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Afternoon Edition

August 27, 2025

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FCC chairman Brendan Carr is pushing YouTube TV parent company Google to get a deal done with Fox as the deadline for a blackout nears. It continues a trend of Carr taking an active role in sports carriage disputes.

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

FCC Chair Joins Fox–YouTube TV Fight With Big Game on the Line [[link removed]]

The Columbus Dispatch

Another sports-related media dispute is now feeling the weight of federal attention.

Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr has publicly addressed the ongoing Fox–YouTube TV carriage dispute [[link removed]], calling on YouTube TV parent Google to resolve the matter.

YouTube TV is threatening to remove Fox channels from its streaming service if a new carriage agreement is not reached by Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET. A blackout of those channels, while broader than just sports, would potentially impact the distribution of Saturday’s college football mega-clash between No. 1–ranked Texas and No. 3 and defending national champion Ohio State.

Notably, Carr placed the onus to make a deal on Google, and not Fox, a network that has had close ties to the Trump White House. Carr is an appointee of U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Google removing Fox channels from YouTube TV would be a terrible outcome,” Carr said in a social media post [[link removed]]. “Millions of Americans are relying on YouTube so they can keep watching the news and sports they want—including this week’s Big Game: Texas at Ohio State. Get a deal done Google!”

The company quickly responded in its own post [[link removed]], saying it is attempting to resolve the issue with Fox as quickly as possible. Like many other media distribution battles, the Fox–YouTube TV issue largely centers on the fees the network charges for its programming. YouTube TV is the No. 4 U.S. pay-TV distributor, with an estimated 9.4 million subscribers.

“We love football, too!” YouTube said. “We’re working hard to negotiate a deal that’s fair to Fox, our valued subscribers, and all of our partners. Stay tuned.”

Not the First Time

Carr has taken an increasingly active role in these types of issues [[link removed]] throughout the year. In the spring, he was directly involved in the YES Network–Comcast battle [[link removed]] that ultimately led to a deal for the 2025 MLB season.

Last month, Carr also weighed in on Skydance’s acquisition of CBS Sports parent Paramount [[link removed]], imposing several conditions, including the installation of an ombudsman to monitor the network’s news division.

Just last weekend, Carr threw out a first pitch at a Yankees game and appeared in the YES Network booth, a particularly notable move as the regional sports network’s negotiations with Comcast are about to restart.

“I’m a big [baseball] fan,” Carr said during last Saturday’s YES Network broadcast of a Red Sox–Yankees game. “The Yankees are such an incredible organization.”

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Caitlin Clark Still Out With 2 Weeks Left in WNBA Season [[link removed]]

Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

The WNBA’s longest season to date is entering its final two weeks—and it’s still unclear when the league’s brightest star will make her return.

Caitlin Clark remained out Tuesday in the Indiana Fever’s win over the Seattle Storm, her 16th straight missed game due to a right groin injury. Due to several nagging injuries, she’s played in just 13 games so far this season.

The Fever guard has been slowly participating in more workouts over the past week, but has yet to go full speed in a team practice. Head coach Stephanie White has remained cautious about her star—who last played July 15—and said she would want to see Clark fully participate in practice before she returns.

“I want to see her in practice. Live in practice. I want to see her continue to work to not just build endurance, but to be able to handle contact [for] 94 feet as it’s going to be in-game, and to be able to do that and sustain from an endurance standpoint,” White said Tuesday [[link removed]].

The Fever have seven games remaining in the regular season. Their final game is Sept. 9, while the final WNBA regular-season games are Sept. 11.

The WNBA has continued to see positive viewership [[link removed]] and attendance growth [[link removed]] despite Clark’s absence, but it’s clear that the 23-year-old remains its biggest draw [[link removed]].

Fortunately for the league, Clark, who unveiled her Nike signature logo [[link removed]] earlier this week, has not been ruled out for the season, which means she will likely be available by the WNBA playoffs. Last season, Game 2 of the Fever’s first-round series loss to the Connecticut Sun drew 2.5 million viewers on ESPN—the most-watched WNBA game of the entire 2024 playoffs.

Indiana holds the sixth seed and has a 96.2% chance of making the postseason [[link removed]], according to ESPN. It’ll likely face one of the teams in a logjam near the top of the standings. The Atlanta Dream, Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, and New York Liberty are separated by one and a half games in the battle for second.

A Fever vs. Aces or Liberty battle will likely deliver massive ratings as those matchups are some of the most-watched games of this season [[link removed]]. But a battle against the Mercury may also be a treat for WNBA fans, considering the brewing rivalry between the two sides.

DeWanna Bonner joined the Mercury [[link removed]] in July after playing just nine games for the Fever. Phoenix star Alyssa Thomas was also with the Sun last season, a team coached by White.

“Our teams don’t really like each other, anyway, just because of [Bonner] leaving; some of those players used to be under our coaching staff. … That team’s just drama to me,” Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, a former Mercury player, said earlier this month [[link removed]].

Keegan Bradley Declines Rare Ryder Cup Playing Captain Role [[link removed]]

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Keegan Bradley will not be the first playing captain at a Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer in 1963.

