The New York Knicks clinched the series with a Game 5 win on Saturday evening in San Antonio, winning their first NBA Finals in more than half a century when they edged out the San Antonio Spurs with a score of 94-90.
They ended the first quarter down 10 points, with 13 to the Spurs’ 23, but by halftime, they had cut their deficit in half. They began the second half with 37 to the Spurs’ 42 — and trailed them until the final moments of the fourth quarter, finally tying up the score at 83-83 with 4:25 left in the game. The Spurs didn’t make it easy for them, scoring almost immediately — but the Knicks pulled ahead with 3:40 left, 86-85, and the two teams traded blows until the clock ran out.
Going into Saturday night’s game, New York was already leading the series three games to one. They won their first matchup on June 3 (105-95) and the second on June 5 (105-104). The Spurs notched a win on June 8 (115-111), but the Knicks delivered a record-setting comeback in Game 4 to win (107-106).
After the first quarter of Game 4, the Knicks were already down by 19 — the biggest first-quarter disadvantage in NBA Finals history for the home team — and by halftime things were looking bleak. Another record-setting deficit, this time at 27 points — and then in the second half, the Spurs widened their lead to 29 points. 
The comeback — driven largely by power forward OG Anunoby and guard Jalen Brunson — delivered the final basket with just 1.2 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. San Antonio did not even have time to attempt one last shot.
And so the Knicks headed to Texas for Game 5. If they had not pulled out the victory on Saturday, they would have returned to their home court at Madison Square Garden for Game 6.
The last time the Knicks won the NBA finals was 1973, when they bested the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one.

Knicks Fans Gather Around NYC To Watch Game 4 Of The NBA Finals Against The San Antonio Spurs

Knicks Run Away With First NBA Finals Win In 53 Years

Basketball

New York Knicks

Sports

Spurs

New Yorkers may not get the chance to attend NBA Finals Game 5 — which could be the last game of the championship series — thanks to a rule blocking out-of-town fans from purchasing tickets to the San Antonio-based game.
A Ticketmaster warning shows sales for Game 5, which might see the New York Knicks win the NBA Finals for the first time in 53 years, are limited to fans within a 150-mile radius of the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas.
“Residency will be based on credit card billing address,” the warning reads. “Orders by residents outside of a 150-mile radius of Frost Bank Center will be canceled without notice and refunds given.”
The Ticketmaster rule has been in effect for the entire playoffs, according to social media users. Other ticket sites, however, including StubHub and SeatGeek, do not appear to restrict ticket sales to specific locations.
The New York Knicks currently lead the series 3-1 over the San Antonio Spurs. If the Knicks win Game 5, the team will secure the NBA title for the first time since 1973. If the team loses, the series will return to Madison Square Garden for Game 6.
This is the Knicks’ first Finals appearance since 1999, when the New York team lost to the Spurs. The Spurs’ last appeared in the NBA Finals in 2014, when the team defeated the Miami Heat to win the championship.
Despite the roadblock from Ticketmaster, fans from New York and New Jersey have already purchased 45% of Game 5 tickets, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/12/sports/new-york-new-jerseys-knicks-fans-bought-50-of-tickets-for-game-5-in-san-antonio/">as reported by</a> the New York Post. According to the Post, some New Yorkers bought Game 5 tickets because they were cheaper than tickets to Madison Square Garden, the Post reported.
The cheapest seats for Game 5 cost around $1,000 on Ticketmaster, while the best seats cost anywhere from $10,000 to $36,000.
In contrast, the cheapest tickets for Game 3 at Madison Square Garden cost around $5,000 — with courtside tickets going for as much as $100,000, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/knicks-star-calls-out-crazy-ticket-prices-for-nba-finals-see-how-much-fans-spent">reported</a>.
Win or lose, the Knicks have already made history in their Finals run. The team won Game 4 with a 29-point comeback, the largest in NBA Finals history.

