Morning Edition

September 15, 2026

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The NBA Board of Governors is set to convene Tuesday afternoon, with fallout from the Clippers’ punishments still in the air. There’s more to discuss before the season tips off next month: new Lakers ownership, expansion in the West, a separate European league, and potential prediction-market partners.

And Asset Class is here. Look for clips across our socials Tuesday.

—Ben Horney

First Up

Female athletes are speaking out against Sydney Sweeney’s nude ad for Novig, saying it sexualizes women in sports.
The NFL’s Wednesday kickoff game between the Patriots and Seahawks drew an audience 11% smaller than last season’s opener.
J.J. Watt performed well enough as CBS’s top NFL analyst on Sunday to raise the question of whether the network will reinstate Tony Romo.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft confirmed that he opposed Macklemore performing at Gillette Stadium due to the rapper’s political views.

Clippers Controversy Hangs Over NBA Board of Governors Meeting

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

The NBA regular season begins in just over a month, but the league’s board of governors may have more off-court than on-court matters to discuss when it convenes in New York City this week.

Commissioner Adam Silver will speak to the press Tuesday afternoon. Here’s what to watch for.

The Clippers

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer revealed Sunday he will accept the punishment levied by the NBA—including a $30 million fine—after it found Los Angeles circumvented the league’s salary-cap rules to provide Kawhi Leonard with millions of dollars in additional compensation through “no-show” endorsement deals. His decision came amid a reported federal probe into the saga.

Ballmer has been banished from league activities for one year, so he won’t be allowed to represent the Clippers at this week’s meeting. The team’s alternate governor, Dennis Wong, was named in Pablo Torre’s reporting as someone who also invested money in the since-failed environmental start-up Aspiration. Wong’s name did not come up in the report from the NBA’s law firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, and it’s not clear whether he’ll represent the franchise this week.

The Lakers and Who Owns Them

The Clippers saga has served as a distraction from the other drama going on in Los Angeles.

Mark Walter, who last year purchased the Lakers at a $10 billion valuation, suddenly agreed to sell the team last month at a $12.5 billion valuation. The planned sale comes as Walter’s sprawling investment empire faces its own federal investigation tied to faulty disclosures.

The deal has caused more Buss family strife, with some members of the family saying they will sell their remaining 17.8% stake, which is held in a family trust, while Jeanie Buss maintains her siblings cannot compel the family to exit.

The dispute is not expected to impact the proposed sale to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger. Still, the timeline for when the deal will go through isn’t clear.

Jeanie Buss, who currently serves as the Lakers governor, filed a petition in California state court Aug. 23 stating that a 2017 court order requires her family to “take all actions reasonably available” to keep her in that role.

Seattle and Las Vegas Expansion

In March, the board of governors voted in favor of the NBA exploring bids for expansion teams in Las Vegas and Seattle. That vote did not guarantee expansion would happen, but it formally kick-started the league’s ability to receive and vet bids from potential ownership groups. Silver has said he would like to confirm whether the league will pursue expansion in one or both cities before the end of this year.

Read more from Ben Horney about what else to watch for at Adam Silver’s press conference Tuesday.

Buzz for Bravery: UCF Steps Up

September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, and UCF baseball and soccer showed up in a big way. Student-athletes joined Orlando Health Children’s Arnold Palmer Hospital leaders, physicians, and team members for “Buzz for Bravery,” a head-shaving event held during a carnival-themed celebration honoring kids battling cancer. The event raised critical funds for pediatric cancer research, and Orlando Health Children’s presented a check to St. Baldrick’s Childhood Cancer Research Foundation to support ongoing research and clinical trials that help advance life-saving treatments for young patients.

As the largest and most comprehensive pediatric hematology-oncology program in Central Florida, Orlando Health Children’s continues to provide specialized, multidisciplinary care—and this partnership shows UCF Athletics showing up for the community beyond the diamond.

Watch the full recap here.

ONE BIG FIG

NFL Helps Prediction Markets Turn Up the Volume

FOS illustration

$3.17 billion

That’s the total trading volume across eight of the largest prediction-market platforms on Saturday, the highest-volume day in history, according to an analyst note by Jefferies. Markets followed up with another $3.12 billion in volume on Sunday, making it the second-highest-volume day in their history. The platforms were buoyed by Week 1 of the NFL season, which accounted for 39% of Kalshi’s volume. Kalshi led the way, generating $4.89 billion in volume over Saturday and Sunday. But Polymarket, which returned to the U.S. market only late last year, did far less business. Its $404 million in volume on Sunday paled next to the $532 million generated during an average day at this summer’s FIFA men’s World Cup.

DAILY SPORTS TRIVIA

Can you rank the top five New York Giants players by most career rushing yards while on the team?

LOUD AND CLEAR

Declaration of Independence

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

“Pat McAfee has a level of independence I’ve never had.”

—Stephen A. Smith telling Front Office Sports Tonight about the difference between him and his colleague. He continued: “He owns his own platforms. He leases that to ESPN. I’m employed by ESPN because ESPN owns First Take. I don’t own First Take; they do.”

Smith and McAfee are ESPN’s two highest-profile personalities. Smith signed a five-year contract extension with the network last year worth more than $100 million—an increase over his previous deal of $12 million per year. McAfee, who has a licensing deal for his eponymous show and a talent deal to appear on College GameDay, is negotiating his own extension, with his current deal running through 2028.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS LIVE

ESPN’s Mike Foss to Speak at Tuned In

Mike Foss is the behind-the-scenes power broker at ESPN shaping the network’s approach to many of its biggest shows in a crucial era for fans.

As ESPN’s EVP and executive editor of sports news and entertainment, Foss oversees the company’s expansive news operation, from SportsCenter and First Take to podcasts, digital production, and original studio programming. Since joining ESPN in 2017, he has played a key role in its multi-platform evolution, including launching the network’s official YouTube channels and working closely with superstar Pat McAfee.

Next month at Tuned In, get an inside look at how Foss is shaping ESPN’s content, platforms, and storytelling to meet the next generation of sports fans.

Don’t miss the insights, ideas, and conversations shaping the future of sports. Secure your seat now.