Morning Edition

November 14, 2024

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The NFL has boasted of increased ratings throughout this season, building on a 2023 season that featured a significant jump of its own. The reality, however, is more complicated than the broad pronouncements would indicate. We go through the qualifiers, asterisks—and reality.

— David Rumsey [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

NFL TV Ratings Up Big on Major Networks, but There’s a Caveat [[link removed]]

Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

NFL TV ratings are trending up this season—by way of the league’s traditional measures, at least. However, the impact of the NFL’s continued media evolution is still taking its toll when it comes to viewers.

Game broadcasts are averaging 17.3 million viewers [[link removed]], NFL Media’s X account posted, which is the highest figure through Week 10 since 2015—but with a big asterisk. That number doesn’t include viewership from international games on NFL Network or exclusive streaming broadcasts on Peacock and ESPN+, which is a total of six games.

While it is unclear exactly how much those excluded games are impacting the NFL’s overall TV ratings, here is what we do know:

An Oct. 21 Chargers-Cardinals exclusive stream on ESPN+ reportedly drew 1.8 million viewers [[link removed]]. The game was the back half of a Monday Night Football doubleheader that included Ravens-Buccaneers on ABC and ESPN. The Packers-Eagles game in Brazil drew 14.2 million viewers on Peacock, which made it difficult to compare Week 1 viewership to previous seasons [[link removed]]. At least one London game (Jaguars-Bears) was up [[link removed]] in viewership compared to the same 2023 window on NFL Network, and at least one (Jets-Vikings) was down [[link removed]]. Both contests drew just under five million viewers. The New Normal

This NFL season has been marked by a record four streaming services exclusively airing games [[link removed]]—with Netflix’s pair of Christmas Day matchups [[link removed]] still to come—and a revamped MNF strategy that includes more simulcasting on ABC [[link removed]] but also four doubleheaders [[link removed]].

The Commanders and Eagles kick off Week 11 on Thursday night, as prime-time games on Amazon Prime Video are up 7% compared to 2023, averaging 13.08 million viewers. That’s a record for the streamer [[link removed]], which took over Thursday Night Football in 2022, but still down from the 16.2 million viewers that TNF games averaged on linear TV channels during the 2021 season on Fox and the NFL Network.

On Sunday, CBS will expect a big rating [[link removed]] for the potential game of the year as the Bills (8–2) look to knock off the undefeated Chiefs in Buffalo. It’s also a revenge game for the Bills, whose season has been ended by Kansas City in three of the last four years.

NHL’s Smallest-Market Team Is Breaking Records, Securing Its Future [[link removed]]

Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The team in the NHL’s smallest media market, with a metro population of about 850,000, just beat one in the league’s largest, with more than 19 million people, putting a dramatic crescendo on one of the biggest sports stories that many are likely missing.

Winnipeg doubled up the New York Rangers, last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winner, 6–3 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, making the Jets the first team in league history to win 15 of their first 16 games in a season. Beyond a historically hot start on the ice, though, the torrid play arrives at a particularly opportune time while franchise leaders look to solidify one of the NHL’s more tenuous situations.

In February, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman traveled to Winnipeg [[link removed]] to show support for the Jets and the market, meeting with local politicians, corporate sponsors, and media. That visit arrived soon after Jets chair and co-owner Mark Chipman said the franchise could not “work over the long haul” there without a sizable boost in season-ticket sales.

Nearly nine months later, the long-term questions are still there but with some material signs of progress. The Jets have a league-leading 16% boost in attendance thus far this season to 13,764 per game through nine home games. That figure, however, is elevating on a low base as the team still ranks 30th in the league. The 15,321-seat Canada Life Centre also is the NHL’s smallest arena outside of the Utah Hockey Club’s Delta Center, which features a large number of obstructed seats not counted in official attendance figures.

The Jets have also sold out two home games thus far, something that didn’t happen at all in the 2023–2024 season until Dec. 30. Season-ticket sales have grown from 9,500 last year to about 10,000, and every new sale is a meaningful win in a market without a large corporate base.

“I think they are pleased with their progress,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly tells Front Office Sports.

Workmanlike Approach

The Jets’ on-ice success, meanwhile, is happening without a major star, instead relying on a highly balanced offensive attack. The team does feature goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, last season’s Vezina Trophy winner and this season’s leader so far in goals against average. But there is not a player even approaching the broader fame of a Connor McDavid or an Alexander Ovechkin anywhere on the Jets’ roster. The Jets’ league-leading 73 goals have also come from 16 different players.

“We know what we’re doing, but we don’t take too much stock in it,” said Jets forward Kyle Connor. “It’s ‘move on to the next one.’ It’s ‘How can we improve? How can we be better?’ I think that’s what has made us successful to this point. Nobody’s satisfied. We won 15 here, but I just think that speaks to leadership not getting comfortable.”

Winnipeg plays next Thursday at Tampa Bay, and it will be back home Nov. 19 against the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers.

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MLB Withdraws Objection, Clearing DSG’s Path Out of Bankruptcy [[link removed]]

Scott Taetsch-Imagn Images

Diamond Sports Group’s path to emerge from bankruptcy just cleared substantially as its biggest obstacle, Major League Baseball, withdrew its objection late Wednesday to the company’s reorganization.

The move arrived less than 24 hours before a climatic U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing [[link removed]] will begin Thursday in Houston—a session aimed at confirming the regional sports network operator’s restructuring plan after nearly two years of bankruptcy.

