Student Athletes Bag $1.77 Billion Payout

The College Sports Commission, which enforces athlete pay rules, said 307 top-tier Division I schools paid about 35K athletes across 45 sports.

A $2.8B lawsuit settlement first let schools pay athletes directly, up to $20.5M each, and 68 schools hit or neared that limit.

The Senate passed a bill that would more than double the cap to about $48M per school, though it still needs House approval.

Ad spending could nearly triple from $350M this year as Fanatics, a distant third with 10% share, chases top betting apps DraftKings and FanDuel.

Fanatics, best known for sports merchandise and trading cards, expects revenue to jump 40% to about $14B this year, including $2B from betting.

Michael Rubin says $2B in spare cash this year and no debt let privately held Fanatics absorb betting losses without short-term investor pressure.

The 22-year-old basketball phenomenon refused to promote gambling, choosing to protect his reputation as a positive role model for young fans.

His stance contrasts with peers like LeBron James, who recently signed a $15M yearly partnership with the popular prediction platform Polymarket.

This decision challenges the basketball league's growing reliance on gambling, a booming US industry that generated a record $17B in 2025.

Tuesday's season debut on sports network ESPN averaged 747K viewers, a slight 3% drop from last year due to an earlier start date.

The broadcast faced tough ratings competition from Major League Baseball and women's professional basketball playoff games, which drew larger audiences exceeding 1.4M.

Viewership recovered on Wednesday, with the TNT television network averaging 587K viewers to score a massive 58% increase over last year's comparable games.

The NBA had targeted 2028-29 for new Las Vegas and Seattle teams, its first since 2004; a later start is only under discussion.

Timing likely depends on whether the team uses a $400M renovated T-Mobile Arena, home of hockey's Golden Knights, or a new $2B arena.

Three groups, including a Walmart heir and Golden Knights owner Bill Foley, are bidding, and the winner could spend $11B-$12B with a new arena.

Real Madrid says rival club Barcelona paid up to €7.4M over nearly 20 years to José María Enríquez Negreira, then a senior refereeing official.

Real Madrid argues the payments threaten fair competition and wants UEFA, European football's governing body, to reach a decision urgently.

Barcelona denies wrongdoing, says it paid for refereeing reports, and notes UEFA has opened no new case beyond its 2023 probe.

A survey by financial help firm National Debt Relief found 65% of regular Gen Z gamblers bet to clear their debts.

Rising living costs and digital subscriptions are pushing young adults toward mobile betting apps as a desperate shortcut for financial relief.

This trend recently drove 8.1K calls to a North Carolina problem gambling hotline, increasing public pressure on lawmakers to strengthen consumer protections.