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Financial shenanigans raise questions about NBA's Clippers while WNBA lamenting lost season for Caitlin Clark
Published Sep 05, 2025 • 3 minute read
Felix Auger-Aliassime
Felix Auger-Aliassime, of Canada, returns a shot to Alex de Minaur, of Australia, during the quarterfinal round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Sept. 3, 2025, in New York. Photo by Yuki Iwamura /AP
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Bulls of the week
By reaching the final four of the U.S. Open — and possibly beyond — Felix Auger Aliassime of Quebec City has not only returned to the semifinals of a Grand Slam major, he’s proven his competitive window remains open. That’s what joining world No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy, world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and world number seven Novak Djokovic of Serbia on the final Friday of the U.S. Open will do for you.
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Major League Baseball is loving a weekend matchup between the New York Yankees, the richest franchise in baseball at a Forbes valuation of US$8.2 billion, and the $2.15 billion Toronto Blue Jays, who go into the weekend with a three-game lead on the Pinstripes at the top of the American League East. Throw in the heritage brand Boston Red Sox another half-game back and you have all the ingredients to a record-setting weekend of television audiences, scoreboard watching and social media for MLB.
Yet there’s no bigger winner this week in the business of sport than the NFL, the $23 billion juggernaut that kicked off Thursday night with an intriguing matchup between the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and the always-provocative Dallas Cowboys. Even a 65-minute weather delay couldn’t put a damper on what are expected to nonetheless be terrific television numbers when they come out next week. The Eagles won 24-21 to open defence of the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Meanwhile, the NFL’s big global marketing push continues today as the 2025-runner up Kansas City Chiefs take on the Los Angeles Chargers with a Friday game in Sao Paulo that marks the second consecutive foray to South America. It’s also another gem for the NBC Peacock streaming channel, which debuted the Sao Paulo game exactly one year ago today at 48,905-seat Neo Quimica Arena owned and operated by Corinthians in the top-tier of Brazilian soccer.
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caitlin clark
Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark, right, gives autographs to young fans before a WNBA basketball game against the Minnesota Lynx, Aug. 22 in Indianapolis. Photo by Darron Cummings /AP
Bears of the week
It’s been a bearish season for Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever of the WNBA. She’ll miss the rest of the season with a right groin injury that has essentially made her a non-factor on the court this year. The consolation for women’s basketball is that a number of other league leaders such as Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, Alyssa Thomas, and sophomore Angel Reese have stepped up to prove that the WNBA is indeed more than just the former Iowa Hawkeye superstar.
With all of the inter-locking sponsorships that exist between leagues, franchises and individual athletes, it’s surprising that more such agreements haven’t run afoul of league rules around contracted compensation. Yet that’s what the Boston Sports Journal and New York podcaster Pablo Torre reported this week, alleging that Los Angeles Clippers owner and governor Steve Ballmer — the former CEO of Microsoft and one of the richest people in the world — paid former Toronto Raptor Kawhi Leonard what they described as a “no-show endorsement deal” of $28 million and another “secret side deal” of $20 million.
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Balmer, who reportedly made a $50 million investment in the now defunct company Aspiration in question — has denied the allegations as the NBA launched an investigation into the scandal. It’s the last thing commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA want people to be consumed by as training camps prepare to open throughout the league.
The only thing for certain is that the wildfire surrounding Balmer, Leonard, the Clippers and Aspiration will only place more scrutiny on endorsement deals that involve teams and their star players; deals that often engage both the athlete and the sport franchise.
Tom Mayenknecht is the host of The Sport Market on Sportsnet 650 on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Vancouver-based sport business commentator and principal in Emblematica Brand Builders provides a behind-the-scenes look at the sport business stories that matter most to fans. Follow Mayenknecht at: x.com/TheSportMarket.
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