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Morning Edition

March 24, 2025

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After years of brackets that fell short, Warren Buffett’s March Madness pool finally has its first $1 million winner—and maybe more than one.

— Dan Roberts [[link removed]], Amanda Christovich [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Mike McCarthy [[link removed]], and David Rumsey [[link removed]]

EXCLUSIVE Warren Buffett’s March Madness Pool Has Its First $1 Million Winner(s)

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For a decade, Warren Buffett, the billionaire “Oracle of Omaha” and Creighton basketball fan, has held a men’s NCAA tournament contest for employees of his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate. Berkshire has around 395,000 employees in total among all its 60+ subsidiaries, and the contest usually gets between 60,000 and 70,000 entrants.

The full prize: $1 million. But no one has ever won the jackpot—until now.

In the past, the prize was $1 million every year for life for anyone who perfectly predicts the Sweet 16; in the 10 years of the pool, it hasn’t happened. The consolation prize was $100,000 to the bracket that remained perfect the longest; someone won that prize every year, or multiple people split it [[link removed]].

This year, Buffett tweaked the rules, effectively lowering the bar to earn the million bucks: He said he’ll give $1 million to anyone who correctly nails at least 30 of the first 32 games. Buffett told the Wall Street Journal [[link removed]] he eased the rules because “I’m getting older … I want to give away a million dollars to somebody while I’m still around as chairman.” Buffett is 94.

According to the daily updates sent to all Berkshire pool participants from “Chester Q. Brackington,” obtained by Front Office Sports, after Michigan State beat Bryant late Friday night, this year’s contest had “multiple brackets that have one wrong—meaning 30 correct, so we will have The Prize awarded.” After Oregon beat Liberty in the final game of the first round, Brackington wrote, “We have our first ever confirmed award of The Prize.”

That means at least one person—or multiple people—won the $1 million prize. Berkshire plans on announcing the identity of the winner (or winners) in a Monday press release, FOS has learned.

It surely helped that the first round of this year’s tournament had very few major upsets. No 13, 14, 15, or 16 seeds won in the first round—the first time that has happened since 2017.

Buffett’s tradition dates back to 2014, when Berkshire Hathaway insured a Quicken Loans promotion that was open to the public and offered $1 billion for a perfect bracket. (No one won.) That promotion inspired Buffett to start a contest for his employees in 2016 [[link removed]].

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The days of stopwatches and clipboards are over. At this year’s NFL Scouting Combine, AWS technology revolutionized [[link removed]] how teams evaluated talent.

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Coaches Question Transfer Portal Opening in Middle of March Madness [[link removed]]

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After Arkansas beat St. John’s [[link removed]] on Saturday afternoon in the round of 32, Razorbacks coach John Calipari reflected on how he’s used the transfer portal to build a Sweet 16-caliber roster. “When is it open? The portal?” he wondered aloud.

A reporter responded: Monday.

Calipari looked incredulous. “When? This Monday?”

After the reporter confirmed, Calipari scoffed. “Welcome to my world,” he said. “Monday, we’re really preparing for a game—and having individual meetings about, are you coming back?”

Calipari’s reaction, whether performative or not, illustrates coaches’ frustration across the country about the timing of transfer portal windows. This year, the men’s basketball portal opens Monday, right in the middle of the NCAA tournament. Because players can transfer as many times as they want—and the portal has become the main mechanism for recruiting hundreds of athletes—coaches have struggled to balance recruiting demands with postseason play.

The National Association of Basketball Coaches echoed those concerns to Front Office Sports last week, despite adjustments the NCAA made this past offseason.

The transfer portal was originally open for 45 days, beginning the day after Selection Sunday. But in the offseason, coaches advocated for changes to limit the chaos: They wanted a shorter window that didn’t start as early as Selection Sunday. Now, the portal opens the day after the men’s and women’s round of 32 ends, and only extends for 30 days, partially due to lobbying from the coaches associations.

“Based on feedback from coaches across Division I, the NABC last year successfully advocated for an adjustment to the notification of transfer window from 45 days to the current 30 days,” NABC executive director Craig Robinson told FOS in a statement. “However, the window’s opening before the completion of the season continues to present complications related to roster management and the public image of the sport. Moving forward, it remains essential that all stakeholders—athletes, coaches, and administrators alike—collaborate on solutions that balance appropriate accommodations for players with basic program needs and the game’s overall wellbeing.”

More Support on Women’s Side?

The women’s transfer portal follows the same rules as the men’s: It opens Tuesday, the day after the round of 32 ends, and now extends for 30 days.

The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, however, is more supportive of the rule changes. “Our Division I member coaches expressed three preferences regarding the transfer portal window,” WBCA executive director Danielle Donehew told FOS in a statement. “One, the portal window should open later than the day after Selection Sunday. Two, the portal window should close on or before May 1. Three, the portal window should be shortened.

“The current legislation satisfies all three preferences, and the WBCA supports it.”

