Front Office Sports

There’s very little for the Milwaukee Brewers that comes easy. The team competes in Major League Baseball’s smallest media market—at least until Las Vegas arrives in 2028. It doesn’t have an extensive opportunity for growth, either. The Brewers’ geographically constrained territory, according to a former team executive, has “Chicago to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, and mostly cows and corn to the north and west.” Milwaukee’s 2025 luxury-tax payroll of $146.3 million ranked 21st in MLB, and it is barely a third of the figure for the league-leading Dodgers. Despite all that, the road to the 2025 World Series title likely goes through American Family Field. The team will begin the National League Division Series on Saturday afternoon at home against the Cubs, during which Milwaukee’s rise will have a national TV audience. This will be the Brewers’ first postseason meeting against their archrivals located just 90 miles south. The Brewers ended the regular season with a 97–65 record, topping MLB. It marks the team’s best performance since it moved into Milwaukee in 1970. Attendance grew this year by 4% to a post-pandemic club high of 2.65 million. Local TV ratings were even stronger, rising to become the second best in MLB this season, with that performance standing out amid a broad-based viewership lift across baseball. “Last year ended in disappointment, but as we took stock of where we were, we knew we had a solid foundation to take the next step,” Brewers president of business operations Rick Schlesinger tells Front Office Sports, referring to the 2024 season that ended with a wild-card loss to the Mets. “The fan base has been incredibly energized. We know there are no big trophies for most wins in the regular season, and that it’ll be forgotten without a successful postseason.” Fan dynamics will be at the heart of the first two division series games against Chicago, as Cubs fans have long been known to support their team in Milwaukee given the short distance between the two cities. “They’re going to be fired up,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said late Thursday of Brewers fans. Chicago clinched its wild-card win over the Padres. Counsell previously played for the Brewers and then managed the team from 2015 to 2023 before leaving for the Chicago job. “They’ve had the best team in baseball. They feel like they have a chance to play in the World Series with this team. It’s going to be a great atmosphere. It’s Cubs-Brewers. That’s going to be as good as it gets.”

A Texas high school built a $40 million, 7,500-seat football stadium in honor of Art Briles. (📸 via txfblife/X)

President Trump threatened to take World Cup matches away from cities he deems "not safe" like San Francisco and Seattle—but FIFA says it is not up to him. FIFA VP Victor Montagliani said: "It’s FIFA’s tournament. FIFA makes those decisions. With all due respect to current world leaders, football is bigger than them and football will survive their regime and their government and their slogans. That’s the beauty of our game, that it is bigger than any individual and bigger than any country.”

The Phillies are selling The 9-9-9 Challenge during the postseason. 9 hot dogs, 9 beers, 9 innings 🌭🍺 (via APgelston/X) #StadiumEats

Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham says WNBA leadership is failing its players. "They might be really great business people, but they don't know shit about basketball." Cunningham joined Caitlin Clark as Fever players who supported Napheesa Collier's ripping into WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert in their exit interviews. She even said she’s heard from NBA players who are “in awe of how terrible” things are in the WNBA. Full story in replies.

Before their ALDS matchup, the Mariners brought a legend back into the fold. Ichiro Suzuki—who played 14 seasons in Seattle—suited up in right field during a split-squad game, even breaking out Julio Rodríguez’s celebration.

“The NFL in so many ways is like school all over again for me.”  USMNT star and Bills minority owner Jozy Altidore shares why the NFL is so meaningful to him as an investor. Dive into the latest episode of Portfolio Players at the link in the comments.

Eight months out from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Adidas lit up The Sphere in Vegas with every official match ball since 1970—before teasing the tournament’s new ball on Oct. 2.

Napheesa Collier's statement on the Cathy Engelbert has put her on the hot seat. Scott Van Pelt called out the WNBA commissioner over her alleged Caitlin Clark remarks: “If she actually suggested Caitlin Clark should be grateful…that’s preposterous. The WNBA has benefitted from her presence more than the other way around.”

How did a fresh-faced Irish superstar become the lightning rod of the moment in pro golf? This weekend’s rowdy, raucous Ryder Cup soap opera was the Rory McIlroy show. The single biggest media story this weekend was the verbal abuse hurled by New York fans at McIlroy and other European players. The biggest media story since has been McIlroy’s public response. Especially since the five-time major champion gave as good as he got with drunken fans.