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NBA reaches new, record-setting media deal

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NBA reaches new, record-setting media deal

The NBA has agreed to terms on its new media deal, a record 11-year agreement worth $76 billion that assures player salaries will continue rising for the foreseeable future and one that will surely change how some viewers access the game for years to come.

A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press that the networks have the terms sheets, with the next step being for the league’s board of governors to approve the contracts.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Wednesday because they weren’t at liberty to discuss such impending matters.

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The deal, which set NBA records for both its length and total value, goes into effect for the 2025-26 season. Games will continue being aired on ESPN and ABC, and now some will be going to NBC and Amazon Prime. TNT Sports, which has been part of the league’s broadcasting family since the 1980s, could be on its way out, but has five days to match one of the deals.

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The five-day clock would begin once the league sends the finished contracts to TNT.

The Athletic was the first to report on the contracts.

ESPN and ABC will continue to have the league’s top package, which includes the NBA Finals and one of the conference finals series. ABC has aired the NBA Finals since 2003. ABC would continue to air games on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons when the NFL’s regular season ends.

FILE – Philadelphia 76ers’ Tobias Harris, center, goes up for a shot between Cleveland Cavaliers’ Dean Wade, left, and Georges Niang during the first half of an NBA basketball in-season tournament game, Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, in Philadelphia. The NBA has agreed to terms on its new media deal, an 11-year agreement worth $76 billion that assures player salaries will continue rising for the foreseeable future and one that will surely change how some viewers access the game for years to come. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

ESPN’s main nights would continue to be Wednesday with some Friday and Sunday games.

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The return of NBC, which carried NBA games from 1990 through 2002, gives the league two broadcast network partners for the first time.

NBC would showcase games on Sunday night once the NFL season has ended. It will air games on Tuesdays throughout the regular season while a Monday night package of games would be exclusively streamed on Peacock.

Prime Video would have games on Thursday night after it is done carrying NFL games. Its other nights would be Friday and Saturday.

NBC and Prime Video would alternate who carries the other conference final.

In the short term, the deal almost certainly means the league’s salary cap will rise 10% annually — the maximum allowed by the terms of the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NBA and its players. That means players like Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dallas’ Luka Doncic could be making around $80 million in the 2030-31 season and raises at least some possibility that top players may be earning somewhere near $100 million per season by the mid-2030s.

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It also clears the way for the next major item on the NBA’s to-do list: Expansion.

Commissioner Adam Silver was very clear on the order of his top agenda items in recent seasons, those being preserving labor peace (which was achieved with the new CBA), getting a new media deal (now essentially completed) and then and only then would the league turn its attention toward adding new franchises. Las Vegas and Seattle are typically among the cities most prominently mentioned as top expansion candidates, with others such as Montreal, Vancouver and Kansas City expected to have groups with interest as well.

As the broadcast rights packages have grown in total value over the last 25 years, so, too, have salaries because of how much that revenue stream ends up fueling the salary cap.

When NBC and Turner agreed to a $2.6 billion, four-year deal that started with the 1998-99 season, the salary cap was $30 million per team and the average salary was around $2.5 million. The average salary this season exceeded $10 million per player — and it’s only going to keep going up from here.

When that NBC-Turner deal that started a quarter-century ago expired, the next deal — covering six seasons — cost ABC, ESPN and Turner about $4.6 billion. The next was a seven-year deal, costing those networks $7.4 billion.

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The current deal, the one that will expire next season, smashed those records — nine years, nearly $24 billion.

And now, that seems like pocket change.

From the deal that started in 1998-99 to the one now struck to begin in 2025, the total value has climbed by about 2,800%. Factoring for inflation even between then and now, the value goes up about 1,400%.

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Dashcam video shows former WWE executive Vince McMahon rear-ending vehicle on Connecticut highway

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Dashcam video shows former WWE executive Vince McMahon rear-ending vehicle on Connecticut highway

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Police have released new video showing former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon speeding before crashing his 2024 Bentley Continental GT into another luxury car on a Connecticut highway last summer.

McMahon appeared to be followed by a state trooper in Westport moments ahead of the eventual collision. McMahon’s vehicle reached speeds of more than 100 mph, state police said.

