Y! Sports Biz: The end of all-stars?

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Y! Sports Biz: The end of all-stars?

Dylan Dittrich Staff writer

Fri, Aug 28, 2026 ·

13 min read

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👋 Happy Friday!No team sales this week?! What gives?

In today's edition:The Pro Bowl is no mo', Air Jordan still needs its namesake, the NHL's national schedule has surprising power players, the Fever are the WNBA's viewership prescription, Fritz is serving aces and burritos, and more.

Time to show you the money...

⭐️ The NFL's fallen (all) star

The NFL Pro Bowl is no more. Not all traditions are sacred, and 2026 marked the end of the annual scramble to replace the league's best players with anyone willing to play a glorified exhibition after a grueling NFL season.

ICYMI:The league's all-star competition, initiated in 1951, will be scrapped next season. 88 players will still receive Pro Bowl honors, with a celebration commemorating their achievement in Los Angeles.

The slow bleed:All-star competitions across the Big Four American leagues have bled viewers consistently over the last 20 years.

There are deviations from the trend, like the NBA returning to broadcast television in 2026 and receiving a Winter Olympics lead-in. Or MLB's mid-summer classic standing relatively resolute. But generally, fan interest has waned, and nowhere is that more evident than for the Pro Bowl.
Pro Bowl viewership hovered around the 8 million mark in the late 2010s. However, recent iterations have seen consistent declines, ultimately stumbling below 2 million viewers with this season's shift to a weekday broadcast, which seemed to be a final capitulation.*

Out of the spotlight:Myriad factors have driven declining interest and all-star fatigue across sports, particularly in the Pro Bowl's case.

Broadly, the monoculture has evaporated in an era of boundless streaming and social media options. These games are no longer nationwide appointment viewing.
More specifically, fans are quick to note declining effort in all-star contests, a shift that was hardest to hide in the Pro Bowl before the pivot to flag football. It's been 19 years since Sean Taylor leveled Brian Moorman. That's probably the most recent Pro Bowl memory most people have…
The game's placement at the end of a strenuous NFL season limited both intensity and participation, with stars replaced by lesser talents in significant numbers.

All starts at All-Star:Other all-star games, particularly the NBA's, are valued for their ability to bring league personnel, stars, sponsors, partners, and execs together in one place. In that regard, the games themselves are tentpoles for the larger convention-like business dynamics that surround them. The NFL, however, has the Super Bowl to serve this purpose on an even larger scale.

Flag on the play:The Pro Bowl format was switched to flag football in 2023, though it wasn't the sport's most convincing advertisement. However, flag football remains a significant growth focus for the NFL as a business; the NFL, in partnership with TMRW Sports, is launching men's and women's professional leagues ahead of the sport's inclusion in the 2028 Olympics. It bears watching how the league shines a national and global spotlight on the growing sport going forward.

Looking ahead:Will any of the other leagues take the Pro Bowl's cancelation as an opportunity to shed their own all-star traditions? Perhaps. But it would be hard to argue against the NFL's game as the most vulnerable and least essential celebration of the sport.

*The 2026 Pro Bowl's viewership of just under 2 million people was markedly beneath that achieved by this year's WNBA All-Star Game, which averaged 3.2 million viewers, just shy of 2024's 3.4-million-viewer record. Chalk another tally in the win column for all-star games, courtesy of the W…

👟 No last dance: MJ still steering sneaker line

The last Air Jordan signature model that Michael Jordan laced up as an active NBA player was the Air Jordan 18. But here we are, 23 editions later, and the GOAT's input on his eponymous sneaker line is as incisive and vital as ever.

Shlomo Sprung, Yahoo Sports:

In any NASCAR or Formula 1 car, every granular detail, every ounce of weight distributed throughout the vehicle, is intentional to maximize optimal performance. It's clear that Jordan's 23XI NASCAR ownership has seeped into how he sees sneaker design.

"He's able to see how they are engineering and designing performance to meet the new regulations and performance standards that each car has," Kelsey told me. "So he's looking at that innovation and trying to apply it to how we approach our new technology.

Whether on the court or in the boardroom, Michael Jordan can give off an intimidating presence. He's not someone you want to cross or be on his bad side, because he's become a master of his craft in both basketball and footwear over the last 40-plus years who does not mess around.

"You have to show up dialed in and know what you're talking about, because otherwise he will call you out on it," Chang said. "He's seen it and heard it all. He's had some of the best designers on his stuff, so you can't really pull anything on him. He's still the best in the game in terms of having a conversation about product."

Every sample prototype Chang, Kelsey and the Jordan Brand design is also produced in MJ's size 13. He tried on different versions of the 41 with and without various elements, finally coming around on the low-top iteration that a lot of today's elite athletes prefer

Keep reading: When it comes to Air Jordans, Michael Jordan is still calling the shots .

