPN's new unlimited YouTube TV package will look like. Meanwhile, FOS Asset Class author Ben Horney joins to break down everything we know about the NBA's ongoing gambling i...

Steph Curry and Under Armour are ending their 12-year partnership, as one of the biggest names in sports is set to become a sneaker free agent. FOS editor-in-chief Dan Roberts joins Baker Machado to explain why this divorce was a long time in the making and what could be next for Curry. Plus, Overtime CEO and cofounder Dan Porter explains how his business has grown from a social media company to t...

FanDuel is the latest major sportsbook operator to enter the prediction-markets landscape, which offers a legal loophole for users to essentially bet on non-sports events, including the weather, political outcomes, and the price of cryptocurrencies. FOS deals reporter Ben Horney joins to explain how prediction markets work, why FanDuel and DraftKings are leaning in to them, and how we are just at...

The Mavericks have fired Nico Harrison, but he's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Dallas's struggles under its new ownership group. FOS reporter Alex Schiffer joins to explain how a team that was in the NBA Finals just two years ago has so quickly fallen from grace and why everything starts with the owners. Meanwhile, new upstart European league Project B is looking like a major threat...

Just days after former LSU head coach Brian Kelly informed the school to fulfill its contractual obligation by paying him the full $53 million buyout from his contract after he was fired by the school, LSU has now filed legal paperwork alleging Kelly was removed “for cause,” which it says would avoid it paying out the second-largest buyout in college sports history. FOS reporter Amanda Christovich...

Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been indicted for their involvement in a pitch-rigging gambling scheme, and each could face up to 65 years. Entertainment and sports attorney Dan Lust joins Baker Machado to explain this situation and how leagues and sportsbook operators could respond, especially after the recent arrests of Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Heat guard Te...

The NFL is having one of its strongest seasons in decades as ratings hit historic highs in the United States and abroad. From massive viewership for Chiefs-Bills to the league’s London, Germany, and Madrid expansion push, the NFL continues to build global momentum. Front Office Sports newsletter writer David Rumsey breaks down why this season is rewriting the record books and how the Cowboys-Chief...

ESPN is folding ESPN Bet and "winding down" its partnership with Penn Entertainment after failing to pace their lofty market-share goals. FOS media and entertainment reporter Ryan Glasspiegel has the latest on this failed experiment and what it means for the sports betting industry. Plus, women's sports reporter Annie Costabile talks through former WNBA MVP and current union president Nneka Ogwumi...

YouTube TV continues its standoff against Disney with no end in sight, according to FOS newsletter writer Eric Fisher. He joins Baker Machado to explain why this saga is dragging out far longer than previous disputes between YouTube and other major providers like Fox and NBC. Meanwhile, FOS reporter Alex Schiffer joins to discuss the NFL trade deadline and how some hungry owners capitalized on it,...

Steve Ballmer was added to a 133-page lawsuit that claims Ballmer used the company to pay Kawhi Leonard and circumvent the NBA’s salary cap. Front Office Sports's Colin Salao explains what's next. Meanwhile, reporter Margaret Fleming takes us inside another NBA financial scandal in which a former Atlanta Hawks employee embezzled $3.8 million of the team's money for personal use, including the purc...

After a disappointing home loss to Kentucky over the weekend, Auburn fired head coach Hugh Freeze, buying out the remaining $15.8 million on his contract and raising the total buyouts in college football this season to nearly $186 million. FOS reporter David Rumsey explains why 25% of the head coaching jobs in the SEC are currently open and how dominant the conference will be in the first CFP rank...

As the deadline to come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement was about to expire Friday, the WNBA and the players agreed to a 30-day extension to continue negotiations, pushing the new deadline to Nov. 30. FOS women's sports reporter Annie Costabile breaks down the current state of talks and whether there is still a real chance of a lockout or strike if negotiations break down. Meanwh...

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry says LSU athletic director Scott Woodward won't be picking the successor for football coach Brian Kelly, and that he'd let "Donald Trump select it before I let [Woodward] do it." FOS college sports reporter Amanda Christovich explains why the state governor is so involved in this process and what it means for Woodward's future. Speaking of LSU, former Tigers star Angel R...

Terry Rozier's lawyer says the Heat guard would not have compromised earnings from his shoe deal by missing NBA games intentionally, and claims that Rozier faked his injury are "absurd." This comes as a new ESPN report says the FBI is looking to withhold pay for Rozier and Chauncey Billups during their leaves of absence. FOS reporter Colin Salao joins to discuss. Meanwhile, FOS reporter Amanda Chr...

Shohei Ohtani is set to take the mound for the Dodgers in Game 4 on Tuesday night, looking to continue his historic postseason run after the longest World Series game by innings in MLB history Monday. FOS newsletter writer Eric Fisher joins live from Dodger Stadium to set the scene and put Ohtani's greatness in the same context as a certain Chicago Bulls star from the 1990s. Meanwhile, FOS women's...

Brian Kelly is out at LSU with a buyout of roughly $53 million, although he may not get that entire amount, says FOS college sports reporter Amanda Christovich, who joins Baker Machado to explain. Meanwhile, newsletter writer David Rumsey explains why he expects total buyouts to climb to more than $200 million this season, already at $169 million after the Kelly news. He also explains why he doesn...

We continue to follow updates around the NBA's massive illegal gambling scandal with FOS deals reporter Ben Horney, including Brian Windhorst saying that the NBA knew about Terry Rozier's suspicious betting activity in 2023 and "pulled him" for the rest of the season. Ben also assesses how strong the case is against both Rozier and Chauncey Billups after each of their attorneys said they would fig...

The NBA woke up to shock during its opening week as Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were among 34 people arrested as part of a pair of investigations related to illegal sports betting and rigged poker games backed by the Mafia, according to the FBI. FOS writer Ben Horney joins from the Manhattan courthouse with the latest on the investigation, plus FOS e...