Sports business reporter John Ourand — who shares an origin story with Chuck Todd at Sports Business Daily — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a deep dive into the money reshaping professional and college sports. Ourand walks through the sale of the Seattle Seahawks as a signal that the era of family-owned NFL franchises is ending, explaining how team valuations have roughly doubled in just three years thanks to new tax advantages and the simple fact that NFL ownership has become the ultimate status club for the ultra-wealthy. He and Chuck dig into whether these eye-popping valuations constitute a bubble — the NFL alone signed $110 billion in media deals over two years — and whether the sports media "middle class" could be facing a real reckoning even as streamers thrive with smaller game packages. Ourand offers a fascinating look at how leagues are navigating their relationship with the networks and production companies that broadcast them (the NFL is deliberately careful not to hurt the legacy networks it depends on), and defends the enduring value of investigative sports journalism, pointing to Pablo Torre's Clippers reporting as a reminder that nobody, including executives at ESPN, wants to be remembered as the person who killed real journalism at the network.

The conversation turns to how sports and politics are increasingly colliding. Ourand contrasts Michael Jordan's studied political neutrality with the modern reality of athletes and leagues getting pulled into culture war fights whether they want to or not, noting the UFC fight at the White House pulled huge ratings and that Trump's involvement in overturning a disputed red card call may have actually boosted viewership. He praises Caitlin Clark for navigating the culture wars more gracefully than almost anyone in sports today, draws a compelling parallel between Clark and Larry Bird, and argues the WNBA under commissioner Kathy Engelbert isn't doing nearly enough to capitalize on the attention Clark has generated — in part because leagues remain skittish about race and sexuality debates they'd rather avoid entirely. Ourand closes with a detailed look at the messy economics of college sports, explaining how the biggest programs are effectively subsidizing smaller ones, why a real collective bargaining structure may eventually be inevitable, and why the sport's true power brokers could soon demand a much larger share of the revenue pie for themselves.

Play ball and swing for the fences on FanDuel, an official partner of the MLB at https://FANDUEL.COM. 

Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary.

For free and unbiased Medicare help, dial (980) 734-3985 to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter, or go to askchapter.org/chuck /*Paid Partnership

Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options. 

Timeline:

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)

00:00 John Ourand joins the Chuck ToddCast

02:00 Chuck & John’s shared origins at Sports Business Daily

04:30 Who are the new owners of the Seattle Seahawks?

05:15 We are ending the era of the family owned teams

06:15 How did NFL teams double in value in 3 years?

07:15 NFL ownership is a club rich people want to be in

08:00 There are new tax advantages to owning franchises

10:15 Are sports franchise valuations a bubble that could burst?

12:00 The NFL signed $110B in deals in 2 years

12:30 The middle class of sports rights might face a reckoning soon

13:00 The PGA Tour may have cause for concern for media rights

15:30 Streamers are doing just fine with limited packages of games

16:00 If Amazon gave up their rights, the stock price probably goes up

17:45 The NFL conscious of not hurting the business of legacy networks

19:45 Will the leagues move broadcast production in-house?

22:00 Leagues more likely to partner with large production companies

24:30 There’s still a market for investigative sports journalists

27:30 Nobody wants to be the executive that kills journalism at ESPN

28:15 Reporters at ESPN are aware of where the third rail is

29:15 Pablo Torre’s scoop on the Clippers was a journalist’s dream

31:30 How are leagues/players interacting with politics?

32:45 Michael Jordan stayed out of the political fray

34:45 The UFC fight at the White House had huge ratings

35:15 Trump’s involvement in overturning red card possibly boosted ratings

37:30 Caitlin Clark has been great at avoiding be pulled into the culture wars

38:15 Parallels between Larry Bird & Caitlin Clark 

40:30 The WNBA isn’t doing enough to capitalize on Clark’s popularity

42:45 Leagues are afraid of race & sexuality debates 

43:30 Is Kathy Engelbert the right commissioner for the WNBA?

46:45 How would collective bargaining be organized in college sports?

50:00 The biggest college programs are subsidizing the smaller ones

52:30 Could big programs demand a bigger share of the revenue?

57:45 Where you can find John’s work