A trooper’s dashcam video showed McMahon accelerating and then braking too late to avoid rear-ending a BMW. The car McMahon was driving then swerved into a guardrail and careened back across the highway. A cloud of dirt, apparently mixed with vehicle debris, was visible in the immediate area of the crash.

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WWE owner Vince McMahon enters the arena during WrestleMania at AT&T Stadium on Apr 3, 2022 in Arlington, Texas. (Joe Camporeale/USA Today Sports)

“Why were you driving all over 100 mph?” a state trooper asked McMahon after catching up to the wrecked Bentley.

“I got my granddaughter’s birthday,” McMahon replied, explaining he was on his way to see her. The encounter was recorded on police bodycam video.

No serious injuries were reported in the July 24 crash, which happened the same day former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan died of a heart attack in Florida.

In an image taken from Connecticut State Police police bodycam video, Vince McMahon is questioned in his car after an accident on July 24, 2025, in Westport, Connecticut. (Connecticut State Police via The Associated Press)

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Aside from the damage to the rear of the BMW, another vehicle driving on the opposite side of the parkway was struck by flying debris. The driver of that third car happened to be wearing a WWE shirt, police video suggested.

McMahon was cited for reckless driving and following too closely. In October, a state judge allowed him to enter a pretrial probation program that could erase the charges if he completes it successfully.

He was also ordered to make a $1,000 charitable contribution. His attorney, Mark Sherman, called the crash simply an “accident.”

“Not every car accident is a crime,” Sherman said. “Vince’s primary concern during this case was for the other drivers and is appreciative that the court saw this more of an accident than a crime that needed to be prosecuted.”

Vince McMahon attends a press conference to announce that WWE Wrestlemania 29 will be held at MetLife Stadium in 2013 at MetLife Stadium on Feb. 16, 2012 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.  (Michael N. Todaro/Getty Images)

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State police said a trooper was trying to catch up to McMahon on the parkway and clock his speed before pulling him over. They said the incident was not a pursuit, which happens when police chase someone trying to flee officers. They also said it did not appear McMahon was trying to escape.

“I’m trying to catch up to you, and you keep taking off,” State Police Det. Maxwell Robins said in the video. 

“No, no no. I’m not trying to outrun you,” McMahon clarified.

An accident information summary provided to the media shortly after the crash did not mention that a trooper was following McMahon.

The trooper’s bodycam video also shows him asking McMahon whether he was looking at his phone when the crash happened. McMahon said he was not and added he hadn’t driven his car in a long time.

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After Robins tells McMahon that his car is fast, McMahon replies, “Yeah, too (expletive) fast.”

Fox News Digital submitted a public records request to obtain the police video, which was first acquired by The Sun.

McMahon stepped down as WWE’s CEO in 2022 amid a company investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. He also resigned as executive chairman of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE, in 2024, a day after a former WWE employee filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against him. McMahon has denied the allegations. The lawsuit remains pending.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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‘Just go out and pitch.’ Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow is efficient in his first spring start

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‘Just go out and pitch.’ Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow is efficient in his first spring start
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Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow is an admitted overthinker. But you wouldn’t know it based on his efficient first spring training start Thursday against the Chicago White Sox at Camelback Ranch.

Glasnow pitched two-plus innings, retiring the first six batters before coming out after giving up a single to start the third inning. Using a pitch mix that included a fastball that sat at 97 mph, Glasnow struck out the side in the first inning before recording another strikeout to close out the second. Having thrown just 28 pitches, Glasnow started the third inning and threw three more pitches before coming out of the Dodgers’ 7-6 win.

“Very in rhythm,” manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “Very efficient, used his entire pitch mix, it was really good. Good to see him get into the third inning. Positive day.”

The 32-year-old entering his third season with the Dodgers credits his coaches for keeping his mechanics on point.

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“It allows me to just go out and pitch and be athletic,” Glasnow said after his outing. “I’m able to just go out and play baseball as opposed to trying to tinker and fix certain stuff.”

Though he was plagued by injuries in his second season with the Dodgers, Glasnow finished on a high note, giving up just four earned runs over 21-1/3 postseason innings, good for a 1.69 ERA, pitching as a starter and a reliever. It was Glasnow’s first taste of the postseason as a Dodger, since a right-elbow injury ended his 2024 campaign in August, and was highlighted by his first career save in Game 6 of the World Series.

