On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including Connor McDavid‘s new two-year, $25 million extension with the Edmonton Oilers.
It’s a significant discount for a player widely considered the best hockey player on the planet. McDavid’s $12.5 million-a-year deal comes about a week after Kirill Kaprizov signed an eight-year deal with the Minnesota Wild worth $17 million annually. It should free up the Oilers to spend more elsewhere as they look to capture their first Stanley Cup since the 1989-90 season. The move is reminiscent of later-stage contracts signed by Sidney Crosby, whose hometown discounts have helped the NHL‘s Pittsburgh Penguins build multiple Cup-winning rosters.
That said, the two-year term leaves open the opportunity for McDavid to leave Edmonton when he’s 30 years old and still in his prime. At that point, the salary cap will be significantly higher, and he can sign a big eight-year deal that maximizes his worth.
Next the hosts talk about private equity in college sports. There are potential deals in the works everywhere, including a possible $2 billion private credit infusion in the Big Ten, but so far no one has publicly pulled the trigger. There are multiple reasons for why that might be.
Scott and Eben also talk about the latest in the MLB playoffs, Gavin McKenna’s college hockey debut, and the latest in the WNBA labor fight. The tension rose last week after Napheesa Collier, a star player and union leader, criticized WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert in a very public forum.
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