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Morning Edition

August 7, 2026

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Football season kicks off soon, and sports betting companies say that’s when the real competition begins. Executives are preparing for an aggressive fight to attract customers as the NFL returns, with prediction markets expected to intensify the battle even more.

— Ben Horney [[link removed]]

First Up Netflix said it won’t overdo [[link removed]] its first Field of Dreams MLB game broadcast. LIV Golf said it has a new investor, and here are the biggest questions [[link removed]] surrounding the league. Losing the NBA drove a sharp drop [[link removed]] in Warner Bros. Discovery’s ad sales. The Sixers said landing Jaylen Brown [[link removed]] gave them a real shot at signing LeBron James. Gambling Industry Gears Up for ‘Arms Race’ This NFL Season [[link removed]]

Dado Ruvic-Reuters/illustration

The World Cup delivered a massive summer for sports betting and prediction-market platforms, but executives across the industry are preparing for the real fight: the NFL season.

During second-quarter earnings calls this week, executives from Penn Entertainment, BetMGM, and FanDuel parent Flutter Entertainment all touched on the high levels of activity their platforms have seen this summer due to the World Cup. The same goes for prediction-market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. Analysts at Jefferies noted the tournament generated a “ record $20 billion [[link removed]]” in prediction-market volumes, “by far the single biggest” event for prediction markets to date, “far exceeding volumes” from the previous largest event, the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

But the crown jewel of the U.S. sports betting calendar, the NFL season, is right around the corner. The preseason begins next week, and the regular season kicks off Sept. 9.

Penn Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden said on the company’s earnings call Thursday that the NFL season is expected to bring “quite the arms race this year.”

He noted that many prediction-market platforms really launched NFL event contracts only around Super Bowl LX, a game which by itself saw more than $1 billion [[link removed]] in prediction-market trading volume across platforms including Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood, Crypto.com, Underdog, and others.

When it comes to traditional sports betting, the American Gaming Association estimated in January that Americans would legally wager [[link removed]] roughly $1.76 billion on Super Bowl LX.

Snowden noted Penn is prepared for the NFL season to bring with it “very aggressive, irrational” marketing and advertising spending from all competitors, which are always fighting to acquire more customers. Truist analysts said 70% of Penn’s online sportsbooks users made at least one bet [[link removed]] on the World Cup, and 45% of those were the first soccer wager they’d ever placed; management “believes this could provide a tailwind for re-engagement into NFL season,” they wrote.

BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt offered a similar assessment of the landscape. His company saw “crazy, massive handle growth” during the World Cup. He noted that handle—or total dollars bet by customers—for the U.S.-Belgium round-of-16 game alone was “more than any baseball playoff, basketball playoff game, any World Series game.”

“Competition is fierce,” Greenblatt said, specifically pointing to the rise of prediction markets as a “primary macro impact.”

FanDuel parent Flutter Entertainment echoed that sentiment on the company’s earnings call Wednesday, which discussed big plans to boost its prediction-market product in time for the NFL season. Before the start of the regular season, FanDuel Predicts will be integrated into the company’s unified “one app,” which will allow fans to access its traditional sports betting, casino, fantasy sports, and prediction-market products in a single app. (DraftKings, whose earnings call is Friday, has also launched a one-stop shop app, which it calls a “super app,” that includes its prediction-market platform.)

The World Cup helped FanDuel reach its highest-ever traditional sports betting volume for June and July, and the company is “seeing really strong volumes” for MLB games.

“But ultimately, performance will be determined by football season,” Flutter CFO Rob Coldrake said.

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Long before Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit) and Ashley Sanchez (North Carolina Courage) were duking it out in the 2026 NWSL Golden Boot race, they were Spirit teammates, BFFs, and a defense’s worst nightmare. The duo was known as “Sandman,” a combination of their last names, before Sanchez was transferred to the Courage before the 2024 season.

Now, Sanchez is having her best season since being transferred to North Carolina, and Rodman has eight goals, tying her regular-season high with no signs of slowing down. You can watch [[link removed]] Rodman and the Spirit host Sanchez and the Courage on Saturday, Aug. 8 at 6:30 p.m. ET on ION.

ONE BIG FIG Big Bucks in the Booth

Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images

$33 million

That’s the combined annual salaries of ESPN’s Monday Night Football duo Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. Buck earns $15 million annually, while Aikman makes more than $18 million.

Both contracts expire after the 2026 NFL season, setting up what is expected to be a high-stakes talent negotiation [[link removed]], with CAA now representing both broadcasters. ESPN wants to re-sign the duo before it airs its first two Super Bowls (after the 2026 and 2030 NFL seasons), and both Buck and Aikman have publicly said they’d like to finish their careers with the network.

DAILY SPORTS TRIVIA

Can you rank the top five highest-paid Chicago Cubs by contract AAV?

[[link removed]] LOUD AND CLEAR Baseball Economics

Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

“What the Dodgers are doing is amazing. … It’s good for them, it’s good for their franchise, but every team can do it, honestly.”

—Former Cubs and Yankees star Anthony Rizzo told Front Office Sports he thinks every MLB team can build a winner [[link removed]], pushing back on the idea that the Dodgers’ spending proves baseball lacks competitive balance. His comments come as owners prepare to seek major economic changes—including a salary cap—in the next round of labor negotiations.

Rizzo also called today’s MLB “the most competitive” it’s ever been and said it would be “a shame” if the league ends up in an extended strike or lockout. Next week, he’ll also join Netflix’s broadcast team for the Field of Dreams game after making his debut with the streamer during last month’s Home Run Derby.

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YOUR MORNING LISTEN

Aikman and Buck talks, Fox won’t renegotiate NFL rights until 2028, Yankees’ Polymarket deal, and more

Listen Now › [[link removed]] Editors’ Picks Texas Heat Rules Reshape High School Football Practices [[link removed]]by Ava Hult [[link removed]]Smaller programs may lack the facilities and trainers to adapt. Europe Still Plans to Boycott World Cups, UEFA Says [[link removed]]by Ava Hult [[link removed]] and Griffin Senyek [[link removed]]Six European teams face uncertainty ahead of the U-20 Women’s World Cup. [[link removed]] Top WTA Stars Weigh In on Tour’s New Genetic Sex Testing Policy [[link removed]]by Colin Salao [[link removed]]Most top players appear to have little issue with the tour’s decision. Question of the Day

Do you plan to bet on NFL games this season?

Yes [[link removed]] No [[link removed]]

Thursday’s result: 40% of respondents think Congress should regulate college sports.

Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Games [[link removed]] Shop [[link removed]] Written by Ben Horney [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Lisa Scherzer [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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