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Morning Edition

July 31, 2025

An Instagram photo of LeBron on a boat, posted with a cryptic caption by the European agent of Nikola Jokić, drew a lot of scrutiny last week. FOS can report the meeting was not about the Nuggets or Lakers, but about the new international basketball league Maverick Carter is working to launch.

— Ben Horney [[link removed]], Daniel Roberts [[link removed]], Alex Schiffer [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

LeBron Boat Meeting in France With Jokić Agent Was About New League [[link removed]]

Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

The mysterious boat meeting last week in France between LeBron James, his business partner Maverick Carter, and Nikola Jokić’s European agent was about the planned international basketball league [[link removed]] being spearheaded by Carter, multiple sources tell Front Office Sports.

The photo, posted to Instagram [[link removed]] over the weekend by Jokić’s European agent Miško Ražnatović, caused speculation about whether the trio was talking about James joining the Nuggets or Jokić joining the Lakers.

Sources familiar with the situation tell FOS it was not about the Nuggets or Lakers.

Eurohoops.net first reported [[link removed]] the Carter-backed league was the “possible reason” for the meeting.

The caption of the post [[link removed]]—which listed Saint Tropez, France as its location—teased, “The summer of 2025 is the perfect time to make big plans for the fall of 2026.”

Bloomberg first reported [[link removed]] about the upcoming league, writing in January that a group of investors advised by Carter was seeking to raise $5 billion. The league’s plan is to have a touring model with six men’s and six women’s teams playing in eight cities. FOS reported at the time [[link removed]] that Carter was spearheading the effort and that James was not a part of it [[link removed]].

Ražnatović is a power player in European basketball. His BeoBasket agency—based in Belgrade, Serbia—has a partnership with Jokić’s American agency, Excel Sports Management, and has represented countless well-known European players, including Clippers center Ivica Zubac.

The upstart league scored funding [[link removed]] from investors including the Singapore government, SC Holdings, Riyadh’s Public Investment Fund, UBS, Skype founder Geoff Prentice, and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, the Financial Times [[link removed]] reported in February.

FT also reported that the league expects to be a “full-time” responsibility, unlike the upstart women’s league Unrivaled, where the scheduling allows players to participate [[link removed]] in both the new league and the WNBA. That means NBA players would not be able to play in both.

Like Unrivaled, players are expected to receive equity in the Carter-backed league. Current NBA rules bar players from having ownership stakes in teams, a rule Celtics star Jaylen Brown has said he would like to see changed [[link removed]].

Carter’s league has been compared to LIV Golf or Formula One, where teams would play in one city for a week or weekend before moving to another.

The NBA itself is also considering a new league in Europe. Commissioner Adam Silver said in March [[link removed]] that the NBA is “ready to go to the next stage” and explore a new league in Europe with FIBA, the global governing body for basketball, as partners. But the NBA would likely have teams in European and U.K. cities, which would be a different format than Carter’s.

Silver and NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum met in London on Wednesday with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer as they seek out “potential stakeholders in a new NBA Europe league,” Marc Stein reported on Wednesday [[link removed]]. The NBA is taking steps as it explores the new league, including announcing Wednesday [[link removed]] that the Grizzlies and Magic will play two regular-season games in Europe in January 2026, one in Berlin and a second in London.

EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejūnas is not in favor of a new NBA league. In a Tuesday Q&A [[link removed]] with The Athletic, he talked about a meeting held earlier this year between the NBA and the EuroLeague, saying, “We said to them, like we said publicly, we don’t believe that the new league is something that would help the market.”

Ražnatović and Carter did not respond to requests for comment.

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.

Mayor Calls Commanders RFK Stadium Deal ‘a BFD’ for D.C.’s Future [[link removed]]

Imagn Images

WASHINGTON — Though not one of the key teams in the NFL’s still-legal Tush Push [[link removed]], the Commanders are looking to move their proposed $3.8 billion stadium project [[link removed]] over the goal line with a sweetened offer to District of Columbia officials.

As team officials, including team president Mark Clouse, testified before the council Wednesday in a five-hour, sometimes contentious hearing, the club detailed in writing an enhanced proposal for the planned project at the site of RFK Stadium.

