Y! Sports Biz: Where $6 million is middle class

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Y! Sports Biz: Where $6 million is middle class

Wed, Oct 14, 2026 ·

9 min read

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👋 Welcome back.Let's get down to biz.

In today's edition:The NBA's class conflict simmers, the marathon roads have Three Stripes, NBA team valuations bounce higher, déja-vu in eight-figure Jordan jerseys, Connor Hellebuyck's Hellebucks are drying up, and more.

Time to show you the money...

📊The NBA's simmering class conflict

Bruce Brown played all 82 games last year. This season, the 30-year-old veteran is not even guaranteed to play one after signing a training camp deal with the Knicks.

Why it matters:Brown's story has rekindled a conversation about the collective bargaining agreement's impact on the NBA's middle class. Critics argue the punitive second apron and luxury tax systems have squeezed veteran role players' wallets as teams accommodate the lucrative star extensions incentivized under recent CBAs.

"The new CBA is good for certain players, right? Max guys, top free agents, and maybe rookie extension guys," Brown recently explained . "But other than that, like the middle guys, it kind of sucks for us."

Clap back:The NBA rejects that line of thinking. The league's official communications account vented on X that, since the introduction of the second apron, "annual salaries have increased by nearly $1.3 billion resulting in pay increases of approximately 30% for all classes of players." A glance at the replies suggests the league's chosen supporting argument didn't convince.

Who's right?The answer isn't binary, and both camps have cases.

In absolute dollar terms, the NBA's elite have accumulated greater salary gains than their peers. The percentage growth across classes, though, appears more comparable.
To the NBA's point, compensation gains in the 30% range since the second apron's introduction are fairly consistent, though it seems the lowest percentiles haven't quite kept up after large post-2017 gains.
The NBA's elite have gained share of total compensation over the last decade, which meshes with the extension-rich environment. But post-second apron, the middle class hasn't lost further share, at least not yet.

Inhibited free agency:Based on the data, it's hard to argue that middle-class* NBA players have been broadly squeezed under the current CBA. However, players like Brown may have a valid gripe with the limited optionality available to those who reach free agency.

Adjustments in both the 2017 and 2023 CBAs advanced extensions for highly paid players. As a result, teams have less cap space available for free agents; only three teams had cap room this summer.
Only 35 free agents signed with new teams in July, per ESPN . Many others re-signed, while several impending free agents were traded last season, enabling them to ink extensions with their new teams, which couldn't have signed them on the open market.

Bottom line:If, from a player's perspective, the "free" in "free agency" is instead becoming synonymous with "costly," that's a concern for all parties.

Looking ahead:The CBA discussion is already messy, and we're still as many as four full seasons from expiry. NBPA leadership has expressed its distaste for the second apron, and the NBA will wade without hesitation onto the unforgiving streets of X to defend its position. These are merely the early skirmishes of what could become a larger war.

*They may be middle-class NBA players, but they're supermax upper-class citizens . A $5.7 million median salary, or even the league minimum, places them comfortably in the top 0.1% of U.S. earners.

📸Money on the Field

Chicago, Illinois —Amos Kipruto won the men's division of the Chicago Marathon in 2:01:09, while Hawi Feysa won the women's division in 2:13:33.

Three-Striped road: Both Kipruto and Feysa are Adidas athletes, and the brand has dominated recent marathon majors , having swept both the men's and women's podiums in Berlin. In the last seven majors, Adidas athletes have captured nine of an available 14 victories and 23 of 42 available podium spots.

Foxborough, Massachusetts —Fernando Mendoza made his NFL debut late in Sunday's 45-17 blowout loss to the Patriots.

Coming to cardboard: Topps gained the NFL license earlier this year, meaning this year's rookie class is the first to wear Topps' popular debut patches (though Panini had their own NFL PREM1ERE patches). As the No. 1 pick, Mendoza's Debut Patch card will surely be among the most coveted, despite the lackluster circumstances.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil —Brazilian soccer club Flamengo took the pitch wearing "Proibir não é proteger" (Banning is not protecting) across the players' shirts in place of usual sponsor Betano.

No more bets: The message protested a recently enacted provisional federal ban on online betting and fixed-odds sports gambling. Brazilian soccer clubs have been outspoken about the damage the ban could cause to their sponsorship revenue, a reality reflected in Flamengo's obligation to remove Betano from its shirts.

🏀 NBA valuations bounce higher

Since Sportico last published its NBA team valuations in October 2025, both the Lakers and Timberwolves sold. The former sale, for $12.5 billion, elevated the industry's view of valuations not just in the NBA but across sports. It's no surprise, then, that Sportico's latest NBA accounting reflects surging prices.

By the numbers:The average NBA team is worth $6.64 billion, up 21% from last year.

