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Morning Edition

October 22, 2025

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The NFL has taken its games worldwide—and wants more. By the end of 2025, the league will have played a record-setting seven international matchups and is setting its sights on Melbourne, Rio, and potentially Saudi Arabia. In basketball, the NBA returned to NBC in triumphant fashion.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]] and Ryan Glasspiegel [[link removed]]

NFL Wants to Expand International Slate, Will Evaluate Saudi Arabia [[link removed]]

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

NEW YORK — The NFL’s record-setting international slate in 2025 will be the minimum baseline going forward as it builds toward its goal of a full-season schedule of such games.

The league’s seven-game schedule outside of the U.S. [[link removed]], five of which have already elapsed, serves as the template for the plan for 2026 and beyond. Already, the NFL has announced firm plans to play next year in Melbourne [[link removed]] and in Rio de Janeiro, and it has also expressed its desire to return to Mexico City next season. Beyond that, the schedule will likely involve a mix of existing international markets and some new ones—but with an ever-increasing profile overall.

Final decisions for next season’s international schedule will be made in the next few months.

“We are evaluating whether we go beyond the ones that we have in place or do we go to new markets,” said NFL EVP Peter O’Reilly during the league’s fall meeting. “It’s not just about the stadium. It’s about the strategic value [of that market], what is the long-term value, what are the partnerships? I wouldn’t peg a specific number of countries that are ready, but we’ve laid out a dozen or 13 priority markets, and we’re starting to do the due diligence.”

All of this is a prelude to commissioner Roger Goodell’s goal of reaching a season-long schedule of international games [[link removed]].

The league, meanwhile, said Saudi Arabia will be evaluated, like many other potential countries for the NFL Global Markets Program and potential future games, in the wake of newly expressed interest from that country [[link removed]].

“One of the great things from the last couple of years is the increased interest we’ve received,” said NFL SVP Gerrit Meier. “You don’t get that interest if you don’t signal to the world that you’re serious about expanding globally.”

Competitive Balance

NFL officials, meanwhile, lauded the early part of the 2025 regular season in which six of the eight divisions have leaders or co-leaders that didn’t win those divisions last year, and nine teams that missed the postseason last year currently have .500 records or better.

While some traditional powerhouses, such as defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia, have remained strong, the initial part of the schedule has been defined in large part by the elevation of teams such as the Broncos, Patriots, and Seahawks.

“You can go from worst to first, and after seven weeks of play, we’re seeing that,” said NFL EVP of football operations Troy Vincent.

League officials also lauded the 79.3% return rate for kickoffs so far this season, more than double the comparable figure from this point in 2024, as the dynamic kickoff, further tweaked for 2025, continues to have a significant impact.

“I’m just happy that the foot is still in the game,” Vincent said.

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Michelle Wie West: Women’s Sports Doesn’t Need Charity

In Season 2, Episode 5 of Portfolio Players, presented by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, golf icon Michelle Wie West opens up about her transition from LPGA champion to investor and advocate for women’s sports.

She shares why women’s sports must be treated as culture not charity, how icons like Serena Williams inspired her, and why ownership is the ultimate platform for impact. Wie also discusses new formats like TGL and the future of golf for casual fans.

Watch the full episode of Portfolio Players here. [[link removed]]

Netflix Staying on the Sidelines As TNT Sports Parent Seeks Buyer [[link removed]]

Netflix

Don’t expect Netflix to be much of a player for TNT Sports parent Warner Bros. Discovery.

The company said late Tuesday that it has little, if any interest, in WBD, though it did not refer to that entity specifically by name.

“Nothing is a must for us to meet our goals that we have for this business,” said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, particularly citing a disinterest in legacy media networks. “In general, we believe we can be and we will be choosy.”

Adding to the point, Greg Peters, the other Netflix co-CEO, said many other media mega-mergers have done little to introduce a large-scale impact that it would seek in any such deal.

“None of those mergers were a fundamental shift in the competitive landscape, and we have also seen a wide range of outcomes from such mergers,” Peters said. “So watching some of our competitors potentially get bigger via [mergers and acquisitions] does not change, in and of itself, our view of the competitive landscape.”

The comments arrived just hours after WBD said it was up for sale [[link removed]], formally initiating a strategic review process in the wake of multiple inbound and unsolicited offers. As one of the most powerful entities in all of media, Netflix has been reported as a potential suitor for some of the WBD assets.

Broader Results

Netflix, meanwhile, continued on its tear within its own operating results. The company said it generated $11.5 billion in revenue for the third quarter, up 17.2% from the comparable period last year, and $2.5 billion in net income, up 8%. An ongoing dispute with Brazilian tax authorities cut into the operating margin somewhat, but that is not expected to have a material effect in future quarters.