MLB Wants to Split ESPN’s Rights Between Multiple Companies [[link removed]]

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As anticipation continues to rise over MLB’s plans for national media rights after its high-profile divorce from ESPN [[link removed]], the answer emerging is that the league will likely opt for multiple partners to take that inventory.

Rather than a single rights holder coming in to take on the rights being forfeited by the Disney-owned network [[link removed]], MLB is increasingly looking at breaking up those rights into several parts. Among the potential outcomes:

A new broadcaster for the Home Run Derby, with Fox and Netflix among those said to be interested. A network-based home for Sunday Night Baseball, for decades a signature showcase for MLB. NBC Sports already has a dominant property with Sunday Night Football and plans to put big NBA games in that same time slot after the NFL wraps up each season. Extending that concept to baseball [[link removed]] and potentially creating a year-round stranglehold on that time slot is intriguing to the Comcast-owned network. The wild-card round that’s exclusively been on ESPN is fetching interest from multiple entities, both in linear TV and streaming.

Much of this consideration, however, is an interim one as MLB is looking to overhaul its entire national and local media strategy [[link removed]] and offer combined sets of rights in 2028 when its other national-rights deals expire.

The crucial question is whether this strategy will yield a collective sum greater than the prior whole—one worth $550 million per year in the deal with ESPN now expiring after the 2025 season. Within MLB and the teams, however, there is optimism that can happen, particularly after the league both ended the 2024 season [[link removed]] and began the 2025 one [[link removed]] with strong viewership growth.

“I think the market is going to be surprised at the enthusiasm and uptake on these sets of rights that are becoming available for next year,” Braves chairman Terry McGuirk said last month [[link removed]]. “I know that the interest is very strong, and I’m sure you’ll hear more from [commissioner] Rob Manfred on this in the coming weeks.”

Fox has already shown openness [[link removed]] to expanding its already extensive MLB portfolio [[link removed]], with network COO John Nallen saying the league “has been a great product for us.” Most recently, NBC Sports president of acquisitions and partnerships Jon Miller conveyed a similar sentiment at a SportsPro conference, saying the network is “kicking the tires” on MLB.

“There’s so much great product out there with so many terrific athletes, so many compelling stories, great ownership, great markets, and so I’m excited for the future of baseball. I think it’s a very positive outlook for them,” Miller said.

Back in Bristol

Industry sources describe the tense attitude between MLB and ESPN as the equivalent of middle-aged spouses getting divorced after a long marriage. Both sides are lawyered up and don’t want to compromise. ESPN, however, is holding out an olive branch and is willing to come back to the negotiating table—albeit still at a lower price. MLB thus far has spurned those overtures and is looking for new partners. There remains some sense, however, that a reunion is not impossible.

“Here’s hope both sides come to their senses—and hash this out,” says one source. “It’s time for a compromise.”

STATUS REPORT Two Up, Two Push

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Women’s March Madness ⬆⬇ The top seeds in the women’s NCAA tournament are rolling, as there weren’t any major upsets in the first round on Friday and Saturday. Two No. 10 seeds beat No. 7 seeds: South Dakota State 74–68 over Oklahoma State, and Oregon 77–73 over Vanderbilt. No. 2 Duke eliminated Oregon in the second round on Sunday, and South Dakota State plays No. 2 UConn on Monday. TV ratings for women’s March Madness on ESPN platforms are not yet available.

SEC ⬆ After setting a record with 14 men’s tournament bids, the conference holds another one as we enter the Sweet 16. Seven SEC teams qualified for the round, besting the previous high mark of six set by the ACC in 2016.

McLaren ⬆ The Formula One team finished 1–2 in the Chinese Grand Prix, as Oscar Piastri won the second race of the season and his teammate Lando Norris, who took the checkered flag last weekend [[link removed]] in Australia, finished second.

McNeese State ⬆⬇ N.C. State officially announced Will Wade as its new head coach after he led the Cowboys to the second round of the men’s NCAA tournament, where his team lost 76–62 to Purdue. Wade had acknowledged he was exploring the Wolfpack job [[link removed]] before March Madness began. Meanwhile, McNeese State student manager Amir Khan will follow Wade to Raleigh after becoming one of the biggest off-court storylines of the tournament [[link removed]].

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Editors’ Picks ESPN Is Accused of Harassment, Retaliation in Legal Letter From Exec Editor [[link removed]]by Ryan Glasspiegel [[link removed]]Cristina Daglas has been on administrative leave since January. ‘More Value to Be Had’: Were Women’s March Madness Media Rights Undersold? [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]Could the NCAA have gotten millions more in its latest TV deal? Arkansas–St. John’s Showcased the New Winning Formula in the NIL Era [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]Two legendary, high-paid coaches and their NIL-backed rosters played a classic. Question of the Day

Do you think anyone will ever fill out a perfect March Madness bracket?

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

Friday’s result: 61% of respondents believe Nike can make a comeback to its glory days.

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The Nasdaq-100 Index® includes the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq. An investment cannot be made directly into an index. NCAA is a trademark of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Invesco is not affiliated with the NCAA.

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