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Morning Edition

January 7, 2025

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The Lions beat the Vikings 31–9 in the NFL’s last regular-season game. The score doesn’t seem to have mattered, however, as the game pulled in NBC’s third-highest regular-season TV rating ever.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]] and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

NFL TV Ratings: NBC Draws Huge Audience for Vikings-Lions Blowout [[link removed]]

Detroit Free Press

The dramatic finale to the 2024 NFL regular season delivered predictably big numbers for NBC.

The network said it generated a viewership average of 28.5 million for the Sunday Night Football matchup between the Vikings and Lions, according to preliminary data, representing the best season-ender for that NFL broadcast slot since 2012. It’s also the third-most-watched game in the network’s 18-year history with SNF, trailing only the 2024 season-opener [[link removed]] between the Chiefs and Ravens, and the 2012 season finale between the Commanders and Cowboys.

Detroit prevailed over Minnesota 31–9, locking up the top-seed and home field advantage in the NFC playoffs. With the fairly lopsided score, viewership peaked in the second quarter at about 31 million viewers.

The league already was ending the regular season with divisional matchups for all 32 teams, but then hit a stroke of good fortune when it flexed the Vikings-Lions game into the primetime showcase [[link removed]]. The teams’ 28 combined victories entering the game represented the winningest regular-season game in NFL history.

With so much competitively at stake, NBC Sports gave the contest playoff-level coverage [[link removed]]—bringing the entire Football Night in America studio crew to Detroit’s Ford Field to help cover the event on-site.

Padres Ownership Transition Implodes Amidst Lawsuit, Racism Allegations [[link removed]]

Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The ownership transition of the Padres, recently thought to be a straightforward process, is now anything but, and threatens to heavily alter the team’s immediate future.

Two weeks after John Seidler, the older brother of late Padres owner Peter Seidler, was set to become the team’s new designated control executive [[link removed]], Peter’s widow, Sheel, has filed a lawsuit that, among several other claims, alleges two other brothers-in-law have wrongly “schemed to solidify their control of the Padres” and have “falsely cast themselves as Peter’s true heirs.”

The 97-page action against two other Seidler brothers, Matt and Bob—filed in probate court in Travis County, Texas—alleges multiple breaches of fiduciary duty, fraud, and gross negligence, as well as racism against Sheel Seidler, who is of Indian descent. In particular, she alleges several members of the extended Seidler family engaged “in multiple racist, profane, and hateful communications directed at” her because of her ethnicity.

“For example, in a message on Oct. 15, 2024, the same day Matt unceremoniously told Sheel that she lacked ‘the experience, skills, and financial acumen necessary’ to be named Padres control person, [Bob’s wife] Alecia (copying Bob) sent an email that perfectly encapsulated the Seidler family’s view of Sheel: ‘Do you really think this family would work for your f***ing purple ass? You are delusional!’” the lawsuit reads in part.

Matt and Bob Seidler are the named defendants, as they are the executor and former executor, respectively, of the estate of Peter, who died in November 2023. Sheel claims it was Peter’s dying wish for her to take over the club, and eventually their three children.

In a subsequent social-media statement [[link removed]], Sheel called the lawsuit “a very last resort.”

“I do not wish to litigate this matter in public, but rest assured I will do what it takes to protect my children, Peter’s legacy, and this remarkable ball club,” she said. “I look forward to a quick resolution so that we can—together—continue the work ahead.”

The Seider trust said Sheel’s action and the claims within it are “entirely without merit.”

“In 2020, in connection with Peter’s appointment as [Padres] control person, Sheel agreed in a sworn document that she had no right to be or designate the control person, and that she would not interfere with the designated control person,” the trust said in a statement.

Team Questions

The dispute—though somewhat common to several other family disputes over the years in pro team ownership—arrives at an already delicate time for the Padres.

A defining note of Peter Seidler’s ownership was the Padres’ push to boost payroll and challenge the Dodgers, winners of 11 of the last 12 National League West division titles and the 2024 World Series champions [[link removed]]. In 2023, Peter Seidler’s final season, San Diego’s payroll reached $282.8 million [[link removed]], the third highest in MLB and more than twice the level of 2019—the last full season before he took control of the club in late 2020.

