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🚨 Headlines
🏈 Record viewership: Sunday’s game drew a Super Bowl record 126 million average viewers, peaking at 135.7 million in the second quarter before the game turned into a blowout.
🏀 All-Star Game replacements: Trae Young is replacing Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf strain) and Kyrie Irving is replacing Anthony Davis (adductor strain) in this weekend’s NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco.
⚾️ Forever a Yankee: C.C. Sabathia will wear a Yankees cap on his Hall of Fame plaque, making him the only member of the 2025 class not to choose his original team. He spent his first eight years in Cleveland.
🏀 Get your popcorn ready: Auburn is No. 1 and Alabama is No. 2 in this week’s AP poll ahead of their game this Saturday in Tuscaloosa, which will be the first-ever 1 vs. 2 matchup in SEC men’s basketball history.
💵 A-Rod, the owner: Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore are finally set to take majority ownership of the Timberwolves and Lynx after arbitrators ruled in their favor over current owner Glen Taylor.
🏆🏆🏆 Three-peat club: Stuck on 16
The Chiefs’ three-peat bid fell short on Sunday, which means the exclusive club of “Big Four” teams to win back-to-back-to-back championships will remain at 16 for at least a little while longer.
🏈 NFL (2)
1929-31 Green Bay Packers: The first three-peat was also the only one that didn’t feature a championship game or series. NFL champions were determined by regular-season winning percentage until 1933, and Green Bay got the job done with a combined record of 34-5-2.
1965-67 Green Bay Packers: Vince Lombardi’s Packers won the last pre-Super Bowl NFL championship before winning Super Bowls I and II.
🏀 NBA (5)
1952-54 Minneapolis Lakers: It didn’t take long for the NBA to birth its first dynasty, as the George Mikan-led Lakers won five of the first eight NBA/BAA championships.
1959-66 Boston Celtics: No league has ever seen anything quite like Bill Russell’s Celtics, who won a record eight straight titles and 11 of 13 during his incomparable career.
1991-93 Chicago Bulls: Michael Jordan led the Bulls to the NBA’s first three-peat in a quarter-century. Before they could try for four, he shocked the world by retiring.
1996-98 Chicago Bulls: After nearly two full years away from basketball, MJ returned and didn’t miss a beat, winning two more MVPs and clinching the Bulls’ sixth title in eight years with one of the most iconic shots ever.
2000-02 Los Angeles Lakers: Two three-peats wasn’t enough for Phil Jackson, who went West and built another dynasty alongside Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.
🏒 NHL (5)
1947-49 Toronto Maple Leafs: The Leafs are the only team whose three-peat included a sub-.500 regular season. They snuck into the 1949 playoffs at 22-25-13.
1956-60 Montreal Canadiens: The Canadiens are the only team to win five straight Stanley Cups, which should come as no surprise given their 24 titles are nearly twice as many as another other franchise (Maple Leafs, 13).
1962-64 Toronto Maple Leafs: Fun fact: The Leafs’ third straight title came the same year that their future Hall of Fame defenseman, Tim Horton, opened the first location of his eponymous breakfast restaurant franchise.
1976-79 Montreal Canadiens: The NHL’s first three-peat of the expansion era (the Original Six era ended in 1967) came under Scotty Bowman, who has 275 more wins than any other coach in league history.
1980-83 New York Islanders: The Isles began the 80s by winning 19 straight postseason series and advancing to five straight Stanley Cup Finals. That represents more than half the franchise’s total playoff series wins (37) and their only championship appearances.
⚾️ MLB (4)
1936-39 New York Yankees: Go figure. The Yankees never won more than two straight World Series with Babe Ruth, but the year after he retired they started a run of four in a row. Of course, it didn’t hurt that they had Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio.
1949-53 New York Yankees: A decade after their four-peat, the Bombers one-upped themselves with a five-peat behind an aging DiMaggio, an in-his-prime Yogi Berra and a young Mickey Mantle.
1972-74 Oakland Athletics: Talk about making up for lost time: The A’s went four decades without making the playoffs before returning in 1971 and beginning their three-peat in 1972.
1998-2000 New York Yankees: Mariano Rivera faced 150 batters across 28 games during the Yankees’ third three-peat. He allowed three earned runs.
Other notable three-peats: Minnesota football (1934-36), UCLA men’s basketball (1967-73), USC baseball (1970-74), UNC women’s soccer (1982-84, 1986-94), Tennessee women’s basketball (1996-98), the WNBA’s Houston Comets (1997-2000), UConn women’s basketball (2002-04, 2013-16) and Oklahoma softball (2021-24), to name a few.
Who’s next? How about the team that’s already two-thirds of the way there? UConn is chasing a third straight men’s basketball title this season, and the Huskies currently have the ninth-best odds to cut down the nets in April (+3000 at BetMGM).
📸 Photo of the night: Luka’s a Laker
Luka Dončić made his Lakers debut on Monday, a little more than a week after the trade that shocked the world.
By the numbers: Dončić had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 24 minutes, helping the Lakers blow out the Jazz. “I was just happy to be on the court again,” said the former Maverick, who hadn’t played since December (calf strain).
