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Afternoon Edition

November 5, 2025

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With ABC and ESPN channels off YouTube TV due to the ongoing dispute with Disney, millions of subscribers weren’t able to tune in Saturday, and it showed in the college football ratings. Meanwhile, Fox Sports posted stronger numbers during parts of its Saturday slate.

— David Rumsey [[link removed]] and Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

YouTube TV Loss Weighs on ABC’s CFB Ratings While Fox Sees Lift [[link removed]]

The Columbus Dispatch

The ongoing Disney–YouTube TV carriage dispute [[link removed]] appears to have had a noticeable impact on college football TV ratings across multiple networks this past weekend.

Since Friday, more than 20 Disney channels, including ABC and all ESPN networks, have been unavailable on the No. 4 U.S. pay-TV distributor, which has an estimated 10 million subscribers.

With major college football games not available [[link removed]] on YouTube TV on Saturday, ABC had its third-lowest combined audience of the season for its weekly tripleheader. The trio of SEC games, which featured five ranked teams, averaged 5.7 million viewers:

Georgia-Florida: 7.8 million Oklahoma-Tennessee: 4.8 million Vanderbilt-Texas: 4.5 million

Oklahoma-Tennessee is ABC’s lowest Saturday primetime audience of the season, and the only game in the network’s 7:30 p.m. ET slot to draw fewer than 6 million viewers. The three-game slate marked just the second time through 10 weeks of college football action that multiple ABC games had fewer than 5 million viewers.

Crunching the Numbers

Georgia-Florida was still the most-watched matchup of the weekend, and up from the roughly 7 million viewers the rivalry game drew on the same weekend last year on ABC. ESPN said it also marked the largest Georgia-Florida audience on record in a full national window.

In second place was the Saturday audience of 7.19 million who watched Penn State–Ohio State on Fox. While that’s down from nearly 10 million viewers for last year’s game on the same weekend, when both teams were ranked in the top five, it is Fox’s second-largest college football audience of the season.

Fox also drew 3.13 million viewers for Kansas State–Texas Tech at 3:30 p.m. ET, marking its largest college football audience of the season in that broadcast window.

While ESPN made its College GameDay pregame show available to stream for free on its app and other platforms, Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff pregame show had its second-largest audience of the season, averaging 2.39 million viewers in its final hour.

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The Battery Powers Braves Results As ‘Win-Now Team’ Plans to Spend Big [[link removed]]

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Braves are often imitated and admired for making mixed-use development a core part of their operation, and the club’s latest financial results reaffirmed why that’s the case.

Third-quarter results released Wednesday showed that The Battery surrounding Truist Park again represented the fastest-growing part of the Braves’ business, and easily helped overcome what was the club’s first non-playoff season since 2017.

Overall, Braves revenue grew 7% to $311.5 million during the quarter, while adjusted earnings more than doubled to $67.2 million. Revenue from the mixed-use development, however, grew 56% to $27.2 million as The Battery becomes increasingly crucial to what the Braves do. The third quarter that was reported included the 2025 MLB All-Star Game, which was, in part, a showcase for The Battery [[link removed]].

“What we’re doing within this organization is truly unique, not only in baseball but in all of professional sports,” said Braves chair Terry McGuirk in a call with analysts. “The continued momentum and strategic interplay between our baseball and real estate segments remains remarkable, and really reflects the long-term vision that has set the Atlanta Braves organization apart.

“Every sports organization is trying to emulate our success in combining a stadium environment with a large, bustling mixed-use development,” McGuirk said.

To McGuirk’s comment, virtually every major stadium and arena project in process in some fashion—including those for the Browns [[link removed]], Commanders [[link removed]], Stars [[link removed]], Bears [[link removed]], Rays [[link removed]], 76ers and Flyers [[link removed]], and one just approved for the Spurs [[link removed]]—features a mixed-use development that is central to the entire effort.

Spending Matters

In that analyst call Wednesday, McGuirk dodged a question about the impact on MLB of the Dodgers, by far the sport’s biggest-payroll club, winning a second straight World Series [[link removed]]. McGuirk, however, did say he intends for the Braves to be a high-spending franchise going forward and said Atlanta will be an active player in the upcoming free-agent market [[link removed]].

“We’ve always tried to be a leader in player compensation. Our goal is to be a top-five salary team,” McGuirk said. “We’re currently a top-10 team, and haven’t been out of that range in some time. Being back in the top five is a place I want to get to. I think we’re capable of doing that. … I think you’ll see us quite active in the free-agent market and in the trade market. We’re a win-now team.”

Spurs Secure Funding for $1.3B Arena, Set Stage for Wemby’s Prime [[link removed]]

Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

The Spurs are set to move to a new downtown area after San Antonio–area voters approved a county-level funding measure Tuesday.

Bexar County, Texas, voters passed a $311 million measure that will help fund a $1.3 billion arena at Hemisfair, a downtown location that was the site of the 1968 World’s Fair. Separately, the city of San Antonio will contribute $489 million, with that move not subject to a citizen vote, and the Spurs will pay $500 million, plus all cost overruns. The team also intends to bring in private partners for help with a mixed-use development surrounding the arena.

The long-discussed arena plan [[link removed]] will allow the team to depart the 23-year-old Frost Bank Center, which is aging and increasingly does not have amenities offered in modern venues such as California’s Chase Center and Intuit Dome.