Ticketmaster Rule Could Lock Some Knicks Fans Out Of Game 5

San Antonio

The internet and streaming platforms haven’t just left a mark on Hollywood-style entertainment; the sports industry has felt the waves: a rushing tide that swept up cable behemoths like ESPN and publications like Sports Illustrated — even newspapers such as The Washington Post no longer carry separate sports sections. In just a few years, the industry that cultivated and created stars turned to the internet to recruit them. This is one of many changes to an ecosystem that dominates an increasing share of Americans’ time and attention each year, judging by NFL viewership numbers alone. Gambling, fantasy leagues, college transfer portals, and media startups have contributed to an evolution in sports and are the topics of discussion for DW’s Weekend Punch interview with Outkick founder, Fox News contributor, and Tennessee die-hard fan Clay Travis.
***
Ben Domenech: Obviously, you have just achieved something pretty significant when it comes to the world of sports media with OutKick. You were one of the OG people to recognize the space that existed that wasn&#8217;t being filled. How do you think about that sports media landscape now, and what do you think is different when you started OutKick?
Clay Travis: Good question. When we started OutKick, there was much more of a written marketplace for original content. If you remember back in those days, you might go to Deadspin, you might go to Grantland, or Kissing Suzy Kolber. It was the heyday of interesting written content that was being produced on a regular basis. That doesn&#8217;t really exist now.
The blogosphere was still a thing. Video hadn&#8217;t completely taken over, and everybody didn&#8217;t have one-minute social media clips that they were being inundated with on TikTok, Instagram, or even Twitter, where the virality has all gone video. I still think much of the news cycle was dictated by what people wrote rather than what people said. That&#8217;s the biggest thing I see as different in the marketplace right now compared to when we started.
BD: When you see the landscape now, what are you surprised by in terms of either the success or the failure of the worldwide leader to adapt to the changing cultural moment and priorities of fans?
CT: It used to be the case that ESPN made stars. And I actually think ESPN is now reflective of the larger marketplace. Other than maybe Fox News and maybe Netflix, I&#8217;m not sure anyone makes stars anymore, other than the internet and maybe YouTube, but you don&#8217;t have big media companies that deputize you and say, &#8220;You are now a star.&#8221;
One of my favorite stories back in the day was right before the show “Friends” made its debut. The entire cast went out together in Las Vegas, and one of the show&#8217;s creators was there with them and said, &#8220;This will be the last time that you guys can go out to dinner for the rest of your lives.&#8221; And you are going to be on after “Seinfeld,” you&#8217;re going on NBC, it’s a sitcom that everyone is going to see, and you are going to go from normal people to luminescent stars overnight.
That kind of world doesn&#8217;t exist. You can see it in the rise of Pat McAfee, where ESPN had to go hire people who were already famous. You can see it in the success that the Barstool guys have had. I still think of myself as a guy who came out of the internet, and you have to compete against everybody when you come out of the internet. You don&#8217;t get deputized, and someone doesn&#8217;t say, &#8220;Oh, this guy&#8217;s going to matter because we&#8217;re putting him on a show and there are very limited numbers of shows.&#8221; In fact, it&#8217;s kind of a fun question. Who is the last person in sports media to become famous from television? It used to be that you would find a Stephen A. Smith or a Michael Wilbon or a Tony Kornheiser columnist —  people who had had an opportunity to write, did radio, and then you put them on television.
That pathway doesn&#8217;t seem to exist for ESPN other than maybe, again, Fox News and Netflix.
BD: We&#8217;ve just seen the takeover of Hollywood and the box office by two creators in the horror space who came out of YouTube. Do you think at some point there will be a similar crossover effect from these YouTube personalities to a greater degree than it&#8217;s already happened, or are they their own animals and will stay within that lane just because of the nature of what they do?
CT: I think if you can make money, Hollywood and every other media company is going to find ways to make money more than they otherwise would. For example, I’m utterly fascinated that Star Wars, which has been popular since 1977, was dominated by two YouTube guys, even though Star Wars obviously had a 50-year head start on them in terms of recognizing the marketplace. And so I think what it represents is every generation wants to find its new people, and I think YouTube is more experimental, and when you&#8217;re more experimental, you can find out what works quicker than a lot of big companies can. If they&#8217;re totally wrong, they lose hundreds of millions of dollars. If a YouTuber is totally wrong, they might lose a few hundred thousand dollars. And so the scale of success is massive for them, but the risk that&#8217;s put on the table is tiny, and most big companies have the reverse.
BD: Let’s talk about those big companies. They&#8217;ve made huge bets on sports rights across the board, rights that are continually getting more expensive. Those costs are being passed on to consumers. You testified about this on Capitol Hill. What is the actual solution that doesn&#8217;t require some kind of breakup or major disruption that would be difficult for the marketplace to handle? Or is that something that&#8217;s going to have to happen if we&#8217;re ever going to get back to a point where people can afford to watch as many games as they want?
CT: What surprised me is the degree to which Republicans and Democrats across the political spectrum were furious with what NFL games cost now. The NFL is very popular and powerful, but there definitely seems to be the sense that fans are being gouged and that anger over affordability and access is also declining. I think this is a bad combination for the NFL.
It&#8217;s funny, I have said for some time — and I think it&#8217;s probably going to end up being the reality of where we end up — that somebody&#8217;s going to try to put together a bundle of streaming services, which just recreates what we had when we had the bundle of cable channels, and it was a great deal. Everybody with one remote control could sit and watch every game. You could jump from one to another. I have argued for a long time that fans really didn&#8217;t understand how good we had it back then. If you compare the fan experience watching games to 2012, for instance, back when we started OutKick, I think it was way better.
It was way easier to find your favorite teams. It was way more affordable. The analogy I used in my testimony earlier this week on Capitol Hill was this: I&#8217;m sure you remember the first flat-screen television that you bought, which was crazy expensive. It had HD. It revolutionized the sports viewing experience. I was at Costco the other day. You can buy a massive flat-screen television for $700. So we have higher-quality television at a much more affordable price. Meanwhile, you&#8217;re paying way, way more for the sporting rights, and you&#8217;re getting much less. And again, that&#8217;s a bad combination.
BD: In terms of the decision that the NFL has made to go in all these different directions, particularly to require setting up their own coverage, their own teams, and their own announcers. And then of course, you add the overseas product and their hopes for extending the game around the world, which is getting bigger and bigger. Do you think that they&#8217;re risking diluting a product, or is the NFL just so big that they can do whatever the hell they want?
CT: They do risk diluting a product in some sense. In September, I&#8217;m very excited. I&#8217;ve got Thursday football, Friday football, Saturday football, Sunday football, and Monday football. And then after a few weeks, I&#8217;m thinking, &#8220;Man, I don&#8217;t really care that much about Monday Night Football.&#8221;
It used to be that when you just had Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, Monday Night Football was really a big deal. Now it&#8217;s not to that same extent. That&#8217;s a challenge for the NFL going forward in maximizing revenue without oversaturating the marketplace.
BD: The NFL has decided to embrace gambling — I&#8217;ve heard the first radio ads for betting on prediction markets this week, and they&#8217;re essentially described that way, which surprised me a little bit. Do you think there&#8217;s any risk of going too far in that direction of making the game seem more disposable because fans are less devoted to their teams in a way that echoes what happened to the NBA? Or where people just don&#8217;t care about their teams anymore — they just care about stars?
CT: It’s what the fantasy football world has created. For instance, my kids want to watch every game, and they have an incentive to do so. I do think the game itself can be threatened when you&#8217;re allowing prop bets to become too much of a storyline because players certainly can be corrupted, as we&#8217;ve seen, and the overall game itself can risk being bogged down by not whether someone performs at the absolute highest level or even whether a team wins, but whether someone scores a touchdown or makes a reception. And I do think the gamification of the game itself does lead to monetization, but I think you have to remain aware that the game is still the primary story, not how individual players perform.
BD: Senator Ted Cruz has a bipartisan bill that is advancing, which is pretty rare for him. On the question of reform for college sports, they describe it as saving college sports. It does many different things that have generated controversy, not necessarily among the people who you would think would be politically on one side or the other. What is your particular take, and do you think that this would be a step forward or would create so much complexity that it would be very difficult for the different schools, the different institutions, and teams to adapt?
CT: The number one thing they have to have is an antitrust exemption. You can just look at what happened with Brendan Sorsby versus Texas Tech. You can&#8217;t have individual federal district court judges making default policy rules for different teams in Texas compared to Florida, California, or Michigan. Everybody has to play by a uniform rule. Right now, every time you try to put a uniform rule in place, a player who is disadvantaged by that rule sues.
It used to be that college athletes like Maurice Clarett sued to get to the NFL faster. Now guys sue to be able to stay in college longer. The second-highest paid basketball league in the world, after the NBA, is college basketball. So all the best European players actually want to play college basketball. Illinois effectively had an Eastern European All-Star squad and nearly won the national championship with it. So you do have to figure out basic rules. How many years can somebody play? How many years can they transfer and give an organization or entity the ability to put those rules in place?
What Ted Cruz presents with the SCORE Act — figuring out how to get something that can pass both the House and the Senate that just has a very basic framework to allow rules to be put in place — is going to be necessary. The absence of any rules themselves at some point is leading to such a chaotic situation that college sports are on a sort of runaway train.
Do you remember “The Polar Express”? There’s a scene in that movie where the train track runs out, and the train hits the ice and starts to spin in every different direction, and you&#8217;re like, &#8220;What in the world&#8217;s going to happen here?&#8221; I think we&#8217;ve reached the point where the train track has run out, and we&#8217;ve got a train on ice, and we really don&#8217;t have any idea how to control it or where it&#8217;s headed.
BD: When it comes to your recommendations for our European friends who are navigating the country right now during the World Cup, what&#8217;s something that those folks who are trying to go viral haven&#8217;t checked out yet?
CT: That they saw Buc-ee’s is pretty crazy. Somebody tweeted that Lionel Messi played in College Station before the University of Georgia did. I&#8217;m sure you saw that they brought out the War Eagle at Auburn for the Iceland versus Argentina game, if I remember correctly. It’s wild. I think the sheer immensity of America, when it comes to places, just walking into a Publix and looking at how many different types of peanut butter we have. I just think that the European mind doesn&#8217;t comprehend how much incredible excess we have. There&#8217;s that great stat where the British were actually told how poor they were compared to the poorest American states, and they just really had no understanding or comprehension of that.
BD: What’s the most underrated storyline in sports media today?
CT: The degree to which there aren&#8217;t very many successful sports media companies, period. right? There was a time when ESPN employed a lot of people who worked on ESPN.com. Hunter S. Thompson used to write at ESPN.com. — Bill Simmons. I started talking with you about the lack of writers. It used to be that writers drove content conversation and discussion in a significant way. There&#8217;s almost no one writing interesting opinion pieces now, and I think sports media suffers as a result.
BD: Should we feel happy for Timothée Chalamet, or has he led a life that is so charmed that we are allowed to hate him for being so happy?
CT: It reminds me of how today’s young Boston sports fans have won so many championships, creating an embarrassment of riches, which is such a dichotomy between everyone else. If you grew up from 1950 to 2000, Boston won almost nothing. If you were born after 1990 or 2000, all you&#8217;ve seen is Boston win. The guy&#8217;s got everything going for him and doesn&#8217;t seem to be wearing too many stresses on his shoulders.

