MLB’s spending

disparity in view

NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball’s economic disparity is evident in the playoffs. The Los Angeles Dodgers have committed more than $500 million in salaries and luxury tax this season. They face the Cincinnati Reds, who have a $121 million payroll.

Six of the 12 postseason teams have payrolls of $200 million or more. The Dodgers lead with a $341.5 million payroll and nearly $168 million in luxury tax. The New York Mets, despite spending $428.8 million, didn’t make the playoffs. The Yankees, with the third-highest spend at $363.3 million, face the $200 million Red Sox. Cleveland has the lowest payroll among playoff teams at $103.9 million.

Kaprizov gets

richest deal

(AP) – The Minnesota Wild have signed Kirill Kaprizov to the richest contract in NHL history at $136 million over eight years. The record-setting deal was done on Tuesday. Kaprizov will count $17 million against the Wild’s salary cap beginning next season. That’s the highest annual average salary since the league’s cap era began in 2005. Kaprizov’s contract surpassed Leon Draisaitl’s $14 million annual average with Edmonton. Alex Ovechkin’s 13-year, $124 million contract signed with Washington in 2008 was previously the highest total value. Only Ovechkin and Auston Matthews among current NHL players had more goals through 300 career games than Kaprizov.

WNBA adds

new partner

NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA has another broadcast partner after signing an 11-year media rights deal with Versant to show regular-season games and portions of the playoffs beginning next year on USA Network.

As part of the multi-year agreement, which runs through 2036, USA Network will present at least 50 games annually, including coverage of the WNBA Playoffs and WNBA Finals games in select years beginning in 2026.

The agreement expands the game package that was to be distributed by USA Network under the WNBA’s historic national media deals signed in 2024. That deal included partnerships with Disney, Amazon Prime and NBC and was worth about $200 million a year. Neither side announced how much money this new deal would bring to the league.