After his death, however, the club’s spending dropped precipitously to $184.9 million in 2024, MLB’s 15th highest. During this transition period, the team also traded away Juan Soto, who played one season with the Yankees before signing a record-setting $765 million deal with the Mets [[link removed]]. Despite the cuts, the Padres reached the NL Division Series, falling to the Dodgers in five games.

In the lawsuit, Sheel Seidler suggests a potentially more dire outcome for the franchise under John.

“Matt’s efforts to promote his brother John as control person and to block Sheel may well be part of his efforts to sell, and perhaps relocate, the team, over Sheel’s strident objections,” the lawsuit reads in part.

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Beyond the action, SailGP’s Women’s Performance Program [[link removed]] is breaking barriers, ensuring female athletes compete at the highest levels. From history-making sailors like Martine Grael to groundbreaking initiatives like women-only training camps, SailGP is steering the sport toward a more inclusive future.

Read the full article. [[link removed]]

Suns Bench a Third of League-High Payroll As Jimmy Butler Rumors Swirl [[link removed]]

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

In the midst of reports about the Suns’ interest in Jimmy Butler [[link removed]], Phoenix benched two players who could be involved in a potential trade for the Heat star.

The Suns brought Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkić off the bench for Monday’s game against the Sixers, the first time the two did not start since joining Phoenix last season. Phoenix won in Philadelphia, 109–99, which snapped a four-game losing streak. The Suns are still outside of a play-in spot with a 16–18 record.

Beal and Nurkić account for $68.3 million in combined salary, about 48.5% of the $140.59 million soft salary cap of each NBA team. It’s nearly one-third of the team’s payroll this year, which at $217.8 million, is the largest in the league [[link removed]] and $31.5 million over the second apron threshold [[link removed]].

Beal, who is in the third year of a five-year, $251 million deal, makes $50.2 million this season—about $1 million less than Kevin Durant. Nurkić has two years remaining on a four-year, $70 million deal and earns $18.1 million this season.

One Move to Make

In trading for Durant and Beal over the last two seasons—which came after Mat Ishbia purchased the team [[link removed]], together with the WNBA’s Mercury, in 2023—the Suns not only put a ton on their books but also sacrificed most of their draft equity. Phoenix traded or gave away the higher end of a pick swap for all of its draft picks until 2030 [[link removed]]. The team’s only draft asset until the end of the decade is a 2026 second-round pick from the Nuggets.

Fortunately for the Suns, the offers for Butler, whom the Heat have suspended for seven games [[link removed]] and are actively shopping, have not been attractive to Miami, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. He called Phoenix “the one exception.”

“The irony of this situation is the best fit and most aggressive team for Jimmy Butler is maybe the one out of the 29 teams that has the hardest time getting him. That’s the Phoenix Suns,” Windhorst said Sunday on SportsCenter.

Butler is making $48.5 million this year, the final year of a three-year, $146 million deal. Because the Suns will likely keep Durant and Devin Booker, Beal would need to be included in the trade to make the money match.

However, Beal is one of just two players in the NBA with a no-trade clause (the other is LeBron James), which the three-time All-Star would need to waive in a deal. The salary and apron complications make it so that a third or even fourth team may need to be involved to execute the trade.th team may need to be involved to execute the trade.

Did WWE ‘Raw’ Deliver a ‘WrestleMania’-Esque Netflix Debut? [[link removed]]

Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

WrestleMania has been WWE’s most prestigious event for the last 40 years. The company builds stories for months—at times, years—for the annual showcase, and presents a card with its top stars while also often bringing back some legends.

Last April, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, John Cena, and The Undertaker were all part of the festivities. And yet, with WrestleMania 41 about three months away, WWE used a similar formula for its flagship event to the 2025 opening episode of Raw, one of its weekly shows.

Because for the first time in nearly 32 years, Raw was not on traditional television. Instead, the Monday night show aired on Netflix, the first episode of a partnership between the two sides announced last January [[link removed]] that Variety reported to be worth $5 billion over 10 years.

