The NFL is keeping players and fans guessing on the length of future seasons.

Two months ago, NFL owners voted to expand the regular season to 17 games for the first time.

Now, an 18-game schedule may be in the league’s future, and the move could come as early as 2025, according to NBC Sports.

“Most observers … think 18 games is on the way,” writes Peter King.

The league’s current collective bargaining agreement, which runs until 2030, accounts for a 17-game season, but further extensions could be negotiated to bring more football to fans.

If it does eventually happen, the 18-game schedule is more likely to become become a reality in the mid-2020s — potentially under Roger Goodell’s successor. Goodell has been NFL commissioner for 15 years and his current contract ends after the 2023 season, but he’s given no hints that he plans to retire then.

Extending the NFL schedule has notable financial upside for the league and its media partners.

• An extra game would sweeten the NFL’s current media rights deals with CBS, NBC, Disney, Fox, and Amazon — worth a total of $113 billion over 11 seasons.
• The NFL already makes the most money of any American sports league with $12 billion in revenue last year, despite a drop from $16 billion in 2019 due to the pandemic. Another game would further cement that status.

Even with the promise of more games for fans and broadcasters, the decision to extend the NFL season has faced scrutiny due to its potential impact on long-term player safety.

While the NFT-mania has come and gone, the market for non-fungible tokens has proven robust, and some major players are just now getting into the game.

Major League Baseball agreed on Tuesday to a licensing deal with tech company Candy Digital to create an NFT marketplace along the lines of NBA Top Shot.

Philadelphia 76ers minority owner Michael Rubin is among Candy Digital’s founders. His licensed sports merchandise giant, Fanatics — which received a $12.8 billion valuation in March — is the majority owner.

Combining the game’s long history with this new medium, MLB will release an NFT commemorating Lou Gehrig’s 1939 “Luckiest Man” speech over the Fourth of July weekend.

Other leagues and teams are also looking to leverage the blockchain-based tokens.

• Soccer team Club Nicaxa of Mexico’s Liga MX will auction off an NFT that comes with 1% ownership in the club. Bidding starts at $1.3 million.
• The Premier League is looking into NFTs as a source of revenue after losing around $2.8 billion in ticket sales to the pandemic.

As for NBA Top Shot, it recently signed up its 1 millionth user and has 150,000 to 250,000 unique users per day. 

Top Shot sales have cooled off substantially after a surge that saw $462 million change hands over February and March. The platform had $92.5 million in April sales, and around $40 million last month.

The conventional wisdom is that athletes peak in their mid-20s, when youthful reflexes combine with years of experience. These days, 35 is looking like the new 25. 

Should Serena Williams or Roger Federer, both 39, win the French Open and its $1.7 million top prize in the men’s and women’s brackets (part of a $42 million total purse), they will join a series of older legends beating out younger competition at the highest level in sports this past year. 

• Tom Brady, 43, led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl win. Brady has seven championships and over $263 million in career salary earnings. 
• Phil Mickelson, 50, won the PGA Championship and $2.2 million in May, bringing him to $94.6 million in career earnings. 
• On Sunday, Hélio Castroneves, 46, won his fourth Indy 500 and its $2 million prize, bringing his net worth to an estimated $40 million. 

Meanwhile, LeBron James, 36, and Sue Bird, 40, are each fighting to defend last year’s NBA and WNBA championships.

Is something in the water … or food? The global sports nutrition market topped $44 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to $60 billion by 2026.

Time will tell if this trend is simply a convergence of generational talents staying at the tops of their games — or a sign that advances in fitness, nutrition, and training are helping athletes to maintain peak performance for longer. James alone invests a reported $1.5 million annually to take care of his body.

WWE is ready to expand from wrestling to a full-scale media universe, sources told Front Office Sports. 

The strategy is to become the next Marvel, with content driven by characters like Roman Reigns and Undertaker.

Recent moves are telling. WWE is hiring media executives from outside the business and forging content deals worth billions.

• WWE signed a five-year, $1 billion deal with NBC Universal’s Peacock for network rights in January. 
• Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts credited WWE and “The Office” with helping Peacock reach 42 million subscribers in the first quarter. April’s WrestleMania 37 was the most-viewed live event ever for Peacock.
• In 2020, WWE hired CAA’s Co-Head of Television Nick Khan as president and chief revenue officer. On Tuesday, they brought on Jamie Horowitz as executive vice president, development and digital. At DAZN, Horowitz teamed up with Sylvester Stallone, LeBron James, and Jay-Z to create original documentaries and unscripted series.
• Along with Horowitz, the WWE hired Samira Shah as general counsel and Matt Drew as senior vice president of international. At the board of directors level, WWE added Khan, former ESPN content chief Connor Schell and Atlanta Hawks Chief Executive Officer Steve Koonin. The WWE previously elected Erika Nardini, Chief Executive Officer of Barstool Sports, to its board.

Marvel is a great model: It went from a bankrupt comic book outfit to a box-office behemoth in film, TV, and theme parks in around 25 years. WWE sees similar growth potential. 

WWE programming now reaches 900 million homes worldwide and the company posted record revenue of $974.2 million in 2020.

“At first glance, WWE’s a wrestling company. But it’s really a media/content company with a treasure trove of IP that appeals to young demos,” the source told FOS.