Dozens of enraged Knicks fans surrounded a Spurs fan on the streets and tore apart his Victor Wembanyama jersey after Monday night's squeaker loss.
US President Donald Trump renewed his claims of momentum toward ending the conflict with Iran, after brokering a halt to hostilities between Israel and the Islamic Republic and easing tensions that had threatened to derail broader peace efforts.
President Donald Trump shut down midtown Manhattan Monday so he could take a nap at the NBA Finals. After getting loudly booed by attendees at Madison Square Garden, Trump was spotted snoozing in his box seats next to Knicks owner James Dolan and his granddaughter Kai Trump.DONALD TRUMP HAS FALLEN ASLEEP AT THE NBA FINALS IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN. pic.twitter.com/rFrW6c4cME— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) June 9, 2026It seems that a tense game three between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs wasn’t enough to pique the president’s interest. It’s not particularly surprising, considering that Trump has repeatedly been seen dozing off during press conferences, bill signings, and Cabinet meetings, among other apparent instances of cognitive decline. Trump’s nap came amid his highly disruptive trip to Midtown at the taxpayer’s expense and New Yorkers’ apparent dismay. Authorities closed 10 blocks around Madison Square Garden to traffic and pedestrians ahead of Trump’s arrival. The Secret Service and TSA, along with the NYPD, heightened security protocols at MSG. Attendees were forced to arrive hours early, and without any bags. And perhaps worst of all, the New York Knicks were forced to cancel their rambunctious watch party outside the stadium. Clearly the vibes were off: the Knicks lost by four points, ending a 13-game winning streak.
Critics have long argued that the NFL gets an unfair pass under antitrust law. The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 allows the league to do things that would normally raise legal red flags, including pooling all 32 teams’ television rights and negotiating media deals as one entity. That kind of coordinated behavior is exactly what the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was designed to scrutinize.But measured by what matters most under modern antitrust law — consumer welfare — the NFL’s exemption looks far less like a sweetheart deal for billionaires and much more like a good deal for fans.The irony of stripping the NFL’s exemption in the name of protecting fans is that fans would likely end up worse off.Antitrust law generally asks a simple question: Does the challenged conduct hurt consumers? By that standard, the NFL’s model holds up well. Fans have more access to games at lower real prices, even as league costs have risen sharply, including large inflation-adjusted gains in player salaries.Hometown fans can watch every one of their local team’s games free over the air each season. The typical fan can access more than 100 games a year without paying for cable or a streaming bundle. Even the avid fan who wants every regular-season game can, according to research by LightShed Partners, watch all 272 games in 2026 for less than $600.That comes to less than $3 per game.Compare that with 2006, when full coverage required paying roughly $60 a month for DirecTV plus $290 for Sunday Ticket. Adjusted for inflation, that is more than $1,600 in today’s dollars. In other words, the real cost of watching the full NFL season has fallen by more than 60% over the past two decades.That is not what consumer harm usually looks like.Some critics argue that if the NFL lost its exemption, individual teams would cut their own media deals and fans would benefit from more competition. In practice, that would likely mean 32 teams signing separate deals with different streaming services, regional networks, cable channels, and digital platforms. Fans who wanted to follow the whole season would have to assemble a patchwork of subscriptions, apps, logins, blackout rules, and geographic restrictions.That would not help fans. It would make watching football more expensive and more frustrating.European soccer offers a warning. Leagues there have spent years fighting over collective television licensing, and fragmented rights have often made the product harder for ordinary fans to follow while enriching a handful of powerful clubs. The irony of stripping the NFL’s exemption in the name of protecting fans is that fans would likely end up worse off.The NFL also differs from ordinary industries in a deeper way. In most markets, antitrust law assumes independent competitors produce better outcomes than coordinated actors. A dominant firm may seek to squeeze out rivals, raise prices, and control the market. But professional sports do not work like normal markets.The NFL’s “product” requires competition among many teams. A single team cannot produce a season. Fans do not merely want great franchises; they want close, unpredictable games. If the same teams win every year and the outcome seems predetermined, people stop watching.RELATED: Sports broadcasting blackouts are killing American culture PRANGKUL RUANGSRI/iStock/Getty ImagesThat is why the NFL needs coordination in a way most industries do not. Revenue sharing, pooled media rights, and coordinated scheduling are not tricks to suppress competition. They help preserve competitive balance. When money flows from richer franchises to smaller-market teams, the league prevents a handful of clubs from dominating year after year.Few industries operate by having winners subsidize losers. In most markets, that would look suspicious. In professional football, it helps create the product fans want.Antitrust law usually assumes cooperation among competitors harms consumers. In the NFL, cooperation among competitors helps produce better competition on the field.The Sports Broadcasting Act is not a dusty relic or a lobbyist favor from another era. It reflects a real difference between sports leagues and ordinary industries. Coordination can benefit consumers when the product itself depends on balanced competition, shared scheduling, broad access, and national distribution.The data supports that conclusion. Fans are paying less in real terms for more access than ever, despite rising league costs. Blow up the current system in the name of a simplistic demand for “more competition,” and the likely result would be higher prices, fragmented access, and a worse viewing experience.Antitrust law exists to protect consumers, not to punish cooperation for its own sake. In the NFL’s case, coordination lowers prices and improves the product by giving fans more football, broader access, and closer games.
