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Afternoon Edition

March 25, 2025

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The men’s NCAA tournament may lack Cinderella stories this year, but it’s still delivering big numbers. TV ratings have surged to a 32-year high, with top programs driving massive viewership as the Sweet 16 tips off.

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

March Madness TV Ratings Surge to 32-Year High Despite No Cinderellas [[link removed]]

Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Despite a mostly chalk bracket so far [[link removed]], men’s March Madness is drawing its best TV ratings in more than three decades.

Through the first two rounds, the NCAA tournament is averaging 9.4 million viewers per game across CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV, marking the highest average audience through the round of 32 since 1993, according to Nielsen ratings.

After a record-breaking opening day [[link removed]], the first round finished with 8.8 million viewers per game—up 2% from 2024, marking the highest ever for the tournament under its traditional opening format of Thursday to Friday. Second-round games on Saturday and Sunday averaged 10.2 million viewers, up 3% from last year, and the most-watched round of 32 since 2017.

TruTV also had its most-watched First Four [[link removed]] on record with 7.4 million gross viewers.

So far, the most-watched game window was late Sunday afternoon when 15.3 million viewers tuned in to coverage led by Kentucky’s 84–75 victory over Illinois.

Nielsen began tabulating out-of-home viewership in places like bars and restaurants in 2020 and has increased the sample since then, resulting in higher overall numbers.

Big Programs, Big Ratings?

With no Cinderella stories left to pull on fans’ heartstrings, CBS Sports and TNT Sports will rely on college basketball bluebloods and some high-profile coaches [[link removed]] to entice viewers for the remainder of March Madness.

The Sweet 16 begins with four games Thursday night, headlined by a pair of No. 1 vs. No. 4 matchups. Maryland looks to take down Florida on TBS and truTV at 7:39 p.m. ET before CBS gets Arizona-Duke at 9:39 p.m. ET.

SPONSORED BY AMAZON WEB SERVICES

The NFL’s Secret Scouting Weapon, Revealed

The NFL Draft is no longer just about gut instincts—teams are using advanced data to find the next great stars. In the latest episode of FOS Explains [[link removed]], multimedia reporter Derryl Barnes breaks down Combine IQ, the AWS-powered tool [[link removed]] that gives scouts (and now fans) unprecedented insights into player performance. See how this high-tech dashboard helped uncover talents like Puka Nacua and why it’s set to change the future of football analysis.

Watch the full episode now [[link removed]].

Mets Owner’s $8 Billion Casino Plan Hinges on Coveted Gaming License [[link removed]]

SHoP Architects, Field Operations

It’s truly all or nothing in Mets owner Steve Cohen’s ambitious effort to build an $8 billion casino and entertainment complex adjacent to Citi Field.

For the past 16 months, Cohen and Hard Rock International have actively pursued a large-scale development [[link removed]] that includes a hotel and casino, 25 acres of green space, playgrounds, a 5,000-seat indoor music venue, a rebuilt transit hub, and a locally inspired food hall. Many of the facets of the proposed Metropolitan Park, targeted for a 2030 opening, are modeled after other sports-related real estate developments—including the South Philadelphia sports complex [[link removed]], the Braves’ Battery in Atlanta, and the Bucks’ Deer District in Milwaukee.

Metropolitan Park is also designed to complement a forthcoming stadium for Major League Soccer’s NYCFC [[link removed]] and the ever-expanding USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, both near Citi Field.

The Queens, N.Y., initiative, however, rests on the consortium succeeding in obtaining one of three coveted downstate gaming licenses—which are set to be awarded in December. Metropolitan Park is one of 11 major entities pursuing those three licenses [[link removed]], with rival projects proposed for other iconic New York locales such as Times Square, Coney Island, Hudson Yards, and Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.

There is no downscaled version of Metropolitan Park envisioned if the casino licenses go elsewhere, Metropolitan Park officials said, as the gaming revenue that would be generated is a key source of the project’s private funding.

Cohen and Hard Rock have pursued what Metropolitan Park officials call a “bottom-up” approach to securing local support, and the project has already cleared six different community boards that have a key advisory role in land use and zoning matters in the city. Earlier this month, the New York City Council also approved the project. Cohen and Hard Rock are still working on gaining the support of influential state Sen. Jessica Ramos, a longtime opponent of Metropolitan Park [[link removed]].

How High Is High?

The Mets, meanwhile, are projecting a sizable increase in Citi Field attendance this year—continuing a ticket sales lift [[link removed]] that initially happened after the record-setting $765 million signing of Juan Soto [[link removed]] and then was followed by the retention of fan favorites such as first baseman Pete Alonso [[link removed]] and pitcher Sean Manaea.

The club’s 2025 spring training attendance in Port St. Lucie, Fla., reached a record 106,027, and season-ticket sales for Citi Field games are at the highest level in franchise history. Even with that, Mets president of business operations M. Scott Havens stopped short of predicting three million in attendance this season, something that hasn’t happened for the club since Citi Field’s debut year in 2009.

“I don’t know [about three million]. There are still a lot of variables,” Havens said. “We’re very confident that we’re going to have a significant lift, and enthusiasm is very high coming out of last season, our playoff run [[link removed]], and what we did in the offseason. But we’ll have to see. We’re still selling.”

EXCLUSIVE

Netflix Passes on NFL Draft Rights As Fox, Streamers Battle

ESPN and NFL Network have aired the NFL Draft for a long time. But next year could feature different companies. FOS has learned that Netflix passed on the rights to bid, but Fox and Google are negotiating. You can read Michael McCarthy’s full story here [[link removed]].

For all our sports media news and insights, subscribe to the Tuned In newsletter here [[link removed]].

