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Afternoon Edition

December 29, 2025

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The NFL’s final week of the regular season features must-watch matchups with division titles—and likely big TV ratings—on the line, giving NBC and ABC a prime-time boost to close out the year.

— Ryan Glasspiegel [[link removed]], Margaret Fleming [[link removed]], and David Rumsey [[link removed]]

NFL’s Week 18 Should Be a Ratings Win for Networks [[link removed]]

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The NFL and two of its network partners got a late Christmas present over the weekend as three standalone games have major playoff stakes in Week 18.

NBC gets Ravens-Steelers on Sunday night in a “loser leaves town” matchup, where the winner takes home the AFC North and gets a home playoff game. ABC, meanwhile, gets a pair of Saturday games, with the first matchup having, in all likelihood, the same stakes in the NFC South when the Bucs face the Panthers. There’s a scenario [[link removed]] where if the Falcons win their final two games, against the Rams and Saints, the Panthers would still win the division with a loss. (The Rams are 7.5-point favorites over the Falcons on Monday night.)

In the second leg of the ABC Saturday doubleheader, the Seahawks play the 49ers for the NFC West title and the top seed in the conference, which comes with a first-round bye. The loser will be a Wild Card playoff seed and have a road game in the first round.

“Wow, we get both those games? Well thank you very much NFL,” a pleasantly surprised Scott Van Pelt said on ESPN [[link removed]] (which operates ABC’s sporting events) after the Week 18 schedule was announced.

The NFL schedule is set up in a way that allows the league to be nimble with its Week 18 slate, as game times—and even dates, in the case of two games occurring on Saturday—are not set until late Sunday night of Week 17. Furthermore, since the 2010 season the NFL has scheduled divisional opponents for the last week of the season, with the hopes that there will be several games with the postseason on the line.

This year, the league needed a little bit of luck to get this fortune. If the Packers had beaten the Ravens or the Steelers had beaten the Browns—which were both the favored outcomes before the respective games kicked off—the Steelers would have wrapped up the division before their game against the Ravens.

If the Bears had beaten the 49ers on Sunday night, the Seahawks would have clinched the NFC West. While the Bears and Seahawks still would’ve been vying for the top NFC seed next weekend, they would likely have been doing so in concurrent games Sunday afternoon on Fox or CBS as opposed to in a standalone slot.

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Fenway Workers Finally Reach Contract After Yearlong Dispute [[link removed]]

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Workers at Fenway Park reached a new contract with service provider Aramark after a lengthy labor battle that included a strike during the Red Sox–Dodgers series this summer.

Unite Here Local 26, the union that represents Boston-area hospitality workers, announced Sunday that the Fenway workers had ratified a new contract on Saturday morning at the ballpark.

Over 1,000 union workers at Fenway Park and adjacent MGM Music Hall—including food and beverage vendors, cooks, souvenir salespeople, suite attendants, and catering staff—had been working without a contract since their previous one expired on Dec. 31, 2024. The two sides were “frankly very far apart” on wages and automation, and also had issues with scheduling, union president Carlos Aramayo told Front Office Sports this summer. [[link removed]] The workers went on strike in July [[link removed]] while the Red Sox hosted a weekend series against the eventual back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers. This fall, the union filed a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board [[link removed]] and Aramayo testified before Congress [[link removed]] about technology in the workplace.

The five-year contract includes increased pay for workers, and income and staffing guarantees as Aramark puts in more automation at the ballpark.

Technology was a big part of the negotiations. Workers had strongly opposed Aramark’s recent shift toward self-checkout machines, saying they replaced jobs and took away charm from MLB’s oldest park. “As soon as you put a computer in place of that transaction, you’re removing that ‘it’ factor,” ballpark employee Laura Crystal told FOS in June [[link removed]].

The negotiations didn’t eliminate the self-checkout machines, but guaranteed that Aramark will have to use humans to staff them. The contract mandates one worker per two machines. The people who check IDs will also come from the union now, rather than continuing to contract those workers out. Both of these measures are intended to help make sure customers aren’t being overserved.

The Red Sox declined to comment on the new agreement, instead deferring to Aramark.

“We value our employees, and we are pleased to have reached an agreement in this process that works for both parties,” a spokesperson for Aramark said in a statement to FOS. “We remain focused on delivering an outstanding experience for the fans, customers and clients at Fenway and MGM now and into the future.”

Aramayo called the deal an “extraordinary settlement” while speaking with reporters on Monday along with other union representatives. They said a mediator from MIT significantly eased negotiations.

“Together we were able to reach an agreement that the tech will still be there so that fans can get their beer a little bit faster, but our members aren’t going to bear the cost of that,” Aramayo said Monday. “And I think that is a model that really should exist in any discussion of technology in the workplace.”

Wages for non-tipped, back-of-house workers will go up by $10 over the course of the contract. The commission for vendors selling up and down stadium aisles will increase from 14% to 15%, the first change in that category in the decades of Fenway records, Aramayo said. Tipped wages and catering gratuity will also increase.

Saturday’s tally to ratify the agreement, which was the first deal the union put up for its members to vote on, was 246–35.

