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Morning Edition

February 26, 2025

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The Bengals are at a pivotal point this offseason, with extensions due for superstar Ja’Marr Chase and top free agent Tee Higgins. How much will Chase ultimately make—and can the Bengals afford to keep both receivers?

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

Bengals Ready to Make Ja’Marr Chase Highest-Paid Non-Quarterback [[link removed]]

The Cincinnati Enquirer

INDIANAPOLIS — The Bengals are ready to make Ja’Marr Chase the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL—and they’re up for the “tall task” of re-signing their other top-earning players, too.

Chase is set to make $21.8 million in 2025 playing on his fifth-year option from his rookie contract, but he’s likely in line for a huge raise.

“Ja’Marr is always going to be our priority,” Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said late Tuesday afternoon at the NFL Scouting Combine. “He’s a fantastic football player. He’s going to end up being the No. 1–paid non-quarterback in the league. We’re there, let’s get it done. The earlier we can do some of this stuff, the freer it [makes] us to build the rest of the team.”

Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson is currently the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL, under a four-year, $140 million extension he signed last offseason that pays him an average annual salary of $35 million. So, Chase will be set to surpass that mark with an extension of his own.

The highest-paid player in the league is Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who signed a four-year deal worth $240 million [[link removed]] in 2024.

Chase’s counterpart in Cincinnati’s passing attack, receiver Tee Higgins, is set to be a free agent unless the Bengals place the franchise tag on him again, which appears unlikely. “Our preference with Tee Higgins is to do a long-term agreement,” Tobin said. “Always has been. It continues to be.” Higgins played the 2024 season on the franchise tag, which paid him nearly $22 million.

Behind the Scenes

The Bengals don’t have a GM, but Tobin is the team’s top-ranking front-office executive. On Tuesday, he said the franchise ownership group, led by president Mike Brown, remains “highly involved” in personnel decisions.

“They’re there every day,” Tobin said. “They’ve been there every day, every day of their careers, and they’ll continue to do that, and they’re super good at what they do.”

As the Eagles have garnered praise for their use of void years to manipulate the salary cap [[link removed]], Tobin said he prefers to play things more straightforward.

“We’ve managed our cap well,” he said. “We’ve got low dead money. We want a high payroll, and low dead money so that the people that are in Cincinnati playing for us can get all the money.”

Tobin said he hasn’t spoken to Joe Burrow about restructuring his contract—something the quarterback said he would be willing to do [[link removed]] to help sign players like Chase, Higgins, and defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who has one year left on his contract.

Burrow’s input is valued, though, Tobin said: “I haven’t heard anything he’s said that I’m not in complete alignment on. I want the good players, too, and I think they ought to be paid to their ability level, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Live Sports Key to Streamers As Bundles Show Huge Potential [[link removed]]

The Indianapolis Star

Streaming’s great rebundling is showing accelerating traction with consumers, providing a key lesson for all programmers, including sports rights holders.

Newly released data from streaming subscription analytics firm Antenna showed that bundled services possess some of the strongest retention rates in the industry, and well in excess of comparable figures for individual streaming services. Topping the list last year was a cross-network offering combining Disney’s own Disney+ and Hulu with Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max, as 80% of subscribers who initially subscribed to the bundle retained the service after three months.

Antenna also said that by the end of last year, 2.2 million people subscribed to that particular bundle, which includes a heightened level of sports between ESPN recently gaining a tile on Disney+ [[link removed]] and WBD airing much of its live sports on Max [[link removed]].

That retention figure for the Disney-WBD initiative even topped industry behemoth Netflix—which disclosed it had more than 300 million subscribers [[link removed]] in a recent earnings report. The company saw meaningful spikes in new subscribers after a Jake Paul–Mike Tyson fight in November and a Christmas Day NFL doubleheader, and is now looking heavily to live sports [[link removed]] to further boost those numbers.

A similar finding in Antenna’s data showed Apple TV+ garnered about 1.5 million sign-ups in 2024’s fourth quarter from Amazon Channels—with most of those incoming users never having tried the service previously.

Bigger Trends

The streaming bundling effort, which gained significant momentum last year [[link removed]], is a critical tool to reduce subscriber churn, a heightening concern across the business. Live sports figures to be a prominent element in that dynamic as streaming embraces more inter-company deals and continues to look more like traditional cable and satellite TV.

Regarding the early success of the Disney-Max streaming bundle, Antenna CEO and cofounder Jonathan Carson said, “We really think this is a wake-up call that these cross-company bundles could really be a game-changer and a solution for the industry.”

Both ESPN [[link removed]] and Fox [[link removed]], however, currently have large-scale streaming initiatives underway that do not involve content from other networks.

