The Masters' new TV era, plus Big Ten's return to dominance: MoneyCall

You'll need a Prime Video subscription from Amazon to watch The Masters on Thursday and Friday afternoon. Andrew Redington / Getty Images Share full articleWelcome back to MoneyCall, The Athletic’s weekly sports business cheat sheet. Name-dropped today: Jack Nicklaus, Dusty May, Cori Close, Lincoln City, Cleetus McFarland, The Beast, the Zammoth, Wendy’s and more. Let’s go: One of the key takeaways from Andrew Marchand’s about the state of sports TV: Even though there might be (mostly) convenient “rebundling” on platforms like YouTube TV, a trillion-dollar mega-player like Amazon is going to keep building out both its exclusive live rights and its portal toward users subscribing to other networks like Paramount+. To wit, things you can only watch in 2026 with a Amazon Prime membership: NFL on Thursday nights this fall The NBA’s Play-In Tournament next week NASCAR’s race at a naval base in June And, as of this week, parts of the Masters. It’s just Thursday and Friday from 1-3 p.m. ET (plus special, analytics-focused “Amen Corner” access all weekend … oh, and Jack Nicklaus!), but that belies what a huge deal it is that Amazon is joining CBS and ESPN as a formal viewing partner for arguably the most tradition-laden event in American sports. Marchand’s piece about Amazon and the Masters provocatively projects that the Super Bowl — yes, the Super Bowl — could be on Amazon Prime Video within the next 10 years. To be sure, 200 million of us have access to Prime Video simply as a function of wanting free shipping — and that’s a pretty good starting point, roughly 20 times the footprint of YouTube TV or the cable companies. Think a Super Bowl on Prime Video sounds far-fetched? Tell someone back in 2016 that the Masters would be airing on Amazon. Don’t underestimate the roadmap or ambition. Big talkers from the sports business industry: Big Ten dominance: I’m a Northwestern alum, so I kind of get the Big Ten triumphalism, especially in men’s and women’s hoops, where the conference hadn’t won a national title in more than a generation. (As Stewart Mandel points out, it’s not just about the Big Ten’s resource advantage — it’s about the brilliant coaches they are hiring to deploy that advantage. More on that below.) College hoops portal is now open: Michigan’s run to the national title was powered by an all-transfer starting lineup; Indiana spent way more and didn’t even make the NCAA Tournament. Either way, what teams do this week has a bigger impact on their potential next season than any other window of effort, evaluation and spending. World Cup ticketing snafus, continued: What if I told you your seat might not be the one you thought you were paying for? Per some brand-new reporting from The Athletic, some fans are accusing FIFA of misleading them about purchased seat locations. Trump’s executive order on college sports: Can’t emphasize this enough: Most likely, little to no part of this will/would survive myriad legal challenges. NBA x EuroLeague: The two orgs are talking this week about the future of pro hoops in Europe. Via Mike Vorkunov, new EuroLeague CEO Chus Bueno has the right attitude: “We think that everything is on the table.” MLB ABS update: Continuing coverage of last week’s MoneyCall lead item. As expected/assumed, the umps aren’t huge fans. (And maybe they have a point?) Other current obsessions: Inter Miami’s Nu Stadium vibes … the new Netflix doc on the chess cheating scandal … the Yankees’ “fried chicken” dessert … Utah’s “Zammoth,” a Mammoth-themed Zamboni … LOVB SF’s expanded cap table … my colleague James Hansen’s taxonomy of the tennis racket smash … today’s release of the 2026 version of “The Beast,” our incredible NFL Draft guide … After 18 months away, the Rays finally returned to Tropicana Field, their stadium that had to undergo extensive repairs after Hurricane Milton in 2024. The team is technically home, but it’s far from a forever home, which has been an issue for what feels like … forever? Where do things stand with the Rays and their stadium? MLB reporter Chad Jennings dug into that question with a fascinating story out yesterday. Here is a thought-starting excerpt: 💬 This may very well be the Trop’s finest hour, but its days as a major-league ballpark are almost certainly numbered. CEO Ken Babby said ownership views the restoration of Tropicana Field as a sign of its devotion to the franchise and an example of its vision for the future, but he also