Punch — Clay Travis-horizontal

Sports Media Used To Make Stars — Now It Doesn’t Know How

Barstool Sports

Clay Travis

DW Opinion

ESPN

Fantasy Sports

Outkick

Sports gambling

Ted Cruz

Weekend Punch

Six-time major champion Phil Mickelson has been kicked out of his longtime California golf club after a female employee accused him of making inappropriate physical contact with her earlier this year.
Mickelson, 55, is no longer a member at The Farms Golf Club outside San Diego, where the three-time Masters champion has played and practiced for decades, according to <a href="https://www.golfdigest.com/story/phil-mickelson-inappropriate-contact-female-club-employee-the-farms">Golf Digest</a>.
The woman, who does not want to be identified, said the incident occurred this spring. She declined to speak with Golf Digest.
Sources familiar with the situation told Golf Digest that Mickelson approached the female employee inside the clubhouse and made nonconsensual, inappropriate physical contact. The employee rejected his advances and later reported the incident to a supervisor.
Club officials immediately began reviewing the accusation and launched an investigation. According to the report, investigators located Mickelson during his round, informed him of the accusation, and asked him to leave the property.
Mickelson, who has been away from professional golf since February while attending to a family medical issue, also declined to comment directly. His spokesperson provided a statement to the outlet.
&#8220;Any misunderstanding has been cleared up,&#8221; it said. &#8220;Phil continues to attend to a family health matter and is uncertain when he will be able to return to professional golf.&#8221;
The Farms Golf Club confirmed that Mickelson is &#8220;no longer a member.&#8221;
&#8220;The Farms Golf Club is committed to maintaining a golf club environment that is safe, respectful, and reflects the highest standards of conduct,&#8221; the club said in a statement.
The club added that it conducted an independent investigation, provided support to the employee, and took &#8220;decisive action.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/will-a-saudi-funded-golf-league-survive-despite-low-ratings-and-low-cash">RELATED: Will A Saudi-Funded Golf League Survive Despite Low Ratings And Low Cash?</a>

