SBJ Unpacks: Chiefs-Bills pulls in over 30 million viewers for CBS

Tonight in Unpacks: The Bills’ 28-21 win over the Chiefs garnered CBS its fifth-best regular-season audience since 1998, with 30.8 million tuning in as networks continue to experiment with creating national windows on Sunday afternoons, reports SBJ’s Austin Karp.

Also tonight:

• Anna Leigh Waters is big business, on and off the pickleball court
• NWSL attendance down 5% in 2025
• No ESPN-YouTube TV deal as Disney, Google remain far apart
• Inside Intuit Dome’s Year 2 fan engagement efforts

Listen to SBJ’s most popular podcast, Morning Buzzcast, where Abe Madkour discusses San Antonio going to the polls to vote on key taxes for a new Spurs arena, Jerry Jones and Gary Bettman announcing an NHL game for AT&T Stadium, the rapid growth -- and costs -- of college football field logos and more.

Chiefs-Bills delivered CBS its fifth-best Sunday NFL game since returning as an NFL partner in 1998, with 30.8 million viewers watching the game. That’s also the best Week 9 game on CBS since Colts-Patriots in 2007, when both teams were undefeated coming into the game. The audience peaked at 35.2 million viewers. Earlier, CBS NFL regional window, led by Colts-Steelers, drew 18.6 million viewers, which is the network’s best Week 9 regional window since returning as an NFL partner.

The Chiefs-Bills game was delivered to 100% of markets on Sunday, which is something SBJ’s Ben Fischer reported fans will see more often as the league pulls inventory from the usual windows to create new prime-time and experimental broadcasts. This was the second such occasion this season for the NFL.

Season-to-date, CBS’ NFL coverage is averaging 19.4 million viewers, the network’s best figure since 1998 and up 6% compared to the same point last season (when Big Data was not yet in use).

Anna Leigh Waters picked up pickleball when she was 10 years old. It was 2017 — years before the sport was unanimously branded as America’s “fastest growing” — and her Florida-based, tennis-playing family had evacuated to her grandparents’ home in Pennsylvania in preparation for Hurricane Irma.

Waters’ grandfather, Neil, initially broached the idea of playing to pass the time.

“[At first] we were like, ‘No, that’s an old person’s sport,’” Waters recalls, smiling. “I was like … ‘Do you hit a pickle over the net?’ I had no idea what it was.”

Eventually she caved, and immediately she was hooked. Within a year, Waters was playing pro-level tournaments alongside her mom, Leigh. At 14, she was the sport’s No. 1-ranked women’s player.

Now 18, Waters is a mainstay atop the rankings of the PPA Tour, the United States’ leading professional pickleball tour, and the salary sheet of the United Pickleball Association (which houses the PPA and team-based Major League Pickleball), earning seven figures annually on and off the court.

She is a phenom, often referred to as pickleball’s “GOAT,” and in turn steadily growing her presence as a brand ambassador and spokesperson for the sport.

“She’s the Tiger Woods, the Serena Williams, of pickleball,” said Waters’ manager/agent Ryan Harwood, who works as an adviser to the agency that represents her, VaynerSports. In a sign of the emerging nature of the sport, Harwood is also the co-owner and general manager of the Major League Pickleball franchise Waters plays for, the New Jersey 5s, and a shareholder in the UPA (which negotiates player contracts between players and the league, not teams).

“I see her as a unique generational talent,” Harwood continued. “She has this trifecta of age, dominance and marketability on her side.”

Harwood and Waters met when she was first drafted to the 5s in 2023. He’s become a trusted adviser and confidant, central to her inner circle, along with Waters’ parents and grandparents; physical trainer Dr. Ashton Tyree (who travels to tournaments with her); trainer Brandon Oakes; and bus driver Eric Wooley.

“I see her as a unique generational talent. She has this trifecta of age, dominance and marketability on her side.”

—  Ryan Harwood, manager/agent for Anna Leigh Waters

Earlier this year, Waters switched her representation from Octagon to VaynerSports — a firm co-founded by AJ and Gary Vaynerchuk (the latter of whom is separately partners with Harwood in the 5s and the creative agency VaynerX) that now reps 250 athletes across the NFL, MLB, UFC, NBA, college sports, gaming and surfing, in addition to pickleball. The firm, with Harwood quarterbacking, now manages everything from Waters’ player contracts to brand deals to social media channels.

