Congress is rewriting the NIL rules. College athletes may end up with less.
Five years ago, college athletes won the right to earn money from their name, image, and likeness. This week, the US Senate is moving to rewrite the rules on how they do it. The Protect College Sports Act of 2026, a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell, is now heading to the Senate floor. It promises stability,...
Forbes just ranked the 10 highest-paid athletes. The gap below them is the real story.
Forbes released its annual list of the 10 highest-paid athletes in the world this week. The top 10 combined earned more than $1.4 billion over the past 12 months, the highest total in the history of the ranking. Cristiano Ronaldo led the list for the fourth consecutive year, earning an estimated $300 million. The list is worth reading. But the...
The World Cup kicks off today. Here's who actually gets paid.
The most-watched sporting event on the planet starts today. Billions will tune in. FIFA will distribute a record $727 million across the tournament. And most of the players running themselves into the ground to produce it will see almost none of it. That disconnect is worth understanding before the first whistle blows. How FIFA distributes the...
He woke up with 2.5 million followers and nothing to do with them
On Tuesday morning, Tim Payne had fewer than 5,000 Instagram followers. He was a right back for Wellington Phoenix in the A-League, a quiet professional with 50 caps for New Zealand, heading into the World Cup as arguably the most obscure player in the entire 48-team field. By Thursday, he had 2.5 million. The story of how it happened is...
The world's biggest sports event still underpays its players
In exactly two weeks, the FIFA World Cup 2026 kicks off across stadiums in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Three nations. 48 teams. 104 matches. And somewhere north of $11 billion in projected revenue flowing into the FIFA ecosystem, its sponsors, its broadcasters, and its commercial partners. It will be the largest sporting event in human...
The platform paying athletes what their sports won't, and why Thravos is the smarter path forward
When the scoreboard does not pay the bills Avery Poppinga is a professional beach volleyball player. She trains year-round, competes internationally, and has given her career to a sport she loves. She also had a remote day job to make ends meet, because USA Volleyball provides stipends to only its top four teams, and even those athletes typically...
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