LIV Golf Chicago – Day One

Phil Mickelson Kicked Out Of Golf Club For Inappropriate Contact

California

Golf

News

Through the magic of sports, we have the <a href="https://www.al.com/news/2026/06/the-real-star-of-alabamas-world-cup-match-freddy-from-germany-and-his-1-am-buc-ees-dinner.html">following actual headline in Alabama media</a>:
<blockquote>
The real star of Alabama’s World Cup match? Freddy from Germany and his 1 a.m. Buc-ee’s dinner
</blockquote>
My most requested topic this week is not this classic NBA Finals. Instead, it’s this sudden genre of “Awestruck Europeans traveling through the USA heartland.”
Apparently, due to the World Cup, an event that arguably means less to Americans than the aforementioned Finals or even your standard NFL playoff game, we’ve been invaded by gawking Euros. These visitors see our land through a different lens, excitedly consuming flyover state bounties we often take for granted. This is like if a thousand Alexis de Tocquevilles applied their observations to Bass Pro Shops.
Is this now viral commentary authentic? Flattering? Condescending? Is “Freddy from Germany” even real? Maybe not, but in a way, yes.
With now-famous German fan FreddyLA7, who’s notable enough to receive <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DZbIPP7vCHs/">tourism assistance from NFL great JJ Watt</a>, there’s some mystery here:
<blockquote>
He apparently started his X account back in the days when it was known as Twitter in 2021. His X account states he’s based in Germany (according to X, “The country or region that an account is based can be impacted by recent travel or temporary relocation. This data may not be accurate and can change periodically.”). He’s got a verified account, but all that means is that he pays for it. He’s had four username changes since September 2024.
</blockquote>
Some cynics, <a href="https://x.com/sportsrapport/status/2064712970744053765?s=42">including those who regularly visit this podcast</a>, view the emergent onslaught of Freddys as plausibly part of some astroturfed campaign to raise pro-Murica sentiment during these festivities. The softer cynical theory is just that these Euros have found an easy template for positive Internet engagement. Maybe AleksanderGunner89 doesn’t really like Costco that much. Perhaps what he really likes is all the likes he gets from liking Costco.
And why are we Americans so generously handing out that Internet engagement? Aren’t we infamously incurious about the broader world’s judgment? My take is, contrived or not, the America-loving visitors are tapping into an understandable want.
I think these football tourists landed on a market inefficiency that I first noticed back in March, when the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-03-30/japanese-x-is-now-america-s-favorite-corner-of-the-internet">Twitter/X translation feature revealed an entire Japanese subculture of USA fetishization</a>. Those Japanese X users were into the cowboy hats and BBQ, and Americans aware of this phenomenon were mostly tickled by it. Growing up, I associated the export of our brand with gleaming Manhattan skyscrapers. To many around the world, their America was the version Billy Crystal and his New York friends sought in &#8220;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Slickers">City Slickers</a>.&#8221;
The prevalent Japanese view of USA culture reminded me of that old 2004 election meme of describing the divide in our nation as between the <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/jesusland">United States of Canada vs. Jesusland</a>. These Japanese America lovers betrayed little interest in the United States of Canada. It seems they preferred Jesusland, or perhaps more currently, Trumpland, a profound source of embarrassment to an American traveler type who craves an image of worldly sophistication. The Japanese Americana moment turned this sore subject on its head. Japan, a high-status travel destination for our coastal elites, contained people who saw high status in what many here regard as low culture. They saw something to be proud of in archetypes that my friends and neighbors view as intrinsically embarrassing.
Now the visiting Euros are putting an additional spin on this. The Japanese were in love with an image, whereas the charmed Europeans are more like <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryPorn/comments/17rbb5z/boris_yeltsin_visits_a_grocery_store_in_houston/">Boris Yeltsin at the Houston grocery store</a>. Yes, France might have given the world “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O--ZUZ7JINM&amp;t=2s">democracy, existentialism, and the ménage à trois</a>.” But America invented the <a href="https://x.com/CCPISASSH0E/status/2065169049349194101/video/1?s=46">free refill</a>.
You arrive here and of course aren’t easily finding your way to a cattle drive. The real America isn’t necessarily the one spotlighted in the TV series “Yellowstone.” Instead, it’s a vast expanse of commercialized abundance. It’s the biggest Bass Pro Shops. It’s the Wisconsin Dells water parks. While our elites fetishize the “walkable” European city, World Cup Europeans are gobsmacked by the scale and splendor of the drivable USA safari.
For whatever we lack, we also have a lot of space and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rDTRuCOs9g&amp;t=1s">stuff</a>. It’s easy to see the flaw in a culture that revolves around consumption, but it’s also easy to take stuff, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/02/climate/europe-air-conditioning-heat-wave-intl-latam">like air conditioning</a>, for granted. We have poverty, of course. We have gun crime, infamously. We also have a middle class with access to wonders unimaginable to many around the planet. “Freedom” is a well-worn American cliché, but clichés exist for a reason.
There’s so much negativity out there in high culture about our nation, from our own elites and elites abroad. We’re at a current low point in Gallup’s “<a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/692150/american-pride-slips-new-low.aspx">Are You Proud to be an American?</a>” question, with much of the decline driven by liberals during this Trump era. That makes some sense, but let’s take a 30,000-foot view of that historic bottom:
<blockquote>
A record-low 58% of U.S. adults say they are “extremely” (41%) or “very” (17%) proud to be an American, down nine percentage points from last year and five points below the prior low from 2020.
</blockquote>
This means that a solid majority of Americans are still “extremely” or “very” proud to be an American. Where in the national news can they find feel-good stories that channel this sentiment? If you’re looking for smaller anecdotes, it’s not especially novel to see Murica-love voiced by a flag-waving Texan. It’s more fun to witness such positivity from the vantage of a <a href="https://x.com/RobertMSterling/status/2065178273441591515/video/1?s=46">cosplaying World Cup Brit</a>.
In conclusion, yes, there might be an aspect of contrivance to the current praise of our country from this influx of visitors. There&#8217;s also a real, mostly unmet yearning for that kind of admiration. Perhaps <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3Ng6DQ_7Q0">Buc-ee’s isn’t really the best we have to offer</a>. But our country offers a whole lot to a great many, and there’s something glorious about the size and color of the American mundane.
***
This is republished with permission from the author. The original essay appears <a href="https://www.houseofstrauss.com/p/why-europeans-are-falling-in-love">here</a>.
Ethan Strauss is the creator of the Substack House of Strauss. He is a former NBA PR gopher, basketblogger, and NBA beat writer.

