Welcome back to The Varsity, my twice-weekly private email on the power, money, and egos behind your favorite sports leagues and teams. I’m coming to you tonight from my hometown of Washington, D.C., where it seems like I’ve spent most of the week talking to sports business types encamped in Paris for the Olympics. I’d love to see NBC’s T&E from these games.

Mea culpa: Before we begin, I want to correct a mistake I made in Monday’s issue. Somehow I quoted Michael Nathanson, the respected MoffettNathanson analyst whom I have known for decades, as David Nathanson, the co-president of Mapleton Investments. I regret this mistake, and as my punishment I will rewatch Marchand’s interpretive dance routine set to Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version).

Let’s get to it…