Business Decision with Mike Vorkunov

Final bids in Padres' sale process expected in April; 4 groups in running: Sources

A second and final round of bids to purchase the San Diego Padres is expected to come in early to mid-April, with four groups of potential buyers still in the running. The sale is expected to set an MLB record. www.nytimes.com/athletic/711...

Lionel Messi makes $70-80 million a year from Inter Miami, according to the team's owner. His base salary is $12 million.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/709...

The NBA has cancelled the Atlanta Hawks' Magic City night for its March 16 game.

Adam Silver: "We have heard significant concerns from a broad array of league stakeholders, including fans, partners and employees."

The Wasserman Group is rebranding and renaming itself to:

The Team

variety.com/2026/film/ne...

The NBA has cancelled Magic City night in Atlanta for the March 16 Hawks game

Two MLS players were banned for life for betting on their own teams and on other soccer matches in 2024 and 2025. Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah are both Columbus Crew players and teammates.

One example of what they did👇

www.nytimes.com/athletic/710...

NBA commissioner Adam Silver says changes coming to deter teams from tanking (Gift Article) Silver has personally gotten involved in finding a solution to tanking, and the NBA has escalated punishments for such teams.

Adam Silver said the NBA will make "substantial changes for next year" on tanking. www.nytimes.com/athletic/709...

TNT Sports will broadcast FIBA international competitions for the next few years. It bought the US rights for the 2026 FIBA women's basketball World Cup, the 2027 men's basketball World Cup, and 2029 EuroBasket.

It will also show qualifiers, starting with Women’s Basketball World Cup this month.

Great newsletter to see in my inbox.

@mattbrown.bsky.social with receipts of some HMs Miami (OH) tried to play but were scared.

Example: 😂 Pitt lost buy game on same day anyways

Here's the updated story after today's court proceedings. Federal prosecutors said the government’s investigation into the rigged poker ring is still ongoing and that future discovery could implicate more people and lead to new defendants in the case www.nytimes.com/athletic/708...

FIBA is postponing its basketball World Cup qualifiers set for Monday in the Middle East, including a game involving Iran. They'll be moved to June due to "developments today in the region."

The Atlanta Braves are launching their own broadcast network. It's called BravesVision. It will produce more than 140 games for over-the-air and streaming.

The WNBA made enough revenue in 2025 to trigger revenue sharing with the players, @katiebarnes.bsky.social reports. It's the first time the league has done so under the 2020 CBA. Players will split $8 million.

www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

The Cracks in Adam Silver’s NBA Are Spreading Fast The NBA keeps selling the future, but the present is a mess

The NBA has never faced so many crises, on so many fronts, as it is right now. All eyes are on Adam Silver.

Latest from me, at The Ringer:

Paul Allen's estate has officially begun the process of selling the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks

@sportico.bsky.social values the franchise at $6.59 billion

NBA stars cash in on betting, predictions boom amid player concerns The proliferation of gambling and futures sites has generated backlash — and investment opportunities — among NBA players.

Sports gambling is causing all kinds of problems for the NBA. Players are under a torrent of criticism from fans angry they lost bets, and the league is dealing with a federal gambling case.

But a few of the NBA's biggest stars are also profiting from gambling, too
www.nytimes.com/athletic/705...

MSG Sports said it will explore separating the New York Knicks and Rangers into two separate publicly traded companies. The MSG Sports board of directors has approved the plan to explore that spin-off.

An internal MLBPA investigation found that Clark had an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who was also a union employee, according to a report by Jeff Passan

Lakers governor Jeanie Buss talks year of transition, says father would have supported sale to Mark Walter Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss said new majority owner Mark Walter's access to capital will help the team best compete with the NBA's top franchises.

Lakers governor Jeanie Buss to CNBC about if LeBron James will play for the Lakers next year:

“Never say never, but you know, he certainly hasn’t given an indication. He’s earned the right to decide how his career will go, and you know, he continues to impress.”

www.cnbc.com/2026/02/17/l...

Tony Clark is expected to resign as MLBPA executive director, @evandrellich.bsky.social @ken-rosenthal.bsky.social Andy McCullough report.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/705...

The NBA All-Star Game averaged 8.8 million viewers between NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo. The NBA says that's the largest audience for the game since 2011.

It was up 87% from the 2025 All-Star Game, which averaged 4.7 million viewers.

So here's a blast from the past. In 1998, the NBA just outright cancelled the Slam Dunk Contest because of how bad it had gotten, and in its place came something called "NBA 2Ball" - which was a shooting competition involving NBA and WNBA players.

Adam Silver said he doesn't have a drop-dead date in mind when it comes to reaching a new CBA with the WNBPA so 2026 season starts on time.

Silver: "We're getting oddly close to the 11th hour now when it comes to bargaining. I'm encouraged there has been more back-and-forth over the past few weeks"

We wrote about why NBA first hired Wachtell and how investigations work. Also, some insight into what the NBA's investigation into Terry Rozier found and why feds found more. And how the Sarver investigation looked. And a peak into the Clippers/Aspiration inquiry.

The link 👇 is free for all to read

Casey Wasserman announced he will sell his talent agency, the Wasserman Group.

Wasserman surfaced in the recently released Epstein files, where emails showed him flirting with Ghislaine Maxwell. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/u...

David Kelly will take over as NBPA executive director in July when Andre Iguodala steps down. He's been the managing director and general counsel after he came over from the Warriors.

Unrivaled Leans Into NBA Arenas After Making Millions in Philly Unrivaled is moving its semifinals to Barclays Center. The last time the league played in an NBA arena, it made $2 million in revenue.

Unrivaled will move its semifinals games from Miami to Brooklyn, @anniecostabile.bsky.social reports, and it plans to have 6-8 tour stops during the 2027 season.

frontofficesports.com/unrivaled-le...

Chris Paul retires from the NBA

The NBA fined the Jazz $500,000 for conduct detrimental to the league for its roster management on Feb 7 and Feb 9 for not playing Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. in the 4th quarters.

The Pacers were fined $100,000 for sitting Pascal Siakam and 2 other starters against the Jazz on Feb. 3.

In pitch-rigging case, Guardians pitcher seeks to shift more blame onto teammate A lawyer for pitcher Luis Ortiz characterized his client as a “victim” of his teammate, All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase.

There's a growing split between Guardians pitchers facing federal charges for alleged gambling scheme. Luis Ortiz's lawyer says he's “victim of [Emmanuel] Clase’s scheme." DOJ lawyers say more Clase pitches could be under suspicion.

Story w/ @zackmeisel.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/athletic/703...