Super Bowl week begins with chaos
Epstein, ICE, and the unsuccessful hunt for a Goliath
As I await Eben joining me on radio row, here are six sports business takeaways from the first night of the NFL’s biggest week…
What Roger Goodell Was Asked 🎤: The NFL has largely avoided political controversy this season, but now two of the biggest national storylines are colliding with football. During his annual press conference Monday, commissioner Roger Goodell was asked three times about the league’s response to New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch’s name appearing in more than 400 of the most recently released Jeffrey Epstein email files. Tisch has admitted to corresponding with Epstein about “adult women,” among other things, but said he never went to the infamous island.
Goodell’s response was consistent: the league would “look at all the facts” and go from there. The NFL has the power to punish its owners, though it doesn’t always do so. This feels like the kind of situation that could be forgotten in time—or blow up—depending on how much more information comes to light.
Goodell was also asked about Super Bowl halftime performer Bad Bunny, a day after Grammy winner started his award acceptance speech by saying, “Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say: ICE out!” Is Roger expecting another political statement from Bad Bunny when he takes the Super Bowl stage?
“This platform is used to unite people, and to be able to bring people together,” Goodell said. “I think artists in the past have done that. I think Bad Bunny understands that, and I think he’ll have a great performance.”
What Else Roger Goodell Said 📆: The commissioner poured a little cold water on the league going to an 18-game regular season. “It is not a given that we will do that,” he said. Long understood as a certainty when the next CBA comes around, Goodell left open the possibility that owners would prioritize other changes instead. Maybe he just wants to avoid the appearance of steamrolling the change into existence, but maybe the league has other things higher on its wish list…1
What I’m Dreading 🫠: One more Goodell note: He also became the latest league official to mention the possibility of using replay assist to throw flags for personal fouls (like facemask penalties and late hits). While this might help avoid a controversy or two, it would likely create many more, with fans asking why borderline calls weren’t made after the fact. We’ve seen this playbook before…
What Caught My Attention 🔍: Much has been made about the fact that the team to replace the Kansas City Chiefs atop the AFC was none other than the conference’s previous rulers in New England.
But Monday night it was clear that these aren’t the same Patriots. In fact, both teams lack the starpower that has marked recent SB matchups. Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, or Peyton Manning have appeared in 11 of the past 12 title games. Matthew Stafford and Joe Burrow faced off in the 12th. And even taking the QBs out of the equation, both NE and Seattle have a paucity of known names and faces. Multiple media members could be heard grumbling as players fanned out across the San Jose Convention Center2 on media night that the available interviewees lacked juice—if they could even be recognized by the roving reporters in the first place.
Maybe Sunday will mint new stars?
What I’m Curious About 🤔: The Pro Bowl is tonight. You’d hardly know it if you were in town. NFL EVP Peter O’Reilly told me the league will survey participating players after the fact as execs continue to tweak the contest. Its time, location, and format could all change, he said. But one likely constant: two sides will play flag football. O’Reilly said the Pro Bowl presents a great platform for the version of the sport that the NFL is now pushing for youngsters around the world ahead of the 2028 Olympics. And if getting today’s stars to suit up in tassels helps build that momentum, it’s probably worth a hit in TV ratings.
What Made Me Laugh 🤣: I don’t think anyone enjoyed Super Bowl Opening Night as much as Seahawks running back Kenny McIntosh, who tore his ACL in training camp but looked pretty spry as he ran around the hall with a commandeered camera. Thanks to Micheal-Shawn Dugar for capturing the exact moment I (in the foreground) realized the productive portion of the evening had come to an end. It was time to find a bus back to SF.
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.
Eben here: Count me among the many people who believes an 18th regular season game is one of the NFL’s top priorities in this next round of labor talks.
Other scribes were too busy grumbling about the hour commute from downtown San Francisco to Monday’s availability.
Quite surprised to hear him roll back on the 18-game season. Considering the NFLPA's weak position and owners' confidence, it felt inevitable.