The Texas Rangers spared no expense in pursuit of their first World Series title, and that free-spending mindset has finally paid off in championship glory.

Previously just one of six current MLB franchises to never win a title, the Rangers closed out a five-game World Series win on Wednesday, dispatching the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 and completing an unprecedented 11-game postseason winning streak on the road.

Long existing as a middle-tier and often unlucky MLB franchise, under managing partner and majority owner Ray Davis and general manager Chris Young the Rangers have transformed into one of the league’s top-spending teams, jumpstarting the slow rebuilding processes typically pursued by MLB clubs.

After spending $700 million toward the $1.2 billion Globe Life Field that opened in 2020, the Rangers committed $561.2 million to a set of free agents in late 2021, most notably star infielders Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. Those outlays were then supplemented with another $185 million pact for pitcher Jacob deGrom this past offseason and again at this summer’s trade-deadline acquisitions of pitchers Max Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery.

The Rangers soared to fourth in MLB payroll this year at $251.3 million, behind the New York Mets and Yankees and San Diego Padres, up from 20th in 2021 and by far the largest total in team history.

“It always had to be a combination [of player development and free agency], but management looked to make a big statement and then backed it up with resources,” Rangers executive vice president of business operations Rob Matwick told Front Office Sports.

All that effort has led to the biggest moment in the Rangers’ 63-year history, even if domestic viewership has generally cratered — this year’s World Series is on track to be the least-watched ever.

A seemingly inevitable WNBA expansion to Portland has fallen through, leaving new questions for both the Oregon city and the league’s immediate plans for growth.

Portland had been widely reported as a lock for the next WNBA expansion team, particularly in the wake of the recently announced awarding of the league’s 13th franchise to California’s Bay Area. An announcement seemed imminent, particularly given that the WNBA wanted a 14th team in place for the 2025 season to join the new Bay Area team.

But The Oregonian reported that discussions between the WNBA and local entrepreneur Kirk Brown have broken down, with concerns about a practice facility said to be among the foremost issues. 

WNBA practice facilities have grown much more expansive and advanced in recent years, with a new facility for the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces particularly raising the bar.

League commissioner Cathy Engelbert then confirmed the decision in a letter to Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, a prominent advocate for WNBA expansion to the state, saying that the “consideration of a WNBA franchise for Portland will be deferred for now” until a timetable and scope of potential renovations to the Moda Center are finalized. That arena is home to the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers and would also house a new WNBA team.

Engelbert did add in the letter to Wyden that Portland “is an ideal destination for a WNBA franchise.”

Portland previously had a WNBA franchise, the Fire, between 2000-02, but the city has become an epicenter of women’s sports since then, with several college teams and the NWSL Thorns finding success both on and off the field. 

Even with the apparent Portland collapse, the WNBA is still looking at additional rounds of expansion. Other candidate cities include Austin, Charlotte, Denver, Nashville, Philadelphia, and Toronto.

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is well known for his unprecedented spending on players and league-leading personal wealth. But he’s also managing to save the club significant sums of money.

Cohen’s Mets — who fielded a MLB-record $344 million payroll this year, and led by his estimated $19.8 billion net worth — are reaping major benefits from a 2021 refinancing of bonds funding the construction of 14-year-old Citi Field, which was publicly owned and now also owned by Cohen.

The refinancing infused $50 million into the balance sheet for the stadium bonds. It also lowered interest rates from a prior range of 4.3-6.5% to a new one of 2-5%, reducing annual payments and yielding more than $200 million in total savings between now and 2046.

“New ownership immediately and continually invests in the on-field team product with one of the highest payrolls in MLB,” Moody’s Investor Service wrote in a report giving the Mets’ stadium bonds a stable outlook. “This willingness to support the team, and the ballpark if needed, is expected to continue.”

Stadium Aspirations

That investment in the ballpark and the area surrounding Citi Field continues to be one of the key focal points for Cohen and the Mets. Following a dismantling of the roster at this past season’s trade deadline, Cohen pledged a heightened focus on the Citi Field experience for the 2024 season.

More recently, Cohen has been public about his desire to build a casino in the oft-criticized Queens neighborhood adjacent to Citi Field, an effort that would be new for a major league ballpark setting.

The NHL is less than a month into its 2023-24 season, but the league is expecting this to be a monumental year.

After setting a new regular-season attendance record of 22.4 million last season, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says the league is “tracking for a record year of attendance” yet again. Through October, season-wide attendance was 1.86 million.

That’s buoyed in part by the evolution of the NHL Stadium Series, which takes professional hockey outdoors to fans at major football and baseball venues across North America. “We’re coming together in numbers you’re not quite used to,” Bettman said on the “Pat McAfee Show.” 

In February, back-to-back games at MetLife Stadium will represent the 40th and 41st outdoor NHL games. 

Meanwhile, Bettman said that the NHL continues to receive interest about potential expansion teams in Atlanta, Houston, Salt Lake City, and Quebec City, but adding a 33rd team isn’t at the forefront of his thinking just yet. “I’m not ruling it out, but it’s not something we’re focused on or we’re pushing to do right now,” he said.

Olympic Ambitions

Bettman hopes that the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics will be the first Winter Games to feature NHL players since 2014. 

Despite the Olympics not being a moneymaker for the NHL, Bettman knows it’s important to the league’s players to be able to represent their countries. “It’s a logistical nightmare,” he said. “It takes place in the middle of our season. It’s very expensive, but it’s something that we’re working on.”

He did not give a timetable for confirming whether NHL players will be allowed to participate or not.