The new commitments from the team for the stadium and mixed-use development include:

Accepting financial responsibility for all cost overruns. Investing $50 million in community benefits over 30 years, with $20 million of that money focused on developing a youth sports complex that will be located adjacent to the new stadium. Another $10 million is earmarked for basic services in Ward 7, where the venue will be located, including subsidies for grocery stores in an area that has been described as a “food desert.” Committing to a plan to build the new facility to top environmental standards. Ecological concerns were among the most frequently cited issues during a marathon hearing Tuesday lasting nearly 14 hours and centered on testimony from the public. Developing open spaces in the RFK campus “with diverse uses in mind, including, but not limited to, a skate park, pole vaulting areas, a dog park, public plazas, and traditional parks.” Agreeing to discuss potential collaborations with the NWSL’s Washington Spirit, and that “working with the Spirit … may result in a mutually beneficial relationship.” The soccer team currently plays at Audi Field. Magic Johnson is an investor in both the Commanders and Spirit. This element will mean designing the stadium with hosting soccer in mind, particularly for major matches, Clouse said, but no decisions have been made about that team’s long-term home. Maintaining the legacy of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, whose name is used for the stadium property in question. Pausing planned development of a third parking structure at the site to further evaluate the need for one, while also promoting greater use of public transportation, including potentially with an additional Metrorail station.

“We have approached this process with humility and a spirit of collaboration,” Clouse testified. “Over the last several months, we’ve engaged directly with fans, neighbors, elected and community leaders, and small businesses—and we’ve listened carefully. We’ve had open conversations with District officials, shared information proactively, and worked in good faith to refine our proposal.”

Council Reaction

The team’s enhanced commitments generally drew a positive reaction, even from council members who had previously expressed skepticism over the project.

“I think we’ve made progress with this commitment letter,” from the Commanders, said council member Charles Allen, who has frequently spoken out against the stadium agreement.

Still, the team and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser were pressed by the council, and Allen specifically, about the project’s transportation plan and the significant influx of car traffic that is set to arrive—suggesting that more changes in this area are coming. The stadium area has generally not seen large-scale traffic since the Commanders, playing under their former name, left RFK Stadium after the 1996 season, and Major League Soccer’s D.C. United followed suit in 2018.

Many of the individual exchanges, however, also exposed existing political tensions between Bowser and certain council members.

Mayor’s Corner

Bowser testified Wednesday alongside the Commanders, and she stressed the potentially transformative opportunity to remake the long-blighted and neglected RFK Stadium area.

“To borrow a phrase, this is a BFD. Very big,” she said. “The time is now to act and not miss our chance.”

The council is set to take the first of two scheduled votes on the stadium funding Friday, with a second to follow in September. Passage is expected as council chair Phil Mendelson has marshaled additional support after recently restructuring the bill [[link removed]] in advance of the Commanders’ latest commitments.

Postgame Pronouncements

After the two long days of hearings, Bowser was emphatic that the votes are there to pass the stadium bill, echoing Mendelson’s confidence.

“We have a great project. We have the right partner. It’s the right time. Everyone’s been heard. And now it’s time to vote,” she said.

A nickname controversy recently resurfaced by U.S. President Donald Trump [[link removed]] was scarcely mentioned during the hearings, and Bowser said the District’s focus remains squarely on completing the deal.

“I don’t think we’re spending any energy on that [issue],” Bowser said in response to a Front Office Sports question. “We remain focused on what we can do as a city. … It’s also important to note that everybody’s kind of ready to go and are waiting on the approval.”

WNBA Viewership Up Across All Networks Compared to 2024 [[link removed]]

David Butler II-Imagn Images

It’s been widely established that Caitlin Clark is the WNBA’s biggest viewership draw. However, Clark has missed 13 of the Indiana Fever’s 26 games this year—many of which have been on national television [[link removed]].

That hasn’t stopped the league from continuing to see tremendous viewership growth across all of its networks.

The WNBA is averaging 794,000 viewers through 56 games this year across all national networks, according to Nielsen data, a source told Front Office Sports. That number is 21% higher than the league’s 2024 full-season viewership average.

