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Afternoon Edition

December 16, 2024

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The NFL, secure in its dominance, has decided to own the attention economy on Christmas, even when it falls on a Wednesday. This year, that means four teams are faced with the prospect of playing three games in 11 days—all of them contenders. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is already week-to-week with an ankle injury, emphasizing the risk the league and its broadcasters take on by maximizing exposure and monetization at all costs.

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

Mahomes Injury Highlights NFL’s Brutal Stretch for Four Contenders [[link removed]]

Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

One of the toughest stretches for any NFL team in history is now unfolding for four top franchises. It’s already claiming some of the league’s biggest stars—and perhaps leaving some collateral damage for several of the league’s rights holders.

The two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, Steelers, Ravens, and Texans are each playing three games in 11 days among their Week 15 games this past Sunday, upcoming Week 16 games on Saturday, and then a Christmas Day doubleheader on Netflix [[link removed]]. The heavily compressed run of games—all involving top teams—has been known since the schedule release in May [[link removed]], and the selection of these teams in featured broadcast slots owes heavily to their status as regular Super Bowl contenders.

The league even went so far as to have these four teams grouped together for both the Weeks 16 and 17 games to enable the unusual scheduling of NFL games on a Wednesday for the Netflix doubleheader, as each will play the Christmas matchups on three days of rest.

Now that the games are happening, though, the grumbling and injury fallout has begun. Even before Sunday’s contests, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes complained, “It’s not a good feeling. You never want to play this amount of games in this short of time. It’s not great for your body.” The fears of Mahomes were then confirmed in Kansas City’s 21–7 win over the Browns, as the two-time league MVP sustained an ankle injury and is now considered “week-to-week” in his availability.

That means he could miss the Chiefs’ upcoming home game against the Texans, and perhaps even the holiday showcase against the Steelers, an absence that would be a big blow for NBC and Netflix, respectively. The Chiefs’ official injury report [[link removed]] for Week 16 has not been released yet.

A similar situation is unfolding in Pittsburgh with Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt, who also sustained an ankle injury Sunday in a 27–13 loss to the Eagles. Like Mahomes, X-rays came back negative, but the status for the five-time NFL All-Pro is uncertain. The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Monday that Watt is “probably good for the playoffs, at least.” The Steelers’ upcoming game at Baltimore will be shown on Fox.

All these matchups will have significant seeding implications in the AFC playoffs, as the Chiefs, Steelers, and Texans have already clinched postseason spots [[link removed]], and the Ravens are a near-lock to join them. The situation could prove to be a boon for the Bills, currently the AFC’s No. 2 team and playing a conventional schedule with two Sunday afternoon home games over the next two weeks.

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A First: U.S. Ryder Cup Players to Receive $200K Stipend in 2025 [[link removed]]

Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

In a first for the Ryder Cup, players on the 2025 U.S. team will receive a $200,000 stipend for competing in the biennial team golf event.

The PGA of America, which operates the U.S. team and runs the Ryder Cup when it is played Stateside every four years, announced the decision on Monday, following recent reports that U.S. players would be paid.

“While no players asked to be compensated, the PGA of America Board of Directors has voted to increase the allocation to the members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team from $200,000 to be directed to charities—a figure unchanged since 1999—to $500,000, with $300,000 of that to be directed to the charity or charities of the players’ choice. The balance is a stipend,” the organization said in a statement.

Players on the European Ryder Cup team will continue to not receive any payment. U.S. players could still choose to donate their $200,000 stipend to charity—something U.S. captain Keegan Bradley, who will also get the six-figure payment, told the Associated Press he would do [[link removed]].

In the Presidents Cup—run by the PGA Tour and played in non–Ryder Cup years, pitting U.S. players against those from international countries outside of Europe—players from both teams receive $250,000 stipends, a practice that began in 2022. In the Olympics, golfers can receive prize money from their country’s Olympic federation. Scottie Scheffler received $37,500 from the U.S. Olympic Committee for winning gold at the Paris Games.

With 12 team members and captain Bradley, the PGA of America will be paying out $2.6 million in stipends, in addition to a smaller amount given to assistant captains, according to the AP.

Money-Making Machine

Tickets are already sold out [[link removed]] for next September’s event at Bethpage Black Golf Course just outside New York City, despite prices starting at $750 for the three competition days. Beyond ticket sales, NBC pays the PGA of America $55 million for the U.S. media rights to each Ryder Cup, as part of a $440 million deal running through the 2031 edition. The PGA of America pays roughly 20% of its Ryder Cup broadcast fee—about $11 million each cycle—to the PGA Tour, in exchange for using PGA Tour players.

