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Afternoon Edition

May 14, 2025

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The Cowboys often draw the NFL’s biggest regular-season audience in their annual Thanksgiving game. This year, they’ll face the Chiefs, 2024’s highest-rated team—setting up a matchup that could break viewership records.

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

Chiefs-Cowboys Thanksgiving Game Poised to Break Viewership Records [[link removed]]

Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The NFL has placed its top two viewership draws in a Thanksgiving afternoon blockbuster that could post the highest viewership of any 2025 regular-season game, and perhaps set an all-time record on the holiday.

CBS Sports said early Wednesday that the Chiefs will travel to Dallas for the Cowboys’ traditional late-afternoon Thanksgiving slot. The Paramount-owned network will air the game, with the window traditionally holding one of the largest draws of each NFL season.

Last season, that window with a Giants-Cowboys game drew an average audience of 38.8 million, the highest viewership for any game all season [[link removed]], despite both teams ultimately posting losing records. The total for that contest more than doubled the league’s overall per-game average of 17.5 million.

This time, the late-afternoon Thanksgiving game will involve a Cowboys team many are hoping to rebound, particularly following a recent trade with the Steelers for wide receiver George Pickens, as well as the perennially strong Chiefs. Kansas City recently supplanted Dallas as the NFL’s most-watched team [[link removed]].

The all-time viewership record for a Thanksgiving game happened in 2022, with an average of 42.1 million tuning in for a Giants-Cowboys clash that also set a modern-era record for any NFL regular-season game [[link removed]].

In keeping with both teams’ strong national followings, the Cowboys were chosen to face the Eagles in the all-important kickoff game [[link removed]] on Sept. 4 on NBC, while the Chiefs will also be participating in the Sept. 5 game in Brazil on YouTube [[link removed]], as well as Amazon’s nightcap of an NFL Christmas tripleheader [[link removed]].

The full NFL schedule release, containing a series of notable changes from last year [[link removed]], will happen Wednesday night. Two other highly anticipated games, a visit by the Chiefs to Buffalo and a Super Bowl LIX rematch between the Chiefs and Eagles in Kansas City, have yet to be disclosed.

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Netflix Unveils NFL Christmas Slate With Cowboys, Lions in Spotlight [[link removed]]

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Netflix has unwrapped its 2025 Christmas presents from the NFL, and it will be showcasing some of the league’s most popular teams and biggest stories.

The world’s largest streamer unveiled its plans Wednesday for a holiday doubleheader involving the Cowboys visiting the Commanders, followed by the Lions facing the Vikings. With that twin bill, the company will be seeking to beat its 2024 Christmas NFL viewership, which averaged more than 24 million viewers and set a league streaming record [[link removed]].

The two Christmas games will be followed by a separate presentation that night from Amazon [[link removed]] involving the Broncos at the Chiefs, the league’s top viewership draw [[link removed]] and a team also playing on Thanksgiving [[link removed]] this season.

All three games will involve heated divisional rivalries in the late-season windows, and they will help set the eventual playoff field. Beyond that, however, the appeal of the selected teams is clear as the Cowboys remain one of the most popular teams nationally and were picked to face the Eagles in the Sept. 4 kickoff game [[link removed]]. The Commanders just had their best season in 33 years [[link removed]], reached the NFC championship game, and recently struck a deal to return to the RFK Stadium property [[link removed]] in a new domed venue.

The Lions and Vikings, meanwhile, took their epic battle for last year’s NFC North division title down to the league’s final regular-season game [[link removed]]. CBS Sports will produce the games, with NFL Media handling those duties for pregame, postgame, and halftime programming.

A partial base of all three 2025 Christmas games, however, also resides in a separate doubleheader Fox will show [[link removed]] on Saturday, Dec. 20, involving the Eagles-Commanders game and a Packers-Bears clash. The Commanders will play again five days later, with the NFL increasingly using these Saturday games in late December, after the college football regular season, to help set up the Christmas games as the league looks to expand its presence on another major holiday [[link removed]].

The NFL, meanwhile, remains a foundational element of Netflix’s growing ambitions in live sports and the advertising revenue generated around it. As that happened, the company is increasingly viewed as a safe harbor for investors amid broader economic turbulence [[link removed]], with its tariff-resistant business model and fast-growing revenue

Netflix’s early drops of its 2025 NFL games also follow similar reveals from NBC [[link removed]], Amazon [[link removed]], CBS [[link removed]], and the league’s international plans this season [[link removed]], as well as ESPN and Fox—all of which precede the full release of the schedule [[link removed]] Wednesday night.

With the solidifying of the Thanksgiving and Christmas slates, the Lions, Cowboys, and Chiefs will each play on both holidays.

As NBA Conference Gap Grows, Will Expansion Provide Solution? [[link removed]]

Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Monday was one of the most consequential days in recent NBA history.

The Mavericks won the draft lottery [[link removed]] and the right to select new franchise cornerstone Cooper Flagg, ESPN reported Giannis Antetokounmpo is “open-minded” about a trade out of Milwaukee [[link removed]], and the Spurs, one of the leading candidates to trade for the Bucks star, improved their asset pool [[link removed]] after winning the No. 2 pick.

One of the overarching themes that emerged following the lottery was that an already mighty Western Conference was getting even stronger. This year, all eight Western Conference playoff teams won 48 regular-season games, while only the top five seeds in the East could match that number.