The company also touted other successes during the third quarter, such as the Nielsen streaming record of 2.9 billion viewing minutes generated for the opening weekend of Happy Gilmore 2 [[link removed]] in July.

The results extended an accelerating run for Netflix that has transpired all year [[link removed]]. Netflix is also approaching its Christmas 2025 NFL doubleheader [[link removed]] that should represent another high point for the company.

Netflix is additionally perhaps days away from the formal announcement of a rights deal with MLB [[link removed]] that will include the Home Run Derby for the 2026–28 seasons. League commissioner Rob Manfred said last month at the Front Office Sports Tuned In summit that the deal, along with ones with ESPN and NBC, have been reached in principle [[link removed]].

Those deals, as well as a separate one for World Baseball Classic rights in Japan [[link removed]], continue an event-based strategy in sports that Sarandos reaffirmed Tuesday.

Company shares, however, fell more than 6% in after-hours trading as investors were looking for even more.

NBC Made Its NBA Return Feel Big [[link removed]]

Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

It’s once again Roundball Rock o’clock [[link removed]] as the NBA on NBC returned after 23 years away.

NBC’s first NBA game telecast since 2002 opened with a bit asking current stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, and Jalen Brunson whether they remember the NBA on NBC. Most laughed because they either weren’t born then or were barely sentient.

Play-by-play broadcaster Mike Tirico did a short monologue, echoing the way Marv Albert used to introduce the game, talking about the “mountaintop” the Thunder climbed before introducing color commentators Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford.

NBC was clearly cognizant of the nostalgia many basketball fans would feel upon its return, and ultimately struck the right chords.

Perhaps sensitive to the criticism ESPN received during last season’s NBA Finals [[link removed]] for eschewing the pageantry, NBC showed the national anthem and the starting lineup introductions—complete with Thunder fans applauding Steven Adams and booing Kevin Durant, now both on the Rockets.

Like the Rockets, who are gelling with a number of new pieces in their lineup, NBC’s new three-man booth is still figuring out which analyst should talk when during the breaks in Tirico’s call. Nevertheless, Tirico, among the best in the business at making all the little details matter, delivered interesting intel like the fact that the Rockets’ starting lineup was the tallest in NBA history since that metric has been tracked: an average height of 6’10”.

At halftime, NBC opted to have Maria Taylor, Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, and Tracy McGrady standing on the court as opposed to sitting at a desk. They had a very short segment, getting in about a sentence or two each, before teeing up Mike Tirico with Michael Jordan for the first installment [[link removed]] of “MJ: Insights to Excellence.”

Jordan revealed he hasn’t picked up a basketball “in years,” apart from when he rented a house at the Ryder Cup and the homeowner goaded him into shooting one free throw. He recalled that he was “the most nervous I’ve been in years” about having to live up to the legend the adults in the room had built up over the years for their kids who were there watching. He swished it.

“I wish I could take a magic pill, put on shorts, and go out and play the game of basketball today,” Jordan said. “That’s who I am. That type of competition, that type of competitiveness, is what I live for, and I miss it … But it’s better for me to be here, sitting here, talking to you, as opposed to popping my Achilles and I’m in a wheelchair for a while.”

While the maiden segment did not include any insights on the modern game or players, NBC did tease that Jordan will weigh in on load management next week, and will explain why he always strived to play 82 games.

It helped NBC that both the Rockets and Thunder were at nearly full health and playing to win. The league has taken heat in recent years for too many regular season games in which that is not the case, as evidenced by the tease for Jordan’s segment next week.

As the game headed to overtime, Tirico exclaimed, “Night one! Let’s keep the gym open!”

Conversation Starters NASCAR revealed the course for its 2026 race at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego. Turn 5 will be between two docked aircraft carriers. Check it out [[link removed]]. After falling to 1–5, the Ravens reportedly removed the players’ Ping-Pong table [[link removed]], video game consoles, basketball hoop, and cornhole boards from the locker room. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said WNBA players are going to “get a big increase” in salaries in the league’s next labor deal. Take a look [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks $20 Million Per Year Becoming New Baseline for NBA Role Players [[link removed]]by Colin Salao [[link removed]]Christian Braun signed a five-year deal worth $125 million. Turkish Dispute Could Cloud French Star’s Return to WNBA [[link removed]]by Annie Costabile [[link removed]]Fenerbahçe needs to give Dominique Malonga a “letter of clearance.” DraftKings Buys Prediction-Markets Platform but No Sports Just Yet [[link removed]]by Ben Horney [[link removed]]Front Office Sports reported DraftKings was in talks to buy Railbird in August. Question of the Day

Would you like to see the NFL play a regular-season game in Saudi Arabia?

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

Tuesday’s result: 77% of respondents think the Dodgers will win the World Series. 23% think the Blue Jays will win.

Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Show [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Ryan Glasspiegel [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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