The NCAA's $300M Legal Bill

The NCAA, which governs US college sports, paid $63.5M in legal fees in FY25, bringing its five-year total for outside lawyers to $292.6M.

Law firm Wilkinson Stekloff earned the most at nearly $19.6M for defending the NCAA in the House antitrust case, settled in 2025.

Settlement payouts ran even higher, hitting $372.3M in FY25 and over $3B across two years, largely back pay owed to athletes.

The college sports program reached this milestone with over $30M in ticket sales, though operating expenses will also hit an all-time high.

Athletic Director Josh Whitman stated the school must find new income sources to fund upcoming revenue-sharing agreements with student-athletes.

Highlighting strong fan demand, season tickets for the men's basketball team are expected to completely sell out using only the current waitlist.

Lukas Walton, grandson of the Walmart founder, bought a share of the NBA team and its arena for an undisclosed price.

The billionaire Reinsdorf family, who bought the team in 1985, will keep majority control of the franchise.

The Bulls are currently valued at $6B.

A recent legal settlement capped direct player pay at $20.5M, but top schools added $13.5M in outside endorsements to stay competitive.

Sports data company Opendorse reports that athletic departments bypassed limits by securing extra funding from external brand sponsors and private collectives.

To dodge oversight from the new College Sports Commission, schools paid athletes early, pushing future football roster costs toward $40M.

Mixed martial arts league UFC estimates international fans pushed the event to 34M viewers, making it one of its most-watched broadcasts ever.

Streaming platform Paramount+ initially reported 7M US viewers, but adding global television markets and pay-per-view buys significantly increased the final count.

The international soccer tournament drew over 4.6M fans and recorded 44 sold-out games across 72 matches during its opening round.

The New York and New Jersey stadium saw the largest crowds, hosting over 403K total fans across its five games.

Ecuador led all teams with nearly 218K supporters, while the US Men's National Team sold out all three matches.

Dave Portnoy founded digital media giant Barstool Sports to escape a boring corporate sales job that paid him $80K a year.

The brand began as a chaotic print newspaper before growing into a massive online entertainment company followed religiously by young men.

Portnoy reveals the messy early days of building the business and his eventual multi-million-dollar stake sale in his upcoming memoir.