Formula 1 is doubling down on the US as sales rumors swirl
NIL executive order incoming?…
Good morning. NBA Hall of Famer Gregg Popovich recently announced he’s stepping down as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs and will transition to team president full-time.
It marks a full-circle moment for the former front office-exec-turned-coach, and follows one of the most impressive resumes in NBA history:
- 1,422 regular-season wins, the most ever.
- 170 playoff wins, third-most ever and most by a coach with one team.
- Five championships, tied for third-most ever.
- 22 straight postseason appearances, the longest streak ever.
- 29 seasons as a head coach, an NBA record (there were 303 coaching changes around the league during this span).
Pop may be gone from the sideline moving forward—but his legacy will live on with potentially one of the best coaching trees in NBA history. Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr won a title while playing for Popovich, and former assistants Mike Brown, Ime Udoka, Mike Budenholzer, and Taylor Jenkins all currently hold head coaching jobs in the league.
—Peter & Kyle
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🏎️ RACING
Formula 1 is doubling down on the US as sales rumors swirl
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on Sunday won the Miami Grand Prix, a pastel-filled spectacle that included drivable cars made out of Legos.
But that wasn’t the only Formula 1 news to come out of South Florida this weekend. The global racing series announced it signed a deal that’ll keep the Miami race on the calendar through at least 2041, making it the longest contracted event in F1.
It comes amid an aggressive US expansion. F1 has long considered America underserved and filled with untapped potential. But previous efforts to boost the sport’s popularity in the land of red, white, and blue have fallen flat, following a worse first impression than showing up to a first date in a “Minions” t-shirt and calling your ex mid-meal.
- The first US-located F1 race occurred at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2005, when a controversy over tire safety led to only six cars participating.
- Fans, frustrated with the fiasco, lobbed trash from the stands and threatened to riot.
The drive to thrive
Things started to turn around for F1 in America when Colorado-based Liberty Media purchased the racing circuit for $4.6B in 2017. Since then:
- US viewership has doubled, reaching an average of 1.1M per race in 2024.
- Race attendance is up. The Austin Grand Prix could barely draw 100k spectators over a three-day weekend in 2017, according to Bobby Epstein, president of the track. Last year’s race had an attendance of ~430k.
- The # of US races is also up. The US will be the only country to host three races in 2025—Miami, Austin, and Las Vegas. Prior to 2022, Austin was the only American-based race on the calendar.
A big part of this growth can be attributed to Liberty Media’s deal with Netflix to bring Jersey Shore treatment to the sport. Drive to Survive, a reality show centered around F1 team drivers and executives, debuted in 2019—and the up-and-to-the-right popularity curve followed.
Looking ahead…The circuit will add Cadillac, its second American team, to the field next year. And while negotiations for a new US media rights deal don’t appear to be panning out how Liberty Media would like, rumors are swirling that the company may soon explore a sale of F1 to lock in its gains. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund reportedly offered $20B+ to purchase the circuit two years ago, but was turned down.
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⏱️ Catch Up Quick
Headlines
📝 The process: President Trump is reportedly considering an executive order regarding NIL payments following a meeting with Nick Saban.
💇 Lettuce galore: The 2025 NCAA DI men's lacrosse championship brackets were revealed; top-seeded Cornell headlines the 18-team field.
😒 We’re not talking about this: Bill Belichick is reportedly looking into hiring outside PR help.
⚾ If you implement a pitch clock, they will come: MLB turned in its best April attendance since 2017 (27,261 fans/game).
🏅 Derby Day: Sovereignty beat the favorite Journalism to win the the 151st Run for the Roses; the event averaged 17.7M viewers on NBC, making it the most-watched Kentucky Derby since 1989; all the day’s races generated ~$349M in bets, breaking the previous record of ~$321M set last year.
⚽ EA Sports, more in the game: The videogame maker signed a media deal with MLS that’ll see its mobile gaming platform host four soccer matches; it comes as MLS sponsorships have spiked.
