The Athlete & the NARP

Retiring at 30 years old sounds like a dream come true, but for many professional athletes it’s their unwelcome yet inevitable reality. Athletes typically maximize their career earnings towards the beginning of their career, meaning they have to plan for retirement and support their lifestyle on an increasingly dwindling income. Grappling with the sudden transition to the regular working world can be difficult without the proper financial, psychological and social resources. Even though sports federations and former athletes have done more in recent years to help current athletes plan for the future while their best playing days are still ahead of them, it is not uncommon for retired athletes to go broke or bankrupt within a decade. Athletes dedicate endless energy to the here and now, but taking time to think about retirement is what will ultimately set them up for success.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Claire and Jenna play “Start, Bench, Cut” with popular athlete retirement paths.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Tune into Claire and Jenna's Top Story Tuesday from the week leading up to November 11, 2025.Surreal by Unwritten Stories | https://soundcloud.com/unwritten-storiesMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US

Tune into Claire and Jenna's Top Story Tuesday from the week leading up to November 4, 2025.Surreal by Unwritten Stories | https://soundcloud.com/unwritten-storiesMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US

Warm July air, a hot dog wrapped in tinfoil, a cold beer in hand and nine innings of baseball: sounds like a summer evening well-spent. Baseball has always been a sport best enjoyed from the stands, where fans can experience a team camaraderie that feels homegrown even at the professional level. Amidst declining viewership within the past decade, MLB is striving to incentivize audiences to buy into its 162-game season and learn to find joy in baseball’s deliberate, calculated pace. From implementing rule changes to investing in youth baseball initiatives, MLB is doing all it can to shed its reputation as being the perfect sport for background noise and remind fans why it has earned the title of “America’s Pastime.”Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Claire and Jenna determine whether athletes’ superstitions are “red-flag” or “green-flag” behavior.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Tune into Claire and Jenna's Top Story Tuesday from the week leading up to October 28, 2025.Surreal by Unwritten Stories | https://soundcloud.com/unwritten-storiesMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US

Tune into Claire and Jenna’s Top Story Tuesday from the week leading up to October 21, 2025.Surreal by Unwritten Stories | https://soundcloud.com/unwritten-storiesMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US

The life of a professional NFL cheerleader is not all glitz and glamor. The select group of women that can demonstrate they have the dancing skills, bubbly personality, bombshell looks and the “it” factor required to make a squad put hours each week into preparing for game days. NFL teams love to use these women as extensions of their brand, marketing their sex appeal to a football audience that is traditionally, and sometimes aggressively, masculine. Sure, they get to perform on the biggest stages in American sports, but at what cost? Between the unrelenting nitpicking of their physical appearance and settling for a semi-livable wage, professional cheerleading is largely a thankless job. Their value, however, is becoming more and more undeniable. Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Claire and Jenna draw from a hat to choose the NBA team they will be rooting for this upcoming season. Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Tune into Claire and Jenna's Top Story Tuesday from the week leading up to October 14, 2025.Surreal by Unwritten Stories | https://soundcloud.com/unwritten-storiesMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US

The WNBA has seen enormous growth since its inception in 1996, but the emergence of Caitlin Clark as its new superstar has put a spotlight on the league that is brighter — and harsher — than ever. The increased popularity means more revenue flowing in, and the players want a greater piece of it than the 10% currently allocated to them. The owners are pushing back, asking that in return the players prioritize the W over external offseason opportunities to earn some extra cash. With the Oct. 31 expiration date for the current collective bargaining agreement on the horizon, the timeline for reaching an agreement is quickly approaching. Understanding the importance of these negotiations requires a deep dive into all things the W, from salary structure to draft rules to the league’s unshakeable relationship with the NBA.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Claire and Jenna each pitch a new WNBA expansion team.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

