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ESPN personalities grapple with fallout over YouTube TV blackout

The carriage standoff between YouTube TV and Disney has sparked visible tension inside ESPN, as key on-air personalities and executives publicly and privately grapple with the fallout. With channels still blacked out and negotiations stalled, the dispute is beginning to affect both fan sentiment and viewership.

Rising Tensions
Pat McAfee slammed ESPN’s decision to have hosts like Stephen A. Smith and Scott Van Pelt urge viewers to visit Disney’s website to pressure YouTube TV. “Nobody cares what you have to say,” he said, taking aim at his own network as the dispute drags on.

Corporate Crossfire
Inside Disney, executives are holding the line. ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro and Disney Entertainment’s co-chairs accused YouTube TV of showing “little regard” for customers, a sign that talks are far from resolution. The fight underscores the high stakes — and egos — involved in modern media deals.

Fan Fallout
Van Pelt, who subscribes to YouTube TV himself, said he’s been bombarded with angry messages. “I can’t fix it,” he told listeners, echoing fans’ frustration as ESPN channels remain dark for millions. The longer the standoff continues, the more both brands risk losing loyal viewers.

📺️ Read full Front Office Sports article here

COLLEGE FOOTBALL FUNDRAISING

Texas, oil and football: How Texas Tech has raised a football monster in no time at all

Texas Tech is riding a wave of oil money, NIL ambition, and Texas swagger into college football’s national spotlight. Behind its $242 million facility and top-10 team is a network of billionaire boosters betting big that the Red Raiders can join the sport’s elite.

Oil in the Engine
The Permian Basin — America’s biggest oil field — has produced the billionaires fueling Tech’s rise. Former players-turned-oil tycoons Cody Campbell, Gary Petersen, and John Sellers helped raise $49 million in one year, front-loading NIL deals to build one of the deepest rosters in the country.

Building a Power
Coach Joey McGuire, a Texas high school legend, has built an 8-1, top-10 team powered by in-state talent and key transfers. Tech’s bold spending before NIL caps kick in has other programs grumbling — but it’s working.

Money Meets Politics
Off the field, Campbell’s nonprofit Saving College Sports is lobbying Congress to reform NCAA media laws and level the playing field. His efforts — and millions in advocacy spending — have turned Texas Tech into an unlikely player in shaping the future of college sports.

Winning the West (Texas)
As ESPN’s College GameDay heads to Lubbock for Saturday’s sold-out showdown with BYU, Texas Tech’s revival feels real. Fueled by oil, money, and belief, the Red Raiders are done being the underdog.

🛢️ Read full Yahoo Sports article here

HIGHEST PAID NBA PLAYERS

NBA highest-paid players 2025-26: Curry, Durant join $1 billion club

Lebron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant will have combined career earnings of $3.7 billion by the end of this season. All three have now reached the $1 billion mark in salary and endorsements while still active — a feat previously only achieved by Michael Jordan after retirement.

LeBron Leads Again
LeBron James is the NBA’s highest-paid player for the 2025–26 season at $132.6 million ($52.6 million salary, $80 million endorsements). His lifetime Nike deal exceeds $1 billion, and new partners this year include Richard Mille and Mattel.

Curry and Durant Follow
Stephen Curry will earn $109.6 million ($59.6 million salary, $50 million endorsements), driven by Under Armour and his media and beverage ventures. Kevin Durant earns $103.3 million after signing a two-year, $90 million deal with the Houston Rockets, bringing his total career salary to nearly $600 million, the highest in NBA history.

League-Wide Growth
The top 20 NBA players will earn $1.4 billion this season, a 2% increase from last year. Sixty players will make at least $30 million, reflecting continued salary growth tied to rising league revenues and a new $76 billion TV deal..

🏀 Read full Sportico article here

CFB PLAYER COMPENSATION

Colleges hide athlete pay data behind ‘competitive harm’

A few months into the House v. NCAA settlement era, public universities are refusing to disclose how much money they’re paying athletes — and they’re using “competitive harm” as the excuse.

Closed Books
Reporters have filed records requests with top public FBS schools asking for basic payout data from July through September. Out of more than a dozen schools, only Kentucky and Colorado shared totals — $1.49 million and $7.67 million, respectively. The University of Texas, which had initially released July figures, later declined to update them.

The “Trade Secret” Defense
Several schools, including Nebraska, Texas A&M, and Wisconsin, claimed they either didn’t have the data or couldn’t release it without risking recruiting disadvantages. Nebraska argued that revealing payment totals could help rival programs outbid them for transfers. The state attorney general sided with the university.

Transparency Trouble
Critics point out the irony: schools freely post coaching contracts online but shield athlete compensation under “trade secret” protections. The result — fans and athletes alike remain in the dark about how much of the promised House settlement money is actually reaching players.

💰️ Read full Sportico article here

Start 2/Bench 2

⬆️ Shohei Ohtani. Shohei Ohtani’s baseball cards are skyrocketing in value, with some increasing more than 60% since the postseason began. High-end cards now sell for tens of thousands of dollars, and rare editions are reaching prices in the hundreds of thousands. - Greg Bates

⬆️ Juju Watkins. USC star JuJu Watkins has become the first NCAA athlete to directly invest in a professional women’s sports team, joining the ownership group of NWSL expansion club Boston Legacy FC. – Lizzy Becherano

⬇️ Hugh Freeze. Auburn has fired head coach Hugh Freeze after a 15–19 record in just over two seasons. Freeze will receive a $15.8 million buyout as the school begins its search for a new leader of the Tigers program. - ESPN News Services

⬇️ Disney. Disney’s standoff with Google is proving costly — the company is reportedly losing about $5 million a day after pulling ESPN, ABC, and other channels from YouTube TV amid a carriage dispute. - Jack Nisse and Max Winters