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Morning Edition

June 10, 2025

The Tigers have been MLB’s best team this season. It hasn’t taken fans long to notice, with 121,509 filling Comerica Park last weekend.

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

Tigers Have MLB’s Best Record, Second-Largest Attendance Jump [[link removed]]

Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

The Tigers have established their dominance on the field and are now reaping the benefits off it.

Now boasting the best record in baseball at 43–24, the Motown renaissance that began in earnest last year [[link removed]] has taken another big step. The club’s attendance gain of more than 7,700 per game to 26,809, a 40% bump compared to this time last season, is MLB’s second-largest boost in 2025 in raw numbers and percentage gain behind only the Juan Soto–led Mets [[link removed]].

The Tigers drew 121,509 last weekend for a series against the Cubs, the team’s second-best total at Comerica Park for a three-game set in the last decade, and each contest topped 40,000. The only Detroit series in that time frame topping that cumulative mark arrived at the end of last year, when the team clinched its first postseason berth since 2014 and drew 128,108 for the season-ending series against the White Sox.

Detroit drew 1.86 million last year, the club’s best mark since 2017, though a sizable chunk of the team’s lift at the gate coincided with a 30–13 surge to finish the season. With the Tigers now pacing so far ahead of last year, and playing winning baseball right from the start, it is now poised to top 2 million, a figure it reached every year from 2005 to 2017 but hasn’t since as it went through a long and often-painful rebuilding process.

Since a furious run to the 2024 postseason began in mid-August last year, the Tigers have been MLB’s best team—a stretch now extending to 10 months.

“I’ve always said, ‘We’re going to have a team that you’re going to be proud of,’ and I trust and respect the fans to come out and support a team that’s maturing and getting more and more confident,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch after the club won two of three from the Cubs.

Sales of Tigers merchandise at MLB’s online shop and the Fanatics network, meanwhile, are up 36% so far this season, the league said, while over the past 30 days, consumption of Tigers games at MLB.TV has grown by 98% compared to the same period in 2024.

Different Approach

Also particularly notable in the Tigers’ success is how they’ve built the roster. Many of the team’s core players, most notably reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal, were selected by the Tigers over a series of fruitful drafts and are not yet eligible for arbitration or free agency.

Instead of pushing for quick fixes or major free-agent acquisitions, Detroit also showed the patience for draft picks such as pitcher Casey Mize, outfielder Riley Greene, and first baseman Spencer Torkelson, first-round selections in 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively, to develop fully and become core contributors.

The club’s luxury-tax payroll of $156.2 million ranks 19th in the league. Nearly half of that of outlay, however, is tied up in just four veteran players: infielder/outfielder Javier Báez, pitcher Jack Flaherty, second baseman Gleyber Torres, and injured pitcher Alex Cobb. Detroit, meanwhile, has also utilized an enhanced lineup and defensive flexibility where players such as Báez and Zach McKinstry have played as many as five different positions this season based on day-to-day matchups.

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FOS Brings It Back to the Hamptons

Summer is here and Front Office Sports is headed back to the Hamptons.

On Aug. 1, Huddle in the Hamptons [[link removed]] with official partner UBS will bring together business leaders in sports, entertainment, media, finance, and technology for an afternoon of panels, networking, and activities.

This invite-only experience for VIPs, tastemakers, athletes, and power brokers will be a quintessential summer Friday, consisting of thought leadership, engaging brand activations, and networking over friendly competition.

Learn more about the event, request to attend, or become a partner here [[link removed]].

Alcaraz Has Outearned Nadal at 22—Even Adjusting for Inflation [[link removed]]

Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Carlos Alcaraz will forever be compared with Rafael Nadal, his idol and countryman. On Sunday, Alcaraz won his fifth Grand Slam title at Roland-Garros at 22 years, 1 month, and 3 days old—the same exact age as Nadal when he won his fifth major.

It’s a distinction that Alcaraz cares about, saying Sunday after his record-setting five-hour, 29-minute match with Jannik Sinner [[link removed]] that it was “destiny” that he and Nadal achieved the feat at the same age.

“It is a stat that I’m going to keep for me forever,” Alcaraz said.

The two-time French Open champion has never been shy to heap praise toward Nadal, even admitting that the Spanish icon is the reason he dreamed of playing professional tennis [[link removed]]. But Alcaraz is on a much faster pace than Nadal in one metric: career earnings.

Alcaraz secured a French Open–record $2.9 million, bringing his total career earnings to $44.7 million. He is already seventh all-time in career earnings [[link removed]] per Spotrac, ahead of the legendary Pete Sampras, who won 14 major singles titles.

By the end of 2008, when Nadal was nearly 22 years and seven months old, he had secured $19.6 million. Inflation plays a factor when comparing career earnings, and Nadal’s number adjusted to inflation is about $30.7 million.

Alcaraz has secured about $14 million more than Nadal’s inflation-adjusted earnings at this point, and that’s considering there are still two majors remaining in 2025. He will likely add to the current 45% gap.

While Alcaraz is on pace to pass Nadal, he is still a long way away from catching the 39-year-old’s career number. The 22-time Grand Slam champion, who retired in November after 23 years [[link removed]], secured $134.95 million and is second all-time in career earnings, wedged between the other two members of the Big Three: Novak Djokovic ($187.9 million) and Roger Federer ($130.6 million).