College athletes that elect to use their allotted eligibility to the fullest, so-called “fifth-year seniors”, have always been part of the NCAA system. The COVID-19 pandemic and the opening of the NIL floodgates have made it possible for teams to have sixth, seventh and even eighth-year seniors on their rosters, their ages testing the boundaries of how old a typical college athlete should be. A handful of recent lawsuits from current college athletes have prompted the NCAA to seriously consider implementing a “five-in-five” rule that would give athletes five years to participate in five seasons of their sport(s), no exceptions. The waters are getting murkier between amateur athletics and a semi-professional league, and it’s becoming clear that it’s in the NCAA’s best interest to keep that discussion out of court.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Claire and Jenna assemble their dream Super Bowl halftime show performance, including the headliner, side acts and the setlist.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The rapid rise of sports streaming services has allowed fans to access almost any sporting event with just a few clicks — and, usually, a few hundred dollars. Every major streaming service, from Netflix to Amazon Prime to Hulu, has managed to grab a slice of the pie. The diversification allows leagues to reach new audiences and reap the benefits of hefty media rights deals, but it also means that tuning into all the events for some major leagues can require subscriptions to multiple platforms. Whether sports executives are simply selling to the highest bidder or curating a strategy that will boost ratings, they all have a vested interest in partnering with services that produce high-quality live event coverage. The question is whether fans are willing to buy in as well.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Jenna has Claire match the NFL playoff quarterbacks to their middle names.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sports and politics are deeply intertwined, but not always in ways that are obvious, or intentional. Sportswashing, the practice of using sports to redirect public attention away from unethical conduct, is purposeful, calculated and often weaponized on a global scale. We’ve seen it with the Olympics - think China in 2022 - occupying a solid chunk of the F1 calendar - think the Abu Dhabi, Azerbaijan, Bahrain and Qatar Grands Prix - and in the NBA’s new forays into creating partnerships with Middle Eastern stakeholders. The hope is that sportswashing acts as a positive public relations rehabilitation for the countries that weaponize it, but sometimes drawing the spotlight leads to the opposite effect. It’s natural to have national pride when it pertains to sports, and in many instances, the line between nationalism and sportswashing is clear-cut. However, it’s the grey areas between them that allow atrocities to be committed while the general public remains ignorant.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Claire and Jenna build their ideal Thanksgiving day with athletes of their choosing.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

With sports betting, the odds, at least in the long term, are never in your favor. Sports betting companies and casinos lure sports fans in by touting how easy it is to get involved. According to the bookies, as long as you understand the concept of the over-under, you’re on your way to the easiest money you’ll ever make. In reality, the increased accessibility of online sports books after sports betting became legal in 2018 has put many Americans on the fast-track to a costly addiction — and can you blame them? Sports organizations have sold their souls to grab a cut of the $120B industry that has been shoved down sports fans’ throats via commercial breaks, team merchandise, social media and any other available avenue they can think of. What was once a fun addition to game day is spiraling out of control. For the average sports fan, being inundated with sports betting terminology is an inconvenience that detracts from the viewing experience.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Claire and Jenna play ‘Wavelength’ and try to guess what number the other is thinking through sports-based clues.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The free-for-all NIL market that college athletes have gotten used to for the past four years is likely ending. The NCAA recently agreed to settle for nearly $3 billion in an antitrust lawsuit, the payout of which will go to current and former collegiate athletes. The NCAA’s framework involves establishing a clearinghouse to review NIL deals for legitimacy, eliminating scholarship limits in favor of team roster limits and forcing Power Five schools to cough up tens of millions of dollars each year. How the stipulations will play out in practice given that just a handful of athletic departments turn a profit each year is still up in the air. At the same time, the case progression has hit a snag, as the presiding judge has asked the NCAA to clarify multiple points before moving forward. In a case that almost certainly will reshape the landscape of college athletics, linguistic accuracy is everything — as we’ve seen in the past with the initial NIL ruling and the “Wild West” of the NIL market, the NCAA thrives on turning ambiguity into exploitation.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Claire provides a higher or lower quiz for Jenna based on major sports teams’ valuations.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Olympics are a show-and-tell for the cities that win the honor of hosting them. Sure, audiences tune in to witness the world’s greatest athletes competing for a coveted gold medal, but host cities can take advantage of the increased media coverage to promote their culture, lure potential tourists and prove that they are capable of hosting global events — at least, that’s the idea. The myriad problems that plagued the 2024 Paris Olympics, ranging from the inconvenient (AC-less living quarters) to the downright hazardous (fecal matter in the Seine), may have done more harm than good to Paris’ reputation. Dumping millions of dollars into the Olympics and hoping it will result in a quick fix of a city’s infrastructural and economic woes is a far from foolproof plan. The fallout from previous Olympic games should be a warning to the International Olympic Committee to be discerning in their choices, and to the host cities to be careful what they wish for.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Claire and Jenna create podiums of their favorite moments from the Paris Olympics.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