Growing Portfolio

Waters’ portfolio of brand partnerships includes Delta, DoorDash, RXBar, eyewear maker Pilla, feminine care line U By Kotex and, most recently, cosmetics retailer Ulta Beauty. She also is set to headline the fourth edition of the Pickleball Slam showcase in April alongside Andre Agassi, James Blake and former WTA star Genie Bouchard.

All of those deals were done by VaynerSports in the past four months.

“We’re very selective in who I decide to partner with. We really want to make sure that it’s a product, or something, that I love,” Waters said. “Your audience can definitely tell what’s natural and what you’re using, versus when you’re just taking a check and doing social media posts.”

The Ulta deal, a one-year pact to start, is an example of Waters’ personal passion points guiding marketing opportunities; she says she grew up using its skincare and makeup products. The deal will include a logo placement on Waters’ kit and Waters joining a collective of Ulta ambassador female athlete influencers that the brand is launching early next year.

“What Anna Leigh has been able to accomplish in her given sport of pickleball is so intriguing at such a young age — and that matches back to what an aspirational person she is and what she can bring to this vast community of beauty enthusiasts that we have,” said Ulta Beauty CMO Kelly Mahoney. “And then, of course, pickleball is such a sport that’s accessible to just about anybody, and we found that to be really interesting.”

Waters’ apparel (Fila) and paddle (Paddletek) deals — which are among her most lucrative, Harwood said — are set expire at the end of this year.

“It’s exciting. This is the first time my apparel and paddle deal has been up at the same time, so we’re having some interesting conversations with a lot of different, exciting companies,” Waters said. “I don’t think there’s a wrong choice. Right now, I’m just keeping an open mind.”

Harwood characterized that Waters’ annual off-court earnings are in the mid-seven-figures, comparing her in this respect to a highly-ranked women’s tennis player. However, “the No. 1 player in the world on both the men and women side in pickleball are definitely outliers,” he cautioned.

“They have earning power in a very different way than the rest of them,” Harwood said. “There’s a big drop-off from 1 to No. 2, there’s a big drop-off from No. 2 to No. 3, big drop-off from three to four, four to five — and then it’s like, boom, massive [drop-off]. Those five players all have solid earning power, but there’s massive drop-offs between them.”

Waters’ UPA salary, meanwhile, pays more than $2 million annually, tying her with PPA Tour men’s doubles/mixed doubles No. 1 Ben Johns as the highest-paid player in the association. The UPA is renegotiating its player contracts to reflect a more prize-money-weighted structure — as opposed to guaranteed-salary deals it handed out in 2023 — but UPA CEO Connor Pardoe said he anticipates that Waters’ status among the league’s highest paid will remain.

“When you’re starting a professional sports league — which is basically what we’ve done over the past five years — if you ask people, they’d say you need to build it around stars,” Pardoe said. “People have asked me, how is pickleball growing so fast, or why is it growing so fast? There’s a lot of reasons for that. But I think a big part of it is having players that we can help tell stories around. Anna Leigh is definitely one of those people for us.”

Pardoe added that in the UPA’s conversations with sponsors, he’s found Waters to be a pivotal draw. DoorDash, MLP’s title sponsor, is one example.

“When we got talking with them about how we wanted to expand their pickleball footprint, it wasn’t a question for them,” he said. “They wanted Anna Leigh to be the person that was doing their advertisements for them.”

Cooking Up What’s Next

Outside of competition and direct sponsorship, Waters said she has contemplated making equity investments in pickleball-focused companies, although she acknowledges this is a long-term focus.

Her most acute entrepreneurial interest in the near term is in content creation. This month, she plans to launch a YouTube channel dedicated to cooking, her main off-court hobby.

Waters also dedicates travel time to promoting pickleball. This week, she will play at the weeklong, UPA-organized Pickleball World Championships at the Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch, Texas, which drew 57,000 fans last year. Earlier this year, she made a high-profile appearance on the ESPYs red carpet. And in 2026, she is eyeing potential international stops, including a possible trip to Asia (where the UPA has begun expanding its events).

“Doing those events kills two birds with one stone,” Waters said. “It helps me and my brand to grow, but it also helps the sport grow. That’s something I’ve been really focused on is helping to grow the sport, because I love it so much and I feel like other people love it as soon as they try it, too.”

ANNA LEIGH WATERS’ BRAND DEALS

• Delta
• DoorDash
• RXBar
• Pilla
• U By Kotex
• Ulta Beauty
• Fila
• Paddletek

Know Your Pickleball

PPA Tour: A leading tour of individual pickleball players, including top stars Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns, co-owned by Tom Dundon and other investors. Will host 20 events in 2025 and is expanding to international markets like Asia and Australia.

