Welcome to MoneyCall, our new sports and business newsletter! Here are 13 bold predictions for 2025

MoneyCall Newsletter 📈 | This is the first edition of AthleticsThe weekly sports business newsletter. Register here to receive MoneyCall straight to your inbox.

Welcome to MoneyCall, the essential sports business newsletter! In case you’re wondering why we started this weekly project:

The sports business has never been more dynamic, competitive or intriguing. Who is fighting for attention, investment and opportunity? My goal is to help you make sense of — and get ahead of — the stories, trends, and names that matter most.

I’m the editor of Sports Business here at Athleticsand 2025 will be my 30th year working in and around the sports industry. I may be organizing this effort, but our unique advantage is being able to leverage the authority and access of our entire team, putting you in the middle of the biggest conversations every Wednesday, as well as others moments.

I hope this is helpful to you and please feel free to contact me at moneycall@theathletic.com.

Steer the conversation: What will happen in 2025?

Is Tom Brady unique in the Fox NFL broadcast booth? After his first Super Bowl as a broadcaster, would he really give up the remainder of his 10-year, $375 million contract?

Yes, predicts my colleague Richard Deitsch – so Brady can focus more on his role as co-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. (I’m fascinated by how entangled Brady can be in find a new head coach while remaining an effective diffuser. I’ll talk about it again next week!)

It’s a bold call to start the year. I also have a list of my own sports and business predictions for 2025. Here are three that I particularly like:

1. Potential No. 1 overall WNBA draft pick Paige Bueckers is returning to UConn on a multi-million dollar NIL deal. (h/t Sabreena Merchant)
2. Ferrari wins its first F1 constructors’ championship since 2008.
3. Deion and Shedeur Sanders become one NFL HC/QB package.

But from real experts…

To commemorate the debut of MoneyCall, I reached out to some of my colleagues from all over Athletics to get their predictions:

• “The Celtics will sell at a valuation less than $5.5 billionwhich would be $1.5 billion more than the Suns’ record 2022 sale.” —Mike Vorkunov
• “For the second year in a row, the women’s college basketball title game will draw a larger television audience than the men’s.” —Chantel Jennings
• “FIFA Get their dream scenario when Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi declare their intention to compete in the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026.” -Adam Crafton
• “At the end of the year, the WNBA and the WNBPA will agree to a new collective bargaining agreement that will more than double the current maximum salary of $250,000. —Ben Pickman
• “TNT continues its push for more college sports rights by signing a modest deal with the new Pac-12, which adds Boise State and others in 2026.” —Stewart Mandel
• “A 34-team NHL starts to seem like a question of “when”, not “if”. And we expect Atlanta and Houston – huge markets with at least a few boxes checked – to emerge as favorites. —Sean Gentille
• “THE NCAA announces an increase from 68 to 72 teams in the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, starting in the 2025-26 season. —Joe Rexrode
• “Saudi Arabia will continue its slow/fast investment strategy in tennis and, after hosting the WTA Tour Finals last November, will strike a deal for another major tournament.” —Matt Futterman
• “After Norfolk State (Michael Vick) and Delaware State (DeSean Jackson), at least two other HBCU football programs will hire former NFL stars to be their head coaches. I think Ed Reed will find another job at some point. -Jason Jones
• “All F1 teams will reach a minimum value of $1 billion, bolstered by a new commercial agreement between the sports players coming into effect in 2026.” -Luc Smith

Also, a bonus on launch day: the list of exits/entries!

Here’s another preview piece for 2025, my annual look at trends, expectations and assumptions in the sports business space:

Brennan Asplen/TGL Golf via Getty Images

Get caught up

• The Tiger Simulator Golf League Debuts. “Maybe I’m too optimistic, but the stage and the crowd have the potential to create some genuinely funny moments as time passes. My fear is that this show is too much like “We started a league!” » coronation.” — Brody Miller, at last night’s opening of TGL, the made-for-TV indoor professional league. If you’d like to be informed, this is the reading for you.(Another interesting start-up: relying on widespread enthusiasm for women’s volleyballLeague One Volleyball Pro – “LOVB” – debuts tonight, featuring Salt Lake City vs. Atlanta at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.)

• Jason Kelce’s Late Night Talk Show Debut, revised: “They don’t need canned bits and actors – they have Kelce, in all his authenticity and talent for holding a conversation.”

