Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 1h

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will play on Saturday for $6 million in the finals of the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 5h

How big are the new media deals for NBA teams?

The contracts with Amazon, ESPN/ABC & NBC will bump each team’s TV revenue from $103 million to $143 million

Each team is on track for $281 million for the 2035-36 season, based on a 30-team league and payouts rising ~7% per year

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 6h

Every NBA team's value has grown dramatically, but by far the biggest gains have been with teams at the bottom of the list

The floor has risen almost 2.5x since 2022

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 7h

The NBA's “get-in” price, or the value of the lowest-ranked team, is $4 billion

That's up 2.5x from $1.63 billion in 2022

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 8h

2025 NBA franchise valuations from @sportico.bsky.social are out

• Warriors are No. 1 at $11.33 billion
• "Get-in" price is up to $4 billion 💰
• Average is $5.5 billion, +20% YoY
• Average is +113% since 2022 🏀💵📈

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 3d

MLB pennant finalists generally have high payrolls, but one or two more frugal teams usually sneak in

This year the Mariners (15th) and Brewers (21st) both made the LCS

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 3d

Reminder that the Phoenix Suns paid $367 million last year for a roster that missed the playoffs

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 8d

Who owns the WNBA?

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 8d

The NFL continues to expand its international footprint 🏈🌎

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 8d

It's an insane fact

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 8d

A look at how the major U.S. sports leagues' salary caps have grown recently

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 9d

This whole thing was incredible, except Stromile Swift not being No. 1

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Reposted by Lev Akabas

Tyler Parker @tylerparker.bsky.social · 10d

NAME RANK

Ranking the 117 Best NBA Names of the Quarter Century

What’s in a name? Everything. Featuring Dwayne Bacon, Stromile Swift, and so many more, these are the NBA player handles that stand the test of time.

www.theringer.com

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 9d

No NBA team has more consistently exceeded preseason expectations than the OKC Thunder

The Pelicans and Lakers have been, on average, the most disappointing

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 10d

Kalshi trading volume has been ~90% sports during NFL and college football season 🏈💵

Here's what people have been betting on 👇

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 10d

Bluesky's user growth has been much slower in the past 6 months

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 10d

NFL quarterbacks are throwing interceptions on just 2% of their passes this season

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 13d

This is a ridiculous chart

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 13d

Only two players have hit for 60 home runs in a season since the Steroid Era... Aaron Judge in 2022 and Cal Raleigh in 2025

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Reposted by Lev Akabas

Joel Wertheimer @wertwhile.bsky.social · 16d

Great poll result from a very good @lakshya.splitticket.org piece today in The Argument. A lot of people think AI has been good for them but bad for others. www.theargumentmag.com/p/chatgpt-an...

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 16d

Average MLB attendance was 29,387 this season... still up from pre-COVID but down from a full decade ago

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 16d

The entire history of WNBA MVP voting in one chart 👇

A'ja Wilson is the first ever 4x MVP

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 17d

Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge have been in a class of their own among MLB players over the past five years

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 17d

Five MLB teams had payrolls over $250 million this season ⚾️💵

Four of them—the Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies, and Blue Jays—had top five records in baseball

The Mets, with a whopping $340 million payroll, missed the playoffs

The Brewers, with a meager $122 million payroll, had the best record in MLB

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 21d

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

The New England Patriots have reached an agreement to sell an 8% stake in the franchise, including 3% to PE firm Sixth Street, at a valuation exceeding $9 billion

It is the fourth NFL private equity deal

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