Major League Pickleball: A team-based league replete with a draft, regular-season standings and end-of-season playoffs. Hosted 14 events in 2025 and has 22 city-based teams across its premier and challenger levels (with another expansion franchise to be added next year).

United Pickleball Association: The holding company that sits above the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball, formed through a merger between the two properties in 2024. Players who sign contracts with the UPA compete across both properties. The UPA has raised $90 million from investors including SC Holdings, Al Tylis and Dundon Capital since the merger.

Association of Pickleball Players: The other leading individual tour in the U.S., majority-owned by Intersport. Will host 24 events in 2025 and, starting in December, has joined with six international pickleball leagues/federations to form a global tour of events.

National Pickleball League: A 12-team league, initially for pros age 50 and above, that is eyeing expansion to add more teams and age divisions.

USA Pickleball: The national governing body for the sport in the U.S. Sets rules, certifies equipment, trains referees, sanctions tournaments and hosts an annual national championships event every November.

The NWSL finished its 2025 regular season with an average attendance of 10,669 over the course of its 182-game schedule, down 5% from last year’s record high and about even with 2023. The women’s soccer league’s trajectory mirrors the trend seen in MLS over the past three years, with the men’s league seeing a similar 5% drop in attendance in 2025 after a record-setting 2024.

Eight of the NWSL’s 14 teams saw year-over-year attendance declines in 2025, including five which experienced double-digit drops. Seven of the 12 teams that have been in the league for more than two seasons, however, are still up from 2023. Four teams -- NJ/NY Gotham FC, North Carolina Courage, Washington Spirit and Orlando Pride -- set franchise attendance records.

“Our underlying business is incredibly strong,” NWSL COO Sarah Jones Simmer said in a written statement. “Across the league, we’re seeing consistent attendance growth, franchise-best seasons, and record-breaking moments in markets big and small. The fact that so many clubs set all-time attendance highs in 2025 speaks to the durability of demand and the momentum powering the NWSL’s future.”

In terms of overall attendance, the NWSL had a new leader for the third straight season. Portland Thorns FC leapfrogged last year’s leader, Angel City FC, with a league-best 18,173 fans per match at Providence Park. Angel City (16,257), the Washington Spirit (15,259), Bay FC (14,823) and San Diego Wave FC (13,427) rounded out this season’s top five.

The Wave saw the steepest decline, with attendance falling 26% to an average of 13,427 at Snapdragon Stadium. Compared to 2023, when the Wave led the NWSL in attendance, the club’s average turnout is down a league-worst 35%. The Levine Leichtman Family Office acquired the Wave last year in a deal valuing the franchise at $113M. It’s unclear whether the arrival of MLS club San Diego FC this year negatively impacted the Wave’s attendance. This was also the Wave’s first season since the retirement of USWNT star Alex Morgan.

Other clubs that experienced significant declines from 2024 include Chicago Stars FC (-22%), Angel City (-16%), Utah Royals FC (-16%) and Racing Louisville FC (-15%).

The Courage were the biggest attendance success story in 2025 despite finishing one point outside the playoffs. The club increased turnout by 21% to 7,684. While the Courage still rank 13th in attendance, it’s a big step in the right direction for the club with the longest-tenured ownership in the league (Steve Malik has owned the team since 2015).

The Spirit also continued to climb the league’s attendance ranks under the ownership of Michele Kang. The club has increased attendance at Audi Field each season since she took over in 2022, improving by 9% this season to 15,259 per match. The defending champion Orlando Pride also saw a sizable 15% gain thanks to strong crowds for the season opener and a 90’s theme night, bringing them closer to league average.

Bay FC increased average attendance by 8% in its second season, buoyed by a single-game record crowd of 40,091 at Oracle Park in August. Excluding that match, however, the club’s average attendance for matches at PayPal Park would have been down 7%.

A short-term extension between Disney and Google that would have “Monday Night Football” available on YouTube TV on ESPN/ABC is not going to happen, sources tell Sports Business Journal. Disney earlier Monday pitched a Tuesday ceasefire, but that was just for tomorrow’s election news -- and an offer than Google reportedly rejected.

Expect the loss of around 10 million U.S. TV homes to impact the audience number for Cardinals-Cowboys on Monday night. Should this kerfuffle carry on for an extended period, the impasse could even impact the next Cowboys “MNF” game Nov. 17.