Following an introduction from WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Johnson, who is a board member for WWE’s parent company, TKO Group, welcomed the crowd in Los Angeles. He also spent time introducing Netflix execs in the audience, including CEO Ted Sarandos and CCO Bela Bajaria.

“You got to have the right partner who not only loves WWE and loves professional wrestling and they see the bigger picture. And that partner is Netflix,” Johnson said.

John Cena, who has made only sporadic appearances in recent years while balancing his Hollywood career, gave a promo at the Raw Netflix debut—the first of his retirement tour that runs through 2025.

Hulk Hogan, one of WWE’s most iconic superstars from the 1980s, also made an appearance [[link removed]]. Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, was removed from the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015 following racist comments but reinstated in 2018 [[link removed]]. The Undertaker, who won in the main event of the first ever Raw in Jan. 1993, also made a brief appearance.

The current superstars also finished media appearances leading up to Raw’s Netflix debut. Mike “The Miz” Mizanin was on ESPN’s NBA Today [[link removed]] and notable Bears fan [[link removed]] Seth Rollins appeared on Good Morning Football [[link removed]] on Friday. Rollins’s opponent on Monday, CM Punk, guested on Nightcap [[link removed]], the podcast of Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson, on Sunday, while WWE women’s champion Liv Morgan was featured on Entertainment Tonight [[link removed]] and the Netflix-aired Baltimore Ravens–Houston Texans game on Christmas.

WWE typically saves appearances on these sports networks for WrestleMania [[link removed]] or SummerSlam [[link removed]], its second-biggest annual event.

Big Plans

It’s not surprising that WWE is playing its biggest moves. WWE’s deal with Netflix reportedly has an opt-out clause after just five years, though there’s also an extension to 20 years.

Additionally, the two parties have a chance to showcase the impact of the streaming giant, which has around 283 million global subscribers, in the evolving media landscape. Netflix had successful one-off streams of the Mike Tyson–Jake Paul fight [[link removed]] and Netflix’s NFL Christmas Day games [[link removed]], which both broke streaming records, but this is Netflix’s first live sports deal that will stream weekly, albeit with the WWE labeled as sports entertainment.

However, the entertainment label was one of the biggest reasons Netflix agreed to the deal, as it aligns with its other sports themes—particularly its documentaries for other sports like Formula One, golf, and tennis. Netflix vice president for nonfiction series and sports Brandon Riegg told The Athletic [[link removed]] there are “challenges” to getting sports leagues, particularly because of “external IP” the company will lose if the deal ends.

But he still left the door open for Netflix diving deep into the live sports space.

“In terms of more traditional sports, it will depend in terms of what opportunities come up,” Riegg said.ional sports, it will depend in terms of what opportunities come up,” Riegg said.

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SailGP—the most exciting racing on water—is redefining sailing with its close-to-shore racing and water’s edge excitement at iconic venues around the world. The newly named Rolex SailGP Championship features 12 national teams in identical 50-foot foiling catamarans racing faster than the wind at speeds over 60 mph.

Purpose is integral to SailGP’s DNA, as it races for a better sport. That will be on full display when the Rolex SailGP Championship enters its U.S. swing of events this year in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York, as SailGP’s Women’s Performance Program breaks down barriers and actively creates new opportunities for women both on and off the water.

Tickets to SailGP’s 2025 U.S. events are now available for purchase here [[link removed]].

Editors’ Picks Tiger and Rory’s Golf League Is Here. Will It Deliver? [[link removed]]by David Rumsey [[link removed]]TGL debuts Tuesday night from its new venue in South Florida. Journalists at The Athletic Seek to Join New York Times Union [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]The Times is “reviewing” the request by The Athletic’s employees. Lil Wayne’s Sports Agency Signs Another Colorado Player [[link removed]]by David Rumsey [[link removed]]Colorado safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig is turning professional. Question of the Day

Will you try to catch WWE now that it's on Netflix?

YES [[link removed]] NO [[link removed]]

Monday’s result: 48% of respondents believe the current CFP format is fair.

Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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