Ultimately, the career earnings say more about the growth of prize money in tennis than they do about the greatness of the two Spanish stars.

When Nadal won his fourth French Open title in 2008, the grand prize was €1 million, which was worth about $1.5 million at the time due to the U.S. financial crisis. (One euro is worth about $1.14 today.) But adjusted to inflation, that number is still just $2.29 million—about 79% of what Alcaraz won in the 2025 French Open.

Even on the women’s side, 2025 French Open winner Coco Gauff is closing in on the top 10 in career earnings with $27.1 million [[link removed]]. The 21-year-old, who has won two Grand Slams, is only $15.5 million behind No. 2 Venus Williams, who won seven majors and has about two decades of pro experience.

U.S. Open Crowd Offers a Preview of Pittsburgh’s NFL Draft Moment [[link removed]]

Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The U.S. Open is expecting to draw 200,000 fans this week at Oakmont Country Club just outside Pittsburgh, as the city is under a year out from hosting its biggest sporting event ever: the 2026 NFL Draft.

When the NFL takes over downtown Pittsburgh [[link removed]] next April, early projections have somewhere between 500,000 and 700,000 attending the three-day showcase around the selection of the league’s future stars. Pittsburgh’s population is just over 300,000, so NFL Draft attendees could easily double that, especially after Green Bay shattered expectations [[link removed]] with 600,000 attendees this year. The greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area has nearly 2.5 million residents.

While the Steel City has the NFL’s Steelers, MLB’s Pirates, and the NHL’s Penguins, and has hosted other big events like the MLB All-Star Game and NHL Winter Classic, the NFL Draft will shine a brighter spotlight on the city than ever.

Going for the Green

As the world’s best golfers compete in the third men’s major championship of the year, the Pittsburgh area will get a mini test for the influx of visitors who will arrive around next spring’s football affair.

Oakmont is hosting its record 10th U.S. Open, so Pittsburgh is used to welcoming large golf crowds. During the most recent edition at the club in 2016, a staggering 230,000 fans showed up.

While the golf club is about 15 miles away from Acrisure Stadium in downtown Pittsburgh, which will be the center of the NFL Draft festivities, this week still marks a significant boost in airport activity, as well as hotels and short-term rentals around the greater Pittsburgh area.

Boise State Expects Private-Equity Investment ‘Within the Next Six Months’ [[link removed]]

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

ORLANDO — Boise State is “actively considering” bringing private-equity investment into the Broncos’ athletic department, and expects to have a deal in place “within the next six months,” athletic director Jeramiah Dickey tells Front Office Sports.

“Ultimately, I need to create more assets for my institution and state,” Dickey says. But because the athletic department doesn’t earn as much money as some others, “I have to get that much more creative, which means I have to take that much more risk, and appropriately so,” he says.

The Broncos have set up an entity called the Bronco Athletic Growth Solutions (BAGS), which runs through the athletic department foundation. BAGS is looking into “things that I would still define as nontraditional that create new revenue streams,” Dickey says, including private equity. The entity has been assessing different types of private-equity opportunities. For example, they could go the route of private credit, which would help pay for facilities upgrades.

Boise State wouldn’t be the first to private equity, however. On Monday, Elevate and private-equity firm Velocity Capital Management announced a new $500 million college sports private-equity investment arm called the Collegiate Investment Initiative. Two schools are reported to have already agreed to receive funds—Boise State is not one of them, Dickey says. Two other firms, RedBird Capital Partners and Weatherford Capital, [[link removed]] announced investment arms dedicated to college sports in 2024, but they have not announced any schools that have signed on.

PE investment could be available at the conference level in the future, too. Dickey says that he expects there to be “new opportunities” through the Pac-12. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark previously told FOS [[link removed]] that the conference had paused PE talks recently, but other commissioners, including the AAC’s Tim Pernetti, have expressed interest.

Private-equity firms nationwide have wanted to get a foothold in college sports over the past few years, but school administrators have been hesitant. That appears to be changing, especially as the approval of the House v. NCAA settlement [[link removed]] means Division I programs will need more revenue streams to pay athletes.

“If I feel it will help us, we’re going to do it,” Dickey says.

Conversation Starters Former Eagles teammates Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson will face off as head coaches on Oct. 30 [[link removed]]. Vick’s Norfolk State will play Jackson’s Delaware State at Lincoln Financial Field. The average ticket purchase price for the 2025 NFL season is up 25% compared to last year, according to TickPick. Here [[link removed]] are three of the most expensive games. Coco Gauff celebrated with the French Open ball kids at Roland-Garros after winning the Grand Slam title. Check it out [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Alex Caruso Steal Could Be What Puts the Thunder Over the Top [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Caruso was traded to Oklahoma City a year ago for Josh Giddey. French Open Brings TNT Early Win in its Post-NBA Era [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]The network lost its biggest rights package but has picked up others. Minisian Brothers Strike MLB’s First-Ever Sibling Trade [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Perry and Zack Minisian are GMs of the Angels and Giants, respectively. Question of the Day

Will the Tigers end the season in the top half of MLB’s attendance rankings?

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

Monday’s result: 38% of respondents watched at least part of the epic Alcaraz-Sinner French Open final.

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]], Amanda Christovich [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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