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Morning Edition

January 27, 2025

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Twenty-one weeks into the NFL season, we know which teams will face off for Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. The all-in Chiefs will try to win an unprecedented third Super Bowl, but they’ll need to get through the Eagles, whose ingenious salary-cap management has led to a stacked roster that rolled through the NFC.

— Colin Salao [[link removed]] and Lisa Scherzer [[link removed]]

Super Bowl Rematch Set: Chiefs, Eagles Meet With History at Play [[link removed]]

Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The Chiefs are one win away from the NFL’s first threepeat in the Super Bowl era—but a familiar foe is in their way.

Kansas City will play the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX after the Chiefs defeated the Bills, 32–29, on Sunday while Philadelphia crushed the Commanders, 55–23. The two teams last met in the Big Game in 2023, when the Chiefs edged out the Eagles, 38–35.

It’s a fitting battle, as the two best regular season records in the NFL over the last three seasons belong to the Chiefs (40–11) and Eagles (39–12).

Kansas City, which will appear in its fifth Super Bowl in six years, has maintained its dominance by investing in its core four: quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce, defensive tackle Chris Jones, and head coach Andy Reid. Mahomes has the largest contract in the NFL (10 years, $450 million), while the others have the highest average annual value at their respective positions. Coaching salaries are not widely reported, but Reid is believed to have signed a five-year, $100 million deal [[link removed]].

While Philadelphia has also kept several key players over the years, including quarterback Jalen Hurts, general manager Howie Roseman used innovative tricks—such as adding void years to contracts to create a smaller cap hit on the front end—to stack his roster in the offseason. The Eagles signed running back Saquon Barkley and linebacker Zach Baun, both of whom are nominated for Player of the Year at their respective sides of the ball. Barkley has hit every contract incentive [[link removed]] and is closing on the all-time single-season rushing record.

Threepeat Viewership Record?

The NFL is chasing its own threepeat: a Super Bowl viewership record for the third year in a row.

Last year’s game between the Chiefs and 49ers drew 123.7 million viewers on CBS, 7% more than the previous year between the Chiefs and Eagles, which averaged 115.1 million on Fox. But last year’s viewership record was pushed up by several factors, including an exciting game that went into overtime and the Super Bowl debut of Taylor Swift.

It’s also important to note that Nielsen only started including nationwide out-of-home viewership numbers in its final tally in 2021, which helps inflate the figures.

Household rating—which measures the percentage of households tuned in to the broadcast—was 43.5 for last year’s game, the highest since 2017, but short of the 2010 to 2017 stretch, the peak of the Tom Brady era, when the Super Bowl consistently rated 45 and above.

NFL Responds to Mahomes Penalty Debate With Replay Expansion [[link removed]]

Denny Medley-Imagn Images

For all the success of the Chiefs in recent years, there have also been complaints about quarterback Patrick Mahomes’s ability to draw favorable penalty calls. There may be some reprieve on the way for those who have called foul.

The NFL is expected to include the quarterback slide in its list of plays eligible for replay assist, according to ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter [[link removed]]. The league added replay assist in 2021 to aid with calls, including a complete or incomplete pass and determining the spot of the ball. Starting this season, the NFL added replay assist to review plays following a thrown penalty flag.

The report comes a week after a controversial penalty call during the third quarter of the divisional round game between the Chiefs and Texans. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes scrambled out of the pocket and slid as two Texans defenders collided on top of him. Houston was dealt a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness despite most of the contact being dealt between the two Texans players.

“I could not disagree with that one more. He barely gets hit,” ESPN analyst Troy Aikman said on the broadcast. “They’ve got to address that in the offseason.”

Tom Brady and Drew Brees [[link removed]] have also advocated for the NFL to make some officiating changes this offseason.

Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. criticized the referees after the game. “We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game,” Anderson Jr. said. He was fined $25,000 by the NFL for his comments.

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Penn State Poaches Rival Ohio State DC With Record $9.3M Deal [[link removed]]

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Less than three weeks after falling to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals, Penn State is pushing its chips in to chase a national championship next season.

The Nittany Lions have hired Jim Knowles as defensive coordinator on a three-year, $3.1 million per year deal which will make him the NCAA’s highest-paid coordinator, according to NBC Sports college football insider Nicole Auerbach [[link removed]]. The average annual value would be in the top 60 of NCAA head coach salaries last season, based on USA Today’s database [[link removed]].

Knowles, a Philadelphia native, was the Ohio State defensive coordinator from 2022 to 2025. He reportedly chose the Nittany Lions over offers from Oklahoma and a chance to return to the 2025 national champion Buckeyes, which had one of the best defenses in the country [[link removed]] last season.

Penn State, which entered the first expanded playoff format as the No. 6 seed, had one of the best defenses in the nation last season under Tom Allen—who left to be the DC at Clemson—ranking top 10 in the nation in opponent points [[link removed]].

Knowles will not have the services of standout defensive end Abdul Carter, who is projected to be the first defensive player off the board in the 2025 NFL draft [[link removed]], but the defense is still expected to be one of the best in the nation, led by another defensive end, incoming senior Dani Dennis-Sutton.

