Read in Browser [[link removed]]

Morning Edition

March 5, 2025

POWERED BY

Saquon Barkley broke records and won a Super Bowl in his first year as an Eagle. On Tuesday, the team promptly signed him to a contract extension that shifts a positional paradigm.

Do more running backs deserve to be paid like Barkley has been, or is he the outlier? Reply to this email and your response may be featured in a future edition.

— Alex Schiffer [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]], and Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

Eagles Make Saquon Barkley NFL’s Highest-Paid Running Back Ever [[link removed]]

Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Saquon Barkley continues to make NFL history.

After a 2,000-yard rushing season that ended with a Super Bowl title and Offensive Player of the Year honors, he and the Eagles reportedly agreed to a two-year, $41 million contract extension Tuesday that will make Barkley the first running back to earn $20 million per season. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Pat McAfee.

The Eagles guaranteed $36 million of Barkley’s new extension and he can earn an additional $15 million in contract incentives from the original contract carried into the new one. The cash guarantee is the largest of its kind in a two- or three-year window [[link removed]] in league history, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Barkley previously signed a three-year contract in 2024 worth $37 million with $26 million guaranteed, and hit every contract incentive [[link removed]] during the 2024 season, which included $250,000 each for being named first-team All-Pro, eclipsing 2,000 yards rushing and receiving, and for winning the Super Bowl and NFC championship. He also broke the record for most rushing yards in a season (including playoffs), which was previously held by Broncos running back Terrell Davis.

As a result, Barkley more than doubled his 2025 base salary from $1.375 million to $2.875 million. His 2026 base salary can increase if Barkley hits the same incentives during the 2025 season. (Most of his salary this year came from an $11.6 million signing bonus.)

Four More Years

The extension will keep Barkley, 28, in Philadelphia for the next four seasons, meaning he won’t be a free agent until after the 2028 season, when he’s 32, which tends to be toward the back end of a running back’s career.

Full details of Barkley’s new contract weren’t immediately available, but Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap, a website dedicated to NFL contracts, speculated on X/Twitter that it is likely similar to Christian McCaffrey’s. In this case, too, the Eagles tacked on a lot of money at the end of the contract and guaranteed the existing money in the deal.

Barkley’s deal for $20 million per year tops McCaffrey’s, which was signed in June 2024 for two years and $38 million [[link removed]], or $19 million a year.

Can Duke Phenom Cooper Flagg Reverse March Madness Ratings Trend? [[link removed]]

Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

Monday’s game between Duke and Wake Forest was likely the final one for Cooper Flagg at Cameron Indoor Stadium. As the freshman star exited the court late in the second half of a blowout win, the Blue Devils fans gave him a standing ovation and a plea.

“One more year!” the Duke faithful chanted [[link removed]].

Flagg’s freshman season at Duke isn’t over. He still has one more regular-season game—Saturday’s showdown with North Carolina in Chapel Hill, which will get the College GameDay treatment on ESPN. Then comes the ACC tournament that Duke is favored to win that starts March 11, followed by March Madness, where the Blue Devils will likely be a No. 1 seed.

But barring a shocking turn of events, Flagg is expected to declare for the 2025 NBA draft and is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick.

The 18-year-old has been vocal about how he’s loved his time at Duke, telling The Athletic earlier this month that he wants to “come back next year [[link removed]].” However, Flagg and his family seem well aware that it likely won’t happen.

While an extra year in college could come with NIL (name, image, and likeness) money that could rival the first year of his rookie deal in the NBA, staying in college would delay a second contract that could be worth close to $400 million [[link removed]], which may ultimately cut his full earning potential.

In the meantime, expect Flagg to bring in high ratings for college men’s basketball through the next month as Duke has a legitimate shot to make a deep run in the tournament. It would be a welcome sign for the men’s tournament, which has seen its viewership wane in recent years [[link removed]], in part due to the lack of star power from top prospects turning pro after just one season.

Flagg is the betting favorite to win the Wooden Award [[link removed]], which would make him the first freshman since former Blue Devil Zion Williamson to win Player of the Year honors. Only two other freshmen have won the award and both are future Hall of Famers who were included in the NBA’s 75th anniversary team: Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis.

SPONSORED BY PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS LEAGUE

High Stakes, Top Fighters Return in April

The Professional Fighters League [[link removed]]’s one-of-a-kind MMA returns this April, bringing elite fighters back to the cage in a high-stakes world tournament [[link removed]]. The action kicks off April 3 on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+, and DAZN as 64 fighters across eight weight classes battle through a single-elimination bracket for a chance to claim the PFL title.

With a roster that includes top-ranked fighters from the PFL [[link removed]], this tournament will feature some of the best talent in the sport, including Adam Borics, Gabriel Braga, Elora Dana, and Diana Avsaragova.

For those who want to experience the fights live, tickets are now available for the first round in Orlando, Fla.

Get yours here [[link removed]].

FanDuel Retains Sports Betting Crown With $14B in 2024 Revenue [[link removed]]

The Cincinnati Enquirer

The No. 1 U.S. sportsbook is still definitively leading the market, even after a quarterly earnings report that showed a sizable revenue hit during the 2024 NFL season.

Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of FanDuel, said late Wednesday that it posted a 14% increase in fourth-quarter revenue to $3.8 billion, and a 19% lift for the entire year to $14.05 billion. Net income swung from losses in 2023 to profits in 2024, with a $156 million gain for the fourth quarter and $162 million for the whole year.