Glasnow called the experience “great.”

“When you go in with all those nerves and that pressure and that excitement, it’s just such an unbelievable feeling to go out [there],” he said last week. “Especially to be a starter and a reliever and just to be thrown into different situations. It was awesome. It was extremely memorable for me, and I’m craving to do it again. And hopefully we can do it again and get a three-peat.”

Looking to build off his impressive postseason, Glasnow enters the season with a newfound confidence.

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Last year Glasnow was placed on the injured list because of right shoulder inflammation at the end of April and did not pitch again until just before the All-Star Break. The Santa Clarita native has a long history of injuries — including Tommy John surgery in 2021 — and never has clocked more than 135 innings in a season.

Over the winter he got married and made adjustments that he hopes will better his health. A successful season means staying off the IL.

“Pitching well and staying healthy,” Glasnow said when asked about goals. “Just doing all that and trying to make as many starts as I can, and just executing every start and being healthy in the postseason.”

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Tage Thompson Responds To MAGA Hat Criticism After Team USA Gold: ‘Proud To Be An American’

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Tage Thompson Responds To MAGA Hat Criticism After Team USA Gold: ‘Proud To Be An American’

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It’s been a long few days for Buffalo Sabres star Tage Thompson. He scored a critical goal for Team USA in the team’s semifinal match against Slovakia, and then went on to help the U.S. ultimately defeat Canada on Sunday to capture the gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics. 

Thompson admitted after Wednesday’s game against the New Jersey Devils, the first NHL game for Buffalo since the Olympic break, that he was tired, rusty and sluggish on the ice. But most fans wouldn’t know it. Thompson scored Buffalo’s first goal of the night and assisted on the second as the Sabres emerged with a 2-1 victory over the Devils. 

New Jersey Devils’ Jack Hughes, right, and Buffalo Sabres’ Tage Thompson gesture to fans before an NHL hockey game in Newark, New Jersey, on Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Jack Hughes, a Devils star and the Team USA skater who scored the game-winning goal in overtime to defeat Canada, was honored by the team during a pregame ceremony. Hughes pulled an incredibly classy move and brought Thompson out to center ice, so the crowd could cheer the pair together. 

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Still, as impressive as Thompson’s return to the ice was, the story for much of the media following Team USA’s historic gold medal win revolves around the team’s trip to the White House and appearance during Tuesday’s State of the Union address by President Trump. 

White House Visit, MAGA Hat Photo Spark Backlash

Thompson, in particular, found himself in the crosshairs of the radical left-wing media mob because he was photographed wearing Trump’s famous “Make America Great Again” hat alongside press secretary Karoline Leavitt and several teammates. 

Karoline Leavitt shared a photo to social media posing with deputy director of communications, Margo Martin, and several members of Team USA. The photo included Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, Jack and Quinn Hughes, and Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson. Both Hughes brothers wore red and white USA hats, while Thompson sported a “Make America Great Again” hat, prompting widespread backlash on social media.   (Karoline Leavitt via Instagram)

I asked Thompson after the game if he had any response to the criticism over his hat choice. 

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“I’m proud to be an American, and I have my own faith, my own beliefs, and everyone’s entitled to their own opinions and beliefs, as well,” Thompson said diplomatically as he sat at his locker after the game. “I think we should be able to live in peace knowing that not everyone’s going to agree with you.” 

Speaking of Thompson’s faith, I also asked him about his Christian beliefs that helped shape everything in his life. 

“Jesus is everything to me. Obviously, we’re made imperfect. We’re all sinners, and we need him. And I fall short every single day, and he’s the one I rely on,” Thompson said. 

Buffalo Sabres’ Tage Thompson (72) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils in Newark, New Jersey, on Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

“I think when you have that sense of hope, the grace and the mercy that I receive every day from him is something that gives me peace and joy in life, no matter what I do. And he’s blessed me with this game and this opportunity to play the game I love at a high level, a beautiful family and friends, people surround me that I love. And I’m just very grateful.” 

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I think American hockey fans can confidently say they are grateful to Tage Thompson and all the players on the Team USA men’s hockey squad that helped deliver one of the most monumental gold medals in U.S. Winter Olympics history. 

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