🏒 NHL schedule reveal: Winning isn't everything

The NHL released its U.S. national TV schedule this week, and the teams receiving the most face time aren't necessarily the most intuitive.

Winning isn't everything:While there's some correlation between last season's point totals and this season's national TV appearances, there are notable outliers in the NHL's scheduling that don't appear as strikingly in the NBA's, for example.

For instance, the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Hurricanes (also second in points last season), rank 15th in national TV games. The Avalanche, first in points last season, rank ninth.
Meanwhile, the four teams with the most games were 8th, 10th, 10th, and 29th in points last season.

OGs in the spotlight:Teams in more traditional hockey markets tend to have more national games, as do teams with older, recognizable stars. In tandem, these measures set a sturdy floor under viewership, supported by avid fan bases.

Each of the U.S.-based Original Six teams ranks among the top 10 teams with the most national games, joined by markets like Pittsburgh, Minnesota, and Philadelphia.
The Penguins, featuring Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, are tied for first, while the Alexander Ovechkin-led Capitals rank in a tie for fifth.

Slacking on star power?A sturdy floor, though, may not help to lift the viewership ceiling. Rising stars like Macklin Celebrini will receive middling exposure this season, and American audiences will only see Connor McDavid on a national stage eight times. This setup may struggle to mint new allegiances from younger fans, who are often star-oriented. 31% of Gen-Z fans feel most connected to individual athletes, more than the 27% who feel most connected to teams.

Limited cross-border trade:Canadian teams, which have their own national TV package north of the border, see less exposure on U.S. national TV. The Flames, Senators, and Canucks have zero games. The Jets feature once, the Maple Leafs three times, and even McDavid's Oilers on just eight occasions (three of which are streaming exclusive).

Skating uphill:The league's national package averaged 546,000 viewers this past season , representing 25% growth from the prior year and the biggest audience in 14 seasons. But that viewership still trails other major leagues. Long term, can the league achieve the growth it's seeking without thrusting exciting stars — wherever they play — into the national spotlight?

⚡Lightning Round

⚽️ UEFA drops boycott, but pursuit continues:UEFA is reportedly set to drop its boycott of FIFA competitions after receiving assurances that there will be no further attempted sales. However, the federation has filed requests for discovery in U.S. courts seeking information about the FIFA Forward Enterprise investment proposal. According to the filings, UEFA is considering criminal claims in Switzerland against FIFA president Gianni Infantino and other officials for possible "criminal mismanagement."

⚾️ Buss brothers buy Padres stake:Buss Sports Capital, founded by Joey and Jesse Buss, has acquired a minority stake in the San Diego Padres, reportedly amounting to 5% of the team. Both brothers were fired from the Lakers organization in 2025, following the sale of the family's controlling stake. Buss Sports Capital has been among the parties reported to have interest in an NBA Europe franchise.

⛳️ Good Good fallout continues:Good Good continues to endure blowback from its controversial driver advertisement. Earlier in the week, Good Good products were reportedly pulled from shelves at Golf Galaxy and Dick's Sporting Goods. On Thursday, Callaway ended its relationship with Good Good, Good Good withdrew as sponsor of the PGA Tour's Austin event, and Golf Channel canceled the upcoming season of Big Break , which was made in conjunction with Good Good.

👨‍⚖️ TRO issued against NCAA, SEC:A Dallas County judge issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the NCAA and SEC from blocking players who completed four years of eligibility last season from playing a fifth. The ruling comes just days after the NCAA won a federal stay of injunction and the SEC instituted a policy prohibiting pro football players from returning to school. The order lasts fourteen days, and there will be another hearing on September 11.

See what else is trending on the Yahoo Sports Business Hub .

📺Broadcast Box Score

🏀 WNBA:The Indiana Fever have set two ratings records in the last week. Last Thursday's game against Dallas averaged 1.07 million viewers, the most ever for a WNBA broadcast on Prime Video . Then, Sunday's tilt against Chicago averaged 3.31 million viewers on NBC, making it the most-watched game since the league's inaugural weekend in 1997.

Only prescription is more Fever: Caitlin Clark and company have entirely rewritten the leaderboards for the most-watched games in WNBA history this season. In addition to the above, their game against the Dream in August was the most-watched game on cable in WNBA history, reaching 2.6 million viewers on ESPN.

🏎️ IndyCar:The Freedom 250 Grand Prix averaged 3.28 million viewers on Fox, becoming the most-watched non-Indianapolis 500 race for the series since before the open-wheel merger in 2008.