🎙️ Fresh pod: The chemistry between Luka and LeBron was palpable (The Kevin O’Connor Show)
⚾️ Spring training: Payrolls entering camp
Pitchers and catchers report to camp in Arizona and Florida this week after another offseason of historic spending — at least by a few teams.
By the numbers: Five teams (Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Yankees, Blue Jays) are currently over the luxury tax threshold of $241 million, with a sixth (Padres) projected to join them by Opening Day, per Spotrac. But the Dodgers and Mets are really in a league of their own.
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L.A.’s current payroll ($378.5M) would break the Mets’ single-season record from two years ago ($374.7M). They have 15 players making at least $10 million this season (based on average annual value).
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New York isn’t far behind, joining last year’s Dodgers as the only clubs to spend over $1 billion in a single offseason. Of course, most of that went to Juan Soto and his record $765 million contract.
Highest-paid players: 15 of the top 25 (by AAV) play in either Hollywood or the Big Apple. (*Signed this offseason)
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Shohei Ohtani, DH/RHP: $70M (Dodgers)
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Juan Soto*, RF: $51M (Mets)
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Zack Wheeler, RHP: $42M (Phillies)
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Aaron Judge, CF: $40M (Yankees)
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Jacob deGrom, RHP: $37M (Rangers)
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Blake Snell*, LHP: $36.4M (Dodgers)
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Gerrit Cole, RHP: $36M (Yankees)
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Mike Trout, CF: $35.5M (Angels)
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Anthony Rendon, 3B: $35M (Angels)
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Corbin Burnes*, RHP: $35M (Diamondbacks)
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Francisco Lindor, SS: $34.1M (Mets)
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Carlos Correa, SS: $33.3M (Twins)
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Corey Seager, SS: $32.5M (Rangers)
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Nolan Arenado, 3B: $32.5M (Cardinals)
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Manny Machado, 3B: $31.8M (Padres)
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Rafael Devers, 3B: $31.4M (Red Sox)
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Mookie Betts, SS: $30.4M (Dodgers)
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr*, 1B: $28.5M (Blue Jays)
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Tyler Glasnow, RHP: $27.3M (Dodgers)
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Trea Turner, SS: $27.3M (Phillies)
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Max Fried*, LHP: $27.3M (Yankees)
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Yoshinobu Yamamoto, RHP: $27.1M (Dodgers)
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Carlos Rodón, LHP: $27M (Yankees)
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Freddie Freeman, 1B: $27M (Dodgers)
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Pete Alonso*, 1B: $27M (Mets)
What to watch: Most of the biggest free agents have already signed, but seven of our top 50 are still available. That includes No. 4 on the list: two-time All-Star and reigning Gold Glove third baseman Alex Bregman.
🏒 Playoff picture: NHL at the break
As the two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament begins, the NHL playoff picture is sharpening.
East: The Capitals (80 points), Panthers (71), Hurricanes (70), Maple Leafs (68), Devils (68), Lightning (66), Senators (62) and Red Wings (60) are currently in playoff position.
West: If the season ended today, the Jets (81), Oilers (72), Golden Knights (72), Stars (72), Wild (70), Avalanche (68), Kings (65) and Canucks (63) would make the field.
📺 Watchlist: City vs. Madrid
The world’s two richest soccer clubs face off today (3pm ET, Paramount) when Manchester City hosts Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League playoff tilt.*
Rolling in dough: Real Madrid brought in roughly $1.08 billion in revenue during the 2023-24 season, securing its place atop the Deloitte Money League. Manchester City was second at $866 million.
More to watch:
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🏀 NBA: Knicks at Pacers (7:30pm, TNT); Grizzlies at Suns (10pm, TNT)
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🏀 NCAAM: No. 5 Tennessee at No. 15 Kentucky (7pm, ESPN); No. 3 Florida at No. 22 Mississippi State (7pm, ESPN2); No. 7 Purdue at No. 20 Michigan (7pm, Peacock)
*Champions League format: The top eight finishers from the league phase (Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter, Atlético Madrid, Leverkusen, Lille, Aston Villa) advanced to the Round of 16 knockout stage. The next 16 finishers (9th-24th) made the playoffs, where the eight victors will complete the Round of 16 field. Here’s today’s full schedule.
🏈 Football trivia
Eagles WR DeVonta Smith is now the fifth player in history to win the Heisman Trophy, an FBS national title and the Super Bowl.
Question: Who are the other four?
Hint: Heisman winners in 1976, 1981, 1997 and 2005.
Answer at the bottom.
🏈 Charted: Super Bowl excitement index
The Eagles’ 40-22 rout of the Chiefs ranked as the second-least exciting Super Bowl this century as measured by the cumulative changes in win probability throughout the game, per Sportico’s Lev Akabas.
The only game less exciting? The Seahawks’ 43-8 victory over the Broncos in 2014.
The other side: It was just last year that the Chiefs were part of the most exciting Super Bowl of the century. Their 25-22 win over the 49ers featured five lead changes and a walk-off TD in overtime.
Trivia answer: RB Tony Dorsett, RB Marcus Allen, CB Charles Woodson, RB Reggie Bush
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