Count National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman among those who don’t understand the ongoing legal fight between the Stars and the Mavericks.

While appearing in Arlington, Texas, to announce an upcoming NHL Stadium Series game at AT&T Stadium, Bettman attacked the Mavericks for what he described as “bullying” tactics against the Stars, the co-occupant at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas.

“I am frankly somewhere between amazed and appalled by what I’m seeing,” Bettman said. “I don’t know if it’s arrogance or bullying tactics or what have you, that [the Mavericks] want to change the state of play. I don’t get it. … I don’t get any of this. And hopefully it gets resolved quickly.”

Last week, the Mavericks sued the Stars in Texas Business Court, alleging that the Stars breached their contract at the AAC and that the NHL team is thwarting improvements at the arena. The NBA team’s legal action includes a push to affirm a prior seizure of the Stars’ half of a joint operating company overseeing management of the AAC. The Stars, meanwhile, have countersued, seeking to “restore normal operations” at the arena.

“Ultimately, this will get resolved by negotiation or the courts will resolve it. And being a bit of a lapsed lawyer, I like what I see from the Stars’ side,” Bettman said.

Bettman, meanwhile, essentially reconfirmed a Front Office Sports report last month that the Stars are actively reviewing options for a new arena and mixed-use development, including one in suburban Plano, Texas.

“It seems to me that the Mavs don’t want to be at American Airlines Center. They want to be somewhere else, doing something else. The Stars are committed to their fans, to Dallas, the greater Dallas area,” Bettman said. “I think the Stars are being prudent and looking at what their options are because obviously, based on where we find ourselves today, the Mavericks have made the situation untenable.”

Big Game in Big D

The Stadium Series game at AT&T Stadium, meanwhile, is set for Feb. 20, 2027, with the Stars playing an opponent yet to be determined at the home stadium of the NFL’s Cowboys. That event, in part, will seek to build upon the 2020 NHL Winter Classic at the nearby Cotton Bowl.

With standing room, the attendance for the upcoming event at AT&T Stadium could surpass 100,000, and challenge the league record of 105,491 set in 2014 at Michigan Stadium. 

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to be having a game here hosted by the Dallas Stars in this amazing, amazing stadium,” Bettman said. 

It’s worth noting, however, that an attempt to push attendance boundaries as much as possible for Super Bowl XLV at AT&T Stadium in 2011 and an improperly developed seating manifest ultimately led to a series of lawsuits requiring years to resolve.

LIV Golf is expanding its tournaments from three-day, 54-hole events to the more standard four-day, 72-hole format, in a major shift that should help the tour’s efforts to finally gain world rankings points.

The change will be in effect for LIV’s 2026 season, which will include 14 events, beginning in February in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, whose Public Investment Fund continues to financially back the league despite significant losses.

Since launching in 2022, the 54-hole format has been one of LIV’s biggest calling cards, with the league touting the shorter length of its tournaments, alongside the inclusion of loud music, shorts, and other novelties that buck the traditions and current trends of the rival PGA Tour.

However, playing just three rounds of golf, not four, hampered LIV’s initial application for accreditation from the Official World Golf Ranking board. The 72-hole format is a standard requirement for most OWGR-certified events.

“The move to 72 holes marks a pivotal new chapter for LIV Golf that strengthens our league, challenges our elite field of players, and delivers more of the world-class golf, energy, innovation, and access that our global audience wants,” LIV CEO Scott O’Neil said in a statement.

LIV is not adding a 36-hole cut—another sticking point with the OWGR—however, that has become less of an issue in recent years, as the PGA Tour continues to play more no-cut events (albeit with larger fields).

On Monday, LIV announced it is increasing the number of qualification opportunities for its 2026 season from two to four—yet another move likely aimed at satisfying OWGR requirements. Initially, LIV’s closed-shop makeup with guaranteed contracts for players went against OWGR’s policies requiring tours to have an open pathway for new qualifiers.

LIV submitted a new OWGR application in July, this time under the leadership of O’Neil, who took over the CEO role from Greg Norman in January. Norman’s contract with LIV officially expired in August, and he no longer has a role with the league. In 2023, the OWGR denied LIV’s first application for world ranking points. 

The lack of world ranking points has hurt several LIV Golf stars in recent years, making it harder for them to qualify for the four major championships. 

While the likes of Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, and Bryson DeChambeau have been able to compete in The Masters and other three majors due to their past major wins, other LIV players like Joaquin Niemann have had to rely on special invites into golf’s most prestigious events. On Sunday, Tom McKibbin became the first LIV player to win his way into The Masters since Augusta National Golf Club changed its qualification criteria just over two months ago.

Should LIV eventually earn OWGR status, the road will still be bumpy, though. With field sizes still likely under 60 players (compared to 72-plus and PGA Tour signature events and 144 at full-field tournaments), the amount of world rankings points available at any given LIV event could still be relatively small.

As the college hoops season tips off this week, new data shows men’s and women’s basketball players are collectively accounting for nearly 29% of revenue-sharing dollars in the first year of collegiate athletics’ new financial era.

Division I athletic departments are allowed to directly share up to $20.5 million of revenue with athletes this academic year, on top of any NIL (name, image, and likeness) money they receive, thanks to the result of the House v. NCAA settlement in June.

While football players are being paid the majority of revenue-sharing money, men’s and women’s basketball players are second and third, respectively, according to a new report from Opendorse, one of the leading NIL payments marketplaces, used by 100 D-I programs.

Pieces of the Pie

Here’s the estimated breakdown for the average school in the 2025-26 academic year across the top 10 FBS conferences, which include the Power 4 and Group of 6 leagues:

• Football: $13.1 million (63.8%)
• Men’s basketball: $4.3 million (20.9%)
• Women’s basketball: $1.6 million (8%)
• All other sports: $1.5 million (7.3%)

The “other sports” category contains 31 different NCAA championship programs, including baseball, softball, volleyball, and gymnastics.

Rise of Women’s Sports

Led by women’s basketball, between 8% and 12% of all revenue-sharing dollars (roughly $2 million out of the $20.5 million that is allowed) this year are expected to be directed toward women’s sports, per Opendorse.

When combining revenue-sharing and NIL deals, women’s sports athletes are projected to earn $417.8 million this year, with that total expected to rise to more than $663 million by 2028. (College football players are projected to earn $1.9 billion this season).

Women’s sports athletes have accounted for 32.2% of the 500,000-plus deal applications submitted through Opendorse. 

Many schools have been investing in women’s sports beyond basketball, with volleyball and softball each seeing notable growth this year.