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Morning Edition

July 29, 2025

At least four people were killed by a gunman in the New York headquarters of the NFL on Monday night. We’re monitoring the developing situation here [[link removed]].

Bryce Harper cursed out Rob Manfred in the Phillies clubhouse over the idea of a salary cap in MLB. The two later shook hands, but the Monday confrontation hints at a much larger labor fight ahead.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]], and David Rumsey [[link removed]]

Harper-Manfred Clubhouse Clash Foreshadows MLB Labor Battle [[link removed]]

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

A likely reckoning forthcoming in baseball’s economic order is causing two of its most prominent figures to butt heads.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, in the midst of meeting with players to make his case [[link removed]] for large-scale change in the sport, got into a heated confrontation with Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper during a session with members of that team.

“If you want to speak about that, get the fuck out of our clubhouse,” Harper is reported to have told Manfred, according to ESPN [[link removed]].

Manfred has not explicitly said “salary cap” in these meetings, and the commissioner has said ownership has not finalized its platform for labor negotiations set to begin next year. The current, five-year deal expires in December of next year. Manfred, however, has described several cap-like concepts, according to multiple reports, as MLB grapples with a widening economic gap between large-revenue teams and smaller ones.

The commissioner, according to the ESPN report, is said to have replied to Harper, “I’m not going to get the fuck out of here,” stressing the existential threats to the league such as large-scale media disruption [[link removed]].

“When I talk to players, I don’t try to convince them that a salary-cap system would be a good thing. I identify a problem in the media business and explain [to players] that owners need to change to address that problem,” he said earlier this month [[link removed]]. “I then identify a second problem that we need to work together on, and that is there are fans in a lot of our markets who feel like we have a competitive-balance problem.”

Both Harper, a two-time National League Most Valuable Player, and Manfred have garnered reputations for more pugnacious personalities, particularly Harper as he has received multiple suspensions and fines in the past for on-field fights and umpire confrontations. The latest interaction, however, signals the depth of the labor issues at stake and the growing enmity between the two sides as formal bargaining approaches.

Union Concerns

The MLB Players Association has criticized Manfred’s meetings with players [[link removed]], customary as they’ve been, and said they signal a move to “pit players directly against each other.” The union has also attacked the perceived pursuit of a salary cap [[link removed]] by the league, particularly during a time of attendance and ratings growth.

“The game is in a great place. It appears to be moving in the right direction. More attendance and more butts in the seats than we’ve had in a long time. More people are watching and streaming the games than we’ve had,” Clark said at this month’s MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta. “You’d think there’d be an opportunity about how to build instead of how to go backward.

Manfred and Harper later shook hands as the interaction was partially defused by other Phillies players. Harper, however, reportedly did not take a subsequent phone call from the commissioner.

Sports Is Big Business

At Front Office Sports, we believe that sports is big business. That’s why we’ve trademarked the phrase and launched our new merch shop [[link removed]], where you can say it with us on your hat, T-shirt, or sweatshirt. Orders above $75 ship for free. Pass it on to a friend who also gets it: Sports is big business.

Chicago Sky Sell Out United Center With Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese Out [[link removed]]

Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Chicago Sky announced Sunday’s game against the Indiana Fever drew a sellout crowd of 19,601 fans, the second time this season the WNBA franchise sold out the United Center, home of the NBA’s Bulls and NHL’s Blackhawks.

The sellout came despite the absence of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, both of whom were unavailable because of injury.

Clark, who was also out for the Fever’s first game in Chicago on June 7, missed Sunday’s matchup due to a right groin injury she sustained days before WNBA All-Star weekend. It was the 13th game of the season that the 2025 MVP missed—exactly half of Indiana’s games this season. Reese missed her second straight game due to a back injury.

Reese [[link removed]] and Clark [[link removed]] were still present at the United Center despite not taking the court.

The Fever defeated the Sky, 93–78. Indiana has blown out Chicago in all three meetings this year—despite Clark playing in only one of the three meetings—with an average margin of victory of 25.7 points.

Viewership numbers for the game have yet to be released, but it’s likely the absence of the two stars was a blow for the game that tipped off at 3 p.m. ET on ABC. The two drew 2.7 million [[link removed]] viewers on ABC on May 17, the first game of the season, when both were available. They drew 1.92 million [[link removed]] on June 7, when Clark was out.

