📰🏟️ A Draft of Their Own
Plus: NBA stars have an injury problem…
Good afternoon. Today’s edition is chock-full of top sports stories. Just keep scrolling.
1) Injuries to NBA stars are piling up
NBA stars have already missed 200+ games this NBA season due to injury or illness, more than double the total at this point two years ago, per Tom Haberstroh at Yahoo Sports.
- That number is set to further increase, with Bucks F Giannis Antetokounmpo, Spurs C Victor Wembanyama, and Spurs G Stephon Castle all being ruled out due to injury this week.
- Many experts, including Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, attribute the rise to the NBA’s blisteringly fast pace of play this year, which is at the highest level since 1988-89 and forcing players to run a combined 34.3 miles/game (the most on record).
Why are more stars getting hurt?
2) First-ever Women’s Pro Baseball League draft is tonight
The four-team Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL), which plans to expand to six teams in 2027, will mark the first active pro women’s baseball league since the 1940s.
- Tonight’s snake-style draft will be held live on the league’s Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube channels at 7 pm CT, with each team selecting 30 players.
- Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco were revealed last month as the cities representing the four teams—but instead of traveling, the WPBL will host its entire seven-week season in Springfield, Illinois, starting next August.
3) QB headlines from around the NFL
Cincinnati's Joe Burrow (toe) was a full practice participant yesterday for the first time since Week 2, though it’s unclear whether he’ll suit up against the Patriots this Sunday.
- Over in Atlanta, Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. (knee) was ruled out for the year with his fifth season-ending injury since 2018.
- Cleveland QB Shedeur Sanders is slated to make his first career start against the Raiders on Sunday—and also hoping to avoid a repeat of last week’s house burglary. Sanders is replacing injured fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel (concussion).
4) MLB signs new media rights deals
Major League Baseball reached a series of new three-year agreements with ESPN, NBCUniversal, and Netflix valued at a combined ~$800M annually.
- ESPN will pay ~$550M/yr for a broad rights package that includes rights to sell and distribute MLB.TV and MLB Network, 30 national games/season, and in-market games for select teams.
- NBCUniversal will pay ~$200M/year for Sunday Night Baseball and all four Wild Card series.
- Netflix is shelling out ~$50M/yr for the Home Run Derby, the Field of Dreams game, and a single game on opening night.
5) LPGA Tour Championship tees off today
The LPGA’s season finale kicked off this morning in Naples, Florida, where the world’s top 60 golfers are competing for a $4M grand prize that’s tied with last year’s event as the biggest in women's golf history.
- World #1 and defending LPGA champion Jeeno Thitikul is the initial favorite, having won twice so far this year and finished inside the top seven in each of her last five starts.
- #2-ranked Nelly Korda has eight top-10 finishes this season, but will look to secure her first victory of the year this weekend.
5 things to know about the Tour Championship
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