A WNBA labor deal is finally (maybe?) close
Plus: The war in Iran, the undefeated RedHawks, and college sports reform-mogging
Here are six sports business items worthy of your attention at the start of the week…
“Deadline” of the Week 🏀: The WNBA has told its players that if there isn’t a new labor agreement by tomorrow, March 10, the upcoming season will be impacted. And though we at Club Sportico consider this to be yet another false deadline—one of many over the past six months—we’re finally getting close to ones that aren’t. The two sides have exchanged proposals in the last few days, indicating a new sense of urgency that didn’t exist at the end of 2025.
An agreement would likely take weeks to ratify, and the 2026 regular season is due to start on May 8. Before that there still needs to be a college draft, a two-team expansion draft, and a free agency period that covers more than half the league. Last week was a bad one for the union, at least optically, and I get a sense that we’re finally getting close. We’ve set the over/under for an agreement for 4 a.m. on March 16 (and the revenue-sharing over/under at 18%, not that we’re fully betting-brained).
Laugh of the Week🥤: I loved this clip, via @elpaditv, of Dominican Republic stars Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Juan Soto walking up to a press conference at the World Baseball Classic. Look at how smoothly and how quickly they both remove the green tea bottles placed up there by WBC sponsor Ito En 👇
Vlad Jr. has an endorsement deal with BodyArmour; Soto has a partnership with Celsius. No free ads!
Question of the Week: I’ve been asked a lot about how the war in Iran, and more specifically its expansion across the Middle East, might impact our industry. In the immediacy, for most fans, the answer is that it won’t. There are much bigger issues, like rising gas prices, to worry about there.
Inside our industry, however, the challenges are starting to mount. Anyone planning an event in the Middle East in the coming months is likely considering alternatives—just this morning, Fanatics moved its celebrity-laden Flag Football Classic from Riyadh to Los Angeles—and those events are typically backstopped via huge host checks. Formula 1 races scheduled for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in April are similarly in doubt. Aside from the immediate security uncertainty, many are wondering whether spending from the region slows down. If it does, that could impact everything from the NBA’s European franchise sales to private equity fundraising in the region and even, according to the Wall Street Journal, Jim Dolan’s plan to separate the Knicks and Rangers.1
Second Question of the Week: Is undefeated Miami (Ohio) guaranteed a spot in March Madness? The RedHawks secured a perfect regular season on Friday night with an overtime win over rival Ohio, but the team (31-0) currently sits at No. 91 in KenPom’s rankings thanks to its weak strength of schedule. As conference tournaments play out over the next week, many eyes across the sport will be on the MAC. Should Miami lose in that tournament, then fail to make the Big Dance, there will be a lot of people openly lamenting how business changes in college sports are killing the mid-major programs, and why the sport is losing its most fundamental charm.
Last week Matt Brown’s excellent Extra Points college newsletter used FOIA requests to show all the schools that Miami tried (and failed) to get onto its schedule. After his team lost the RedHawks on Friday, Ohio coach Jeff Boals discussed those challenges 👇
Silliness of the Week 🏛️: Speaking of chaos, last week President Donald Trump convened the first gathering of his roundtable to reform college sports. The group included many of the most influential people in both college and pro sports, but like many government committees, the public portion of the gathering was a mix of platitudes, grandstanding and uniformed proclamations. This particular moment, when Trump was told that the ruling he wants appealed was in fact appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court (and lost) encapsulates it perfectly 👇
In the coming weeks, this group will push for a framework that would give the NCAA an antitrust exemption from Congress. That’s been tried dozens of times over the past few years, all with the same result. I’m not holding my breath for this group, which includes 0 active college athletes, to get that done.
Sportico Story of the Week 🎖️: Among the many reasons the NCAA wants that exemption is the avalanche of antitrust lawsuits currently challenging the governing body, particularly around its eligibility rules. Last week, however, we saw a new kind of legal argument, from a Navy baseball player who claimed the fifth year that he’s seeking is a matter of national security (!). Our colleague Daniel Libit made this a national story.