One prominent inter-company streaming bundle that failed to succeed, of course, was the aborted Venu Sports from ESPN, Fox, and WBD [[link removed]]. That effort, however, grappled with extensive legal challenges, most notably from Fubo—which is now entering into a joint venture with ESPN parent company Disney [[link removed]].

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Women’s March Madness Promises Star Power Even Without Caitlin Clark [[link removed]]

David Butler II-Imagn Images

Indianapolis is used to fans flocking to the city to catch a glimpse of Caitlin Clark. But on Sunday, fans sold out Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse not to catch Clark, but instead the visiting UConn Huskies and star guard Paige Bueckers [[link removed]].

Bueckers, together with USC’s JuJu Watkins, has carried the torch left by Clark as the top attraction in NCAA women’s basketball. The December game between the Huskies and Trojans drew 2.2 million viewers, the most-watched NCAA women’s basketball game of the season. It was also Fox’s second-most-watched game, behind only last year’s game when Clark broke the NCAA scoring record [[link removed]].

Given that Clark may be one of the biggest ratings anomalies in the history of sports, it’s unlikely NCAA women’s basketball can replicate last year’s March Madness tournament that saw the championship game draw nearly 19 million viewers and eclipse the men’s title game. NCAA women’s basketball viewership is down this season compared to last year [[link removed]].

But viewership is up double digits compared to the 2022–2023 season, which was Clark’s junior year. The recipe of star power and wide-open standings has the league poised for another strong ratings season—and one that may sustain for years to come.

Creating Stars

Fans who may have tuned in to see Clark in last year’s tournament were exposed to other names, many of whom have stayed in college because the WNBA requires U.S. players to be 22 years old in the draft’s calendar year—a stark contrast from the NBA, where players may declare for the draft after just one year removed from high school. International athletes can declare at 20.

Players like Bueckers, South Carolina’s MiLaysia Fulwiley and Te-Hina Paopao, LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson, and former Tiger turned TCU Horned Frog Hailey Van Lith played in front of millions during Clark and the Hawkeyes’ run last year. All of their schools are in the top 10 in the latest NCAA women’s rankings [[link removed]], alongside powerhouse programs like No. 1 Texas, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Notre Dame, and No. 8 UNC.

This year’s tournament could also provide the same effect as Bueckers, who is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft [[link removed]]. Her stardom could be the attraction that exposes more fans to stars like the Bruins’ Lauren Betts—who announced she won’t join this year’s draft—or Fighting Irish guard Hannah Hidalgo, who, like Watkins, will not be draft-eligible until 2027.

A WNBA Legend Bows Out

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

20

Number of WNBA seasons played by Diana Taurasi, who announced her retirement [[link removed]] Tuesday in a Time feature. Taurasi played the most seasons in league history, all for the Phoenix Mercury, and is the only player to score at least 10,000 points.

She is a three-time WNBA champion, two-time Finals MVP, 11-time All-Star, and won the 2009 MVP. She made $1.39 million in career earnings, per Spotrac.

Read more [[link removed]] about Taurasi’s career and retirement from FOS reporter Margaret Fleming.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS NETWORK

Juliann Faucette’s Return to Volleyball

This week on Redefined, Juliann Faucette joins hosts Leslie Osborne and Arielle Houlihan to share her inspiring journey—from her college days at Texas to embracing single motherhood and finding empowerment along the way. After retiring, Juliann has returned to professional play while balancing the demands of competition with raising three kids. She candidly discusses the challenges and rewards of reentering the sport and how motherhood fuels her passion on and off the court.

Watch the full Redefined [[link removed]] episode here [[link removed]].

Conversation Starters The NHL has released a look at Saturday’s Stadium Series between the Blue Jackets and Red Wings. Take a look [[link removed]]. The Sacramento Kings announced a partnership with OneCourt, which provides a tactile sports broadcast that will make games more accessible to blind and low-vision fans. Check it out [[link removed]]. NBA All-Star James Harden explained to FOS why he decided to spend six figures to provide NIL (name, image, and likeness) money to Arizona State, his alma mater. Watch it here [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks ‘Secretive and Rigged’: A $200 Million NWSL Stadium Is Rocking Boston Politics [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Robert Kraft’s son is attacking Michelle Wu and the White Stadium project. Powerful NBA Agent Jim Tanner Likely Taking Pay Cut to Become UNC GM [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Tanner, a UNC grad, is one of the league’s most influential agents. Cleveland Guardians Owner Larry Dolan Dies at 94 [[link removed]]by Austin Green [[link removed]]Dolan’s son Paul has been the team’s controlling owner since 2013. Question of the Day

Will the Bengals bring back both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in 2025?

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

Tuesday’s result: 68% of respondents support MLB using an automated ball-strike challenge system in future seasons.

Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by David Rumsey [[link removed]], 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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