1 Word to Sum Up NBA: Cha-Ching

“I’d say every other team’s valuation went up 25% to 30% that day,” a team executive told SBJ about the recent Lakers sale.

June 30, 2025

🇺🇸 🚨 In honor of the upcoming Independence Day holiday, the Sport & Story Daily will be taking the rest of the week off, but we’ll be back with all the sports business news you’re used to getting in one convenient spot on Monday, July 7. Enjoy the holiday! 🇺🇸 🚨

NBA’s Offseason Begins With Debates About Expansion
SBJ’s Tom Friend writes, “Money continues to change hands in the NBA, the latest being the pending Lakers sale, which could alter the course of the league’s offseason. Expansion, for instance, was supposed to be just a perfunctory topic at July’s upcoming board of governors meetings, but Mark Walter’s 11-figure offer to the Buss family could fast-track (or, at least, enliven) the conversation.

“In other words, if expansion fees end up being about half of Walter’s bid — say, between $5 billion and $6 billion — the league’s owners may bust out their calculators and green-light phone calls from Commissioner Adam Silver to Seattle and Las Vegas.”

“I’d say every other team’s valuation went up 25% to 30% that day,” the team executive said.
^{Sports Business Journal}

With LeBron Staying, Eyes Turn to Deep Pool of Impact Role Players
FOS’ Eric Fisher writes, “Already, teams have been able to negotiate with free agents on their own rosters, and there have been some notable initial signings among that pool of players, such as the Rockets re-signing team captain Fred VanVleet to a two-year, $50 million extension and the Timberwolves nearing a three-year pact worth as much as $100 million to keep Julius Randle. Similarly, Clippers star James Harden declined a player option for next season worth more than $36 million, but he is working on a new, two-year pact with the team worth $81.5 million.”
^{Front Office Sports}

Wimbledon Opens With Record $73M in Prize Money and New Rivalries
FOS’ Eric Fisher writes, “The 138th edition of Wimbledon begins Monday with a record prize pool, a galvanizing top-tier rivalry in men’s singles, and a wide-open women’s field that continues a trend of unpredictability there.

“The oldest of the tennis majors will feature a 2025 prize pool of nearly $73 million, a tournament record and up by 7% from a year ago. Men’s and women’s singles champions will each take home close to $4.1 million, up 11%. More notably, the total tournament prize pool is twice the level of a decade ago, as players have successfully lobbied for greater shares of tournament profits.”
^{Front Office Sports}

MLS Club World Cup Run Ends With Inter Miami’s $21M Haul
Sportico’s Eben Novy-Williams writes, “Major League Soccer’s run at the FIFA Club World Cup ended Sunday afternoon, with its three participating clubs earning a combined $41.15 million from appearance fees and on-field performance. The bulk of that money—$21.05 million—was earned by Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami. The only MLS club to make it out of the group stage, Inter Miami lost 4-0 to European champion (and Messi’s former club) PSG in the Round of 16 on Sunday afternoon.
^Sportico

Carlos Alcaraz, Swampy Heat May Boost Wimbledon TV Ratings
“Believe it or not, in the early 1980s—and this sounds laughable—we had the same ratings as the NBA,” John McEnroe said. “If you had told me in the early ‘80s that golf, of all things, would have double the ratings of tennis, I would have laughed at you. The next thing you’re going to tell me is that pickleball’s gonna have better ratings.”

(McEnroe, who has served as a vocal pitchman for pickleball for the last couple of years, has at times joked about how much America’s Fastest-Growing Sport® “sucks.” With apologies to another exuberantly yawping New Yorker, Johnny Mac’s mouth is large, it contains multitudes.)
^Sportico

TNT Sports to Cease Production of NBA TV at End of September
TNT Sports will cease production efforts on NBA TV at the end of the league’s calendar year, which is the end of September, a source with knowledge of the situation tells SBJ. The company had been operating/programming NBA TV since the start of the 2008-09 season, including the production of several playoff games each season (the last of which was this past season). The NBA will begin operating the network starting Oct. 1, another source tells SBJ.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Islanders Set for New Era With No. 1 Pick Schaefer
Islanders’ fans filled UBS Arena’s floor and the lower bowl for Friday’s NHL Draft party as the club “began a new era” by selecting D Matthew Schaefer with the No. 1 overall pick (N.Y. POST, 6/27). The selection of Schaefer “turned this into a watershed day for the franchise” (N.Y. POST, 6/28).
^{N.Y. Post via Sports Business Journal}

Masai Ujiri Out as Vice Chairman and President of the Raptors
The team is keeping key front office personnel in place, including general manager Bobby Webster, while the search for Ujiri's replacement begins.

"During his 13 seasons with the Raptors, Masai has helped transform the organization on the court and has been an inspirational leader off it," MLSE president & CEO Keith Pelley said in a statement. "He brought an NBA Championship to Toronto and urged us to believe in this city, and ourselves. We are grateful for all he has done and wish him and his family the very best.
^ESPN

Portland’s WNBA Franchise to Hire Former Nike Exec Clare Hamill as Interim President
Hamill’s tenure at Nike spanned 43 years, and her experience there as VP and GM of Nike Women’s — along with her knowledge of the Portland area — led the ownership group of Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal of RAJ Sports to tab her for the position. Hamill, who played basketball at New Hampshire, will begin her new role immediately. Sources close to the team rebut reports that the fledgling franchise, which debuts in the 2026 season, has been slow in its general hiring process, claiming it is instead being “intentional” with job interviews.
^{Sports Business Journal}

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NCAA President Charlie Baker Salary and Mark Emmert Severance Detailed in 2023 Tax Form
USA Today’s Steve Berkowitz reports: “NCAA President Charlie Baker was credited with a little more than $3.4 million in  total compensation for his first 10 months on the job in 2023, the association’s new federal tax records show. The documents, which the NCAA provided Friday, June 27, also show that former president Mark Emmert received slightly more than $1.4 million in base salary and more than $600,000 in other benefits during his final months with the association.”
^{USA Today}

ICYMI up top 👇🏼

🇺🇸 🚨 In honor of the upcoming Independence Day holiday, the Sport & Story Daily will be taking the rest of the week off, but we’ll be back with all the sports business news you’re used to getting in one convenient spot on Monday, July 7. Enjoy the holiday! 🇺🇸 🚨

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