Buc-ee’s is a popular chain of stores and gas stations headquartered in Texas

Europeans Came To See The World Cup And Find America At Buc-ee’s

Buc-ee's

World Cup

During a hearing on the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 (SBA) Wednesday afternoon, Congress spoke out on the NFL’s antitrust exemption, arguing that the league is exploiting the law to make fans pay absurd prices across multiple streaming platforms to watch their favorite teams suit up.
The hearing followed a Monday <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/new-report-sports-broadcasting-act-special-interest-antitrust-exemption-gone">press release</a> from the House Judiciary Committee, accusing the NFL of veering away from the original intent of the law created 65 years ago. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), chair of the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, voiced his concerns.
“Sixty five years later, however, it is fair for this body to ask whether the professional sports leagues have kept up their end of the bargain,” Fitzgerald stated. “In my opinion, they have not, and sports fans are paying the price because of it.”
To watch every game in 2026, it costs nearly $800 across nine different streaming services. 
Originally, the NFL benefited from making as much money in media as possible for “revenue-sharing arrangements” to keep competitive balance alive, but the league is not in the same financial position now as it was in 1961. Both Fox Corp. and Fitzgerald argue that the SBA was never intended to allow the NFL to distribute the media rights across numerous platforms for its own benefit. 
“The Sports Broadcasting Act was designed to facilitate the distribution of games through free over-the-air television,” he explained. “It was not intended to provide a perpetual shield for leagues to coordinate the sale of media rights across every new technology and distribution platform that emerges.”
The question that arises is whether or not fans really benefit from the SBA, given how watching sports has drastically changed over the years. Congress will now have to make a decision on whether they are going to revise the antitrust exemption, leave it as is, or ban it altogether.