What do Nike, Bose, State Farm, Chipotle, AT&T, CVS, American Eagle, SKIMS, Ulta Beauty and Kellogg’s all have in common? They are brands that have partnered with college athletes since the floodgates of NIL opened in July 2021. Taking on sponsorships has become the new normal for student-athletes. The new market is especially beneficial for elevating women’s sports and allows athletes to reap the financial compensation of which they were robbed in years past. At the same time, the lack of regulation has led to abuse of the transfer portal, what coaches have called “transactional” recruitment processes and inequality in the types of NIL resources schools can provide their athletes. Few would argue that NIL has no place in college athletics, but its current state is clearly far from perfect. Moving forward, the NCAA and its member schools have the unenviable task of helping college athletes navigate professional-level opportunities in a sports landscape designed for amateurs.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Claire and Jenna play a blind rankings game with categories of various sports topics.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“Shut up and dribble.” Laura Ingraham’s self-righteous criticism of Kevin Durant and LeBron James’s decision to publicly express their political views in 2018 embodies the distaste that surfaces when sports and politics collide. Some sports fans view athletes as monoliths whose comments on personal issues and social justice advocacy disrupt their entertainment. For some athletes, the fact that they command the attention of millions imbues them with a responsibility to use their platform to combat racial injustice, gender inequality, injustices against the LGBT community and more. Brands face a difficult choice when their athletes are embroiled in the inevitable controversy: support them wholeheartedly, as Nike did with Colin Kaepernick, or cut ties with them. People may argue that sports are supposed to be a form of escapism free from political conversations, but it can’t come at the cost of keeping athletes under lock and key when they try to stay true to their identity outside of competition.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Claire and Jenna use the Sweet Sixteen portion of last year’s men’s NCAA March Madness bracket to crown the team with best team mascot.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sin City is quickly becoming a sports city, and shows no sign of slowing down. Since the Golden Knights became Las Vegas’s first major professional sports team in 2017, Vegas has gained two additional major teams, 10 minor professional teams, a Formula 1 Grand Prix, a Super Bowl and is on track to receive two more major teams in the near future. On one hand, Vegas is a city with spectacle and extravagance built into its DNA, making it uniquely equipped to accommodate large-scale sporting events. However, that is also its weakness: Vegas is everything for everybody all the time, making it nearly impossible to define an authentic sports culture. The reactions to the city’s recent endeavors are mixed at best, which begs the question: Is Vegas capable of polishing its reputation, or have they played all their cards too soon?Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Claire and Jenna play a game of 20 Questions where the category is famous athletes. Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Place a bet on your own team and face a two-year suspension. Assault someone, however, and you can be back on the field six games later. These specific policies belong to the NFL, but the league is by no means an outlier. Sports organizations have displayed a concerning level of antipathy toward domestic violence and sexual abuse for decades. Sweeping allegations and evidence under the rug has become second nature to teams seeking to avoid a public relations nightmare when one of their players is in the hot seat. As a result, abuse has become a part of sports culture. It’s a systemic issue that starts when athletes are young and is perpetuated by upper management who are complicit in letting accused athletes walk away unaffected. Drastic reform in the handling of such incidents must be a priority for leagues moving forward, for the sake of the survivors and the integrity of sport itself.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Claire and Jenna build their ideal Super Bowls, looking at the on-field matchups and the off-field theatrics. Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

It’s no secret that sports are a business. Governing bodies and team executives seek to maximize their financial gains, and for a good reason: the sports industry can be lucrative, but it’s also expensive. Part of that expense involves taking care of the athletes that make it all possible, prioritizing their physical health and putting regulations in place that ensure their safety — even when it isn’t financially beneficial to do so. In recent years, athletes have been forced to play in hostile sociopolitical situations, temperatures exceeding 140º and equipment that increases their risk of injury despite their objections and calls for change. Sports authorities have a responsibility to protect their athletes, yet it’s often more convenient for them to neglect it until the damage becomes irreversible.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Jenna prepares a quiz for Claire that tests her on the four big sports leagues’ team logos, locations and mascots.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