Bradley, who was named captain of the U.S. team last July and finished 11th in the final qualification rankings, opted not to select himself as one of six captain’s picks that finalize the 12-man squad that will compete at Bethpage Black Golf Course just outside New York City Sept. 26–28.

“This was a really tough decision,” Bradley said Wednesday after the reveal. “I would say there was a point this year where I was playing a while ago, and all these guys stepped up in a major way and played their way onto this team.”

Bradley’s six captain’s picks were Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay, and Sam Burns. They join automatic qualifiers Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English, and Bryson DeChambeau in making up the U.S. team next month.

The decision not to pick himself “was made a while ago,” Bradley said.

Captain, My Captain

Bradley, 39, was a surprise pick to captain the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team, as captains in modern times have typically been older golfers who are either no longer in their playing prime or not competing full-time anymore. Tiger Woods was offered the captaincy, but turned it down [[link removed]] due to his growing business responsibilities with the PGA Tour around ongoing negotiations with LIV’s financial backers at the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

Bradley was the first player left off the 2023 U.S. team captained by Zach Johnson—a situation that was highlighted during Netflix’s Full Swing docuseries and subsequently earned Bradley widespread praise for his handling of the disappointment.

At the time of his selection, Bradley was seen as a long shot to make the team, and he said he would not pick himself, and play only if he was one of the six automatic qualifiers. However, Bradley has won twice since being named captain, and is currently No. 11 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

The possibility of Bradley being a playing captain had been a major storyline [[link removed]] all golf season. Rory McIlroy, the top qualifier for Europe’s team this year, said earlier this month he doesn’t think being a playing captain is practical [[link removed]] given how big the Ryder Cup is, and even said he has turned down the idea of himself being a playing captain for Europe in the near future.

“I’m not quite sure how he would know if it’s not possible,” Bradley said Wednesday. “No one’s ever done it. … I was confident that if I did need to play, I had incredible vice captains that I could lean on, an incredible team that I could lean on.”

Ryder Cup Ramp Up

While Bradley won’t take up the unprecedented role of being a playing captain, the event is expected to have a wild atmosphere that will require extra security in anticipation of rowdy American fans.

The PGA of America, which organizes the Ryder Cup when it’s played in the United States, is anticipating record crowds [[link removed]]—and revenue—despite outcry over extremely high ticket prices [[link removed]]. General-admission passes for the three competition days started at $750.

The U.S. is looking to avenge a 16.5–11.5 loss to Europe in the 2023 Ryder Cup that was played in Rome.

U.S. players will receive a $200,000 stipend [[link removed]] for the first time, which has led to criticism from the European team about competing for money and not one’s country.

Europe’s Luke Donald will make his six captain’s picks on Monday. The six Europeans who have already qualified are McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Rasmus Højgaard, and Tyrrell Hatton.

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FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY NFL Lifts Broadcast Restrictions for Tom Brady

FOS illustration

The ”Brady Rules” could be no more, as the NFL has lifted a major restriction placed on Tom Brady and will allow him to join production meetings with teams, sources tell FOS. Editor-in-chief Dan Roberts joins Baker Machado and Renee Washington to explain the new rules and the precedent they set for other broadcasters around the league.

Plus, the feud between Christian Pulisic and former USMNT players has been ugly, but head coach Mauricio Pochettino wants to put it all behind them. Soccer analyst and Yanks Abroad host Will Balsam takes us through this saga and assesses how the U.S. will fare against the rest of the globe during the FIFA men’s World Cup next year.

Watch the full episode here. [[link removed]]

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STATUS REPORT One Up, Two Down, One Push

Laszlo Geczo/INPHO-Imagn Images

Week 0 CFB ⬆⬇ ESPN drew 4.01 million viewers [[link removed]] for Iowa State’s 24–21 victory over Kansas State in Ireland on Saturday. While that’s down 20% from the audience of 5 million who watched Georgia Tech upset Florida State in last year’s Week 0 Ireland opener, it’s up nearly 13% from the 3.56 million viewers NBC got for Notre Dame–Navy in 2023.

Venus Williams ⬆ The 45-year-old is not done at the US Open. Williams will participate in the women’s doubles competition alongside 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez. The seven-time Grand Slam winner lost a competitive three-set match to 11-seed Karolína Muchová on Monday.

Christian Horner ⬇ Cadillac has denied rumors that the former Red Bull boss [[link removed]] will be joining its team set to debut in 2026. CEO Dan Towriss said Tuesday that the team has not talked to Horner—and that he’d like to “shut down” the rumor. The U.S.-based team announced its new driver lineup of Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas on Tuesday.

Kapalua Resort ⬇ The Maui golf course that annually hosts the first PGA Tour event of the year is closing for at least two months due to damage sustained from a recent water shortage. The resort’s owner has sued Maui Land & Pineapple [[link removed]], a local land holding and operating company, alleging it has not maintained the water delivery system, according to the Associated Press. The 2026 PGA Tour schedule, which was revealed last week [[link removed]], is set to begin with The Sentry at Kapalua’s Plantation Course Jan. 8–11.

Editor’s Pick Cam Newton to Expand ESPN ‘First Take’ Role After Shannon Sharpe Exit [[link removed]]by Ryan Glasspiegel [[link removed]]The former NFL MVP will take on a bigger role on “First Take.” DISCLAIMER

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