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Morning Edition
May 5, 2026
The major European men’s soccer leagues have traditionally been a top-heavy situation with power teams dominating. That’s proved particularly true in the current season, with the prospect of a lower-revenue upstart breaking through dimmer than ever.
— Eric Fisher [[link removed]]
First Up The Bulls hired Hawks’ exec Bryson Graham as the team’s new EVP of basketball operations. Graham is known as one of the NBA’s premier scouts. Read the story [[link removed]]. The WNBA has updated its structure for technical fouls, flagrant fouls, and flopping ahead of the 2026 season, slightly increasing the fines. Read the story [[link removed]]. The CFTC is sifting through public comments—including from the NBA, MLB, and players’ unions—before proposing new rules on prediction markets. Read the story [[link removed]]. First at FOS: Skip Bayless will join Stephen A. Smith on Friday’s First Take, marking Bayless’s first time on ESPN since leaving the network in 2016. Read the story [[link removed]]. Europe’s Soccer Giants Keep Winning—and Are Cashing In [[link removed]]
Kai Pfaffenbach-Reuters via Imagn Images
It’s a march of the giants as the major European men’s soccer leagues near the end of their 2025–26 seasons.
The Big Five of European soccer—England’s Premier League, Spain’s LaLiga, Germany’s Bundesliga, France’s Ligue 1, and Italy’s Serie A—have traditionally been dominated by a handful of power teams. That’s proved particularly true in the current season as the sport’s most powerful entities have once again flexed their might.
The latest situations include:
Serie A: Inter Milan clinched the league title on Sunday, topping Parma 2–0 to secure their second title in the last three years and third since 2021. The 21 Italian championships that the team has won overall ranks second in that nation’s history behind Juventus and their 36 wins. Bundesliga: League power Bayern Munich claimed a runaway league title back on April 19 and secured the earliest domestic championship among the Big Five. The German league win is the 35th for the squad, and the 13th in the last 14 seasons. Ligue 1: Paris Saint-Germain holds a six-point standings lead with three matches to go, and is in a solid position to claim a fifth straight league title, and eighth in the last nine seasons. Before the club closes out its Ligue 1 schedule, though, it also has a monster UEFA Champions League semifinal match on Wednesday against Bayern Munich. LaLiga: FC Barcelona is in line to win a third title in the last four seasons, and claims an 11-point lead in the standings over top rival Real Madrid with four matches to play. Barca can seal the title on Sunday with a win or draw in the revival of the famed El Clásico rivalry with Real Madrid.
The only situation comparatively in question is the Premier League [[link removed]]. Arsenal holds a five-point standings lead over Manchester City, which tied Everton 3–3 Monday in a crucial match. Man City, however, still has one game in hand compared to Arsenal, and there remains a chance that the Premier League title could come down to a tiebreaker based on goal differential.
The Premier League schedule concludes on May 24.
Though Arsenal could win its first Premier League title since 2004, it’s hardly an upstart. The club finished second each of the last three years, has led the league for much of the current campaign, and features the ownership of Stan Kroenke, who also controls several U.S.-based teams, including the NFL’s Rams.
Behind the Numbers
The situation across Europe shows the growing impact the financial might has on the sport. All five of the current standings’ leaders posted club-record revenues for the 2024–25 season. Each of them generated at least $660 million in revenue for the year, and in several cases exceeded the $1 billion threshold.
With the domestic titles, the winners in the Big Five leagues are each set to receive tens of millions in incremental revenue from additional sponsorships and ticket sales, as well as increased merit-based payments.
By comparison, mid-tier clubs in their respective leagues typically generate no more than half the revenue that those giants do, and sometimes far less than that.
Across Europe, the five league leaders also placed second (Barcelona), third (Bayern Munich), fourth (Paris Saint-Germain), seventh (Arsenal), and 11th (Inter Milan) in the latest edition [[link removed]] of the Deloitte Football Money League, which ranks the highest revenue-generating clubs in global soccer. In many instances, the clubs have been able to expand their non-matchday revenue in recent years—in turn providing more funds to pour into their rosters.
“Many clubs are increasingly recognizing the power and impact of their brands and venues and the roles they play within the ecosystem of the world’s most popular sport,” Deloitte wrote in its Money League report.
FRONT OFFICE SPORTS LIVE
Belonging As a Business Strategy
As the world’s attention turns to the global game this summer, one thing is clear: The organizations that win aren’t just building audiences—they’re building belonging.
In sports, fandom is a blueprint for loyalty. Teams have long mastered what many industries are still chasing: how to create emotional connection at scale, design seamless experiences across every touchpoint, and turn moments into lasting relationships.
Now, those same expectations are shaping every industry.
Join us [[link removed]] June 11 in Los Angeles for Future of Sports: The Business of Fandom.
We’ll explore how purpose-driven fandom, AI-powered personalization, and real-time infrastructure are redefining engagement—and what every business can learn from sports’s ability to turn customers into communities.
Space is limited— request to attend [[link removed]].
FOS NEWS Dr. J on the ABA, NIL Money, and LeBron
FOS graphic
Julius Erving, the only player to win MVP in both the NBA and ABA, sat down with Front Office Sports to talk about Soul Power, his new four-part documentary on Amazon Prime Video that tells the untold story of the ABA and why the league changed basketball forever.
Erving also shared his thoughts on NIL money flooding college sports, athlete entrepreneurs today, and how different his legacy would look if his deal with the Knicks had gone through. Dr. J also gave his predictions for the NBA playoffs this year. Watch the full interview [[link removed]].
Daily sports trivia: Can you rank the top five MLB players with the most home runs in the 2005 season?
[[link removed]] LOUD AND CLEAR Calling the Shots
Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
“I thought you could be physical in the W and anytime you touch someone, it’s a foul. So I’m not really sure whether to be physical, whether to—I don’t know. I’m still figuring that out.”
—Dallas Wings rookie Azzi Fudd when asked about adjusting to the physicality of the WNBA. The comments came during a press conference on Sunday following the Wings’ preseason victory over the Las Vegas Aces.
Officiating has been a contentious topic in the WNBA in recent years. Ahead of the 2025 WNBA Finals, commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that she would establish a “multi-stakeholder” task force to evaluate officiating in the offseason. Read the story [[link removed]].
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Editors’ Picks Vrabel-Russini Jab Proves ESPN is Keeping ‘Inside the NBA’ Promise [[link removed]]by Ryan Glasspiegel [[link removed]]ESPN licenses the popular studio show from TNT Sports. Main Street Sports Now One Step Closer to Official Demise [[link removed]]by Eric Fisher [[link removed]]The embattled regional sports network operator reaches another inflection point. PGA Tour’s Two-Track Future on Display in the Carolinas This Week [[link removed]]by David Rumsey [[link removed]]Tournaments are taking place in Charlotte and Myrtle Beach, S.C. Question of the Day
Do you think European soccer is too dominated by its richest teams?
YES [[link removed]] NO [[link removed]]
Monday’s result: 53% of respondents said they watched the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Games [[link removed]] Shop [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]] Edited by Katie Krzaczek [[link removed]], Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]
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