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Afternoon Edition

March 27, 2025

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What’s a $315 million payroll gap between friends?

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

MLB’s Growing Payroll Divide: Rich Teams Soar While Poor Lag Behind [[link removed]]

Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Major League Baseball’s rich are getting richer, and the league’s relatively poor are also getting poorer, raising tensions throughout the sport.

As MLB began its 2025 regular season in full Thursday, the defending champion Dodgers [[link removed]] lead the league with a record luxury-tax payroll of $398.2 million [[link removed]], buttressed by a highly aggressive offseason that included acquisitions of starting pitchers Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki, relievers Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, and the retention of outfielder Teoscar Hernández, among other moves.

That figure is 4.8 times as large as the comparable figure for the No. 30 team in luxury-tax payroll, the Marlins’ $82.6 million. The spending spread between top and bottom is an increase from levels seen during the current collective bargaining agreement that MLB and the MLB Players Association reached in early 2022, with no near-term change in sight.

A decade ago, the Dodgers also topped MLB in player spending [[link removed]], while the Marlins similarly stood at the bottom. The Dodgers’ annual payroll since then, however, has increased by more than $96 million, while Miami has added only a little more than $10 million.

The current pressure points are now growing to the point [[link removed]] that some teams are publicly acknowledging they cannot keep up with top spenders such as the Dodgers and the No. 2 Mets. That club agreed to a record-setting $765 million free-agent deal with Juan Soto over the offseason as part of a luxury-tax payroll of $328.4 million.

FOS graphic

After that historic signing, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said he was “not particularly concerned” [[link removed]] about the impact on lower-revenue clubs.

“Something’s got to happen. The competitive imbalance in baseball has gotten to the point of ludicrosity now. It’s an unregulated industry,” Rockies owner Dick Monfort recently told The Denver Gazette [[link removed]]. The Rockies’ 2025 luxury-tax payroll of $142.3 million is 21st in the league.

“The only way to fix baseball is to do a salary cap and a floor. With a cap comes a floor. For a lot of teams, the question is: ‘How do they get to the floor?’ And that includes us, probably. But on some sort of revenue-split deal, I would be all in,” Monfort said.

The idea of a cap, however, almost certainly will be a nonstarter as the MLBPA has steadfastly refused any such overtures throughout its history—though there has been more recent receptiveness among players toward a floor. During spring training this year, union executive director Tony Clark continued to convey a preference for seeking other avenues to solve the growing spending gap.

“There are ways of addressing the system that aren’t salary- or cap-related, or require the restrictions of player salaries as the answer to every one of these questions,” Clark said.

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Why MLB Opening Day Overlaps With Sweet 16—and Likely Will Again [[link removed]]

The Enquirer

Some sports fans might be wondering why MLB’s Opening Day is coinciding with the Sweet 16 of men’s March Madness tipping off Thursday [[link removed]], but this isn’t the first time the overlap has occurred and likely won’t be the last.

Just last year, the two major sporting events both fell on March 28. The first time came in 2019, also on March 28. That was a result of MLB moving its Opening Day up from its traditional early April slot to the last Thursday in March, a move made to facilitate more off days throughout the season.

The MLB schedule is annually released the summer before, and March Madness dates are set through 2031. Next year, the Sweet 16 will begin on March 26, which is the last Thursday of the month and likely when the baseball season is expected to start. That will be the case again in 2027.

But in 2028 and 2029, the Sweet 16 is set to tip off on the third Thursday of March. In 2030 and 2031, the Sweet 16 will go back to the last Thursday in March.

What Do the Numbers Say?

With the small sample size so far, it’s hard to conclude anything definitive, but TV ratings show small dips in the two years that Opening Day coincided with the Sweet 16.

In 2024, ESPN’s primetime national telecast, Cubs-Rangers, drew 1.58 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings. That was down just slightly from the 1.64 million viewers who watched ESPN’s opening-night broadcast in 2023, White Sox–Astros. In 2019, Red Sox–Mariners drew 1.19 million viewers, down from 1.97 million for the Giants-Dodgers in 2018.

ESPN has MLB’s two national TV broadcasts on Thursday: Brewers-Yankees at 3 p.m. (all times ET) and Tigers-Dodgers at 7 p.m.

Eleven of Thursday’s 14 MLB games begin between 3 p.m. and 4:15 p.m., meaning most will likely finish before the first Sweet 16 game, No. 6 BYU vs. No. 2 Alabama will tip off at 7:09 p.m.

One option for MLB in the future would be moving Opening Day up again to Tuesday or Wednesday of the same week to avoid March Madness. However, that would require additional changes to spring training schedules.