talked about “25 years of fatigue” surrounding the future of the Rays and their ballpark. It took a natural disaster to bring that issue to a head, and the Rays are now repairing their past, playing for the present and trying to address their future once and for all. Data Point: 18,006 That’s the new attendance record for the PWHL, set last weekend at Madison Square Garden. If it feels like the league is constantly rewriting its attendance records, that’s because it is. The barnstorming strategy is crushing — now, how about a full-time franchise in NYC? (Or maybe … Detroit, which also had its own recent PWHL event.) Ratings Watch: 9.88 million That’s the average tune-in for UCLA’s win over South Carolina in the women’s college hoops national title game on Sunday, up 15 percent from last year and the third-highest all-time (behind the two Caitlin Clark games, obviously). Another loud data point on fan interest in women’s basketball having a much higher floor these days. Name to Know: Lincoln City With a budget ranking 17th among 24 teams in the English soccer *third tier* (and U.S. soccer legend Landon Donovan involved), the club just clinched promotion to the second tier for the first time since 1961. “Tottenham away, ole ole” for the fan base is one step closer to reality. One more: “Cleetus McFarland” (aka Garrett Mitchell, the YouTuber who is making a go at competing as a second-tier NASCAR driver, but who won’t be allowed to race at Talladega later this month, because the track is a bit too challenging for his limited experience.) Wait, one more: @NHLFollowTrack, the X account that is consternating NHL players. Marketing Wins If you watched college hoops this weekend, you couldn’t miss the Wendy’s Frosty-fries “dunk” ad, which morphed Monday night into “if there is a dunk, you get a free Frosty and fries tomorrow.” Did I take my kids to Wendy’s yesterday to redeem? Yes, I did, and I feel no shame about that. (And the line was long, so the campaign worked.) Peak of the Week Still thinking about this story from last week about the way Michigan basketball coach Dusty May approaches teaching — and his constant development as a teacher. (Between May and UCLA women’s coach Cori Close, who also focuses heavily on a holistic teaching approach, I’ll argue we have reached peak winsome management theory in college basketball — and I say that with all the admiration in the world. I would want my kid to play for either of them.) MoneyPoll You need to get the email in order to vote – this week, on whether you’ll be watching the Masters on Amazon Prime Video. Last week’s poll result: 75% of fans are pretty satisfied with MLB’s ABS system. Bracket Challenge Update Congrats to the MoneyCall Readers group champions, “CaptShark1” on the men’s side and “ManateeMeatCo” on the women’s. (The less said about my own finish in both, the better.) Thanks to all for participating! Beat Dan in Connections: Sports Edition Speaking of the bracket challenge, Connections: Sports Edition impresario Mark Cooper finished 6,446th out of 26.6 million men’s entries on ESPN. Today’s Puzzle: 562 Dan’s time: 00:34 Try it out here! Great business-adjacent reads for your downtime or commute: More about Dusty May: After games, May likes to walk from the arena to the hotel. My colleague CJ Moore got to accompany him on those walks these past few days, including after Monday night’s win in the title game. Incredible access and insight into a championship coach. Two more, in honor of the Masters: Can you break 100 at Augusta National? Probably not. (Me: definitely not.) But let Tiger’s former caddie map out your possible path to greatness. Ken Griffey Jr., pro sports photographer at the Masters. “I feel like if you get stuck or you only do one thing, your mind is going to die.” Back next Wednesday! Text your colleagues this link so they can get MoneyCall every Wednesday for free. And check out The Athletic’s other newsletters, too. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Dan Shanoff is a Managing Editor for The Athletic, focused on Sports Business. Before joining The Athletic, he held editorial and content-development roles at a range of companies including ESPN, USA Today Sports, Monumental and Quickish, a sports-news start-up he founded. He is a graduate of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, has an MBA from Harvard Business School and was an award-winning adjunct instructor in Georgetown’s Sports Industry Management program. Follow Dan on Twitter @danshanoff