Club Sportico is a community organized by Sportico, a digital media company launched in 2020 to cover the business side of sports. You can read breaking news, smart analysis, and in-depth features from Eben, Jacob and their colleagues at Sportico.com, and listen to the Sporticast podcast wherever you get your audio. Contact us at club@sportico.com.
nths—we’re finally getting close to ones that aren’t. The two sides have exchanged proposals in the last few days, indicating a new sense of urgency that didn’t exist at the end of 2025.
An agreement would likely take weeks to ratify, and the 2026 regular season is due to start on May 8. Before that there still needs to be a college draft, a two-team expansion draft, and a free agency period that covers more than half the league. Last week was a bad one for the union, at least optically, and I get a sense that we’re finally getting close. We’ve set the over/under for an agreement for 4 a.m. on March 16 (and the revenue-sharing over/under at 18%, not that we’re fully betting-brained).
Laugh of the Week🥤: I loved this clip, via @elpaditv, of Dominican Republic stars Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Juan Soto walking up to a press conference at the World Baseball Classic. Look at how smoothly and how quickly they both remove the green tea bottles placed up there by WBC sponsor Ito En 👇
Vlad Jr. has an endorsement deal with BodyArmour; Soto has a partnership with Celsius. No free ads!
Question of the Week: I’ve been asked a lot about how the war in Iran, and more specifically its expansion across the Middle East, might impact our industry. In the immediacy, for most fans, the answer is that it won’t. There are much bigger issues, like rising gas prices, to worry about there.
Inside our industry, however, the challenges are starting to mount. Anyone planning an event in the Middle East in the coming months is likely considering alternatives—just this morning, Fanatics moved its celebrity-laden Flag Football Classic from Riyadh to Los Angeles—and those events are typically backstopped via huge host checks. Formula 1 races scheduled for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in April are similarly in doubt. Aside from the immediate security uncertainty, many are wondering whether spending from the region slows down. If it does, that could impact everything from the NBA’s European franchise sales to private equity fundraising in the region and even, according to the Wall Street Journal, Jim Dolan’s plan to separate the Knicks and Rangers.1
Second Question of the Week: Is undefeated Miami (Ohio) guaranteed a spot in March Madness? The RedHawks secured a perfect regular season on Friday night with an overtime win over rival Ohio, but the team (31-0) currently sits at No. 91 in KenPom’s rankings thanks to its weak strength of schedule. As conference tournaments play out over the next week, many eyes across the sport will be on the MAC. Should Miami lose in that tournament, then fail to make the Big Dance, there will be a lot of people openly lamenting how business changes in college sports are killing the mid-major programs, and why the sport is losing its most fundamental charm.
Last week Matt Brown’s excellent Extra Points college newsletter used FOIA requests to show all the schools that Miami tried (and failed) to get onto its schedule. After his team lost the RedHawks on Friday, Ohio coach Jeff Boals discussed those challenges 👇
Silliness of the Week 🏛️: Speaking of chaos, last week President Donald Trump convened the first gathering of his roundtable to reform college sports. The group included many of the most influential people in both college and pro sports, but like many government committees, the public portion of the gathering was a mix of platitudes, grandstanding and uniformed proclamations. This particular moment, when Trump was told that the ruling he wants appealed was in fact appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court (and lost) encapsulates it perfectly 👇
In the coming weeks, this group will push for a framework that would give the NCAA an antitrust exemption from Congress. That’s been tried dozens of times over the past few years, all with the same result. I’m not holding my breath for this group, which includes 0 active college athletes, to get that done.
Sportico Story of the Week 🎖️: Among the many reasons the NCAA wants that exemption is the avalanche of antitrust lawsuits currently challenging the governing body, particularly around its eligibility rules. Last week, however, we saw a new kind of legal argument, from a Navy baseball player who claimed the fifth year that he’s seeking is a matter of national security (!). Our colleague Daniel Libit made this a national story.
Club Sportico is a community organized by Sportico, a digital media company launched in 2020 to cover the business side of sports. You can read breaking news, smart analysis, and in-depth features from Eben, Jacob and their colleagues at Sportico.com, and listen to the Sporticast podcast wherever you get your audio. Contact us at club@sportico.com.