The sides remain far apart on price, sources added, and that remains a key issue in the protracted standoff. Google continues to want its pricing to be closer to what Charter/Spectrum and Comcast, leaders in the space, pay. However, YouTube TV is not quite at the subscriber levels of those two companies yet.

Once fans woke up Saturday morning to no settlement or extension, things got real, and ESPN took action with one of its hottest properties, “College GameDay.” The company said the show would be offered on the new ESPN app with no subscription or authentication required and would be available on “The Pat McAfee Show” feed on X for free.

Once games began and YouTube TV subs were left in the dark for many solid ESPN games, it felt like social media users were declaring a pox on both of their houses. There seemed to be an equal amount of frustration with both the network and the provider for the loss of service.

There was the Disney/ESPN standard practice of trying to direct consumers to other service providers. They seemed to get at least one taker in SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, who switched from YouTube TV to the Disney+/Hulu/ESPN bundle (I guess he had to watch the Georgia-Florida game).

But did the opportunity here drive any significant sign-ups for the new ESPN app? The company declined to get into any specifics on traffic or sign-ups to the new app created by the situation.

It does sound like when a deal gets done, YouTube TV subscribers are going to get access to that ESPN Unlimited tier on the new app, similar to how other deals have been structured around authentication.

Two-hundred L.A. Clippers fans tucked into Chick-fil-A before boarding a chartered flight to Denver to see the Clippers take on the Nuggets during the NBA playoffs back in April. The entirety of each traveler’s trip was paid for by the Clippers organization as a reward for being the loudest fans in the Intuit Dome during the 2024-25 regular season, the $2.3B arena’s first.

Referencing both the free food and the task before them and their team, the fans chanted “Eat The Nuggets! Eat The Nuggets!”

The Clippers knew those fans were the loudest because of the extensive system of sensors embedded throughout Intuit Dome. The team created a formula for measuring fan impact and used that to select the 200 most boisterous fans for the Colorado road trip.

Those first steps led to this season’s launch of Wave Makers, a fan engagement program in which the Clippers reward fans for their fanaticism at Intuit Dome. Data was the team’s guide. Each Clippers home game contains five missions for Wave Makers to complete, including arriving early, making an opposing player clank a free throw or just being loud. Members get a push notification in the Intuit Dome/Clippers app the following day with their scorecard.

“Because of the tools that we have implemented in the construction of the arena, it sparked this idea that we could really gamify cheering and incent fans to be the sixth man and propel our team to win,” Halo Sports & Entertainment CEO Gillian Zucker told me last week.

The ways the Clippers can use the Intuit Dome to engineer human behavior with technology and rewards is endlessly fascinating. Most pro sports teams use loyalty and fan engagement programs for commercial purposes, but the Clippers’ focus, and owner Steve Ballmer’s obsession, is fan behavior. So, while this is Wave Makers’ debut season, some kind of program like it was dreamt up from the start of the Intuit Dome project.

“Steve is very much of the mindset that the technology that we put into the building should be constantly evolving, and we should figure out new ways to use it,” Zucker said.

Another example: Ballmer was peeved by how slowly fans made their way back to the seating bowl at the start of third quarters. The team signed a sponsorship deal with Candy Crush this past offseason and created a version of the hit mobile game that could be played on the Halo Board by everyone in attendance. During halftime, fans hit the gamepad buttons on their chair arm rests -- something they can obviously only do while in their seats -- in a communal, oversized game of Candy Crush. If enough people get back to their seats before the second half commences and put their candy on the board, the Halo Board figuratively erupts, shooting collectibles into the crowd from its mounted T-shirt cannons.

Last year, an average of 50% of the crowd was back in the bowl at the start of the third quarter. But through two home games this season, that figure hit 75%.

“The uniqueness of this building and the technology, it just creates a different experience for [fans],” said Zucker. “And that’s really our goal, to create an environment where it is so much fun to attend a game that you just can’t imagine attending an event without all these elements that continue to engage you with the team and each individual play and make you feel like you were having an impact on the outcome.”

• LIV Golf, the league that launched in 2022 with shotgun starts and 54 holes, is moving to a 72-hole format in 2026 for both its individual and team competitions, reports SBJ’s Josh Carpenter. This comes as the league has been seeking ranking points from the Official World Golf Ranking, which are essential to helping players gain access to golf’s major championships.
• N.Y.-based agency Roc Nation is getting some of its athletes closer to high-level decisions through a collaboration with private equity firm CVC and its sports investment platform, Global Sport Group, writes SBJ’s Irving Mejia-Hilario.