Sarni's Scrolls: Eagles Soar in Ratings

The Philadelphia Eagles are the biggest draw in the biggest TV sport.

Sunday's Bills-Eagles thriller scored a 15.2 rating and averaged 30.90 million viewers on CBS — the highest-rated game of the NFL season and the third-most-watched game of the season behind only the first two Thanksgiving games.

Previous Philly broadcast blockbusters:

■ The Jets’ upset win over the Eagles averaged 26.09 million viewers in October

.■ The Eagles' victory over the Cowboys averaged 27.14 million in November .And now Sunday...The 49ers (8-3) at the Eagles (10-1) in a rematch of last year's NFC Championship game (4:25 p.m., Fox).The 49ers, who have won three in a row and enjoy extra rest having played on Thursday last week, are favored to get revenge for last season's 31-6 loss at Lincoln Financial Field

.■ The Eagles elite status continued on Thursday when Philadelphia's Dec

. 17 game at Seattle was flexed to Monday Night Football, replacing Chiefs-Patriots. It's the Eagles' sixth prime-time game this season... The Eagles face the Cowboys on Dec. 10

.■ The NFL also announced its Saturday Dec. 16 tripleheader on NFL Network: Vikings-Bengals at 1, Steelers-Colts at 4:30, Broncos-Lions at 8:15.***TV Guide with Odds Friday

■ 7: Conference USA -- New Mexico State at Liberty (-11.5), (CBSSN, Rich Waltz, Aaron Taylor)

■ 8: Pac-12 -- Oregon (-10) vs. Washington in Las Vegas, (ABC, Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit)Saturday

 ■ 12: MAC -- Miami of Ohio vs. Toledo (-8) in Detroit, (ESPN, Anish Shroff. Andre Ware

)■ 12: Big 12: -- Oklahoma State vs Texas (-15.5) in Arlington, (ABC, Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy

)■ 3: Mountain West -- Boise State (2.5) at UNLV, (Fox, Jason Benetti, Brock Huard)

■ 4: American -- SMU at Tulane (-8), (ABC, Roy Philpott, Roddy Jones)■ 4: SEC -- Georgia (-5.5) vs. Alabama in Atlanta, (CBS, Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson)

■ 4: Sun Belt -- Appalachian State at Troy (-5), (ESPN, John Schriffen, Rocky Boiman)

■ 4: SWAC -- Prairie View at Florida A&M (-17.5), (ESPN2, Tiffany Greene, Jay Walker)

8: ACC -- Louisville vs Florida State (-1.5) in Charlotte, (ABC, Joe Tessitore, Jesse Palmer)

■ 8: Big Ten -- Iowa vs Michigan (-22) in Indianapolis (Fox, Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt)

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Take a victory lap, NASCAR.

The auto racing circuit secured seven-year broadcast partnerships for its Cup Series with Fox Sports, NBC Sports, Amazon and Warner Bros. Discover, set to begin in 2025.

Along with CW's NASCAR Xfinity Series pact, the sum of all the new deals amounts to a reported $7.7 billion -- a 40% annual increase on what NASCAR is currently receiving from Fox and NBC.

How the race broadcasts will break down, in order. each season:

■ Fox Sports: 14 races (five on Fox, 9 on FS1

■ Amazon: 5 races on Prime Video

■ WBD: 5 races on TNT and simulcast on Max’s sports tier

■ NBC Sports: 14 races (four on NBC, 10 on USA Network)

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The 64-team NCAA Volleyball Tournament got underway on Thursday (ESPN+), capping off one of the highest-profile seasons in the sport's history.

Five-time national champion Nebraska led a contingent of stacked No. 1 seeds, including 2021 title winner Wisconsin, nine-time champion Stanford and Pitt.

No. 2 seeds: Kentucky, Louisville, Oregon, Texas.

No. 3 seeds: Arkansas, Creighton, Purdue, Tennessee.

No. 4 seeds: BYU, Florida, Kansas, Washington State.

Schedule

■ First and second rounds: Thursday-Sunday

■ Regionals: Dec. 7-9

■ Semifinals: Dec. 14, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN

■ Championship: Dec. 17, 3 p.m. ET on ABC

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The booming popularity of women's sports: the top leagues are projected to surpass $1 billion in annual revenue for the first time next year.

Front Office Sports reports that Deloitte predicts that top women’s leagues will generate global revenues of $1.28 billion in 2024.

■ Commercial revenue (sponsorships, merchandising): $696 million

■ Media rights: $340 million

■ Matchday (tickets, concessions): $240 million

This total is at least 300% higher than Deloitte’s previous valuation three years ago. Soccer and basketball are expected to bring in a respective 43% and 28% of the revenue — collectively representing more than two-thirds of the total. North America is forecast to be the largest geographical market with over half of the revenue generation.***The International Olympic Committee is zeroing in on hosts of two future Winter Games.The French Alps have been selected as the preferred bidder for the 2030 Olympics, while Salt Lake City has been granted the same status for the 2034 Games.

