Closing Bell

MLB introduced Thursday a seven-year CBA proposal to the union that would include a hard salary cap and floor system and a 50-50 revenue split.

Starting in 2027, a mandatory salary floor for all 30 teams would be set at $171.2M. The salary cap, which no team can exceed, would be set at $245.3M. Additionally, there would be a centralization and equal share of all local media revenue to address blackouts and revenue sharing reform, with MLB seeking to do a national streaming rights deal, like the NBA, after the 2028 season.

The union has been vehemently opposed to a cap for decades. In its initial proposal on Wednesday, the union proposed revenue-sharing reform in lieu of a cap.

The last time the league proposed a cap was 1994, which led to a players’ strike and the World Series being cancelled.

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Lloyd Howell received nearly $6.8M in salary and $7.2M in total compensation/disbursements across three fiscal years for his brief and tumultuous two-year tenure as Exec Dir of the NFLPA, according to federal filings.

Howell was elected in an unusually secretive process in June 2023 before resigning in July 2025 amid a series of disclosures that called into question the union’s handling of key matters during his time in charge.

Per annual LM-2 labor filings over the past three fiscal years (March-February), Howell’s salary was $2.1M in 2024, $3.3M in 2025 and $1.3M in 2026. Howell’s FY2026 total compensation was more than $1.4M. The most recent annual report with the Department of Labor was filed Thursday.

NFLPA interim Exec Dir David White, who took over for Howell, made $1.9M in FY2026. White, a former SAG-AFTRA executive director, served for about seven-and-a-half months. JC Tretter was elected as the NFLPA’s Exec Dir in March. Tretter made nearly $340,000 in FY26 as Chief Strategy Officer before resigning in July 2025. Eight months later, he was voted into the top spot.

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The Big East has retained Elevate Talent to lead the search for its next commissioner following Val Ackerman’s announcement last month that she will retire in August. The search will be led by Elevate Chief People Officer & Chair of Elevate Talent, Liz Moulton, and Elevate Senior Partner/College & Talent, Kyle Bowlsby.

Ackerman, a 2011 SBJ Champion and member of the Influence 125 list in December, was almost single-handedly responsible for resurrecting the Big East; served as the WNBA’s first commissioner; and has been a massively influential voice in college basketball circles over the last 15 years. Her work has included everything from major television deals with Fox, NBC and TNT to intimate work in getting the NCAA to permit NIL for players.

Elevate Talent has recently placed LPGA Commissioner Craig Kessler, Stanford Athletics Chair John Donahoe, USTA CEO Craig Tiley and WTA Chair Valerie Camillo. The firm is also leading TMRW Sports’ search for a president of flag football for the new, NFL-backed pro flag league.

SBJ’s Ben Portnoy and Rob Schaefer contributed to this report.

Despite the closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history, Fox saw a 6% decline for its second year with the Brickyard, as the race on Sunday afternoon averaged 6.64 million viewers. Fox’s debut last year at Indy averaged 7.1 million, even with a slight rain delay. But while the audience for the race is down from 2025, Fox’s figures in 2026 and 2025 are well above what NBC and ABC had over the decade coming in. This year is actually the second-best Indy 500 since 2012.

The Indy 500 also proved to be a solid lead-in for the UFL, as a Dallas Renegades-Louisville Kings game delivered 1.59 million viewers, marking the spring football league’s best audience since it launched in 2024.

On Sunday night, Prime Video began its slate of NASCAR Cup Series races, averaging 3.06 million viewers for the Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte. It is its best NASCAR audience since starting with the sport last season, and it’s up big from 2.6 million last year for the same race, but down slightly from 3.10 million viewers when Fox last had the race in 2024.

Apple TV, which carried the F1 Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday (along with a simulcast on Netflix), does not report numbers for the sport.

The CFL signed a series of six-year media agreements with Bell Media, DAZN and YouTube that will begin in 2027. These Canadian and international partnerships represent the largest media rights deal in league history. Bell Media will be a CFL media rights partner in Canada, with TSN broadcasting 60 regular season games, six playoff games and the Grey Cup.

DAZN will become the official global broadcaster of all CFL games -- outside of Canada and the U.S. -- including the full regular season, all eight playoff games and the Grey Cup. Games will stream live and on demand in more than 200 countries. In addition, DAZN Canada will be the exclusive broadcaster of all “Saturday Night Football” games at 7pm ET (CFL).

The NWSL officially unveiled its “Summer of Soccer” initiative, a multi-week campaign to “embed the league into the heart of the international buzz” around this summer’s FIFA World Cup. The initiative centers on a “summer trip anchored by a league-branded bus tour that will position the league in communities across the U.S. during key moments of the tournament.” The tour will “coincide with some of the biggest matches of the NWSL regular season” once matches resume during the first week of July. It will also feature “fan experiences and live content in various cities.” The campaign makes “good on initiatives” NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman alluded to at the start of the season. The hope is that the league can “capitalize on the World Cup buzz to bring in new fans during one of the biggest summers for soccer in North America” (THE ATHLETIC, 5/28).

Former Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said it is “upsetting” that the franchise won’t allow him to interview for other jobs. Cassidy, who was fired with eight games left in the regular season, said, “Once you’re fired, your contract is basically terminated. But the one thing people don’t realize is … you have non-compete clauses. So I can’t resign today and go work for someone tomorrow. I still can’t work until Vegas gives me permission or until this contract’s up, which is at the end of next season.”

The Oilers and Kings reportedly have asked to interview Cassidy for their coaching vacancies, but the Golden Knights have said they will not address the issue during the postseason. That timeline has been extended with the Golden Knights reaching the Stanley Cup Final. Cassidy said, “There were two teams that asked -- that’s public knowledge now -- and I’d like to talk to them. I want to go to work. I’m a hockey coach. … We keep asking to see if we can get on with my coaching career, but right now it’s a little bit in limbo. Vegas is in a playoff series, I understood that. But I still think they could take some time and sort through it.”

Cassidy was replaced with John Tortorella, who coached the Flyers last season. Cassidy said, “The ironic part is that Vegas had to get permission from Philly to hire Torts” (“Spittin’ Chiclets,” Netflix, 5/28).

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast, Tim Howard and Landon Donovan explain why soccer is finally ready for real, candid discussions -- no fluff, just truth.