NFL streaming

The NFL’s Subscription Maze May Have Finally Met Its Match

A year ago, MAGA champion and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) fired a shot across the bow, <a href="https://www.outkick.com/sports/jim-jordan-targets-sports-broadcasting-act-urges-nfl-mlb-nba-nhl-commissioners-testify">calling on all major league sports commissioners</a> to be honest about how the changing sports-viewing landscape affects fans. He made clear that Congress was watching as America’s sports leagues quietly moved more games behind expensive streaming paywalls, pricing out the working fans who fill the stands, pack the bars, and enthusiastically tune in to support their teams. It was a warning.
The leagues mostly shrugged. They should have listened.
On Monday, June 8, the Committee’s GOP majority released a new <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/new-report-sports-broadcasting-act-special-interest-antitrust-exemption-gone">report</a> debunking the leagues’ talking points defending the move to streaming. According to the hard-hitting review, “the NFL&#8217;s claim of a fan-friendly distribution model defies the reality experienced by millions of NFL fans.” The report continues, “the NFL&#8217;s current model of placing games behind a paywall, especially through its Sunday Ticket offering, is harming consumers &#8230;”
The concerns of consumers will be front and center on Wednesday when the antitrust subcommittee hears testimony on whether the Sports Broadcasting Act’s antitrust exemption is being twisted to harm consumers and benefit leagues’ bottom lines.
This is a smart and timely move by Chairman Jordan and subcommittee chairman Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI). Since his letter last year, other <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/gop-senator-calls-revision-federal-law-sports-fans-pay-big-outrageous-streaming-prices">Republican leaders have followed</a>, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has opened <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/03/04/2026-04286/media-bureau-seeks-comment-on-sports-broadcasting-practices-and-marketplace-developments">a review</a>, and the Department of Justice has launched an <a href="https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/nfl-investigation-justice-department-8835a936">investigation into potential anticompetitive practices by the NFL</a>.
Most importantly, President Donald Trump himself said in a recent <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/donald-trump-claims-nfl-fans-160038775.html">interview</a>: “You have people that live for Sunday. They can’t think about anything else, and then all of a sudden they’re gonna have to pay $1,000 a game. It’s crazy, so I’m not happy about it.”
Where the administration and allies in Congress stand is clear: Putting fans first is America first.
“$4,785. That’s How Much It Costs to Be a Sports Fan Now,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/opinion/sports-nba-mlb-leagues-streaming-fan.html">according to</a> sports journalist Joon Lee. To watch every NFL game last season, die-hard fans needed subscriptions to nine different channels and streaming platforms, <a href="https://clark.com/streaming-tv/watch-nfl-cost-2025/">totaling more than $750</a>. A recent <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/fox-news-poll-fans-say-paywalled-sports-out-bounds">Fox News national survey</a> confirmed that nearly 6 in 10 sports fans say they’ve skipped watching a game because it was too expensive, with one-third saying this has happened “many times.” And it’s not just happening in living rooms. Restaurants and bars, where watching the game is a community ritual, are equally frustrated — in fact, a restaurant owner will be one of the witnesses at Wednesday’s hearing.
The leagues and Silicon Valley streamers are driving a wedge between fans and the teams they love. And as always, it hits hardest on families who can’t afford a different subscription for every sport, every platform, every week.
The league’s antitrust exemption was a product of <a href="https://x.com/BullMooseProj/status/2062578265697456525">its time</a>, and even then, it wasn’t supposed to be a blank check. Courts have been explicit: that exemption covers free, sponsored telecasting, not pay TV, not satellite, not streaming. The leagues have been exploiting a regulatory no-man’s-land, benefiting from an antitrust shield while shifting games to platforms that sit outside it.
Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner who presides over the most lucrative sports league in the world, was invited to testify but decided to skip the hearing. The image of an empty chair with a nameplate reading “Roger Goodell” may not materialize on C-Span, but his decision to decline the chairman’s request speaks volumes.
That’s been the NFL’s playbook. When the FCC opened its review, the NFL didn’t engage until the last minute, while the other major leagues didn’t participate at all. The strategy is transparent: run out the clock, hope the political heat fades, and keep the money flowing.
But fan frustration isn’t dissipating. Every Sunday when a family can’t find the game, every bar owner who loses customers because the right subscription costs too much, every working-class fan priced out of a sport their family has followed for generations, that frustration will land somewhere. It will manifest in town halls, polling data, and ultimately in hearings like this one.
The league’s bet is that Washington’s attention span is shorter than their lawyers’ patience. That’s a bad bet, especially as the NFL makes things worse by moving next season’s holiday games online.
Sports is a national love affair, not merely another consumer product. The leagues thrive because of their social contract with the American people. Fans give them their loyalty, their money, and their Sundays. The leagues return that love with exciting action available to everybody. That’s the premise behind the telecast exemption.
Now the leagues are abandoning that deal in slow motion, and Congress is right to throw the flag. And fans, who have been patient long enough, are right to demand that policymakers protect their interests.
***
Daniel Suhr is the president of the Center for American Rights, a nonprofit, public interest law firm dedicated to protecting Americans’ most fundamental, constitutional rights.

Oklahoma City Thunder v Minnesota Timberwolves

How Trump Is Blocking The Goalposts For Sports’ Most Lucrative Deals

streaming

President Donald Trump could be courtside for Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday at Madison Square Garden.
The New York native describes himself as a lifelong Knicks fan, and Trump secured an invite from team owner James Dolan to the Finals last week, though he never specified which game.
But now the plans appear to be taking shape. The New York Post reported that Trump plans to attend the June 8 matchup between the Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs at MSG. Venue officials have already conducted security walk-throughs in preparation for a potential presidential visit.
&#8220;I was going to go on Wednesday [Game 5 of Eastern Conference Finals], but they closed it out very quickly,&#8221; Trump told <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/03/sports/president-trump-plans-to-attend-game-3-at-msg-as-knicks-host-first-nba-finals-contest-in-27-years/">The Post</a>. &#8220;They&#8221;re great, and Jim Dolan&#8217;s a great guy. He’s, as you know, owns and in charge of Madison Square Garden. He&#8217;s having a good year.&#8221;
The White House has yet to confirm any plans for Trump to attend the game.
New York City Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani said last week that he would not attend the game with Trump if the president makes the trip. The Knicks are making their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999, when they also faced the Spurs.
&#8220;If the president went to a game, I’d let him, that’s his decision to make. If I go to the game, I’ll be doing so separately,&#8221; Mamdani told <a href="https://x.com/TMZ/status/2060047324328378734?s=20">TMZ</a>.
Mamdani attended Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, purchasing his own ticket and sitting in the upper level of MSG.
Despite their political differences, Mamdani said Thursday that one thing he and Trump have in common is wanting the Knicks to win the NBA championship.
The Finals would be the latest major sporting event attended by Trump. He attended Super Bowl LIX, the 2026 College Football Playoff championship in Miami, and several regular-season college football games. Before his return to the White House, Trump made time for the primetime NFL matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets just days before the 2024 election.
The highly anticipated NBA Finals tip off Wednesday in San Antonio, where the Spurs host the first two matchups. The Knicks enter the championship series on an 11-game win streak, while the Spurs are coming off a battle in the Western Conference Finals, where San Antonio took down the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 to advance.

