Deciphering what’s real about the WNBA. Plus: A pair of U.S. Soccer wins

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The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.

Good morning. Tragic news overnight, as Liverpool’s Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva were killed in a car accident in Spain. More here.

Talking Points: WNBA business booming — but what about for players?

Lately, it’s never a dull week in the W. We just wrote Sunday about the flurry of activity around Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, but we already have updates there. Plus: veritably seismic news about the league’s expansion plans.

So as we barrel toward the second half of the season, I thought it would be worth bringing in an expert to provide some fresh, well-informed talking points to have in mind while hanging around the BBQ this weekend. Here’s Sabreena Merchant:

In your story with Ben Pickman earlier this week, we got concrete details on the disparity between Clark’s pay and what she’s actually worth — potentially $1 billion — to the league. What’s the biggest takeaway? 

💬 Although various economists threw out different numbers regarding Clark’s overall value, no one disputed the rocket fuel she has poured onto the WNBA economy, in terms of ticket sales, TV viewership, merchandise sales and even the number of people voting for the All-Star game. It’s a monumental shift.

The problem that kept popping up is that the convoluted ownership structure of the WNBA — 42 percent belongs to the WNBA, 42 percent to the NBA owners and 16 percent to investors in a 2022 capital raise — prevents the players from recouping that value. While NBA players get a 50/50 split of basketball-related income, WNBA salaries account for about 10 percent of the league’s revenue.

The league announced Monday it’s expanding to 18 teams by 2030. Give us a vibe check on the reaction.

💬 I may be the wrong person to ask, but there has been a general swell of enthusiasm about adding more roster spots and being able to grow the business of the WNBA. Players have consistently advocated for more investment in their product, and the three new ownership groups are doing that, to the tune of $250 million in expansion fees per team. For reference, the expansion fee for Golden State, which debuted less than two months ago, was $50 million.

There is some concern about the league chasing expansion instead of solidifying the business of the 13 existing franchises — check out Satou Sabally’s comments on that front. The WNBA is also publicly touting its growth while privately keeping money away from players in CBA negotiations. It’s a tough balancing act to strike.

Oh, right: the actual basketball! What’s an underrated story on the court as we approach the second half?

💬  Phoenix (12-5) has five rookies in its rotation, four of whom were undrafted and played the first part of their professional careers abroad, yet sits second in the standings. While Indiana (8-8), Las Vegas (8-8) and even Seattle (10-7) were projected to be the biggest threats to a Minnesota-New York finals encore, the Mercury have been the most consistent team outside that duo, and their offseason acquisitions of Sabally and Alyssa Thomas have meshed seamlessly. How Phoenix holds up now that the rest of the league has tape on its new roster is something to keep an eye on moving forward.

Thank you, Sabreena!

My take: This league is genuinely rising, but there’s some reason to worry about the bubble bursting. Let’s keep it moving

News to Know

A pair of U.S. Soccer wins

There was just something about concurrent U.S. men’s and women’s national team games on a summer evening that felt … so right. It apparently did for the players, too: The men’s side advanced to the Gold Cup final with a 2-1 win over Guatemala last night, thanks to a pair of goals from Real Salt Lake star Diego Luna, while the women handled rival Canada 3-0 in a friendly. Luna’s second goal within 11 minutes was a banger:

DIEGO LUNA ARE YOU SERIOUS?! 🔥

HE SCORES HIS SECOND OF THE NIGHT FOR THE @USMNT! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/yfTUn15R1T

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 2, 2025

Emma Hayes’ USWNT went 3-0 in this window, scoring 11 goals and conceding none. Mauricio Pochettino’s team will play Mexico on Sunday with a chance to win his first trophy as USMNT manager. 🍿

Kershaw’s big milestone

Dodgers veteran Clayton Kershaw became the 20th pitcher — and just the fourth lefty — in MLB history to reach 3,000 career strikeouts last night in a win over the White Sox. The 37-year-old joins Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer as active members of the club. Our story notes Buster Posey has the most career plate appearances against Kershaw (120), which got me wondering: Who has the presumptive Hall of Famer struck out most? Check tomorrow’s newsletter for the answer.

More news

• The Knicks are expected to finalize a deal soon to hire Mike Brownas their next head coach, league sources said. More intel here. (This and all links below free to read!)
• An update on Red Panda: The legendary halftime performer severely fractured her wrist in Tuesday’s fall, which was caused by the left pedal of her unicycle being damaged while in transit, per her manager.
• American Taylor Fritz survived another late-night, five-set thriller at Wimbledon to advance to the third round. Read our Day 3 briefing.
• More than 600 people are registered for the Women’s Pro Baseball League’s first tryouts next month; 150 will be made eligible for the draft in the fall. Very cool.
• A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson was the only rookie voted in as anMLB All-Star Game starter, a decent surprise as he edged out the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. Full lineups here.
• Bills first-round pick Maxwell Hairston has been accused of sexual assault in a lawsuit stemming from an alleged incident when he was a freshman at Kentucky. Read more.

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What to Watch

📺 Women’s Euros: Spain vs. Portugal

3 p.m. ET on Fox

Our summer of soccer continues. Spain, the reigning women’s World Cup winner, begins its tournament as the favorite, while Portugal hopes to advance past the group stage for the first time in its four major tournament appearances. Follow our Euro 2025 coverage here.

📺 WNBA: Fever vs. Aces

7 p.m. ET on Prime Video

Two star-studded teams, each sitting at .500 with one-third of the season behind them. Caitlin Clark is set to miss her fourth straight game with a groin injury, but her team should be in good spirits coming off its Commissioner’s Cup win earlier this week.

Pulse Picks

There’s probably something we could all learn from 73-year-old Pete Carroll, now the oldest head coach in NFL history, about aging gracefully. His consistency in approach has made Carroll the NFL’s “Benjamin Button,” as Michael-Shawn Dugar and Tashan Reed write.

The grass on which Coco Gauff announced herself six years ago now appears to be her worst surface, rather than her best. What’s the problem?

Smart piece here from Asli Pelit on how women’s soccer players are building media ventures to “seize the mic, shape the narrative and open doors for the next generation.”

Jesse Granger has a comprehensive piece on how the Vegas Golden Knights have adopted a “home run” philosophy as an organization.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The Bobby Bonilla Day explainer. Good for him.

Most-read on the website yesterday: Live updates from Day 3 at Wimbledon. More there today!

(Photo: Jesse Johnson / Imagn Images)

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