NFL rookie contracts are only +4% this year despite the salary cap rising +14%

Why? When the cap declined in 2021 due to COVID, the NFL & NFLPA amended the usual formula to not penalize the 2021 rookies

The compromise was essentially to “borrow money” from future draft classes

NFL rookie signing bonuses are up 3.8% this year, the first increase of more than 1% since 2020, as rookie compensation pools emerge from COVID shortfalls. Detals at @sportico with contract $ for all 32 1st rd pick.

sportico.com/leagues/footba…

Wasserman makes hiring of MLB agent Dan Vertlieb official. Adley Rutschman is most notable client that moves w/him.

“Negotiation is simple when you’re really good,” said former NFLPA president Domonique Foxworth. “Say the number you want and ball out until they pay you or until you become a free agent. You don’t need an agent to do that.”

sportico.com/business/sport… via @sportico

The FTC banning noncompetes has enormous implications for the sports industry. From coaches' contracts, to prohibitions on athletes playing in two leagues, to NIL and endorsement deals, to analytics work contracts--the range is very wide.

I take a look: sportico.com/law/analysis/2….

The New York Times called the Premier League the world's richest sports league in a story today on Luton. The data doesn't back that up. Total team revenue for most recent seasons:

🏈 NFL: $18.7B
⚾️ MLB: $11.8B
🏀 NBA: $10.9B
⚽️ EPL: $7.5B
🏒 NHL: $6.8B

Chiefs had losing seasons 6 out of 7 years before Andy Reid arrived in 2013. Reid's resume:

▪️ 19 playoffs in 25 seasons
▪️ 3 Super Bowls
▪️ only coach 100+ wins w/2 teams
▪️ 284 wins (4th all time)
▪️ Top-paid coach in US sports for 1st time at ~$20M/yr

sportico.com/personalities/…

Only 27% of WRs picked in the first-round are a 'hit' based on they signed a 2nd contract with the team that drafted them per Paul Hembekides (Hembo).

🚨New Episode🚨

Sporticast 340: Knicks, Rangers Charge Into Very New York Playoffs 👇

sportico.com/podcasts/sport… via @sportico

New leader in the clubhouse among the highest-paid coaches in U.S. sports as Andy Reid set to earn $100M through the 2028 season. Biggest by AAV:

Reid: $20M
Payton $18M
Kerr: $17.5M

sportico.com/personalities/… via @sportico

NBA owners love Adam Silver as their franchise values soar. Players give the commish good grades too!

h/t: The Athletic

UPDATE: Last week, Sportico reported on a pitch deck circulated by 'College Sports Tomorrow' outlining its plans for a #CFB 'Super League.'

By popular demand, we now have posted the pitch deck online.

Deck: sportico.com/wp-content/upl…

Original story:
sportico.com/leagues/colleg…

Another W for Scheffler at Hilton Head and $3.6M in prize money. Now at $16.2M for last 5 events, and he has 2x the rankings points of #2, Rory, in the Official World Golf Ranking.

“I wish these tools were available to me earlier,” Shohei Ohtani says about baseball tech brand Rapsodo. “I think to myself, ‘If I had something like this during my Little League years, how much better could I have been now?’”

sportico.com/personalities/… via @sportico

Sneaker brand offers for Caitlin Clark per ⁦Rachel Bachman⁩:

Nike: $28M, 8 years
UA: $16M, 4 years
Adidas: $6M, 4 years
wsj.com/sports/basketb…

Buffalo Bills Hire Allen & Company to Sell Stake in Team

sportico.com/leagues/footba… via @sportico Kurt Badenhausen

#SportsBiz | #NFL

The value of the Bills has tripled since Terry Pegula paid a then-NFL record $1.4B for the team in 2014. Combine that with the the club is on the hook for nearly $1B of the cost of their stadium and makes sense why might sell a stake in club.

sportico.com/leagues/footba…

Larry Nance: Respectfully, I'm bettin on the Pels. I'm not BETTING, no Jontay Porter. I'm not BETTING. I'm not betting on anything. I don't own a betting app, none of that.