Highest-Paid Coaches Stumble

Four of the ten highest-paid CFB coaches lost right outta the gate

September 2, 2025

4 of 10 Highest-Paid CFB Coaches Lose in Week 1
FOS’ Daniel Roberts and Matthew Tabeek write, “With Ohio State facing Texas and Clemson facing LSU in the first week of the season, two of college football’s top-10 highest-paid coaches were guaranteed to start the year with a loss. But few would have expected four coaches from that list to lose, including Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer.”

In his second season with Alabama, DeBoer is the fifth-highest-paid coach in college football.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Liverpool Transfer Spend Hits Club-Record $565M With Isak Deal
Sportico’s Kurt Badenhausen writes, “Liverpool FC dominated the 2024-25 Premier League season, winning the title with four games left in the season. It lost only two of its first 34 matches before taking its foot off the gas. It was its 20th league crown, matching Manchester United for the most all-time in England.

“Liverpool’s response: a club-record $565 million outlay this summer on transfer fees to bolster the 2026-26 roster, 150% above its previous high-water mark in 2018, according to Transfermarkt data.”
^Sportico

Sports Illustrated Tickets Wants to Become a Billion-Dollar Business
SBJ’s Bret McCormick writes, “Four years on, the company is a lean 40-person operation, profitable and growing, according to Lane. In 2026, Sports Illustrated Tickets expects to generate more than $500 million in revenue (that’s actual revenue, Lane clarified; not gross transaction volume value or some other figure).
^{Sports Business Journal}

Gareth Bale: MLS Quality Hurt By Low Salaries
FOS’ Margaret Fleming writes, “MLS has made huge strides in the U.S. sports market, but in the big picture of global soccer, it’s still behind, says soccer legend Gareth Bale. The former Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, and Welsh national team winger spoke to Front Office Sports on a recent episode of Portfolio Players about MLS salaries, and how the league’s pay structure limits its growth.”
^{Front Office Sports}

Sports Stocks Hit 32-Month Peak With Focus on Rates, Not Tariffs
The Sportico Sports Stock Index closed August at its highest level since the end of 2021, as a belief that interest rates will be cut and boost consumer spending in what is already a strong economic climate lifted sports betting and entertainment stocks.

“With GDP running at 3.3%, the economy appears to be [firing] on all cylinders, and it should be a boost of confidence to markets that most of the tariff angst was misplaced earlier this year,” Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer of Northlight Asset Management, said. “However, markets have already priced in a September rate cut and it is important that the inflation data remains restrained between now and then … [but] the bull market is alive, and well and it will take a meaningful catalyst—such as a recession—to derail it.”
^Sportico

Lee Corso’s Farewell Delivers Record ‘College GameDay’ Viewership
FOS’ David Rumsey reports: “According to preliminary Nielsen ratings, ESPN averaged 3.5 million viewers for Saturday’s program, which paid tribute to the legendary college football analyst live from Columbus ahead of Ohio State’s 14–7 victory over Texas. The show was also simulcast on ESPNU. As Corso, 90, made his last headgear pick, College GameDay peaked with 5.1 million viewers in its final 15 minutes, just before the noon ET slate of games kicked off. 
^{Front Office Sports}

Jeffrey Lurie Has Built the Philadelphia Eagles Into a Model NFL Franchise
SBJ’s Ben Fischer writes, “[Eagles owner Jeffrey] Lurie, who turns 74 four days after Philadelphia opens the defense of its title with a game against the Cowboys, enters the 2025 season with a second Super Bowl title in eight seasons and with a growing, if still underrated, leadership voice in league affairs.

“In terms of raw business influence, he’s not on the same level as NFL contemporaries such as Robert Kraft or Jerry Jones … But his teams are so consistently successful that competitors and colleagues feel an imperative to emulate his actions, and his principles, humility and warmth have made him a subtle power player.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

World Cup Venues are Facing the FIFA-Mandated Process of ‘De-Branding’
SBJ’s Alex Silverman and Bret McCormick write, “After FIFA awarded the hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, that nation’s government built seven stadiums and overhauled one existing venue for the competition. Naturally, there were no naming-rights deals or branded signage when FIFA arrived to dress the venues with its tournament branding and the logos of its corporate partners.

“The situation heading into the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., Mexico and Canada is completely different. Fifteen of the 16 stadiums, none of which was built specifically for the World Cup, have long-term naming-rights agreements, and all of them are adorned with sponsor logos. If FIFA has its way, none of that will be visible next summer.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

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AP Top 25 Poll Preview: Defending National Champion Buckeyes are Poised to Return to No. 1
AP News’ Eric Olson writes, “As pro wrestling great and noted philosopher Ric Flair famously said, to be the man, you gotta beat the man. Defending national champion Ohio State is still the man in college football.

“The purveyors of preseason rankings had anointed Texas largely because of what in retrospect was an overabundance of hype surrounding Arch Manning. Reality hit at the Horseshoe on Saturday, and now the Buckeyes are in position to jump Penn State and return to No. 1 when The Associated Press’ first Top 25 of the regular season drops Tuesday.”
^{AP News}

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