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Morning Edition

April 18, 2025

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As the stock market deals with uncertainty, Netflix is a safe bastion with a seemingly limitless ceiling. The streamer posted more than $10 billion in first-quarter revenue, and its sports programming played a role. Are more rights deals on the way?

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Ben Horney [[link removed]], and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

Netflix Rises While Markets Slide—Thanks in Part to Live Sports [[link removed]]

Shutterstock

Netflix is becoming so powerful [[link removed]], it’s blowing right past any economic turbulence from the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, with sports continuing to be a critical part of that growing might.

The streaming giant said late Thursday it generated $10.54 billion in revenue in the first quarter, up 12.5% from the comparable period last year, and $2.89 billion in net income, up 24%. Both figures surpassed analyst expectations, and even as this was the first quarter in Netflix’s long-held plan [[link removed]] to stop regularly reporting subscriber figures, the growing business remained on full display.

Netflix stock, meanwhile, has risen by about 6% in the last week, and by nearly 10% this year, countering larger market declines that have accelerated significantly since the Trump tariffs began earlier this month. That contrast continued in after-hours trading Thursday, as investors sent the company’s shares up another 5% to more than $1,020 per share.

Analysts are increasingly pointing to Netflix as a defensive safe haven for investors and a company largely immune to any tariff impact, while the market drag has hit many other traditional sports broadcasters.

“We take some comfort in the fact that entertainment historically has been pretty resilient in tougher economic times,” said Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters in an earnings call with analysts. “Netflix specifically also has been generally quite resilient, and we haven’t seen any major impacts during those tougher times.”

Sports Watching

Netflix, meanwhile, said its coverage of World Wrestling Entertainment’s Raw that began in January has been a top-10 hit for the company in 29 countries and has been a fixture among its most popular programming around the world each week since the debut.

The company’s focus on live sports will expand with a boxing rematch in July between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano. The initial bout between the two, an undercard to the Jake Paul–Mike Tyson fight in November, became what Netflix is calling the “most-watched professional women’s sports event in U.S. history.” That claim hasn’t been verified [[link removed]] by an established third-party measurement agency. Nonetheless, the company’s emphasis on live events is still growing.

Next month, Netflix will learn which games it will have [[link removed]] for the return of its Christmas Day National Football League doubleheader [[link removed]]. That ongoing tie could be a forerunner to what some company executives see as a potentially larger relationship with the NFL [[link removed]]. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos recently appeared at the league’s annual meeting in Florida.

Sarandos declined to comment specifically on an analyst question about a quartet of major sports rights currently on the market that includes Major League Baseball, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Formula One, and WWE. He did, however, say the company’s strategy to focus on “big, breakthrough events” remains intact, and the company’s advertising revenue is slated to roughly double in 2025.

“We’re very pleased with the progress so far and are excited about the future for live, both sports and non-sports,” Sarandos said.

SPONSORED BY ATLASSIAN

This Is Atlassian Williams Racing

[[link removed]]

Two powerhouse teams are joining forces for one epic goal. Atlassian is thrilled to become the Official Title Partner and Official Technology Partner of Atlassian Williams Racing [[link removed]].

This is a partnership for the ages. As many of you know, Formula One is defined by high-stakes teamwork and innovation—and both Atlassian and Williams Racing were founded on those same principles.

For more than 20 years, Atlassian has been working alongside the highest-performing teams in the world developing and refining a System of Work for modern teams to work more effectively together. And now, in partnership with Williams and as part of a global community of F1 fans, we’re ready to turbo-charge teamwork on the racetrack.

New US Women’s Soccer League Says It Has Millions in Funding Lined Up [[link removed]]

EM Dash-USA TODAY Sports

A new second-tier U.S. women’s soccer league that is launching next year says it has attracted interest from numerous investors, including an Ohio group led by movie executives that will own a founding team and invest in the league itself.

WPSL Pro aims to bridge a “critical player development gap” in the U.S. women’s soccer system, according to a Wednesday statement [[link removed]] announcing its planned 2026 launch. It will sit just beneath [[link removed]] the two Division I U.S. women’s soccer leagues, the National Women’s Soccer League and USL Super League, which launched last year [[link removed]].

The new league already has 15 committed teams [[link removed]] across markets including Atlanta, Dallas, North Carolina, New Jersey, Southern California, and more. It expects to have up to 20 teams when its inaugural season begins in 2026, and each team will pay a $1 million franchise fee, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to Front Office Sports.

The most recent team to commit is backed by Cleveland Soccer Group, which was founded by executives for independent film distribution company Gravitas Ventures. CSG counts as advisory board members [[link removed]] former professional soccer players, including MLS veteran defender Justin Morrow and ex-Paris-Saint German goalkeeper Arianna Criscione.

In addition to backing one of the founding teams, CSG will invest in the league itself, and is also planning a new $50 million, 10,000-seat stadium in downtown Cleveland. That arena is expected to open next year and will be the home stadium for both the new WPSL Pro team and CSG’s MLS Next Pro men’s team [[link removed]]. (MLS Next Pro is a Division III league within the U.S. soccer system that launched in 2022.)

CSG’s involvement in WPSL Pro comes after a failed effort [[link removed]] to score a NWSL expansion team last year. It ultimately lost out to a Denver-based group [[link removed]] that won with a record-breaking expansion fee of $110 million.