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, with official partners ESPN and Eli Lilly & Company.

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

Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions Gets PE Boost [[link removed]]

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Peyton Manning became an NFL legend finding receivers as one of the league’s greatest quarterbacks. Now, he’s the target of a powerful new investment vehicle focused in part on sports.

Manning’s Omaha Productions is the first investment of a newly formed company led by former Endeavor executive chairman Patrick Whitesell and backed by private equity giant Silver Lake. That company, first unveiled last year [[link removed]] with $250 million in seed equity from Silver Lake, is now fully operational after Endeavor completed a long-planned move to become a private company again [[link removed]] earlier this week.

The Whitesell-led company will be making a minority investment in Omaha Productions, which in less than five years has become an industry force, producing more than 30 television series and live events—perhaps most notably the Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli alternate NFL broadcast on ESPN. Omaha Productions has also been heavily involved in the NFL’s reconstruction of the Pro Bowl into the Pro Bowl Games.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Partnering with Peyton, [cofounder and president] Jamie [Horowitz], and the Omaha team is such a clear choice as the first investment for our new venture, given their impressive track record, the strength of their business, and commitment to applying the same energy to continuing the company’s growth,” Whitesell said.

The Whitesell investment, meanwhile, also brings together Silver Lake CEO Egon Durban and The Chernin Group chair and CEO Peter Chernin, two of the most powerful executives in the entire media business. Nearly two years ago, Chernin also invested in Omaha Productions through his North Road media venture.

STATUS REPORT Three Up, One Down

Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

Oakland Coliseum ⬆ With the A’s beginning their stint in Sacramento before a planned move to Las Vegas in 2028, the MLB club’s former ballpark has added another new tenant: Major League Cricket will play nine matches at the venue June 12–18. The San Francisco Unicorns are one of six MLC franchises competing in the 2025 season.

Golden State Valkyries ⬆ The WNBA expansion franchise has sold more than 10,000 season tickets for 2025. The Valkyries are the first team on record to surpass that mark this year. Last July, Golden State became the first team in women’s sports history to surpass 15,000 season-ticket deposits [[link removed]].

Big3 ⬆ The 3-on-3 men’s pro basketball league cofounded by Ice Cube announced Wednesday that it will have city-based teams [[link removed]] for the first time since its inception in 2017. Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, the DMV (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia), Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami are the eight markets.

Charles Davis ⬇ The CBS NFL game analyst is being taken off the network’s No. 2 team for the 2025 season, set to be replaced by J.J. Watt, who will call games alongside Ian Eagle. Davis joined CBS in 2020 after previously working at Fox.

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NILOSOPHY x Nike: Owning the Moment, Defying the Odds

NILOSOPHY isn’t just about NIL—it’s about rewriting the rules. Hosted by Oregon’s Deja Kelly, this Front Office Sports show dives deep into the personal journeys of college athletes owning their future. Episode 1 features South Carolina’s Raven Johnson, a fearless competitor pushing boundaries on and off the court.

Powered by Nike’s So Win campaign, NILOSOPHY [[link removed]] embodies The Athlete Way—relentless pursuit, bold dreams, and proving doubters wrong. Because when someone says you can’t? Just do it.

Nike’s So Win isn’t just celebrating victories—it’s igniting a movement. Athletes like Deja and Raven are breaking barriers, inspiring the next generation, and showing the world that when the noise gets loud, hard work speaks louder.

Tune in, get inspired, and watch them dominate. [[link removed]]

Conversation Starters Aaliyah Chavez, the No. 1 basketball recruit in the 2025 class, announced her commitment to Oklahoma on Tuesday. Watch the reaction [[link removed]] of the Sooners staff. The Rays have unveiled a rebranded George M. Steinbrenner Field, the team’s home for the 2025 season. Tropicana Field is being repaired due to damage from Hurricane Milton. Take a look [[link removed]]. The Royals are bringing their value menu back [[link removed]] for the 2025 season. Fans can buy concessions, including beer, hot dogs, and popcorn, for $5 or less. Editors’ Picks Duke Is Furious About ‘The White Lotus’ [[link removed]]by Dennis Young [[link removed]]It’s not clear what the university wants HBO to do now. ESPN Has a Lot to Lose in LeBron–Stephen A. Smith War of Words [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]Smith and James have blasted each other on ESPN platforms this week. Could This Year’s Opening Day Be MLB’s Last With All-Human Umps? [[link removed]]by David Rumsey [[link removed]]MLB’s automated ball-strike system was used during spring training games. Advertise [[link removed]] Honors [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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