Aramayo said the players had been supportive of the workers’ effort, and the union wants to support the players association going forward. MLB players and league owners are currently far apart on issues [[link removed]] including a potential salary cap [[link removed]] as the current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire on Dec. 1, 2026.

Patriots Continue Makeover With First Post-Belichick Division Title [[link removed]]

The Tennessean

The Patriots have won their first division title in the post-Bill Belichick era, as the franchise continues to reshape its image on and off the field.

New England clinched the AFC East after the Bills lost to the Eagles on Sunday. With a record of 13–3, the Patriots are guaranteed to have their most wins since at least 2017, and can earn the AFC’s No. 1 seed if they beat the Dolphins in Week 18 and the Broncos lose to the Chargers.

As champions of the AFC East, the Patriots will host at least one home playoff game, the team’s first division crown since 2019.

It marks a swift turnaround for the Patriots, who hired franchise legend Mike Vrabel [[link removed]] as their new head coach in January after firing Jerod Mayo and Belichick in consecutive years. Along with quarterback Drake Maye, the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Vrabel is now leading a new era [[link removed]] for the team that won six Super Bowls between 2001 and 2018.

Money to Spend

With Maye still on his rookie deal that will include a roughly $10 million salary cap hit in 2026, New England is currently projected to have around $60 million in cap space heading into the offseason, which ranks 11th in the NFL [[link removed]], according to Spotrac.

In September, the Patriots became the fourth NFL team to add a private equity investor [[link removed]], as owner Robert Kraft sold a total 8% stake in the team to two separate buyers at a more than $9 billion valuation.

Private-equity firm Sixth Street bought 3%, and Greek-American billionaire Dean Metropoulos picked up 5%. The $9 billion franchise valuation would mean the deals brought in more than $700 million of cash. At the time, one source told Front Office Sports that Kraft, 84, will use proceeds from the stake sales to reinvest in the team.

Ahead of the 2025 NFL season, the Patriots completed a $250 million renovation project [[link removed]] at Gillette Stadium, which opened in 2002.

Carolina Blues

New England’s success in the post-Belichick era comes as the franchise’s former coach struggled in his first year [[link removed]] at North Carolina. The Tar Heels finished the college football season 4–8, with a 2–6 record in ACC play.

Belichick, 73, has a $10 million annual salary at UNC and has two years of guaranteed money left on his contract. [[link removed]] His buyout, should he leave the school of his own accord, dropped from $10 million to $1 million [[link removed]] in June, which led to speculation he was leaving the door open for a potential NFL return one day.

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Goalkeepers Helping Fight Hunger

Gainbridge® [[link removed]] and soccer legend Briana Scurry are teaming up to make a $99 donation per save made in Gainbridge Super League [[link removed]] matches to fight food insecurity in each club’s local market. The $99 per save is a tribute to Briana’s sport-defining run with the U.S. Women’s National Team at the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The Gainbridge Savings Tracker [[link removed]] tracks the total number of saves made by goalkeepers across every team. At the end of the season, the money will be split evenly between all Gainbridge Super League club’s charities of choice, as well as the Gainbridge Golden Glove winner’s charity of choice.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY Best Conversations from 2025

FOS illustration

After 165 episodes in 2025, Front Office Sports Today takes you back through some of the best conversations throughout this year, from hard-hitting journalism with Pablo Torre to dildo tossing and WNBA drama with Diana Taurasi, and plenty more. We chat with MLB Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., Tony Reali from ESPN’s Around the Horn, and an inside look at what to expect from Caitlin Clark’s new Nike signature shoe with sneaker insider Nick DePaula.

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

STATUS REPORT Two Up, Two Push

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Notre Dame ⬆ Marcus Freeman announced he is returning as the Fighting Irish’s football coach in 2026, ending speculation that he might pursue an NFL job. Sources told ESPN that Freeman, 39, received an “enhanced contract” as part of his decision.

Ricky Proehl ⬆ The former NFL receiver has been named head coach of the UFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks. Proehl, 57, played for the St. Louis Rams from 1998 to 2002 during his 17-year NFL career. He was a receivers coach for the Battlehawks in 2023 when the team was part of the XFL. The 2026 UFL season begins March 27.

Raiders ⬆⬇ Las Vegas has the worst record in the NFL at 2–14 with one game left to play, but the franchise is in a prime position to land the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, if they lose their season finale against the Chiefs. Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner, is currently the prospective top pick.

Baylor ⬆⬇ After Michigan State men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo called out Baylor’s signing [[link removed]] of a former NBA draft pick, Izzo spoke with Baylor coach Scott Drew to clear the air, which Drew called [[link removed]] a “great conversation.”

Editors’ Picks Sports Media Winners and Losers of 2025 [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]Who was up and who was down in sports media this year? Biggest Questions Looming for 7 Leagues in 2026 [[link removed]]by David Rumsey [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Alex Schiffer [[link removed]], and Annie Costabile [[link removed]]Leagues are facing questions that will shape their impact going into 2026. It Was the Year of Shohei Ohtani (Again) [[link removed]]by Eric Fisher [[link removed]]The two-way superstar has a massive year on and off the field. DAILY TRIVIA Factle Sports

Can you list the five active NBA players who have played for the most franchises? (If tied, rank alphabetically.)

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