From an early age, girls learn that women’s sports are viewed as inherently inferior. Relegated to second-rate TV channels and promoted far less often than their male counterparts, female athletes have constantly struggled to command respect and appreciation for their work. When female athletes dominate their sports and are strong advocates for themselves, they command people’s attention, and that is where role models are made. Representation in athletics is vital for increasing young girls’ confidence in themselves and showing them that there are no limits on what they can achieve in sports. In this episode, we discuss the female athletes who have been most influential and inspiring to us, both because of their achievements within their respective sports and also what they represented outside of them.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, Claire prepares an “Over or Under” quiz for Jenna centered around some of the most notable sports statistics of 2023.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Put on some makeup before competing and you’re too feminine. Add some muscle during preseason and you’re too masculine. No matter how female athletes present themselves, they can never meet the ever-changing standards of what an “ideal” woman in sports should look like. When women like LSU’s Livvy Dunne or UMiami’s Haley and Hanna Cavinder try to take back control — and make an honest living — off their image, they are slandered and demeaned, as if flaunting their femininity somehow makes them less of an athlete. Recent media coverage has done little to celebrate, or even recognize, their success. Instead, it perpetuates surface-level stereotypes of female sexuality and exploits female athletes for engagement. Just because a woman proudly owns her physical appearance does not open the door for harassment.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, we draft dodgeball teams made up of our favorite professional athletes.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

America is saturated with professional sports teams. If you don’t live in a city that has one — or a handful — chances are there’s one not too far from home that you can pledge allegiance to. Teams can weave themselves into the fabric of a city’s culture, as with the New York Yankees or the Dallas Cowboys, or bring a new fanbase to life, as with the Vegas Golden Knights or Angel City FC. The demand for American professional sports is insatiable: existing leagues are expanding and new ones are forming, leaving teams’ ownerships to grapple with selecting the perfect locations for new organizations to thrive. After all, building a team from the group up and, more importantly, getting the fans to buy into it is a massive investment. It would be a shame if it didn’t work out.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, in honor of the NHL opening the regular season, we rank our top five favorite NHL reverse retro jerseys from the 2022-2023 season.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sports are, quite literally, on a level playing field — or are they? The prominence of nepotism, both at the league-wide and individual levels, taints sports’ reputation as a meritocracy. Athletes like Bronny James have made millions cashing in on their family name en route to a professional career in the NBA, a league where many players come from nothing. Meanwhile, the million-dollar entry fee required to make it in a racing league like Formula 1 necessarily excludes everyone but the extremely wealthy. Who you know gives you access to coaching positions, roster spots and a foot in the door in the world’s most prestigious sports organizations, a process that often leads to whitewashing at the administrative levels. The name sports professionals are given can bear stigma or prestige - it’s up to them to make it their own.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, we share our athlete superlatives for Cutest Couple, Best Dressed, Best Captain, Drama King/Queen and Most Likely to Have a Reality TV Show.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“Dye it pink, throw on some glitter and shrink it down” is typically the misguided approach the sports industry has taken when marketing to women. Brands are clueless about how to engage a female fanbase, a rapidly growing market that simply wants to enjoy the game without receiving belittlement. At the same time, engagement with women’s sports — at the professional and collegiate level — is consistently breaking records, proving that women deserve as much of a right to the sports landscape as their male counterparts. We live in a world where the University of Nebraska’s women’s volleyball team can play in front of 92,003 fans — it’s time we reconstruct our perceptions of what it means to be a woman in sport.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, we face off in a game of Who Said What? featuring social media posts, interview snippets and quotes from famous athletes.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Pac-12 Conference was always a mixed bag. Big name sports brands were, until recently, locked into a television contract with other less profitable west-coast schools. When UCLA and USC saw their chance to hop conferences to the Big 10 last year, they took it, and the rest of the Pac-12 crumbled in the months that followed. The Pac-12 implosion may have secured most of the former members spots in conferences with more lucrative membership contracts, but the physical, emotional and mental toll the realignment will certainly have on their athletes has clearly been an afterthought. In this episode, we discuss the implications of this unprecedented shakeup as it pertains to the people who make billion-dollar contracts possible — the student-athletes — and place the conversation surrounding it in the context of athletes' mental health and well-being, where it belongs.Plus, on this week’s Fun Friday, we describe which fruit each of the top-ranked NFL quarterbacks reminds us of.Transition track credits:Downtown Walk by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/