Later that night, Celtics star Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achilles tendon [[link removed]], an injury that could sideline him for the entire 2025–2026 season and set back the Eastern Conference powerhouse.

Long-Term Issue

The gap between the two conferences has been a conversation for decades. Since 2000, the Western Conference has had the better head-to-head record [[link removed]] against the Eastern Conference in nearly every season, according to Basketball Reference.

In that same time frame, a Western Conference team has won the NBA title 16 times to just 9 from the Eastern Conference.

The divide has caused many to suggest changing the NBA’s playoff format to the top 16 teams in terms of record, regardless of conference. ESPN reported in November that Western Conference executives are pushing for the change [[link removed]], but, as expected, there’s resistance from Eastern Conference executives.

For the rule change to happen, it would need to be approved by more than 75% of the league’s owners—at least 23 of 30 teams.

Expansion Effects

The conferences may be subject to realignment in the coming years if the league decides to add expansion teams for the first time since 2004. Commissioner Adam Silver has indicated Las Vegas and Seattle [[link removed]] remain the top candidates for an expansion team, and both cities are in the West.

If both teams are added to the Western Conference, there would be an imbalance between the conferences, with 17 teams in the West and 15 in the East. A few candidates to move to the East would be New Orleans, Minnesota, and Memphis.

The Timberwolves, with 23-year-old star Anthony Edwards, would be the ideal choice at the moment if the league wanted to help tip the scales for the Eastern Conference.

ONE BIG FIG Viewers Pass on Lottery

David Banks-Imagn Images

1.88 million

Viewership for the NBA draft lottery Monday [[link removed]], was down from 2 million last year, according to Sports Media Watch, despite the hype surrounding projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg and the lack of star power in last year’s draft class. This year’s lottery aired on ESPN while last year’s lottery was on ABC on a Sunday afternoon.

The 2023 draft lottery, which featured Victor Wembanyama, drew 3.24 million viewers on ESPN. It also received a boost as a lead into a conference finals game between the Lakers and Nuggets.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY Celtics, Cavs Could Doom NBA Parity

FOS illustration

With the top-seeded Cavaliers eliminated and the Celtics on the brink following Jayson Tatum’s Achilles surgery, the Eastern Conference could be in trouble for the next few seasons—especially if Giannis Antetokounmpo heads West. Baker Machado and Renee Washington break down the NBA’s looming parity problem.

Plus, legendary goalkeeper Tim Howard explains how MLS can continue to grow the game during the Lionel Messi era, Pete Rose has controversially been unbanned from MLB, and the Pope’s fake White Sox jersey is flying off shelves.

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

STATUS REPORT Two Up, One Down, One Push

The Cincinnati Enquirer

Bengals ⬇ Trey Hendrickson said Tuesday that he’s “disappointed” in the contract talks with Cincinnati, even going as far as saying things have gotten “personal” with the team [[link removed]]. The defensive end, who led the NFL in sacks last season, said he will not play for the team under his current deal, which has one year at $21 million remaining.

Mammoth ⬆ The newly renamed NHL franchise [[link removed]] said its team store merchandise sales were 1.5 times higher on May 7, when the nickname was revealed, than its initial “Welcome to Utah” fan event in April 2024, when the team first arrived from Arizona, and 30 times larger than a typical Wednesday. The team also said the news of name selection has generated nearly 8 billion impressions across social and earned media. Nearly 25,000 social media posts have used the team’s new rallying cry and hashtag of “Tusks Up.”

Warner Bros. Discovery ⬆⬇ The TNT Sports parent said Wednesday that it will revert the name of its Max streaming service this summer to its prior identity of HBO Max. After previously deeming that latter name too limiting, particularly after the prior merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery Communications, the company cited an “evolution influenced by changing consumer needs.” WBD president and CEO David Zaslav said, “The powerful growth we have seen in our global streaming service is built around the quality of our programming.” Even with the forthcoming loss of NBA rights, live sports remain a foundational element of the streaming service.

Indianapolis ⬆ The city is set to have one of its best sports weekends at the end of the month. Following the Pacers’ series win over the Cavaliers on Tuesday, they are set to host Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on May 25, the same day as the Indy 500. The day before, Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever will face the defending champion New York Liberty at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, a game scheduled to air on ABC.

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Graded 3.0 with cream to off-white pages by CGC, Goldin’s rare copy [[link removed]]of Superman #1 is one of just 78 Universal examples on record. Published in 1939, it tells the origin of Kal-El and marks a turning point in comic history. Superman’s debut popularized the superhero archetype and reshaped American pop culture. With iconic cover and interior art by Joe Shuster and writing by Jerry Siegel, this Golden Age key is a revered cultural artifact—widely considered a Holy Grail and a foundational piece of American comic literature.

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Editors’ Picks Jeff Darlington Eyes ESPN Extension—and More Golf Storytelling [[link removed]]by David Rumsey [[link removed]]The reporter is approaching the end of his deal at the network. The House Settlement Has Thrown High School Athletes Into Crisis [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]FOS spoke to an athlete devastated by House settlement roster cuts. Objecting Lawyers Reject House v. NCAA Settlement Roster Limits Solution [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]Lawyers called the fix “meaningless” and “cold comfort.” Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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