When the Ryder Cup is played across the pond every four years, revenue is largely used to support tournament purses and the operations of the European Tour, which for sponsorship reasons is called the DP World Tour.

Cash Controversy

The question of whether players should be paid emerged as a controversial topic at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, which Europe won. A British reporter claimed that U.S. player Patrick Cantlay wasn’t wearing a hat during the Ryder Cup in protest of not being paid. Cantlay refuted that report.

However, pay-for-play has remained in the spotlight for the U.S. team.

When reports of U.S. players getting paid emerged this fall, Rory McIlroy, who has competed in seven Ryder Cups for Europe, told BBC Sport that he “personally would pay for the privilege to play on the Ryder Cup [[link removed]].”

Earlier this month, Tiger Woods, who passed up the opportunity to captain the U.S. team [[link removed]] in 2025, said players didn’t want to be paid but pushed for them to have a larger say in where revenue from the event goes.

“The Ryder Cup itself makes so much money, why can’t we allocate it to various charities?” he said ahead of the Hero World Challenge that he hosts annually in the Bahamas. “And what’s wrong with each player, 12 players getting a million dollars and the ability to divvy out to amazing charities that they’re involved in that they can help out?” Later, Woods added, “I hope they would get $5 million each and donate it all to charity.”

LOUD AND CLEAR A Giant Mess

The Record

“Mr Mara Enough – We Won’t Stop Until You Fire Everyone”

—The text printed on the banner trailing behind a plane [[link removed]] that flew over MetLife Stadium before the Giants’ 35–14 loss to the Ravens on Sunday. New York is now 2–12 and would pick first in April’s NFL Draft if the season ended today. Head coach Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen have been widely criticized by fans, but team owner and president John Mara said in October that he didn’t “anticipate” [[link removed]] making any leadership changes this offseason.

This is the second consecutive week in which a banner has flown over the stadium. The first bore a similar message [[link removed]]: “Mr Mara Enough – PLZ Fix This Dumpster Fire.”

STATUS REPORT One Up, One Down, Two Push

Bowl games ⬇ Marshall dropped out of the Independence Bowl on Dec. 28 [[link removed]] since it couldn’t field enough players, a collateral effect of the NCAA’s transfer portal. American Athletic Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti told The Athletic he believes there should be sanctions for schools [[link removed]] that back out of bowl games. “We should consider legislation that requires programs that accept invitations and commit to bowl games to play the games or be subject to consequences for the impact it has on their opponent,” Pernetti said.

Unrivaled ⬆ The women’s professional 3-on-3 basketball league launching in January announced a $28 million funding round Monday. Some of the investors of Unrivaled include JuJu Watkins, Dawn Staley, and Michael Phelps. Read more [[link removed]] from Front Office Sports reporter Margaret Fleming.

Twins ⬆⬇ Justin Ishbia, the minority owner of the NBA’s Suns and WNBA’s Mercury, has expressed interest in purchasing MLB’s Twins, according to ESPN. The Pohlad family, the Twins’ longtime owners, [[link removed]] announced in October that the team was for sale. Justin—the brother of Suns and Mercury majority owner Mat Ishbia, the head of United Wholesale Mortgage—is listed as the alternate team governor of the two professional basketball teams.

Whitecaps ⬆⬇ Vancouver’s MLS franchise is up for sale, the team’s ownership group announced Friday. The team joined the league in 2011. “Our ownership group thought this is the right moment to do it,” Whitecaps sporting director and CEO Axel Schuster said [[link removed]], before citing last season’s record attendance. The club was valued at $420 million by Forbes [[link removed]] in February, the second-lowest in MLS.

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Conversation Starters The Pop-Tarts Bowl trophy has been unveiled, featuring a fully functional toaster designed to perfectly toast two regular Pop-Tarts. Check it out [[link removed]]. The Emirates NBA Cup prize money is up about 3% from last year. Each player on the winning team will receive about $515,000. Here’s what [[link removed]] the other teams get. The Notre Dame–Indiana College Football Playoff quarterfinal in South Bend is the most expensive of the four Round 1 games [[link removed]] with a get-in price of nearly $900, according to TickPick. Editors’ Picks Unrivaled’s $28 Million Investing Round Includes Phelps, Giannis, Staley, Watkins [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Total funding has reached $35 million. Players Era NIL Tourney to Add Women’s Basketball in 2025 [[link removed]]by Jeff Benson [[link removed]]Get ready for a South Carolina–UCLA rematch. NFL RedZone Introduces Ads, Hurting Promise of ‘Commercial-Free Football’ [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Users were surprised to find ads as part of Sunday’s viewing experience. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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