The strength of spectacle: Per Nielsen , 44% of the race's audience hadn't watched any other IndyCar action this year. The introduction of new viewers is a worthy reward for an extensive investment in the race. It's also more good news for an IndyCar series performing well this season; the average viewership on Fox through 15 races is up 32% from 2025 and 70% from 2024.

⛳️ PGA Tour:Across weekend telecasts on NBC and CBS, the PGA Tour's 2026 regular season tournaments averaged 2.5 million viewers, according to Sports Business Journal 's Josh Carpenter. That was a narrow 2% increase over the prior year, when compared on a like-for-like basis using Nielsen's Big Data methodology.

'Yoff and running: The FedEx Cup Playoffs are off to a strong start. The final round of Scottie Scheffler's win at the FedEx St. Jude Championship averaged 3.9 million viewers, making it the tournament's most-watched final round in 13 years. The final round of the BMW Championship averaged 3.85 million viewers on CBS, a 10% improvement over last year and the largest audience for the event since Tiger Woods' 2007 win.

⚾️ Dream Job: Bring baseball's "living museum" to life

Welcome to "Dream Job," where we explore some of the most fascinating and desirable job openings in the sports industry. Along the way, we'll learn just how diverse the sea of sports opportunities really is.

In today's edition:The Red Sox need help telling the story of their rich history.

Role: Archives & Collections Assistant
Employer:Boston Red Sox
Full/Part Time:Part Time
Compensation Range:$18/hour

Responsibilities:Fenway Park is a living museum, but the person in this role will assist in managing the team's artifact collection to match the history taking place on the field with exhibits of former glories in the concourse and beyond.

Support Curator with collections management, data entry, exhibit preparation/installation and administrative assistance.
Assist and be responsible for inventorying recent acquisitions as well as preserving existing collections.
Assist in overseeing and creating exhibits to display and highlight the archives and its collection.

Rich in history:Fenway, opened in 1912, is MLB's oldest baseball park. After Wrigley, which opened in 1914, there's a 48-year gap to No. 3 on the list. The team itself dates back to 1901, and those 125 years of history are laced with stories of heartbreak, curses, triumphs, and oddities. Those are easier stories to tell when armed with the items that lived them.

Artifacts wanted:Modern teams recognize the value of those types of items. Look at the Knicks keeping the Anunoby ball or the Mavericks thirsting for the Cooper Flagg Debut Patch card.

Put me in, coach:The $18-per-hour pay is just 20% above Massachusetts minimum wage. But somewhere, a proud Bostonian is reading this and spitting out his Dunkin' coffee, dumbfounded that the Red Sox would pay him for something he'd pay to do. Time to dust off that Varitek jersey, kid. There's some wicked sacred history that needs organizing…

Unrivaled has built an impressive commercial engine in just two seasons, contributing to the league's recent Series C fundraise at a $650 million valuation.

Patch things up:We have removed the league's jersey sponsor from the photo of Unrivaled co-founder Breanna Stewart above (the team patch sponsor remains in place). What company is it?

Hint:This company announced a 50/50 pledge to match its men's sports advertising spend in women's sports. Perhaps you could refer to them as an [insert the blank] to women's sports…

Answer at the bottom.

🌯 Taylor Fritz and the taste of victory

If you're still looking for a US Open rooting interest and you're a big burrito fan, might we introduce you to Taylor Fritz?

Everybody wins:Every singles win for Fritz, a Chipotle endorser who literally wears the brand on his sleeve, will result in the Mexican fast-casual restaurant releasing thousands of text codes for buy-one, get-one free entrées. The codes, which will be posted to Fritz's Instagram story, increase in quantity with each win, from 2,500 in Round 1 to 10,000 should he lift the trophy.

Do the math:Let's say the average Chipotle entrée is $11. Extra protein, guacamole, and queso aren't eligible for the promotion, because of course they aren't. Still, Fritz running the table could result in approximately $357,500 in value given away, though it would also drive store traffic that wouldn't have happened otherwise. Either way, it's of immaterial consequence to a company that did $11.9 billion in revenue last year.

Only one thing left to do, Taylor:Win the whole darn thing.

(Tomas Diniz Santos/Getty Images)

Patch Thing Up answer:Ally Financial. The financial services company was the first founding partner of the upstart basketball league. They hit their 50/50 pledge a year early...

Thanks for reading! Wanna talk shop? Follow me on X and Linkedin , or drop me a line: dylan.dittrich@yahooinc.com .

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⭐️ The NFL's fallen (all) star

👟 No last dance: MJ still steering sneaker line

🏒 NHL schedule reveal: Winning isn't everything

⚡Lightning Round

📺Broadcast Box Score

⚾️ Dream Job: Bring baseball's "living museum" to life

🏀 Patch Things Up: An Unrivaled sponsor

🌯 Taylor Fritz and the taste of victory