WPSL Pro says that “at the heart” of its business model is the idea that “what’s good for the athlete is good for business.” With that in mind, it intends to employ a profit-sharing model between clubs and athletes. Further specifics of the profit-sharing model were not disclosed, but WPSL Pro will not be the first organization in the realm of women’s sports to try a revenue-sharing model. Athletes Unlimited, which was founded in 2020 and today operates women’s softball, volleyball and basketball leagues, shares profits [[link removed]] with its athletes. Unrivaled, the upstart 3-on-3 women’s basketball league, tried a similarly novel approach, enticing athletes to participate by handing out equity stakes [[link removed]] to the players it recruited for its first season.

WPSL Pro says that for early investors, the new league “represents an opportunity to get in at the ground floor of the next major growth engine in women’s sports.”

Committed markets include Austin, Wichita, and Southern California.

A representative for WPSL Pro did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and a representative for CSG declined to comment.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS NETWORK

Inside the Mind of Penn State’s Offensive Genius

Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki is one of the most creative minds in college football. In this episode, he and Adam Breneman dive deep into his offensive philosophy, how he’s developing Drew Allar into a future star, and the culture shift happening inside the Penn State football building.

Kotelnicki opens up about why he left Lance Leipold after 11 years, what it was like getting hired by James Franklin, and how he’s building a unit that’s tough, explosive, and hard to defend.

Watch the full Next Up episode here [[link removed]].

Thunder, Cavs Are NBA Title Contenders on a Budget—for Now [[link removed]]

Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

In a sports landscape filled with record contracts [[link removed]], some NBA teams are showing it’s possible to build a championship contender without breaking the bank.

The NBA playoffs tip off Saturday, and the Thunder and Cavaliers, the No. 1 seeds in the Western and Eastern conferences, respectively, are among the bottom half of the playoff teams in terms of payroll, according to data from Spotrac. Neither team had to pay tax penalties this season.

The Timberwolves lead the list by nearly $50 million over the second-place Celtics (the Suns would be ahead of Minnesota, but they missed the postseason). Boston, however, is expected to have a record payroll next year of about $500 million [[link removed]]—more than half of which will come from tax penalties.

Of the 14 confirmed playoff teams, 10 have multiple players signed to max contracts. The only teams that do not are the Clippers, Thunder, Magic, and Pistons. The last three are in the bottom five of the entire NBA.

Detroit, the No. 6 seed in the East, has the lowest payroll among all NBA teams at $141.6 million—about $9 million less than No. 29 Orlando. The Pistons even had to sign an additional player in December to be able to hit the NBA’s minimum salary floor [[link removed]].

Time to Pay Up

Oklahoma City, the favorite to win the NBA championship [[link removed]] per FanDuel, has a payroll of $165.6 million, third-to-last among playoff teams. Its roster construction has been the envy of the NBA as GM Sam Presti built a team around a max player (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander), several young pieces still on rookie-scale contracts (Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace), and veteran players on manageable deals (Isaiah Hartenstein, Lu Dort, Alex Caruso).

However, the bill may soon be due, as many of their stars are expected to sign rookie extensions in the coming years. Holmgren and Williams are both eligible for extensions this summer and will likely command max contracts. Gilgeous-Alexander, the MVP favorite, will be eligible for a supermax contract this summer that would be worth close to $300 million over four years.

Cleveland, on the other hand, is already preparing to take a hit. The Cavaliers are projected to jump to the third-highest payroll next year [[link removed]] and will be a luxury-tax violator. The culprits are the three-year, $150.3 million extension for Donovan Mitchell and the five-year, $224.2 million extension for Evan Mobley, both of which kick in next season.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS HONORS

Innovating and Elevating

Building on last year’s partnership with Sports Innovation Lab, the Most Innovative awards spotlight the trailblazing organizations redefining the sports industry through creativity and progress.

The Most Innovative awards [[link removed]] consist of eight categories: venues, college athletic departments, leagues, teams, events, tech companies, brands, and media companies.

Sports Innovation Lab’s methodology utilizes in-depth research methods and data analysis—including proprietary transactional datasets and social listening tools, among others—to establish criteria for each award. Evaluation areas include partnerships, data and technology, and environmental and social impact.

The nomination window is now open through June 22. Submit now [[link removed]] for the best price.

Conversation Starters The Savannah Bananas invited Travis Hunter to throw the first pitch at a game. Watch it here [[link removed]]. Brendan Gallagher lost his mom to cancer earlier this year. A Canadiens fan offered to return his old Hockey Fights Cancer jersey from 2022, and they swapped jerseys ahead of Wednesday’s game. Check it out [[link removed]]. Every piece of mail in the U.K. sent from April 15–17 has been stamped with a message congratulating Rory McIlroy for winning a career Grand Slam. Take a look [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Serena Williams Says Jannik Sinner Doping Case Shows Tennis Double Standard [[link removed]]by Annie Costabile [[link removed]]The legend blasted the light penalty for the world No. 1. Kim Ng Is Trying to Crack Pro Softball’s Toughest Problem [[link removed]]by Annie Costabile [[link removed]]Ng’s new task is translating the popularity of college softball to pros. Yellowstone’s Neal McDonough Joins Celebrity Stampede Into Sports Ownership [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]The actor talked to FOS about what drew him to sports ownership. Question of the Day

Do you think Netflix is about to become an even bigger force in live sports streaming?

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

Thursday’s result: 81% of respondents think golf needs to speed up the pace of play.

Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[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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