Credit: Roberto Schmid/Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Trump Is Headed To New York’s Hottest Ticket

Knicks

New York

Trump

Zohran Mamdani

An emerging clash over the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) has placed former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) on opposite sides of a major debate over the future of college athletics.
As lawmakers considered the legislation on Wednesday, the CBC sent a letter urging senators to delay consideration of the bill until college athletics leadership breaks its “silence” on what the caucus called &#8220;ongoing attacks on black political representation&#8221; — a reference to Southern redistricting <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/republicans-revolt-and-hand-dems-stunning-win-against-trumps-redistricting">efforts</a> the CBC claims dilute black voting power.
The CBC sent the letter as the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing, where Saban testified in support of the legislation and argued that Congress must establish a national framework for collegiate sports.
“Congress does need to fix the mess in the courts and create a national framework so the people inside college sports can enforce fair rules,” Saban said in his opening <a href="https://x.com/RossDellenger/status/2062132922505740482">sworn statement</a>. “Without that legal certainty, every rule becomes another lawsuit, every standard becomes another risk, and the system keeps drifting toward a professional model without ever admitting that is what is happening.”
WATCH FROM TODAY’S EPISODE OF MORNING WIRE:
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The CBC argued that Congress should not provide additional protections or legal certainty to college athletic institutions until their leadership both speaks out against supposed efforts to weaken black voting power in the South and engages on the caucus&#8217;s concerns about the legislation, including athlete protections and institutional accountability.
“Until college athletics leadership demonstrates a willingness to both engage on these issues and take concrete action in support of the communities that have contributed so much to their success,” the CBC <a href="https://cbc.house.gov/uploadedfiles/cbc_letter_regarding_protect_college_sports_act.pdf">wrote</a>, “Congress should refrain from advancing legislation that would provide additional protections, authorities, benefits, or legal certainty to these institutions.”
The caucus further urged lawmakers to pause consideration of the bill until those concerns are addressed.
Saban, meanwhile, emphasized what he sees as the urgency of congressional action amid ongoing changes in the college sports landscape.
“It’s become an arms race, who spends the most has got the best chance to win,” Saban told the Senate. “But I think it’s a race to the bottom because if you don’t spend to win, you lose your fan base and you don’t have any revenue.”
The proposed legislation has also divided major athletic conferences.
The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 Conference have endorsed the bill, while the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten Conference have raised concerns about key provisions.
In a joint statement, the SEC and Big Ten thanked Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) for their work on the legislation but argued that significant issues remain unresolved.
“It does not meaningfully preempt the patchwork of state laws or provide the protections needed to make and enforce consistent rules, both essential to long-term stability in college athletics,” the SEC and Big Ten explained in their <a href="https://x.com/PeteNakos/status/2061932342294307112?s=20">statement</a>. “It also shifts ongoing rulemaking to Congress, limiting the ability to adapt quickly as the landscape evolves.”

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: JAN 13 CFP National Championship – LSU v Clemson

Congressional Black Caucus Clashes With Legendary Football Coach Over Future Of College Sports

College Football

Congress

The Knicks have Timothée Chalamet, Kylie Jenner, Spike Lee … you get the picture.
There is no shortage of star power in Madison Square Garden. But tonight, the NBA Finals start in San Antonio, and the Spurs have something in Frost Bank Center that has captured the eyes and hearts of fans across the country — &#8220;The Spurs Nuns.&#8221;
The group of Catholic sisters has gone viral during the Spurs&#8217; 2026 NBA Playoff run for praying for the players and cheering their hearts out as the Spurs went on a Western Conference tear to make it to the Finals.
The Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco in San Antonio show up to home games decked out in Spurs jerseys over their habits. They cheer when Spurs star Victor Wembanyama nails a dunk typically only seen in video games. They sigh when the opposing team makes a three-pointer. They even take the time to bless the players, most recently backup center Luke Kornet, during pre-game warm-ups.
When they’re not in the arena watching basketball, they’re showing off their own basketball skills at the Catholic school where they use their Spurs knowledge to enhance their ministry with the children they serve.
&#8220;Our ministry is with young people, and we need to be able to converse with them and talk to them,&#8221; Sister Bernadette Mota told the <a href="https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/san-antonio-spurs-fans-nuns-salesian-22242330.php">San Antonio Express-News</a> in May. &#8220;I can talk basketball with the kids and it&#8217;s something that I&#8217;ve really enjoyed watching.&#8221;
The enjoyment is a two-way street with Spurs fans often taking pictures with the sisters before games, and when the group chose to stay in San Antonio instead of traveling to Oklahoma City for Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, Thunder fans playfully dressed up as &#8220;Spurs Nuns.&#8221;
While it’s easy to get caught up in the spectacle of nuns sitting courtside at an NBA game, the sisters take their Catholic practice seriously.
&#8220;Pre-game, we’re praying the rosary for peace (in communion with the Church and Pope Leo),&#8221; Mota told the San Antonio Express-News. &#8220;And we’ll add a special intention for the Spurs. God bless and Go Spurs Go!&#8221;
In a world of bandwagon fans, the Salesian Sisters have been die-hard for decades. Sister Mota says 20 years ago, there were elder sisters in their convent who would watch every Spurs game on TV. When those sisters passed, others in the convent carried on the tradition of being devoted fans of their hometown team, per <a href="https://sojo.net/articles/culture-interview/san-antonio-nuns-chanting-go-spurs-go-and-god-bless">Sojourners</a>.
<div id="attachment_1108113" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1108113" class="size-large wp-image-1108113" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-100-864x576.png" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-100-864x576.png 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-100-300x200.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-100-768x512.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-100.png 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco cheering on the Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals</div>
Ahead of Wednesday’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the sisters posted a 30-second video of kids from their ministry wearing Spurs gear and waving foam fingers as they cheered alongside the nuns. The short clip shows the world that what the sisters want more than social media lore is to share the love of Christ through basketball.
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&#8220;Our Salesian mission comes to life in beautiful moments like this!&#8221; the video caption states. &#8220;These precious moments remind us why presence matters, why Christ matters, and why our mission matters.&#8221;
&#8220;As we kick off Game 1 of the Finals tonight, we&#8217;re soaking in every moment together. Go, Spurs Go, and God bless!&#8221;