Those financial results further confirmed recent monthly reports in key sports betting locales such as New York, Illinois, and New Jersey. Across those states, and in many others, FanDuel remains the clear market leader, controlling as much as 45% of revenue. Flutter said that more broadly, FanDuel is claiming 43% of U.S. sportsbook gross gaming revenue.

Football Impact

Like top challenger DraftKings [[link removed]], though, FanDuel was hurt somewhat in the most recent quarter from betting trends during the NFL season in which favorites won at a historically high rate. Flutter called the situation “the most customer-friendly NFL results in 20 years” and said it created a “significant adverse impact” on revenue.

Flutter previously downgraded its 2024 U.S. revenue guidance by $370 million due to the NFL trends, and the final year-end tally of $5.8 billion was indeed below prior projections of $6.05 billion to $6.25 billion.

Still, FanDuel’s established market power was more than sufficient to overcome that.

“The transitory nature of these results, which is part of operating a sportsbook, has no bearing on our long-term outlook,” Flutter CEO Peter Jackson said in an earnings call with analysts.

The continued strength of Flutter and FanDuel stands in sharp contrast to the ongoing struggles of ESPN Bet [[link removed]], which could lead to an early end of the $2 billion partnership between Penn Entertainment and the sports media giant.

Last month’s Super Bowl LIX was not part of the Flutter fourth-quarter earnings report. Nonetheless, the company said the NFL title game generated a FanDuel record $470 million in single-day betting handle, produced by three million active customers and 17.7 million bets.

That milestone mirrored one posted by DraftKings and emphasized the U.S. sports betting duopoly using Super Bowl LIX to enhance their market dominance [[link removed]].

A’s Open Ticket Deposits for Las Vegas Stadium That Doesn’t Exist Yet [[link removed]]

Oakland A's/Bjarke Ingels Group/HNTB

There is no new stadium yet for the A’s in Las Vegas, with the opening still three years away, and some doubts persist that it will actually happen. The MLB club, however, is now taking deposits for tickets to the planned ballpark.

The A’s said they will begin taking deposits of $19.01 each [[link removed]] on Friday to be placed on a priority list for tickets to the ballpark, scheduled to open in 2028. The amount references the year that the franchise was founded in Philadelphia, the first of what is set to be five homes for the franchise.

The beginning of ticket deposits arrives at a notable juncture for the planned ballpark, now set to cost $1.75 billion [[link removed]]. There was a glitzy demolition [[link removed]] last fall of the Tropicana Las Vegas, the resort that formerly was at the stadium site. That event was soon followed by Las Vegas Stadium Authority’s approval of the ballpark financing plan [[link removed]].

A groundbreaking for the new stadium is planned for this spring. There are still numerous unanswered questions surrounding the project, though, including whether A’s owner John Fisher will bring on additional investors to help cover private-sector building costs, how the A’s will satisfy unmet parking requirements at the new ballpark [[link removed]], and how the A’s will address several key elements missing in stadium renderings [[link removed]] released so far.

Both the stadium authority and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred insist the ballpark construction is proceeding entirely as planned, with Manfred saying last fall [[link removed]], “It’s full steam ahead.” The A’s are due to update the stadium authority on the stadium development progress at a meeting scheduled for Thursday.

The A’s, meanwhile, also are continuing frenetic efforts to prepare Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, the club’s temporary home for the next three seasons. Recent efforts have included upgraded lighting, a remade batter’s eye, and field preparation. The club will play its first home game there on March 31.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS NETWORK

Heather O’Reilly: Beyond the Game

This week on Redefined, U.S. women’s national team legend Heather O’Reilly joins hosts Leslie Osborne and Arielle Houlihan to discuss life after Olympic soccer, navigating mental health in retirement, and her latest ventures—from owning a coffee shop to competing on American Ninja Warrior. She shares what it truly means to redefine success beyond the game.

Presented by LYCRA® Brand—Redefined celebrates multidimensional women stretching boundaries and redefining success in sports and beyond.

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

Conversation Starters The Hurricanes unveiled renderings of its first phase of upgrades coming to Lenovo Center next season. Take a look [[link removed]]. On the latest episode of FOS Explains, multimedia reporter Derryl Barnes takes a look at the billion-dollar comeback story of Floyd Mayweather. Watch it here [[link removed]]. J.J. Watt promised Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford that he’d come out of retirement to play for the Bengals if he didn’t give up a goal for the rest of the season. On Tuesday, after two months and 12 consecutive clean sheets, Trafford finally gave up a goal [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks NBA, NASCAR Official Twitter Accounts Hacked by Crypto Scammers [[link removed]]by Colin Salao [[link removed]]Official NBA accounts in other countries were also hacked. ESPN’s ‘Around the Horn’ Will End May 23 [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]This year marks the discussion and debate show’s 23rd year on ESPN. Serena Williams WNBA Stake Is Latest Cold Shoulder to Drake in Sports [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Drake’s first public appearance after the Kendrick beef began was for WNBA Toronto. Question of the Day

Is giving 28-year-old RB Saquon Barkley a record deal through age 32 a smart move?

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

Tuesday’s result: Only 22% of respondents think star players like Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd should enter the WNBA draft.

Advertise [[link removed]] Honors [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here [[link removed]].

Update your preferences [link removed] / Unsubscribe [link removed]

Copyright © 2025 Front Office Sports. All rights reserved.

460 Park Avenue South, 7th Floor, New York NY, 10016