Welcome back to The Varsity, my twice-weekly email chronicling the power, glory, and oodles of money coursing through the sports media business. I am writing to you from my hometown of Washington, D.C., but don’t fret: The Varsity remains a (nearly) politics-free zone! The only running mate who interests me, especially now that Marchand is out of my life, is the partner whom the NBA selects to carry its games for the next 11 years. More on that below…

It may be late July, but it’s a busy time of year. I have several sports business dates circled on my calendar over the next few weeks:

• Today, of course, Warner Bros. Discovery told the NBA that it will match Amazon’s bid for the third NBA package—a move that will only prolong these already interminable negotiations.
• The Olympics start in Paris on Friday, July 26.
• Diamond Sports has to present its business plan to bankruptcy court in one week, on July 29.
• Two days later, on July 31, a federal judge will decide whether to vacate the Sunday Ticket class-action suit or cut the damages due.
• The very next day, the Bears and Texans officially kick off the NFL’s season with the annual Hall of Fame game.

I’ll come back to David Zaslav’s negotiation with the NBA. But in honor of the forthcoming dawn of the NFL season, I called a half-dozen top sports executives and asked them to identify the league’s biggest storylines this season. Here’s what they told me…

1. Who will produce those Netflix games?: Netflix’s foray into live sports will be by far the most consequential storyline this season as the league welcomes a new partner that it hopes to intoxicate. It’s practically a foregone conclusion that Netflix’s two Christmas Day games will attract the streamer’s largest-ever live audience. But there are still a couple of open questions, particularly around...