The former co-stars were spotted hugging each other on the Madison Square Garden Jumbotron as the New York-based team played the San Antonio Spurs.
President Trump on Monday said two crew members who were aboard a U.S. attack helicopter when they crashed near the Strait of Hormuz are “fine.” The two crew members, whose AH-64 Apache helicopter was patrolling regional waters, were rescued within two hours after they crashed near Oman’s coast, according to U.S. Central Command (Centcom). The…
It was not immediately clear what led to the incident, which came at a time when the cease-fire in the war has grown tenuous.
Two U.S. soldiers are in stable condition after an Apache helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz while it was “patrolling regional waters,” according to Central Command. It comes President Donald Trump is saying the blockade continues to hold and as Israel and Iran continue to exchange fire. NBC’s Richard Engel reports for TODAY.
A U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed near the coast of Oman while patrolling regional waters on Monday as the war in Iran has now crested the 100-day mark.According to U.S. Central Command, the two pilots were rescued at 7:33 p.m. ET — within approximately two hours of the crash — and are in "stable condition." CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Timothy Hawkins said that a U.S. Navy surface drone "found and rescued the crew from the water."'I call all the shots.'The rescue operation was led by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the 82nd Airborne Division and aided by U.S. Air Force and Navy units, including U.S. 5th Fleet's Task Force 59.After attending Game 3 of the NBA Finals in New York City, President Donald Trump confirmed to reporters that "the pilots are fine" and said that nobody was injured in the crash. He would not specify what prompted the crash.CENTCOM noted that an investigation into the cause of the crash is underway.The Apache is hardly the first American aircraft lost during the conflict with Iran.RELATED: Trump boxes Netanyahu's ears over Lebanon offensive, calls him 'f**king crazy': Report Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesAccording to a May 13 report from the Congressional Research Service, 42 fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft, including drones, have reportedly been lost or damaged during Operation Epic Fury. The lost or damaged aircraft include:three F-15E Strike Eagle fighter aircraft shot down by friendly fire over Kuwait early in the conflict and the F-15E shot down during combat operations over Iran;one F-35A Lightning II fighter aircraft damaged by Iranian ground fire;one A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack aircraft, which crashed after sustaining enemy fire over Iran; andseven KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft, five of which were damaged on the ground at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia during an Iranian missile and drone attack, and two of which were involved in an accident over friendly airspace.The aircrew of all of the lost or damaged aircrew mentioned above survived with the exception of the six service members killed in the March 12 Stratotanker crash.In his remarks to the press on Monday evening, Trump said that a deal to end the war is imminent.Late last month, negotiators representing the U.S. and Iran appeared poised to advance the cause of peace between their respective nations, extend the fragile ceasefire that first went into effect in April, and open the Strait of Hormuz again to trade.The peace talks quickly began to unravel, however, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's June 1 announcement that Israel was going to ramp up attacks in Lebanon and conduct a new round of strikes in Beirut.Iranian officials subsequently indicated that Tehran was backing out of the talks, citing Israel's offensive in Lebanon.Trump responded to the apparent sabotage of his deal by boxing Netanyahu's ears, calling him "f**king crazy" and insisting upon greater restraint. The American president managed to salvage the talks in part by securing a tentative truce between Israel and Lebanon.This truce would not, however, hold.Late last week, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem characterized the ceasefire plan agreed by Israel and Lebanon as a "roadmap to annihilate part of the Lebanese people" and said that "as long as the occupation exists, the resistance will continue."On Sunday, Israel attacked Beirut — an attack that Netanyahu's office said was "in response to Hezbollah's firing at Israeli territory." Iran responded by firing missiles at Israel. Israel, in turn, attacked "military and economic targets throughout Iran," Netanyahu said.As things were cooling off, Trump told reporters on Monday that Iran and Israel are "going to just leave each other alone for another week or something. It's been going on for a long time — you could say about 3,000 years if you really want, but certainly it's been going on for 47 years.""We're in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal that will not allow in any way, shape, or form nuclear weapons, et cetera, and the strait will open up right away," said Trump. "It'll open up immediately upon signing, which could be in two or three days."Earlier in the day, Trump noted that the negotiations were proceeding, "subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way."When asked by the Financial Times (U.K.) over the weekend whether Netanyahu would ultimately have to accept a deal with Iran, Trump said, "He won't have a choice."The president emphasized, "I call the shots. I call all the shots. [Netanyahu] doesn't call the shots."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!