“The community has spoken,” Spurs Sports and Entertainment chair Peter J. Holt said after the vote. “We love this city, we love this county, and the county and the city love us back.”

That Bexar County vote, however, was close, with about 52% of voters supporting the measure in the face of significant opposition from a variety of corners. The county funds for the arena will come from hotel and rental car tax receipts, and the decision ends any possibility of the Spurs relocating to another market, such as Austin, where they have a G League team.

City of San Antonio

The Spurs intend to open their new arena sometime in the early 2030s. The current lease at Frost Bank Center expires in 2032. Once it opens, it will leave the 76ers as the only NBA team not playing in a downtown arena. That team struck a deal early this year with Comcast Spectacor to develop a new facility [[link removed]] in the south Philadelphia sports complex to succeed Xfinity Mobile Arena [[link removed]].

The Wemby Factor

The San Antonio facility issue is developing as Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama has started the season in torrid fashion [[link removed]]. Wembanyama and Spurs legends such as Manu Ginóbili were part of heavy pro-arena messaging from the team leading up to the vote. The new venue should be ready for what could still very much be the prime of Wembanyama’s career.

“I think about my future—and my present—all the time, in San Antonio, of course,” Wembanyama said about the arena vote. “And recently a little about the arena because it’s been a subject. … For all areas of my career, I’m very intentional. Even though some things take time [and] patience is needed, I’ve never been one to waste time.”

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS LIVE

Trailblazing Tech

Tune in Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. ET for our last virtual event of the year: Future of Sports: Stadium Sophistication [[link removed]].

Front Office Sports Today host and producer Baker Machado will sit down with industry leaders to explore the billion-dollar business behind these next-gen venues—the technology, key players, and innovations driving unforgettable fan experiences.

From cybersecurity and food service to Wi-Fi quality for social media use, high-quality tech has a major effect on the fan experience. During Trailblazing Tech, we’ll unpack the rising demand for in-venue tech. Hear from venues, tech providers, and team executives on the current trends.

Register now [[link removed]].

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY Explaining the YouTube TV and ESPN Standoff

FOS illustration

YouTube TV continues its standoff against Disney with no end in sight, according to FOS newsletter writer Eric Fisher. He joins Baker Machado to explain why this saga is dragging out far longer than previous disputes between YouTube and other major providers like Fox and NBC.

Meanwhile, FOS reporter Alex Schiffer joins to discuss the NFL trade deadline and how some hungry owners capitalized on it, including Jerry Jones and new Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon.

Plus, FGCU college basketball player Brandon Dwyer talks about his “Road to 1 Point” social media campaign and what’s next after scoring his first six points at the college level for his social media audience of nearly 2 million. Pelicans rookie Derik Queen also tells us what it’s like to guard Victor Wembanyama.

Also, Tom Brady clones his dog, LIV Golf gets a format refresh, and Venus Williams is back.

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

STATUS REPORT Four Up

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

David Beckham ⬆ The English soccer legend received knighthood [[link removed]] from King Charles on Tuesday at Windsor Castle, to honor his services in sports and charity. Beckham, 50, is now a co-owner of Inter Miami, and he had a major impact on Lionel Messi’s signing with the MLS club in 2023.

Verge Ausberry ⬆ LSU named the longtime college sports executive its next athletic director, after last week appointing him as the athletic department’s interim AD, following the firing of Scott Woodward [[link removed]]. Ausberry will oversee the search to hire a new football coach, who will replace Brian Kelly following his $53 million ouster [[link removed]].

Main Street Sports ⬆ The parent company of FanDuel Sports Network reached contract extensions on regional rights for the Brewers, Reds, and Royals. The baseball deals follow a strong viewership season in 2025 [[link removed]] for the regional sports network operator and represent another sign of progress in the company’s post-bankruptcy existence.

Italian soccer ⬆ Serie A giants AC Milan and Inter Milan closed on a long-discussed $226 million purchase of their San Siro stadium, and they will demolish the 99-year-old structure to build a new, 71,500-seat stadium. The plan is designed in part to help the clubs compete more fully with the giants of English and Spanish men’s pro soccer.

Conversation Starters The mom of a Penguins athletic trainer attended her first NHL game at 82 years old, traveling down from Canada to watch her son work. Check it out [[link removed]]. Who drinks the most beer in college football? Take a look [[link removed]]. Hawai‘i Pacific is a Division II school in a Honolulu strip mall that plays in a 1,000-seat former adult day center. It had a 0.1% chance to beat Boise State. The Sharks flew 7 hours to Idaho and won [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks NCAA and Federal Gambling Probes Loom Over Men’s College Basketball Season [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]Some schools have not yet been publicly named, the NCAA told FOS. LPGA Partners With Golf Saudi for Co-Sanctioned Event in Las Vegas [[link removed]]by Annie Costabile [[link removed]]The Ladies European Tour began its partnership with Golf Saudi in 2020. Inside the Investment Playbook of MLS Goalie Maarten Paes [[link removed]]by Ben Horney [[link removed]]Paes’s portfolio includes TGL and a Pro Padel League team. DAILY TRIVIA Factle Sports

Can you rank the top 5 U.S. athletes with the most Olympic medals?

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