Welcome back to MoneyCall, The Athletic\u2019s weekly sports business cheat sheet.<\/p>\n
Name-dropped today: Ryan Smith, Claudia Sheinbaum, the Indiana Bears, Bruce Meyer, Alysa Liu, Bodo\/Glimt, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, Craig Tiley and more. Let\u2019s go:<\/p>\n
Driving the Conversation<\/p>\n
Inside Utah\u2019s sports push<\/p>\n
With the 2026 Winter Olympics behind us, maybe you\u2019re peeking ahead to 2030 in France or 2034 in Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n
The latter locale is home to: The NBA\u2019s Jazz. The NHL\u2019s Mammoth. MLS and NWSL franchises. A successful Triple-A baseball team. Pro softball and volleyball franchises. Plus the Big 12\u2019s BYU and Utah, flush with cash to spend on winning college teams. UFC. X Games. NBA All-Star. Massive youth sports complexes. One of the most ambitious, innovative young owners, Ryan Smith, who owns the Jazz and Mammoth. State politicians squaring up on the prediction markets. Obviously, the Housewives are everywhere.<\/p>\n
An MLB expansion team could be next, and well before 2034.<\/p>\n
While many have been provincially focused on stodgy East Coast cities, the Bay Area\u2019s 2025 victory lap, Las Vegas\u2019 thirsty past decade or Chicago\u2019s NFL standoff, Salt Lake City has been busy becoming the modern-day model of U.S. sports-city development.<\/p>\n
My colleague Stephen Nesbitt has the new deep dive you need to read<\/a> to understand the full breadth of SLC\u2019s ambition \u2014 and can-do attitude:<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcdd \u201cReadiness has put Utah at an advantage. While other cities announced their entries into MLB expansion consideration with renderings and merch, Salt Lake City arrived with a 100-acre site, a coalition of prominent Utahns, broad bipartisan support, a plan for public funding and a reputable anchor investor.<\/p>\n \u201cCity and state officials are not subtle about their aspirations. They want Salt Lake City to be a larger dot on the map. Part of their plan is to continue building a robust sports scene.\u201d<\/p>\n MLB commissioner Rob Manfred\u2019s expansion plans might not be finalized until 2029, but Utah is ready today to enter the 2030s as the next-generation sports metropolis.<\/p>\n Get Caught Up<\/p>\n Big talkers from the sports business industry:<\/p>\n Will the World Cup exit Guadalajara? Even if the violence quells<\/a>, can FIFA or Mexico really guarantee<\/a> \u201cno risks\u201d this summer? Meanwhile, American host cities face government-funding uncertainty<\/a>.<\/p>\n WNBA: March 10 labor deal? I appreciate a deadline as much as anyone, but this one from the league feels artificial<\/a>. The players will never have more leverage than this next two months, so game theory suggests pushing a bit further<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIndiana Bears\u201d: Any chance of happening? It is unfathomable<\/a> to Bears fans in greater Chicagoland, but just ask Giants and Jets fans: It\u2019s just eight days a year, right?<\/p>\n MLBPA taps new\/interim executive director: Bruce Meyer, welcome to the toughest job in sports in 2026.<\/a><\/p>\n Serena\u2019s comeback: When, not if?<\/a><\/p>\n Weak ideas: Mayweather vs. Pacquiao \u201826. If the only thing keeping people interested in boxing is nostalgia or gimmicks<\/a>, the sport is grasping and gasping like two late-fortysomething boxers.<\/p>\n Other current obsessions: ESPN\u2019s \u201cWomen\u2019s Sports Sundays\u201d summer programming plan<\/a> \u2026 the Oakland Ballers filling the void<\/a> \u2026 Snoop Dogg\u2019s enthusiasm as co-owner of Swansea City<\/a> \u2026 Eileen Gu discourse, continued<\/a> (the rare Obsession citation in back-to-back weeks!) \u2026 Bodo\/Glimt\u2019s Cinderella Champions League run<\/a> \u2026<\/p>\n What I\u2019m Wondering<\/p>\n Book rec: \u2018Everybody Loses\u2019<\/p>\n The rise, acceleration and ubiquity of sports gambling is arguably the defining change in sports dynamics of the past decade.<\/p>\n It has:<\/p>\n \u2022 Financially backstopped leagues, teams and media companies;<\/p>\n \u2022 come to dominate fan discourse<\/p>\n \u2022 and grown into an epidemic among teens.