Credit: Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News via Getty Images

Meet The Nuns Who Pray For Spurs Players Before Every NBA Game

Catholicism

California girls were forced to share the podium with a trans-identifying boy yet again at the 106th CIF State Track &amp; Field Championships in Clovis over the weekend.
Controversial athlete AB Hernandez, born male, once again took home the hardware in the girls&#8217; triple jump and girls&#8217; high jump categories on Saturday, forcing the female athletes to share their spotlight.
The California Interscholastic Federation, known as CIF, also awards podium recognition to every girl who finished directly behind Hernandez, since California hasn’t kept men out of women’s sports.
The CIF&#8217;s policy left one side of the awards podium complete empty since the female athletes — who should have finished one spot higher if men weren’t allowed to compete — were all bumped up to their rightful spots during the ceremony.
The images of the empty fifth, seventh, and ninth place spots fueled the backlash from sports activists who in recent years have fought blue states on their trans policies for sports.
Jennifer Sey, founder of XX-XY Athletics, called out Hernandez’s victory over the weekend, showing support for Lelani Laruelle who came in second place in the high jump, but per California policy, was credited with the shared first-place spot.
&#8220;His feelings matter more than her abilities, her wins, her rights,&#8221; Sey wrote on <a href="https://x.com/JenniferSey/status/2061246212872044925?s=20">X</a>.
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&nbsp;
Ahead of the championship meet, Hernandez appeared in a video with Democrat California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer Friday morning before the preliminary round.
&#8220;I&#8217;m so proud of you for what you&#8217;re doing,&#8221; Steyer said in the <a href="https://x.com/TomSteyer/status/2060404639330451678?s=20">video</a>. &#8220;So proud of you for succeeding. So proud of you for competing.&#8221;
Hernandez’s mom appeared in the political video just weeks after she told the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/story/2026-05-14/mother-of-transgender-athlete-ab-hernandez-ready-for-protests">Los Angeles Times</a> &#8220;we knew we had to get ready&#8221; for criticism from groups that are trying to save women’s sports.
&#8220;I told AB, this is a election year,&#8221; Nereyda told the Times. &#8220;They’re gonna hit us hard, because they’re using us for their campaigns.&#8221;
In Hernandez’s appearance with Steyer in the campaign video, he complained that supporters of women’s sports knew what high school he attended. The name of the school is on his track uniform.
The temperature around Hernandez’s final high school meet was raised Saturday when two local California LGBTQ advocacy groups, Pride at the Pier and Rainbow Families Action, held a press conference outside of the venue to support Hernandez. Police were called to the scene as the supporters of Hernandez engaged in a &#8220;war of words” with activists from &#8220;Save Girls Sports,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/ab-hernandez-california-state-track-titles-final-meet">Fox News</a>.
The spotlight has been on the teenager for the last several years as he&#8217;s continued to dominate the women&#8217;s sport in the Golden State.
Though Hernandez’s high school career is over, the fight to keep men out of women’s sports continues with the help of the federal government. The Department of Justice sued the state of California last year over its trans athlete policies, with Hernandez’s district, Jurupa Unified, specifically being named in the Title IX lawsuit.

Credit: Tomas Ovalle / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The Trans Athlete Podium Photo That’s Infuriating Parents

transgender athlete

New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart recently came under fire from the Left — and one of his own <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/muslim-nfl-players-post-criticizing-pro-trump-teammate-backfires">teammates</a> — for introducing President Donald Trump at a rally, prompting the president to defend him this week. 
In an interview with <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/trump-backs-giants-qb-jaxson-dart-rally-appearance-backlash">Fox News</a>, Trump was asked about the controversy and began by complimenting Dart’s appearance and skill on the football field.
“I wished I looked just like Jaxson,” Trump said. “I said, is he a male model or what? He’s a handsome guy, like a beautiful guy, and a, you know, conservative guy… He’s potentially a good quarterback, he’s a young boy and he just really started. And when he’s in the game, he moves the team.”
Trump then said that the pushback from the Left will only increase Dart&#8217;s popularity among conservative Americans. 
“So, when Jaxson gets harassed a little bit, he’s also loved more, because we have more people than they do,” Trump said.
Dart has endured sharp backlash from the Left due to his appearance at the Suffern, New York, rally last Friday, including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/muslim-nfl-players-post-criticizing-pro-trump-teammate-backfires">criticism</a> from his Muslim teammate, edge rusher Abdul Carter.
Dart addressed his fellow teammates during a Tuesday team meeting to explain his actions and fix any conflict, and Carter has said that he and Dart have made up.
&#8220;Me &amp; JD6 are good!&#8221; he <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/articles/why-jaxson-dart-addressed-donald-140151172.html">wrote on X</a>. &#8220;We spoke earlier as Men. Y&#8217;all can keep y&#8217;all narratives.&#8221;
Dart has not vocally backed Trump, but he has liked many MAGA-related posts on social media, as well as posted in an Instagram story last year that he was praying for Charlie Kirk’s family after the famed political commentator’s assassination.
Dart is not the first New York Giant to support Trump at a rally. Former Giants players Lawrence Taylor and Ottis Anderson both <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgeLzZk4InE">joined</a> the president at a New Jersey rally in 2024.

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