 ■ Brisbane is building a $1.8 billion, 80,000-seat stadium for the 2032 Summer Games, after tearing down the Brisbane Cricket Ground***WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS (Non-football)

■ MLS Conference Finals (Saturday): Cincinnati vs. Columbus, 6; LAFC vs. Houston, 9:30. Apple

■ Women's College Cup (Friday): FSU vs. Clemson, 6; BYU vs. Stanford, 8:30. ESPNU

■ Men's Elite Eight (Saturday): WVU vs. Loyola Marymount, 2; Notre Dame vs. Indiana, 5; UNC vs. Oregon State, 5; Clemson vs. Stanford, 6. ESPN+

■ Under-17 World Cup Final (Saturday): France vs. Germany, 7 a.m., FS1

■ Friendly (Saturday): USWNT vs. China in Fort Lauderdale, 3, TNT/Max/Peacock

■ MBB: UConn at Kansas, Friday, 9, ESPN2

■

 WBB: UConn at Texas, Sunday, 3, ABC

■ PGA: Hero World Challenge, Friday-Sunday, Golf/Peacock***

ETC.

■ How could Sports Illustrated pick Deion Sanders as its Sports Person of the Year?

■ Pittsburgh has applied for the NFL Draft in either 2026 or 2027. Detroit has the 2024 Draft, Green Bay has the 2025 Draft.

■ Hall of Famer Andre Dawson has requested to change the team cap on his plaque from the Montreal Expos to the Chicago Cubs. Dawson said he has always disagreed with the Hall’s 2010 decision to use the Expos logo.

■ The MLB Winter Meetings begin Sunday in Nashville. On the schedule: Hall of Fame Contemporary Era Committee results, Draft Lottery, Rule 5 Draft

■ Legendary UCLA basketball coach will be honored with a forever stamp in 2024

.■ The Professional Women’s Hockey League will open its inaugural season on when Toronto hosts New York

.■ The CW will televise the Arizona Bowl (Dec. 30), streaming on Barstool

■ The CFP is considering a Super Bowl-like rotation for the National Championship Game.

■ The upcoming Naomi Osaka biography by Michael Rothenberg reportedly attributes her severe depression to her father's pressure.

■ Excellent second episode of "Hard Knocks" in-season series on the Miami Dolphins, centered around linebacker Jaelen Phillips, who sadly suffered a season-ending injury

.■ Pickleball was played in the Goodyear Blimp over San Clemente as a publicity stunt. The blimp is providing aerial views for The Professional Pickleball Association Finals there this weekend

.***

■ "Only Murders In The Building" will get a broadcast run on ABC this January.

■ Shows: "Bob Abishola" will end with Season 5 on CBS... NBC had renewed first-year shows "The Irrational" and "Found

."■ Sebastián Sand will play a young Donald Trump in "The Student" from Iranian filmmaker Ali Abbasi. Logline: 'The Student’ is an exploration of power and ambition set in a world of corruption and deceit. It’s a mentor-protege story that charts the origins of an American dynasty. Filled with larger than life characters, it reveals the moral and human cost of a culture defined by winners and losers.

”■ Taylor Swift is Spotify's Top Global Artists for 2023, ending Bad Bunny's three-year run at No. 1. Bunny had the No. 1 album, "Un Veron Sin Ti." Miley Cyrus's "Flowers" is the top song.

■ Disney CEO Bob Iger admits Disney has made "too many" sequels recently

■ "Glee's" Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz announced the release of Naya Rivera's unreleased track "Prayer For The Broken" as a tribute to the late singer.

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THEY SAID IT

"I think it would be a disrespect to the SEC if there isn’t SEC representation in the Final Four.” -- Alabama coach Nick Saban

."He hears the noise. I don't think he's like 'I'll show them. I'm gonna really bring it this week.' He definitely isn't doing that. He has more of an eff you attitude about it, than 'I'm going to show them.' He thinks it's a bunch of (expletive). I think it's a bunch of (expletive). And I think it's just a narrative that social media's kind of running with." -- Kirk Herbstreit, defending TNF broadcast partner Al Michaels.

"Make no mistake that a good quarterback in the portal costs, you know, a million to $1.5 million to $2 million right now, just so we're all on the same page," Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said

.***

Jim Sarni, BC Class of '69, is a former sportswriter for The Boston Globe and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He resides in Fort Lauderdale and watches a lot of television. If you have a comment or an opinion, we'd love to hear from you Jksarni@aol.com