With March Madness underway and more than 36 million brackets filled out, this week’s newsletter explores tournament viewership and how college athletic departments are evolving into media platforms. We continue the basketball coverage with the NBA’s approval to explore expansion bids for new teams, alongside the WNBA’s new collective bargaining agreement. We wrap up with viewership trends from the World Baseball Classic and the Oscars.
College Sports Continue to Scale as Media and Rights Businesses
College athletics continue to show its strength as a media asset, with both owned content infrastructure and national broadcast value continuing to expand.
March Madness Delivers Record Viewership as Broadcast Rights Surpass $1 Billion
Opening day coverage averaged 9.8 million viewers, up 6% year-over-year, with all three broadcast windows setting records - early afternoon (8 million), late afternoon (9.8 million), and primetime (12.5 million). The performance comes as the tournament reaches a key financial milestone, with annual broadcast rights payments exceeding $1 billion for the first time under the CBS and Turner agreement, which runs through 2032 and anchors the NCAA’s broader revenue model.
College athletic departments are evolving into full-service media platforms
Programs like Clemson and LSU have built in-house content and distribution capabilities that mirror professional media operations. Clemson Ventures produces and distributes original programming across multiple channels with a library of 900+ hours, while LSU’s “The Brand” includes 60 full-time staff and 90+ student contributors spanning content production, NIL support, and monetization through sponsorships and media distribution.
The NBA Explores Expansion While the WNBA Advances a New CBA
Big developments are underway across professional basketball. The NBA has formally approved exploring potential expansion to Seattle and Las Vegas, while the WNBA has advanced its new collective bargaining agreement.
NBA expansion moves back into focus as growth accelerates
The NBA has formally approved exploring expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle, with the league now able to solicit and evaluate bids from potential ownership groups. Expansion fees are expected to reach $7-10 billion per team, with each of the 30 owners taking in $200 million or more as a result.
Seven-year CBA resets the WNBA’s economic framework
The ratified agreement, which begins with the 2026 season and will run through the 2032 season, represents a “landmark labor deal” for the WNBA and its players. Most notably, the salary cap will jump from $1.5 million in 2025 to $7.0 million in 2026, with media reports indicating players will receive ~20% of the league’s gross revenue over the life of the agreement. The schedule is also expanding, with 44 games in 2026, up to 50 games in 2027 and 2028, and up to 52 games from 2029 through 2032. The deal also adds accelerated paths to max contracts for some standout players on rookie deals, raises the minimum roster size to 12 players plus two developmental spots, and increases investment in player support, facilities, staffing, and benefits.
Baseball Sees Record Audiences, Rising Valuations, and New Engagement Models
Across international competition, franchise values, and fan engagement tools, baseball continues to show measurable growth across multiple commercial dimensions.
World Baseball Classic delivers record U.S. audience
The 2026 championship game averaged 10.8 million U.S. viewers, peaking at 12.2 million, setting a new tournament record and surpassing the prior mark by 46%. The broader tournament averaged 1.3 million viewers, up 156% vs. 2023, with multiple rounds setting viewership records. Along the way, the event also set new highs across attendance, social engagement, and prize money, fueled by strong international interest and rosters that included 78 MLB All-Stars.
MLB franchise values grow 12% according to Sportico
Average team valuations increased 12% year-over-year to $3.2 billion, with total league value reaching $95 billion. The Yankees ($9.4 billion) and Dodgers ($9.05 billion) both surpassed $9 billion, while recent control and minority stake transactions reflect continued investor interest despite ongoing challenges in local media revenue and revenue disparity across the league.
MLB brings prediction markets into a more structured, integrity-first framework
MLB named Polymarket its Official Prediction Market Exchange, giving it access to league marks, official data, and integration across MLB’s digital platforms and events. The league also signed an agreement with the CFTC, the federal body that oversees Prediction markets, to establish ongoing monitoring, information sharing, and coordinated responses around integrity. The partnership sets clear guardrails on what can be offered - limiting markets tied to individual plays or officiating decisions - and requires consistent standards across platforms, positioning prediction markets as a more controlled and regulated form of fan engagement.
Oscars Highlight Shifting Dynamics Between Viewership and Engagement
This year’s Academy Awards reflected broader trends across live entertainment, with traditional viewership declining while digital and social engagement continues to expand.
Oscar viewership declines while social engagement reaches new highs
The 2026 Academy Awards drew 17.9 million viewers, down 9% year-over-year and marking the lowest audience since 2022, in line with declines seen across other major awards shows. At the same time, social impressions rose 42% to over 184 million, with more than 129 million video views and total followers across Academy platforms increasing to 21.6 million, highlighting a shift toward digital consumption and second-screen engagement.
Oscar contenders don’t always drive profits
While award-winning films enhance brand value, they are often not the primary revenue drivers. Independent film distributor Neon is a case in point: sales rose 187% to $163 million in 2024 and are projected to grow another 15% in 2025, driven largely by commercial hits like the horror movie Longlegs, which generated $128 million globally, and the supernatural film The Monkey in 2025, both of which outperformed its various Oscar contenders.
And On a Fun Note...
As someone who still genuinely enjoys going to the movie theater, especially my local spot with reclined seats and in-seat dining, I was encouraged to see Universal extending its theatrical window. The studio plans to keep films in theaters for longer, moving from a minimum of five weekends in 2026 to seven weekends in 2027 – a small but meaningful win for the big-screen experience.