<\/p>\n All that, and we seem to be on the precipice of a new, nationwide surge through self-styled \u201cprediction markets.\u201d<\/p>\n The best thing I have read about how we got here (and in trying to wrap my arms around what comes next) is the new book \u201cEverybody Loses\u201d by longtime enterprise reporter Danny Funt. It covers the recent evolution, the system\u2019s features (and failures \u2026 sometimes the same) and is an ideal primer for anyone who wants to understand *waves hands wildly* How We Got Here.<\/p>\n I caught up with Funt last week to talk about the book, and I tried to distill my many questions into one:<\/p>\n You\u2019re named U.S. Omni-Regulator and can pick a single thing you\u2019d like to change about online sports gambling. What do you pick?<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcac I\u2019d require sportsbooks to disclose their expected edge on each bet, as in, \u201cFor this parlay, we expect to profit $25 for every $100 you wager.\u201d Having heard FanDuel\u2019s founding CEO tell me, \u201cThey\u2019re selling that you can win, but you can\u2019t,\u201d and another ex-FanDuel higher-up say \u201cmaybe 5 percent\u201d of bettors realize the house has a steeper edge on certain bets, I think reducing that confusion would go a long way.<\/p>\n One of the best books I\u2019ve read in the past year. Highly recommended. Link to buy.<\/a><\/p>\n Grab Bag<\/p>\n Ratings Point: 18.6 million Power Rankings Mania<\/p>\n \u26f8\ufe0f 2026 U.S. Olympic legends<\/p>\n 1) Alysa Liu<\/a> Bonus: Our team\u2019s top memories!<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udcfb NBA x hip-hop crossovers<\/p>\n 1) Ice Cube \u201cIt Was a Good Day\u201d* Full list!<\/a><\/p>\n * \u2013 Just published this a.m.: Ice Cube messed around and talked with The Athletic\u2019s Jason Jones<\/a> about the basketball-inspired lyrics in this 1993 hit.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfce\ufe0f 2026 F1 liveries<\/p>\n 1) Haas Full list!<\/a><\/p>\n Data Point: 75,673 (What do the top executives think of where MLS is right now? Check out our annual MLS anonymous exec survey<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Hired: Craig Tiley Collectible of the Year: Tupac bobblehead Peak of the Week Beat Dan in Connections: Sports Edition Worth Your Time<\/p>\n Great business-adjacent reads for your downtime or commute:<\/p>\n Professional tennis is (still) broken. Here\u2019s how to fix it (again).<\/a><\/p>\n Two more:<\/p>\n \u2022 The growing link between gambling and racist abuse<\/a> of Premier League players.<\/p>\n \u2022 As a lifelong, die-hard Washington Wizards fan, this is a defense of sensible tanking<\/a> I can get behind.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how many people in the U.S. got up early and watched<\/a> the men\u2019s gold medal hockey game Sunday morning, the most ever for a U.S. sports event starting before 9 a.m. ET. (Meanwhile: The women\u2019s gold medal game was the most-watched women\u2019s hockey game ever<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
2) Jack Hughes\/Megan Keller
3) Snoop Dogg<\/a><\/p>\n
2) Jay-Z \u201cEncore\u201d
3) Fu-Schnickens feat. Shaq \u201cWhat\u2019s Up Doc?\u201d<\/p>\n
2) Mercedes
3) Alpine<\/p>\n
The number of fans who went to the L.A. Coliseum to see Messi\u2019s Inter Miami play Son\u2019s LAFC, a record for MLS opening weekend.<\/p>\n
Remember how great the Australian Open was? The U.S. Tennis Association wants *that,* so it hired Tennis Australia\u2019s honcho<\/a> as its new CEO.<\/p>\n
Ever since the Baltimore Orioles announced they would be giving away a Tupac Shakur bobblehead, celebrating a cultural force the city would like to claim (the late rapper spent several adolescent years there), I have had the May 8 O\u2019s-A\u2019s game circled as a big deal. My colleague David Betancourt got the inside story<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Ain\u2019t this the truth: Most of us are bad at predicting what makes us happy<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Puzzle No. 520
Dan\u2019s time: 00:40
Try the game here!<\/a><\/p>\n