📸 Snapped
Pics from the weekend
🏒 The Winnipeg Jets completed an epic comeback to win Game 7. The Jets, who had the NHL’s best regular-season record, were on the brink of elimination Sunday after going down 3-1 in Round 1 to the St. Louis Blues with a few minutes left to play. But a goal with 1:56 remaining pulled the Jets within one—and with just 1.6 seconds left on the clock, the Jets managed to tie the game and send it into overtime, where a goal in the second OT period sealed a Jets victory. In other NHL news, the conference semis are set: Winnipeg vs. Dallas, Las Vegas vs. Edmonton, Toronto vs. Florida, and Washington vs. Carolina.
🏀 Golden State continues to own Houston in the NBA playoffs. The Warriors put away the Rockets 103-89 in Game 7 Sunday night, with G Buddy Hield matching an NBA record by going 9-11 from three. The Warriors now improve to 5-0 all-time in playoff series vs. the Rockets, with all five victories coming in the Steph Curry/Draymond Green era (since 2015). Golden State’s victory means the NBA conference semis are finalized: Cleveland vs. Indiana, NY vs. Boston, OKC vs. Denver, and Minnesota vs. Golden State.
🏌️ POV: When a golf course doubles as a runway. The prestigious Riviera Country Club, which is set to host the 2028 LA Olympics golf tournament, was on Friday the scene of an emergency landing for a small plane, which buzzed low over the course before bouncing to a halt. LAFD officials say all three people onboard were unharmed. In separate golf course-incident news: Scottie Scheffler tied the PGA Tour's 72-hole scoring record this weekend with a 253 (31 under par) to win his hometown CJ Cup Byron Nelson tournament.
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👀 Must See
Top plays
⚾ Minor league OF mimics Air Jordan to rob HR
🥅 Mikko Rantanen’s wraparound goal leads Dallas to Game 7 win
🏀 Caitlin Clark pulls up from wayyy downtown in return to Iowa
😳 Purdue OF hits wall, loses sunglasses—but holds onto ball
🥍 Albany attacker scores no-look, behind-the-back lacrosse goal
🔢 Facts & Figures
By the numbers
Here are five stats from this past week that made our team say “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.
- 💥 The Kansas City Royals entered Sunday’s game with a MLB-low 18 HRs in their first 34 games—and then proceeded to hit a franchise-record seven HRs in an 11-6 win over the Orioles.
- 🏊 The Pro Swim Series on Saturday produced three women’s individual world records—more than all swimming events at last summer’s Paris Olympics—including Katie Ledecky breaking her own 800m freestyle mark from 2016.
- 🏀 T’Wolves C Rudy Gobert averaged 3.5 points and 6.3 rebounds in Games 1-4 against the Lakers—but dropped 27 points and 24 rebounds to close out the series in Game 5.
- 🥊 Canelo Álvarez defeated William Scull in an undisputed title bout that featured 445 combined punches—the fewest in a 12-round contest in recorded history (going back 40 years).
- ⚾ MLB umpire Nic Lentz recently called the third perfect game (129 taken pitches) since Umpire Scorecards started tracking balls and strikes in 2015.
🌐 Web Gems
Cool things to click
🏟️ Check out: This $530M pro baseball stadium/themed hotel in Japan—home to Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Shohei Ohtani’s former team.
👀 Eye see a troll: Lasik is offering free surgery for referees across Major League Sports.
🏎️ Explore: The seven Formula One cars that changed everything
📖 Read: No Taxes, $1 Rent, Free Suites: Inside DC’s Wild Stadium Offer to the Commanders
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🤔 Trivia
Last call for bets: The Franchise Roulette wheel is about to stop spinning
How Franchise Roulette works: We provide three facts about a professional sports franchise—then you tell us which franchise we’re talking about. Eligible franchises are those currently playing in the Big 4 (MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA).
Today’s team:
- Was initially owned by Wayne Huizenga, founder of Waste Management and owner/part-owner of Blockbuster, who wanted his expansion team to be called the “Block Busters” (the league didn’t approve).
- Set the record for the most points collected by an expansion team in its inaugural season.
- Is the southernmost-located team in the NHL.
Hint: Still alive in this year’s playoffs.
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