📰🏟️ House v. NCAA, $100k 1-on-1 matchup, & FBI sports investigation

Good morning. Talk about keeping it in the family: The first MLB trade between sibling general managers took place on Sunday, when the Angels (GM: Perry Minasian, 44) acquired veteran first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. from the Giants (GM: Zack Minasian, 41) for cash or a player to be named later.

If only there were a third brother. That’d make it a Minasian-trois.

—Peter & Kyle

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🗺️ AROUND THE HORN

Three big things

👍 The House v. NCAA settlement was approved. Up next? Even more lawsuits. While the settlement stipulates the NCAA dole out $2.8B in back-payments to student-athletes from 2016-present, imposes roster limits (see them here), and allows schools to compensate athletes directly for the first time (how that will work), it leaves many questions unanswered—including whether athletes should be considered employees and whether NCAA rules allowing just four years of eligibility are legal.

🏓 If only you could Aga-see me now, dad. Ballers, a company aiming to be the Topgolf of racquet sports (but with less of a beer-swilling vibe), yesterday announced it had raised $20M from a group of investors and athletes, including tennis legend Andre Agassi, NBA star Tyrese Maxey, pro tennis players Kim Clijsters and Sloane Stephens, and former NBA player and frat party legend Mo Bamba. The business named after HBO’s sports version of Entourage plans to open its first location next month in Philadelphia, a 55k-sq-ft. former power plant featuring pickleball + Padel courts, golf simulators, and other amenities. The group aims to open a location in Boston later this summer and one in Miami by Q1 2026, with aspirations to have 50 total venues open by the end of the decade.

🧮 The NBA playoffs have been a statistical anomaly. One example: The Indiana Pacers had a 1 in 10M chance to win their four biggest playoff comebacks, a figure about 10x less likely than the odds of getting struck by lightning (1 in 1.2M). Anotha one: The OKC Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has already tied Michael Jordan and LeBron for most 30+ point, 5+ assist games in a single playoff run (11). And a Finals fun fact for good measure: the Pacers-Thunder matchup is the first in history where neither team is paying the luxury tax (speaking of the Finals: action resumes tomorrow night; the series is currently tied 1-1).

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📸 Snapped

Pics from the weekend

🏒 The Panthers defended home ice to take a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final. After two straight OT contests to open the series, the Panthers turned the tables with a 6-1 blowout win over the Oilers in Game 3 last night—which saw a large fight break out after the game was decided in the third period. The series remains in Miami for Game 4 on Thursday, before heading back to Edmonton for Game 5 on Saturday.

🎾 Carlos Alcaraz’s latest Grand Slam title is eerily similar to Rafa Nadal. The Spaniard came from behind to win the French Open final over Jannik Sinner on Sunday, earning the fifth major title of his career. Alcaraz achieved that mark at 22 years, one month, and three days—the exact same age that fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal (his childhood idol) also won his fifth Grand Slam. The comparisons don’t stop there: Nadal won #5 against rival Roger Federer in "the greatest match ever played,” while Alcaraz nabbed his fifth in a match against Sinner that’s being widely described as one of the greatest finals in tennis history.

⛵ The Big Apple hosted the “Formula 1 of the seas.” SailGP, a boat racing league where 12 nations compete for ~$12.8M in prize money, held one of its 12 annual races in NYC this weekend. Spain won the event, which saw racers navigate rain and choppy waters on the Hudson River in identical hydrofoil catamaran boats at speeds of 60+ MPH. The Big Apple race also came at a big time for investor interest in SailGP. Its Italian team was recently acquired for $45M—up from team valuations of $5M-$10M two years ago—while Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman became controlling owners of the Australian squad last week.

📰 NEWS

What else is happening

• Royalty payouts for EA Sports College Football 26 will reportedly be determined by the amount of time users play as teams in the videogame.
• Four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers signed a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers worth up to $19.5M.
• The AUSL, a pro softball league backed by MLB, kicked off its inaugural season.
• Elevate, a sports agency network, launched a $500M private-equity backed fund that aims to strategically invest in universities’ athletic-focused infrastructure and commercial projects.
• Texas beat Texas Tech to win the 2025 Women’s College World Series and secure the school's first NCAA softball title.
• The Men’s College World Series field is set.
• UFC 316 takeaways, after Merab Dvalishvili beat Sean O'Malley to retain the men's bantamweight title and Kayla Harrison knocked off Julianna Peña to claim the women's bantamweight championship.

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👀 Must See

Top plays

🎥 A movie director’s cut of Edmonton’s OT winner in Stanley Cup Final G1

💪 #1 MLB prospect Roman Anthony (Red Sox) crushes 497-foot grand slam

🏀 Watch Michael Beasley play Lance Stephenson 1-on-1 for $100K

⚾ Zach McKinstry’s ridiculous catch completes rare 2-5 popout

🏒 Connor McDavid dangles through defense to set up beautiful goal

🔢 Facts & Figures

By the numbers

Here are five stats from this past week that made our team say “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.

🙈 Game 1 of the NBA Finals averaged 8.91M viewers, making it the least-watched Game 1 of the Nielsen meter era (since 1988), outside of 2020-21 during Covid.

🏒 The Dallas Stars fired head coach Pete DeBoer, who’s now led his team to the Western Conference Finals in six of the past seven seasons—and been fired three times during that span.

⚾ NY Mets OF Juan Soto reached base six times in a game for the first time in his career on Sunday; he’s the first Met to do so since Pete Alonso in 2019.

✈️ Edmonton ↔ Miami is the furthest distance between two cities in Stanley Cup Final history (2,541 miles, or a 5 hr, 38 min average flight).

🏀 In each of the four playoff series the Indiana Pacers have played this year, G Tyrese Haliburton has hit a game-winning or game-tying shot with less than two seconds left.

🤔 Trivia

Get ready for Franchise Roulette

The roules rules: Below we’ve compiled three facts about a professional sports franchise—your challenge is to guess which franchise we’re talking about. Eligible franchises are those currently playing in the Big 4 (MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA).

Today’s team:

• Is one of two OG franchises in its league, with roots dating back to 1870 (when its mascot was the White Stockings).
• Was at one point majority owned by a chewing gum magnate. The stadium still bears his name.
• Has a fan section referred to as the "Bleacher Bums."

Hint: Longest championship drought in all of pro sports

🌐 WEB GEMS

Interesting things to click

🎉 Bring the Thundor: The imposing NBA Finals free throw presence of one OKC superfan.

🤔 Good question: Will USL's move to pro-rel change US soccer and threaten MLS? 

🚪 Feds knocking: Everything you need to know about the MLBPA-OneTeam FBI investigation.

📺 Watch: An old-school interview featuring MLB legends Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Duke Snider.

🎾 Up next: With French Open title, Coco Gauff's time is now.

🤔 ANSWER

The Chicago Cubs, once owned by Bill Wrigley—and whose OG name of the White Stockings was adopted by another Chicago team, who later shortened to the White Sox.

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