Most valuable:Warriors, $14.5 billion.
Least valuable:Grizzlies, $4.2 billion.
Biggest gainer:Heat, +33.5%

Multiple expansion:On average, NBA teams are worth 14.6 times their revenue, up from 13.5X last year. That's the highest of any league , above even the NFL's 12.7X. In layman's terms, investors pay more for every dollar of revenue in the NBA than in any other sport. The $12.5 billion Lakers sale, for example, is believed to represent approximately 20X the team's net revenue.

Weigh in:Which would you rather own over the next decade?

A) NBA franchise valued at 14.6X revenue

B) NFL franchise valued at 12.7X revenue

Your vote will be recorded once you click. We'll share the results on Friday.

⚡Lightning Round

🏀 WNBA moves Finals games:The WNBA has rescheduled Games 3 and 4 of the Finals so the Atlanta Dream can host them at State Farm Arena, avoiding previous conflicts with a concert and the Hawks' season opener. The shift circumvents potential Finals games at the 3,500-seat Gateway Center.

🐅 Penny offers to chip in for Tigers:Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway has said he is willing to contribute up to $2.6 million of his own money to the roster's revenue sharing. Memphis AD Ed Scott clarified that Hardaway would not contribute directly to revenue sharing, though he would contribute to the department should he fail to raise that sum.

⛳️ DP World Tour bans LIV 2.0 participation:The DP World Tour will not allow players to be LIV Golf members in 2027, as it had previously, forcing players to choose between the two circuits. The change could deal a significant blow to LIV 2.0's player retention efforts, particularly as the DP World Tour offers a path to PGA Tour and Ryder Cup competition.

🎓 JMU joining American Conference:James Madison is leaving the Sun Belt Conference to join the American Conference , bolting from the former ahead of a potential rise in exit fees, which currently stand at $5 million. JMU will pay a $23 million entrance fee to join the American, raised from private funds.

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

💲 Double clutch: Jordan jersey sells for $14 million

For the second time in two weeks, a Michael Jordan jersey from the 1998 "Last Dance" NBA Finals has sold for a record-setting eight-figure price.

Going once, going twice:Jordan's away jersey from Game 2 of that series sold for $14,000,000 in a private deal announced by Hunt Auctions. The price is a record for any game-worn basketball jersey.

Another song for the Last Dance:Three Jordan jerseys from the 1998 Finals have now cleared the $10 million barrier.

Game 1:Sold for $10,091,000 in a Sotheby's auction in 2022.
Game 2:Sold for $14,000,000 in a private sale announced Monday.
Game 3: Sold for $12,260,000 in a JOOPITER auction on September 29.

Seeing red:Both the Game 1 and Game 2 jerseys were in the Bulls' away red. That color has proven more desirable than the home white, perhaps because of the iconic imagery associated with Jordan's "Last Shot" and "Flu Game," both of which were Finals games played in Utah. The Game 2 jersey's value was also enhanced by:

Strong provenance:Ownership could be traced back to the jersey's purchase directly from the Bulls.
Robust authentication:MeiGray and SIA authentication conclusively photomatched the jersey to Game 2.
Authenticated autograph:The Game 2 jersey is the only one of the three featuring a Jordan autograph, which Upper Deck authenticated.

Keeping score:Jordan — and that specific series — now account for the second, third, and fourth-most expensive jerseys of all time, trailing Babe Ruth's "Called Shot" jersey, which sold for $24.1 million in 2024.

*Photomatching is an authentication process in which unique attributes of a jersey — like the placement of mesh holes, numbers, letters, and threads — are identified in high resolution photography of the item in game action.

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💰 Trivia Time: Expensive Threads

Babe Ruth's "Called Shot" jersey is the most expensive game-worn jersey ever sold, and Michael Jordan accounts for the No. 2, 3, and 4 slots.

Question:Which jersey is No. 5 in the rankings?

A)1986 Diego Maradona "Hand of God" World Cup jersey

B)1996 Kobe Bryant NBA Rookie Debut jersey

C)2013 LeBron James NBA Finals Game 7 jersey

D)1951 Jackie Robinson Brooklyn Dodgers jersey

Answer at the bottom.

🏒 Hellebuyck's holdout Helle-bucks

As you're reading this, the total is rising. The number of "Hellebucks" that Connor Hellebuyck has forfeited since demanding a trade is approaching $600,000.

ICYMI:Hellebuyck wants out of Winnipeg, and the Jets have suspended him without pay for failing to report to camp.

Running tally:A Jets fan snagged Hellebucks.com , which updates the goalie's forfeited compensation in real time. The site also provides helpful reference points to understand his financial woes. For instance, so far, his forfeited money could pay for:

567 months of Winnipeg rent
2,936 Hellebuyck jerseys
5,495 lower-bowl Jets tickets
340,500 Slurpees

Up, up, and away:Hellebuyck has lost approximately $50 since you started reading this section.

Trivia answer:A) Maradona's "Hand of God" jersey sold for $9.3 million in 2022.

The rest: B) Kobe debut jersey, $7 million; C) LeBron Game 7 jersey, $3.7 million; D) Jackie Robinson jersey, $5.5 million.

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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