🏈 Super Bowl match-up set

Possible NBA rule change, Super Bowl ticket prices drop, Utah Hockey Club name update, and more!

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Sportie Newsletter
January 30, 2025

🏀 Basketball

NBA Commissioner raises possible move to 10 minute quarters

The NBA is never shy about tinkering with rule changes, but for the most part, they have left the general structure of games alone. However, Adam Silver indicated on Wednesday that he would be open to a substantial change to shorten games in the interest of making the game a better TV product.

In an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Silver said he’s “a fan” of the idea of playing 10-minute quarters, noting the NBA is the only league in the world that plays 12-minute quarters.

James Harden Makes NBA History in Clippers-Spurs

The Clippers look to secure their 27th win on the season as they find themselves neck-and-neck with the Los Angeles Lakers for the possession of the fifth seed in the Western Conference. However, early in the game tonight, Harden climbed a legendary all-time list.

Entering Wednesday 14th all-time in assists, Harden has officially passed 17-year NBA veteran Rod Strickland for 13th all-time in assists. Ahead of Harden in 12th place is Andre Miller, who leads him by more than 500 with 8,524 career assists.

🏈 Football

Eagles to face Chiefs in Super Bowl

The Kansas City Chiefs advanced to their fifth Super Bowl in six years Sunday, defeating the Buffalo Bills 32-39 in the AFC championship game.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs on an eight-play, 51-yard drive late in the fourth quarter to set up the go-ahead field goal. Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen threw incomplete on fourth-and-5 on the Bills’ next drive, and Buffalo never got the ball back.

“I’m excited to get to New Orleans and try to make history,” Mahomes said on the podium after the game.

The fourth postseason matchup between Mahomes and Allen, Sunday’s matchup lived up to the hype. The game was within one point headed into the fourth quarter and featured six lead changes.

Super Bowl 59 ticket prices plummet as fans predict Kansas City Chiefs ‘fatigue’

The Kansas City Chiefs are headed to their fifth Super Bowl in the last six seasons, and ticket prices show that fans are getting tired of it.

On Monday, get-in pricing for the big game sat around $4,600 for a ticket.

While that is still a hefty price for a football game, it is down thousands from last year.

At this point last year, entry-level Super Bowl tickets were sitting at over $7,000.

Similar tickets from the Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona two years ago were at $6,000.

🏒 Hockey

Utah won’t pursue ‘Yeti’ name

It remains to be seen what the Utah Hockey Club's eventual nickname will be, but it reportedly won't be "Yeti" or "Yetis."

ESPN's Greg Wyshynski reported Wednesday the team will not move forward with those two nicknames as possibilities even though there was a time when "Yetis" was "widely assumed to be the franchise's eventual nickname" before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected names and logos submitted by the club.

Instead, the team will have an in-arena fan vote during its next four home games where those in attendance can choose between the three finalists of the Utah Hockey Club, Utah Mammoth and Utah Wasatch.

NHL won't sit players who opt out of 4 Nations Face-Off

The NHL will not require players to miss regular-season games for opting out of the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off.

That tournament, scheduled from Feb. 12-20, is replacing the NHL All-Star Game this season.

Normally, players who are named to NHL All-Star rosters but opt not to participate in the event -- either because of injury or personal reasons -- are required to miss one game immediately preceding or following the NHL All-Star break, per NHL policy.

However, deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN on Monday that the policy will not apply to players who opt not to play in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

⚾️ Baseball

Yankees' Hal Steinbrenner: Spending like Dodgers 'difficult’

New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner weighed in on the Los Angeles Dodgers' offseason spending spree, saying it will be even more "difficult" to keep up with the reigning World Series champions.

The Dodgers have spent more than $450 million guaranteed this offseason, pushing their 2025 luxury tax payroll to approximately $390 million.

With the penalties for exceeding the $241 million threshold, the Dodgers' total payroll for this year likely will be in excess of $500 million.