Can 1-on-1 change women's basketball?

Plus: An announcing head-scratcher, Tom Brady's latest surprise, and our first LinkedIn shout-out

Welcome back to Club Sportico, where we break down the intersection of sports and money—with an extra bit of humor and opinion. Here’s a six-pack of items to heal your Super Bowl hangover.

The Sportico Story of the Week 💰: Sportico released our annual ranking of the 100 highest-paid athletes this week. Not a single woman made the list, despite the ongoing boom in women’s sports (the top female earner, Coco Gauff, would’ve been 125th on a longer list). The top women made 27% more in 2024 than they did in 2023, but the cutoff to crack the century mark has moved much higher as salaries explode along with TV deals in men’s sports.

There are several more fascinating angles in Kurt’s writeup, but one I’ve been thinking about a lot is the gerontocracy atop the list on the men’s side. Is this a generational fluke, or the new normal?

The Non-Sportico Story of the Week ⚽️: It’s increasingly clear that the Premier League’s Big Six era is over, as rising revenues and ambitious owners lift England’s second strata of clubs into international contention. Nottingham Forest has been the most recent riser to bust down the door.

What Made Me Laugh 🤡: Karl Ravech: smart guy, great broadcaster. I still don’t understand how this stat made air—and it cracks me up every time I listen to him deliver it.