The raw viewership number is being driven up by Fever games, which have drawn 1.26 million viewers through 19 games this year. However, that number is just 7% higher than the 32 Fever games that aired last year—likely due to the absence of Caitlin Clark in some high-profile contests.

Non-Fever games are drawing significantly fewer viewers, but there has been a drastic growth compared to the full 2024 season.

Total WNBA games: 794,000 viewers, up 21% Fever games: 1.26 million viewers, up 7% Non-Fever games: 549,000 viewers, up 37%

The non-Fever calculation is based on 37 games this year versus 66 games for all of last season. It’s worth noting nearly every Fever game is a national broadcast [[link removed]], and they tend to land on the league’s biggest networks—CBS, ABC, and ESPN.

The trend mirrors the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game [[link removed]] two weeks ago, which drew 2.19 million viewers—a 36% dip from last year, when Clark played, but also 52% more than any previous All-Star Game.

Up Across the Board

The WNBA is seeing viewership growth across all of its broadcast partners. ESPN, the league’s biggest partner, is up 3% year-over-year across all its networks—including ABC and ESPN2. This includes the most-watched game of the year so far: the season opener between the Fever and the Chicago Sky (2.7 million viewers).

CBS is averaging 1.3 million viewers through six games this year, up 5.5% compared to this point last year. The network has two games that have breached 1.9 million viewers, and both involved the Fever (one with Clark, one without).

While none of its other four games have breached a million viewers, they’ve averaged 906,000, which is 33% higher than the three non-Fever games CBS aired at this point last year. That number would also smash the 729,000 average viewers of the 2023 WNBA Finals.

Ion, which follows a different distribution model than other networks [[link removed]], is averaging nearly 600,000 viewers on its linear network—up 4% from year-to-date. That’s considering Clark appeared in four games on Ion at this point last year compared to one so far this season.

NBA TV has the lowest raw viewership average (339,000), but it’s experiencing the most growth. The network is up 58% compared to this point last year, when it averaged just 214,000 viewers for all WNBA games.

The WNBA will have a new partner next year as NBC Sports joins through the 11-year, $2.2 billion media-rights deal it signed in conjunction with the NBA. ESPN will stay on as a partner.

Amazon has been airing WNBA games for several years, though its streaming numbers are unclear. Scripps Sports, the parent company of Ion, signed a multiyear deal [[link removed]] with the league last month.

ONE BIG FIG High-Speed Growth

David Kirouac-Imagn Images

$3.2 billion (£2.4 billion)

Valuation of the Aston Martin Formula One team following a minority stake sale. Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings announced Wednesday that it agreed to sell a minority stake in its F1 team for $146 million (£110 million).

According to Bloomberg, Aston Martin CEO Adrian Hallmark said the buyer has signed a binding letter of intent [[link removed]], though the identity of the buyer has not been revealed. The valuation is about a 33.3% bump from its previous valuation of $2.4 billion (£1.8 billion) following stake sales to a pair of U.S. investment firms last year.

Aston Martin currently sits eighth out of ten teams in the F1 constructors’ championship, a drop-off from fifth-place finishes in 2023 and 2024.

Conversation Starters Happy Gilmore 2 just broke Netflix’s opening-weekend record [[link removed]], beating out another Adam Sandler hit. High school football in Buford, Ga., now comes with luxury suites and a massive video scoreboard. Check it out [[link removed]]. Bristol Motor Speedway is now in MLB: The Show, just in time for the 85,000-fan Speedway Classic this weekend. Take a look [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Amazon, TNT Post Near-Identical NASCAR Ratings in Debut Season [[link removed]]by David Rumsey [[link removed]]The cable channel is a new media-rights partner this season. Marcus Morris Denies Fraud, Blames Mixup for $260K Casino Debt Arrest [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Morris made roughly $107 million across 13 NBA seasons. Gabby Williams: ‘Unrivaled Saved the WNBA’s Butt’ [[link removed]]by Colin Salao [[link removed]]Unrivaled was cofounded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. Question of the Day

Should more stadium projects include things like dog parks, skate parks, and green space for public use?

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

Wednesday’s result: 57% of respondents were surprised that the Fever-Sky game without Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese was still one of the WNBA’s most-watched games of 2025.

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