A court filing to provide notice of the withdrawal did not detail the reasoning for the dramatic change in stance. But the move clearly signals a heightened sense that MLB believes Diamond can be a viable company going forward, and is likely to help hasten Thursday’s hearing.

Five days ago, MLB filed the objection [[link removed]], particularly objecting to the company’s assumption of its Braves rights deal and claiming then that there was “a substantial likelihood that the debtors will find themselves once again in financial distress and/or bankruptcy court in the near future.” DSG had until Wednesday to respond to that objection, but ultimately, there was nothing to which to answer.

Since then, however, DSG has continued to pursue a variety of new business in preparation for its post-bankruptcy life, including a finalized distribution deal with Amazon and the development of single-game streaming options [[link removed]], and is finalizing reworked rights deals with additional pro teams.

A Sport Divided?

Recently amended rights deals between several individual MLB clubs and DSG, such as one with the Cardinals [[link removed]] and others being finalized with the Angels and Marlins, presented a rather different viewpoint on the company than what was coming from league offices.

Another late Wednesday filing with the court then revealed even more changes, as DSG disclosed additional “amended telecast rights agreements with the Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, and Tampa Bay Rays.” That now brings the company’s baseball roster for 2025 up to at least six teams, and also revealed for the first time changes in the Braves’ deal, as it said last week in a quarterly earnings call [[link removed]] that it had been paid in full up to now.

The MLB pivot alters, at least to some degree, a long period of acrimony between the league and DSG, with commissioner Rob Manfred and league attorneys taking frequent shots at the company since the initial filing in March 2023 for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. But even with this latest move, there is still concern within MLB regarding the company’s long-term future.

NBA Cup Courts Receive Mixed Reviews in Year 2 Debut [[link removed]]

Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The first set of court designs for the Emirates NBA Cup was used Tuesday, and, depending on perspective, were either remarkable or a complete eyesore.

Eight teams unveiled their home court during Day 1 of the second iteration of the NBA’s in-season tournament. The new designs [[link removed]], created by artist Victor Solomon, were tied to the Nike Statement Edition uniform [[link removed]] of each team, so the courts ranged from a deep green base in Boston to a light gray in Golden State.

TNT’s Inside the NBA crew reacted favorably to the designs. “That’s a sweet court right there,” Charles Barkley said about the Celtics’ court [[link removed]]. Kenny Smith agreed, while Ernie Johnson said he preferred the gray Trail Blazers court with rose silhouettes to symbolize the “city of roses.”

However, not everyone was pleased with the designs. The Sixers’ blue court, which was featured in the first national game on TNT, received some poor feedback from fans, with some on X calling the court “ horrendous [[link removed]]” or “ an atrocity [[link removed]].”

“Sixers look like they’ve got a rubber court,” Bomani Jones wrote on X [[link removed]].

Even Sixers coach Nick Nurse wasn’t pleased with the new design. “I like the blue court a lot better [than last year’s], but boy, that’s not saying a whole lot,” Nurse said after the game [[link removed]].

While the reviews on the court’s aesthetics may be mixed, fortunately for the NBA, there have yet to be any major complaints about the designs affecting player performance. Last season, the three-point arc in Denver’s Ball Arena had to be reapplied due to alignment issues [[link removed]], while some players found the excessive designs to be slippery [[link removed]].

“As players, we’re all here for the in-season tournament because it’s going to generate revenue, excitement, competition,” Celtics star Jaylen Brown said last November. “We’ve got to make sure the floor is safe to play on. We can’t put our players out there and risk their health.”

The league prioritized the quality of the courts this year, working with a single vendor, rather than three different ones last season, to manufacture the floors.

TRIVIA

Test your skills in our new daily sports trivia game [[link removed]]! We’re giving our newsletter subscribers a hint for today’s question: Caleb Williams is one of the answers in the top five.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY Will Drew Brees Return to Broadcasting?

FOS illustration

Drew Brees hadn’t called an NFL game since 2022, until Monday night when he joined as a guest analyst. Is his second stint in the booth imminent? “Tuned In” columnist Michael McCarthy spoke to sources about Brees’s potential return and joins the show to discuss what he knows.

Plus, we hear from ESPN front office insider Bobby Marks about the second iteration of the NBA in-season tournament, the new media-rights landscape, and how the new CBA is helping small market teams like the Cavaliers thrive.

Also, the PLL launches the Women’s Lacrosse League and Unrivaled announces a new arena in Miami.

Watch, listen, and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], and YouTube [[link removed]].

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Conversation Starters The Premier Lacrosse League is launching a new endeavor [[link removed]]: the Women’s Lacrosse League. It will feature four teams and will debut at the 2025 PLL Championship Series. The Sphere in Las Vegas is designed as a Formula One car’s wheel ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix next week. Check it out [[link removed]]. A Georgia man was arrested for selling $1.3 million worth of fake tickets [[link removed]] to events like UGA football, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, and The Masters. Editors’ Picks Bronny James Won’t Play G League Road Games [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]G League players travel on commercial airlines. Trail Blazers Troll Fan With Gambling Addiction Helpline [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]The official account suggested that a complaining fan on X/Twitter should call 1-800-GAMBLER. Michael Strahan Responds to National Anthem Controversy [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]The NFL analyst and “GMA” host was criticized for not putting his hand over his heart. Question of the Day

Do you like the look of your favorite NBA team’s in-season tournament court?

Yes [[link removed]] No [[link removed]]

Wednesday’s result: 81% of respondents said they plan to watch the Chiefs-Bills game Sunday.

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