What’s Next for JuJu Watkins, USC? Injury Casts Uncertainty on Future [[link removed]]

Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

USC star JuJu Watkins, the favorite to win the 2025 Wooden Award, tore her ACL [[link removed]] in the first quarter of the Trojans’ second-round game against Mississippi State on Monday night. The team announced that she would undergo surgery and ruled her out for the remainder of the tournament.

Given that ACL injuries require up to 12 months to recover [[link removed]], Watkins will likely miss most, if not all, of next season as well. Her absence will be a blow to the momentum of women’s basketball, especially because she was poised to take over as the face of the sport with Paige Bueckers expected to leave UConn this year.

Fortunately for USC and the NCAA, Watkins should return to college basketball by the 2026–2027 season. Watkins, who turns 20 in July, can’t enter the WNBA draft until 2027 since domestic prospects are required to be 22 years old in the year of the draft.

This is a stark contrast from the men’s side, where top college prospects who sustained season-ending injuries during their college days—like Zion Williamson and Blake Griffin—still left for the pros immediately. NBA draft eligibility rules allow for players to enter the draft a year after high school and the much larger monetary benefits of locking into an NBA contract make the move financially logical for men’s basketball prospects.

There are a couple of scenarios that could mean Watkins already played her final college game, albeit unlikely. WNBA draft eligibility rules could change before 2027, especially given the league’s expected expansion from 12 to 16 teams by 2028 and the uncertainty surrounding the league’s collective bargaining agreement [[link removed]] with its players’ association. Watkins could also take the unconventional route and go pro before 2027 by playing in Unrivaled— a league in which she is an investor [[link removed]].

On the flip side, Watkins could also stay in college longer. If she is out all of next year, she’ll be given an additional year of NCAA eligibility, which she could use for the 2027–2028 season. This tactic could gauge the landscape of the pro scene to see whether waiting an extra year would make a difference in her contract or her WNBA landing spot—assuming she’s a surefire No. 1 pick in any draft class.

Trojans Still Fighting

USC still has a shot in the tournament despite the loss of perhaps the best player in the country. The burden now falls on forward Kiki Iriafen, the Stanford transfer who took a back seat to Watkins this year. She answered the call Monday following Watkins’s injury by dropping 36 points in the team’s blowout win.

Iriafen was once penciled in as the No. 2 pick in the 2025 draft behind Bueckers [[link removed]] but has seen her stock drop slightly throughout the season. She could see her stock rise once again if she’s able to lead USC deeper into the tournament, starting with a face-off against Ayoka Lee and Kansas State on Saturday.

EVENT

Timed ahead of the women’s college basketball championship, Front Office Sports and Optimum Sports are bringing together industry leaders, executives, athletes, and advertisers for Courtside Collective—a curated gathering in the heart of the madness on April 4.

Learn more [[link removed]] or request to attend.

STATUS REPORT Three Up, One Down

Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Under Armour ⬆ The sports apparel brand is back as an official footwear and glove partner of the NFL. Many players—most notably Tom Brady—have worn Under Armour cleats or other accessories during games, but now the company gets more rights with the league. Under Armour’s previous deal with the NFL ran from 2006 through 2020.

UConn ⬆ Star guard Azzi Fudd announced Tuesday that she will use her final year of college eligibility and return to the Huskies next season [[link removed]]. Fudd was eligible for the 2025 WNBA draft and was projected to be a first-round pick.

Brisbane ⬆ The Australian city is getting a new 63,000-seat stadium built ahead of the 2032 Summer Olympics. The venue will host the opening and closing ceremonies, local officials announced Tuesday, as well as various sporting events.

College sports ⬇ Saint Francis University, which competes in the Northeastern Conference, announced it has decided to drop from Division I athletics to D-III in 2026. With revenue-sharing entering D-I, many other moves like this are anticipated.

SPONSORED BY AMAZON WEB SERVICES

AWS Powers NFL’s Next-Gen Scouting

The NFL Scouting Combine [[link removed]] has entered a new era, powered by AWS technology. Gone are the days of simple stopwatches and clipboards. Now, with NFL Combine IQ [[link removed]], every prospect’s movement is tracked, analyzed, and visualized in real time, turning raw athletic data into actionable insights.

The NFL Next Gen Stats Combine IQ, powered by Amazon QuickSight [[link removed]], distills complex metrics into a single, easy-to-understand number. This innovation allows teams, analysts, and fans to compare prospects with unprecedented depth and simplicity.

From the practice field to the front office, AWS is revolutionizing how talent is evaluated in the NFL. Discover [[link removed]] how this cutting-edge technology is transforming the scouting process and shaping the future of football.

Conversation Starters Former NBA guard Matthew Dellavedova won the NBL Finals MVP in Australia but gave the trophy to the other team’s Will Hickey because he believed he deserved the award. Watch it here [[link removed]]. Timberwolves forward Joe Ingles’s son, who is autistic, made it to his first NBA game last week—but his father did not play. Over the weekend, Ingles was given the start so his son could watch him play. Check it out [[link removed]]. Mets House sold a limited-edition, $400 Juan Soto bat Tuesday. Only 22 pieces were made available. Take a look [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Kendall Coyne Schofield Wants More for the Next Wave of Mom-Athletes [[link removed]]by Meredith Turits [[link removed]]The Walter Cup–winning Frost captain says small changes mean “everything.” Anthony Davis Returns to Mavs in Crisis [[link removed]]by Austin Green [[link removed]]The Mavericks beat the Nets 120–101 in Davis’s return. How Tilman Fertitta’s Ambassador Stint Will Affect Rockets [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]President Trump nominated Fertitta as U.S. ambassador to Italy and San Marino. Advertise [[link removed]] Honors [[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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