The 2025 WNBA All-Star Game, which Clark missed, drew 2.19 million viewers [[link removed]], the second-most-watched WNBA All-Star Game—but also down 36% from last year.

One Away From Suspension

Reese missed Sunday’s game due to injury, but she’s also in jeopardy of being suspended because of technical fouls. The two-time All-Star leads the WNBA with seven technical fouls and is one away from receiving an automatic one-game suspension. The Sky have 19 regular-season games remaining.

Chicago head coach Tyler Marsh said Sunday [[link removed]] that Reese’s technical fouls are a “product of passion,” and he doesn’t want his star to lose that passion. He said they’ve tried to talk to the league about overturning some of the technical foul calls.

“We’ve done our work on our side to try to get a couple of those rescinded in the moment and beyond. It’s up to the league’s discretion,” Marsh said.

Scottie Scheffler’s Season Earnings Surpassed by LIV’s Niemann [[link removed]]

Montana Pritchard/LIV Golf

Scottie Scheffler may be the most dominant player in professional golf [[link removed]] this year, but he’s not the highest paid—for now, at least.

That title now belongs to Joaquin Niemann, who surpassed Scheffler’s 2025 earnings, $19.2 million so far, with his fifth victory of the season at LIV Golf’s U.K. event. Niemann has now made $21.94 million on the golf course this year, averaging $1.37 million each time he tees it up.

The vast majority of Niemann’s prize money has come from the five $4 million LIV winner’s checks he’s received. He’s made $1.21 million at the six LIV tournaments he hasn’t won.

The Chilean made $619,931 in this year’s major championships, finishing T-8 at the PGA Championship and T-29 at The Masters. His missed cuts at the U.S. Open and Open Championship actually paid out $10,000 and $12,300, respectively.

Niemann also cashed a $113,000 check for his T-3 result at an International Series event in India.

Closing Stretch

The battle for the top-earning golfer of 2025 is not over, though.

Niemann and Scheffler, the latter of whom has won four times this year, including two majors, each have three big-money tournaments to close out the LIV and PGA Tour seasons. Both golfers are also atop their respective season-long standings.

LIV will pay its 2025 individual champion $18 million, with Niemann holding a sizable lead over Jon Rahm.

Scheffler has already sealed an $18 million payout of his own by clinching first place in the end-of-season FedEx Cup ($10 million) and Comcast Business Tour Top 10 ($8 million) standings. With the PGA Tour shifting its FedEx Cup bonus-money structure [[link removed]] this season, Scheffler will have a chance to earn up to $15 million more in bonus money during the playoffs.

ONE BIG FIG Done Deal

Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

$92 million

The value of receiver Courtland Sutton’s four-year contract extension with the Broncos, which was agreed to on Monday. Sutton, 29, was set to make $14 million in the final year of his previous deal. He was not holding out of training camp, like fellow receiver Terry McLaurin was doing before he reported to Commanders camp on Sunday, despite still not having a new contract [[link removed]]. The deal falls well below top receiver contracts like Ja’Marr Chase’s four-year, $161 million pact with the Bengals, but considering his proximity to McLaurin’s age, it could serve as a floor for the Washington receiver.

Conversation Starters The 2025 NBA offseason is full of major extension paydays. Shai Gilgeous‑Alexander ($285 million), Devin Booker ($145 million), and Jalen Williams ($287 million) are at the top of the list [[link removed]]. The Ravens just gave their player facilities a major upgrade. Check it out [[link removed]]. Fans in McCovey Cove pulled up to the San Francisco Giants game in a DIY hot tub on a boat. Take a look [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Tom Brady: I Don’t Look at My Team Ownership As a Business [[link removed]]by Ben Horney [[link removed]]Brady has amassed a major sports portfolio since retiring. Guardians Star Closer Put on Paid Leave Amid Gambling Probe [[link removed]]by Ben Horney [[link removed]]Emmanuel Clase joins fellow Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz on paid leave. ‘Cool As Hell’: How ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ Hooked Golf’s Top Stars [[link removed]]by Jake Kring-Schreifels [[link removed]]The process was “cool as hell,” Adam Sandler tells FOS. Question of the Day

If you bought a ticket to a WNBA game featuring Caitlin Clark, then learned she wouldn’t be able to play, would you still attend?

YES [[link removed]] NO [[link removed]]

Monday’s result: 74% of respondents think Terry McLaurin will sign a new deal with the Commanders.

Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]] Edited by Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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