The offense is also filled with key players returning for their senior year, including quarterback Drew Allar and running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Penn State was able to retain offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who was reportedly under consideration to be the head coach at West Virginia [[link removed]].

Penn State has the fifth-best odds (+850) to become next season’s national champions behind Ohio State, Texas, Oregon, and Georgia, according to FanDuel [[link removed]].

Jannik Sinner Wins Back-to-Back Australian Opens, Taking Home $2.2 Million

Mike Frey-Imagn Images

Jannik Sinner, 23, notched his second consecutive Australian Open title win on Sunday, beating Alexander Zverev for $2.2 million in prize money. Runners-up took home $1.2 million from Melbourne.

The No. 1 ranked Italian edged No. 2 Zverev, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 in the final. On the women’s side the day before, 29-year-old Madison Keys claimed her first Grand Slam title win, beating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

The Australian Open prize money is up 11% from last year, though prize pools have been increasing across the board. The tournament purse was about $60.5 million this year, a more than 11% increase over last year’s pool.

Last year the US Open [[link removed]] distributed a record $75 million in player compensation, a 15% increase from 2023. Wimbledon’s 2024 prize purse [[link removed]] totaled $62.4 million—11% higher than in 2023—and about $3.3 million for the singles champs. French Open [[link removed]] singles winners received $2.5 million last year—4% more than in 2023, while total prize money totaled about $56.2 million, 7.8% higher than in 2023.

For more about the Australian Open—and some of the off-court drama that threatened to overshadow it—you can read Lisa Scherzer’s full story here [[link removed]].

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Blockbuster 3-Team Trade Jump-Starts WNBA Offseason [[link removed]]

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The first domino has fallen in the WNBA offseason via a blockbuster, three-team trade.

The Seattle Storm are trading six-time All-Star Jewell Loyd to the Las Vegas Aces, who are sending Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks, according to ESPN [[link removed]]. The Storm receive the No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft from the Sparks along with center Li Yueru.

The Sparks will take back the No. 9 pick from Seattle while the Aces will receive the No. 12 pick from Los Angeles. Las Vegas had previously lost its own first-round pick in the 2025 draft as a penalty following violations of impermissible player benefits and workplace policies related to former Aces forward Dearica Hamby [[link removed]].

The trade comes in the middle of the second part of WNBA free agency—which started on Jan. 21—when teams are allowed to negotiate with free agents. However, teams are not allowed to sign any contracts until Feb. 1. The Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday [[link removed]] that teams around the WNBA were not finalizing any roster moves until a trade with Plum and Loyd was finalized.

Plum, a three-time all-star, received the core designation [[link removed]]—a one-year deal worth around $250,000—from the Aces on Jan. 11. Loyd is entering the final year of a two-year, $491,000 deal, but requested a trade from the Storm [[link removed]] in December hours after an internal investigation found no violations against harassment and bullying allegations. Both players won two championships with their previous organizations.

The Aces will slot Loyd in the starting line-up hole left by Plum, joining three-time MVP A’ja Wilson, and other multiple-time All-Stars in Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young. Las Vegas fell short of the finals last year after winning back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023.

“It’s not going to be the same group probably next year, it just won’t. And I’m sad about that because I really like that group,” Aces head coach Becky Hammon said after the team was eliminated from the playoffs in October.

Plum fills an important need at guard for a young Sparks team that had the worst record last season but lost out on the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery, which is expected to be UConn guard Paige Bueckers [[link removed]].

Conversation Starters The Mets unveiled their new road uniforms for the 2025 season. Take a look [[link removed]]. Chris Fowler called the CFP National Championship in Atlanta last Monday. On Thursday, he was in Melbourne calling the Australian Open for ESPN [[link removed]]. The 11-year-old who pulled a one-of-one MLB Debut patch card of Paul Skenes declined an offer for the card from the Pirates [[link removed]]. It will instead be sent to auction, and Fanatics Collect has announced that the proceeds will be donated to LA Fire relief funds. Editors’ Picks Saquon Barkley Hits $1.25 Million in Contract Bonuses With NFC Title [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Barkley hit nearly every major contract incentive on his salary this season. USC Poaches Notre Dame Football GM Chad Bowden With $1 Million Salary [[link removed]]by Ryan Glasspiegel [[link removed]]The GM position has taken on outsized importance in college sports. TGL, Not LIV vs. PGA Tour, the Talk of PGA Show Ahead of Critical Year for Golf [[link removed]]by David Rumsey [[link removed]]The new golf league from Tiger Woods continues to generate buzz—good and bad. Question of the Day

Is paying $3 million a year for a coordinator—as opposed to players or facilities—a good investment?

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

Friday’s result: A whopping 95% of respondents said they planned to watch the AFC championship game between the Bills and Chiefs.

Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Colin Salao [[link removed]], Lisa Scherzer [[link removed]] Edited by Or Moyal [[link removed]]

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