Other current obsessions: Ilona Maher, a draw …that of the Premier League January transfer window … Luc Littlerbest teenage athlete in history? (Keep reading for THIS list.) …the North Dakota State football dynasty is back …NFL 2025 hot seat coaching …LiAngelo Ball, hip-hop star …

TA edge

Wait, wait, wait: Is Notre Dame… friendly NOW?

Fighting Irish football has always been good business. They have a passionate fan base nationwide who can pride themselves on being independent, which this year also means: “We’re keeping all $14 million of our CFP winnings so far, rather than sharing them with a conference. »

They also have a legion of equally passionate haters nationwide, who have long countered by pointing out pesky details like: “You haven’t won anything significant since 1988.”

And yet! Behind highly respected head coach Marcus Freeman, a defense-focused identity and *whispers* even a little Cinderella vibe Heading into tomorrow’s CFP semifinal against Penn State, the Irish are in an unusual moment where most fans… don’t totally hate them?

This morning, Athletics published a fantastic article on this phenomenon (probably my favorite thing I’ve read all week), and I remain so curious – and, yes, baffled – that I had to check with its author, Ralph Russo, to ask:

Why this newfound love – or at least grudging respect – for Notre Dame football? (And honestly, when will it end?)

Russian: America warmed up to this team unlike any Fighting Irish team I’ve seen in my 25 years of covering college football. I think it comes down to two key elements:

Freeman comes across as eminently likeable and cold, a stark contrast to his predecessor, Brian Kelly. And many fans turned their anger toward the SEC and were happy to see the Fighting Irish stick with that league’s cocky defenders by beating Georgia last week.

(My guess: If Notre Dame wins its first national title in 36 years, such a thing will come to a screeching halt as fans remember why they fought the Irish all these years.)

Notre Dame is a key part of what I consider to be the most compelling five-day stretch of football in the history of the sport. Expanding on this now:

Takeaway bag 💰

A quick mix of analysis and speculation.

The elevator pitch: the best. Football week. Never.
There is Never Football has been a better stretch than what happens tomorrow through Monday: two CFP semifinals and an NFL wild card weekend.

Every other multi-day football weekend, including the always-packed Thanksgiving weekend, has had no stakes – and the NFL playoff mega weekends have lacked this introduction of unprecedented college games.

The very depth of consequence spread over five days puts us in uncharted territory.

Win the week
The CEO of TKO Group Holdings – parent company of WWE and UFC – enjoyed WWE’s successful Monday night debut on Netflixleading industry observers (including myself) to wonder if a high bid from Netflix for at least some of the upcoming UFC television rights is inevitable.

Power Rankings
Inspired by Luke Littler:

1. Pele
2. Simone Biles
3. Smaller
4. Chloe Kim
5. LeBron James

Defeat Dan in Connections: Sports Edition
Today: 4/4, an error

Vicious cue: “Move”

Try the Connections: Sports Edition beta here!

Need your prediction
How much will the Celtics sell for?

• Below $5.5 billion
• Above $5.5 billion
• No sales before 2026

Click here to predict!

It’s worth your time

Excellent readings related to the business of Athletics for your downtime, travel or bill collection.

Who is the best professional sports front office of 2024?

Spoiler: The Oklahoma City Thunder directed AthleticsThe Ultimate Front Office Rankings, a year-long project that involved surveying executives and coaches from America’s four major professional leagues to determine which front office deserved the most respect and, let’s be honest, envy. I highly recommend checking out this widely reported listboth to see who is placing where and to get exclusive insights from competitors about their competitors.

For example, a NBA The deputy general manager put it succinctly: “OKC, they are in such a good place, Jesus Christ, for the next five years.”

Two others:

• “Forced to play at elite programs just to make ends meet. They are the Washington Generals of college basketball, paid to lose spectacularly every time they go to court.” – Sam Blum on Mississippi Valley State basketball
• “The passion for LIDOM baseball in New York was undeniable then as now, giving Peligro a permanent focus in the vibrant Dominican community of Washington Heights.” — David Bétancourt, on the ultimate dominican baseball fan store

📫 Back next Wednesday! Text your colleagues this link so they can get MoneyCall for free every Wednesday. And check Athletics other newslettersAlso.

(Top photos: Michael Reaves, Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)