The impact of Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel audience measurement system is now fully coming forth, as CBS Sports reported record-setting viewership for its Week 1 coverage of the NFL.

The network said late Tuesday that it averaged 20.38 million viewers for its overall coverage of the NFL’s opening Sunday, and 23.89 million viewers in particular for its national-level broadcast of Lions-Packers in the late-afternoon window. Both are the highest Week 1 measures since CBS regained NFL rights in 1998, and the overall figure is a 15% lift from last year. 

The CBS figures are also more straightforward measures to understand the impact of Nielsen’s new measurement. NBC’s kickoff game last week was on a record-setting pace before being hampered by a 65-minute delay. YouTube’s livestream from the NFL’s game in Brazil, meanwhile, had a non-accredited measurement that drew rebukes from other networks.

Big Data + Panel is designed to provide a fuller, more accurate view of viewer behaviors, bringing in tens of millions of additional data points from set-top boxes and smart TVs.

Streaming also continued to have a growing presence for CBS, as NFL games on Paramount generated its most-watched Week 1 ever, with Lions-Packers ranking as the top opening-week game in network history, and Steelers-Jets coming in at No. 2.

Big Fox, NBC Numbers

Fox Sports, meanwhile, had a similarly robust total from its singleheader, early-afternoon Sunday coverage of Week 1. 

The network said it averaged 17.9 million viewers for that window, led in part by a Giants-Commanders game, representing the best Week 1 NFL singleheader figure on any network since 2015.

NBC then said that its Sunday Night Football coverage of the Ravens-Bills thriller averaged 24.7 million viewers, its best Sunday opener in three years.

Another day, another announcement of a forthcoming NFL stadium. 

Less than 24 hours after the Bears said they are committing to suburban Arlington Heights, Ill., as their preferred site for a new venue, the Broncos have made a similar pronouncement. The team said Tuesday it intends to build a retractable-roof stadium at Denver’s Burnham Yard. The privately financed stadium is aimed to be the centerpiece of a planned mixed-use development and entertainment district in a former railyard property just south of downtown Denver.

The concept around the Broncos’ proposed stadium is very similar to what teams such as the Bears, Browns, and Commanders are each planning and others such as the Eagles are considering, with a new venue anchoring a wave of new development around it and succeeding a prior, more out-of-date stadium. 

The Broncos are targeting a 2031 opening for the stadium, similar to the Bears. It’s a year later than the projected date for the Commanders, and two years later than one for the Browns. That timing would coincide with the 2030 completion of the Broncos’ current lease at Empower Field at Mile High. 

“It’s our goal to have world-class facilities for this team and for our fans, obviously, with the rich tradition and history at Mile High, and find something that the fans would love as a site that had proximity to that and Denver,” Broncos owner and CEO Greg Penner said in a statement. “We couldn’t be more excited about Burnham Yard as the preferred site to build a new stadium and an incredible year-round destination.”

The Broncos had been increasingly focused on Burnham Yard as a stadium site option, making a series of land purchases near the property in recent months. The team now has “conceptual agreements” to acquire the 58-acre parcel from the state of Colorado, as well as another 25 acres from Denver Water. 

Along with the additional and prior property deals, the total land in consideration spans more than 100 acres, though that’s still less than a third of what the Bears own in Arlington Heights. A full cost for the Broncos stadium project has not yet been detailed, but a price tag of more than $4 billion is likely. 

Mile-High Development

Denver is also on the cusp of multiple other major sports-related development projects, including a forthcoming stadium for an expansion NWSL team and a planned, large-scale redevelopment in and around Ball Arena, home of the NBA’s Nuggets and NHL’s Avalanche. 

Penner, along with wife and Broncos co-owner Carrie Walton Penner, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, also issued a separate joint statement detailing the vision for the project.

“While this is an exciting milestone, we recognize there is much more work to be done ahead of a targeted stadium competition for the 2031 NFL season,” the group said. “Today is not yet a celebration, but rather a meaningful checkpoint reflecting years of research, collaboration, and planning, as well as necessary land agreements and feasibility studies. More important, this announcement marks the beginning of a much deeper and transparent phase of broader engagement with our neighbors.”

Nearly a week has passed since journalist Pablo Torre dropped a bombshell report about the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard, alleging that the team circumvented the salary cap to pay the six-time All-Star an additional $28 million over four years.

The NBA has since said that it has launched an investigation and has even hired an external law firm.

But as the sports world awaits the NBA’s verdict, additional details have come out about the Clippers and their relationship with Aspiration, the now bankrupt sustainability firm that allegedly paid Leonard, as well as Leonard and his camp’s prior dealings when still a member of the Raptors.

ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, who conducted the first public interview with Clippers owner Steve Ballmer following Torre’s report, said Monday on NBA Today that Aspiration bid almost double what Intuit paid for the naming rights to the Clippers’ new arena, the Intuit Dome. 

Intuit, a financial software company whose products include TurboTax and QuickBooks, paid $550 million for the arena, which the Clippers first used this past season.

Shelburne says that Ballmer, who, according to Torre’s report, invested $50 million in Aspiration, explained that the Clippers chose Intuit because it was a “long-standing company.” The Clippers have said that they had sponsorship deals with Aspiration for two seasons (2021–22 and 2022–23). 

“But that gives you an indication of the kind of money that [Aspiration] was throwing around back in those days,” Shelburne said.

The Clippers said in a statement following the report that neither the team nor Ballmer had “any oversight” of the endorsement deal Leonard made with Aspiration. Torre said that he spoke to seven former Aspiration employees in his report. One source, who consented to their interview being aired with a distorted voice, said that Leonard’s deal with the company was so the Clippers could circumvent the NBA’s salary cap.

In his interview with Shelburne, Ballmer pointed the finger at Aspiration, saying they “conned” him.

“I made an investment in these guys thinking it was on the up-and-up, and they conned me at this stage. I have no ability to predict why they might have done anything they did, let alone the specific contract with Kawhi,” Ballmer said.

Boston Sports Journal reported last week that Aspiration paid an additional $20 million to Leonard in shares of the company, bringing his total endorsement deal to $48 million, just $2 million shy of Ballmer’s investment.

Revisiting Toronto

Leonard’s alleged deal with Aspiration may have some precedence. Back in 2019, reports surfaced that Leonard’s uncle, Dennis Robertson, who also represents him in many business deals, had several demands for his nephew’s services—including part ownership, which is not allowed under the NBA CBA.

On Tuesday, the Toronto Star reported that one of the requests was for the Raptors to match at least $10 million annually in additional sponsorship income. Teams are not allowed to negotiate endorsement deals for players, only introduce them to team sponsors (which is what Ballmer claims the Clippers did with Leonard and Aspiration).

The Toronto Star also reported that Leonard’s representatives said the All-Star would not shoot any content or make media appearances for sponsors. This “no-show” setup is similar to the arrangement between Leonard and Aspiration reported by Torre.

Leonard played just one season in Toronto (2018–19), leading the franchise to its first and only NBA title. He would sign with the Clippers on a three-year, $103 million contract. After declining a player-option in 2021, Leonard signed a four-year, $176.3 million deal.