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Lev Akabas

@levakabas.bsky.social
4.9K followers 150 following 1.1K posts

NBA 🏀 & sports business 💵 data viz 📊 for Sportico All opinions are my own

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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 3h
Points Per Drive of every NFL team since 2004 ⬇️ What jumps out?
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 5h
My friend @justinxzhao.bsky.social made this very cool app inspired by one of my tennis data visualizations 🎾📈 You can see the points from victory for both players at every point of any 2026 US Open match! 🔗: www.justinxzhao.com/demos/points...
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 7h
The average WNBA game drew 11,474 fans in 2026 That's up 76% from the pre-COVID average
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Incredible stat: No NHL player making more than $10 million against the salary cap has ever won the Stanley Cup 🚫🏆 In 2026-27, 18 out of 32 teams are paying a player more than $10 million... will the NHL's $10+M ice ceiling finally shatter? Read more: www.sportico.com?p=1234945986
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Every year, sports teams are being valued at higher multiples of revenue than before The NHL is no exception, with the average value up to $2.43 billion (9.4x revenue)
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
.@sportico.bsky.social's NHL valuations dropped today 🚨 The value of the bottom-ranked NHL 🏒 team (Blue Jackets at $1.5M) is now higher than the bottom-ranked MLB ⚾️ team (Marlins at $1.45M) That would have been unthinkable five years ago 🤯
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Only 1 of the past 30 teams that lost the Super Bowl reached the Super Bowl again the next year 13 of those 30 missed the playoffs entirely Are the New England Patriots the latest team to fall victim to the Super Bowl hangover?
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
8 of the top 10 highest-spending MLB teams made the playoffs 💰💰 3 of the top 5 bottom-spending teams made the playoffs 🚫💵
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Last week, two NFL head coaches named Todd Robert faced off That same day, we had Mike Vrabel vs. Mike McCarthy and Mike Macdonald vs. Mike LaFluer This week, Sean Patrick McVay will coach against Patrick Sean Payton This is bonkers
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Highest-paid NFL players dropped today at @sportico.bsky.social Patrick Mahomes leads with $88.8 million, including a whopping $32 million off the field Story from @justbirny.bsky.social and @kbadenhausen.bsky.social: wp.me/pc2RuA-1lzHI0
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The growth of NFL franchise valuations during the 2020s ⬇️
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
It was a high scoring Week 1 in the NFL, but that doesn't mean that it was a triumph of offense over defense Points per play was high due to good field position off big kickoff returns and turnovers Offensive EPA per play, however, was quite mediocre Data from @sumersports.bsky.social
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Top 40 highest salaries in the NFL, per @spotrac.com ⬇️ Quarterbacks, wide receivers and edge rushers account for 35 of the top 40
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Andy Reid, John Harbaugh and Sean Payton each make $20 million a year, per @sportico.bsky.social There are 10 NFL coaches making at least $14 million in average annual salary
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Most Premier League jersey sponsors in the 1990s were technology 💻 or food & beverage 🍕🍺 companies By the 2020s, they were mostly gambling 🎲 or finance 💵 companies Starting with the 2026–27 season, the EPL has banned gambling companies from the front of matchday shirts
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Incredible stat: In the history of the ATP rankings, no man has won multiple Grand Slams in a season without recording at least EIGHT top 10 wins during that year Alexander Zverev currently has TWO top 10 wins in 2026
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
88 of the past 89 men's singles tennis Grand Slams have been won by Europeans 🎾🇪🇺🏆 Who will be the next non-European man to win a Grand Slam?
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
No matter what happens in Tiafoe vs. Shelton tonight, American men's tennis is in a good place 🇺🇸
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
We don't talk enough about the death of touch football
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Last night's Australia game was the NFL's first regular season game in the country There was one preseason game in Sydney in 1999
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
At 7-5, 6-3, 5-3... Michelsen was 4 points away from winning the match and Tiafoe was a minimum 64 points away Tiafoe won the match There is no sport like tennis
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Elena Rybakina. World No. 1
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Happy NFL Kickoff Day!
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Here's the story of the Shelton vs. Alcaraz match told via how many points each player was away from winning the match at any moment Should I make this for Tiafoe vs. Michelsen?
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
A look at who gets assigned which stadium courts at the US Open ⬇️ Djokovic, Nadal, Serena, and Alcaraz are Ashe-only Taylor Fritz has played way more Armstrong matches than Ashe matches Grandstand is Andrey Rublev's house (he's 8-0 there!)
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
At the US Open 🎾, be a Karen (not that kind) Karen Khachanov is one of the biggest Grand Slam risers of this generation, along with Ben Shelton and Stan Wawrinka
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Alex Eala is already an amazing player at age 21, but she might need to speed up her serve...
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
With his pending purchase of the Los Angeles Angels, Stan Kroenke's sports teams play on 311 out of 365 days this year The sun never sets on the Kroenke sports empire
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert will retire after this season Franchise valuations have soared during her tenure... In 2021, Mark Davis bought the Las Vegas Aces for ~$2-3 million. The average team is now worth $427 million, per @sportico.bsky.social
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Daniel Altmaier 🇩🇪, Terence Atmane 🇫🇷, Aleksandar Kovacevic 🇺🇸, Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard 🇫🇷, Tallon Griekspoor 🇳🇱, and Aleksandar Vukic 🇦🇺 lost in the first round of all four Grand Slams this year They each made $450,000 from those 4 losses
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Reposted by Lev Akabas
Michael McCann @mccannsportslaw.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Wow. The NBA punishing the Clippers over Kawhi Leonard and salary cap circumvention has so much to unpack, both basketball-wise and legally. I have a new @sportico.bsky.social column up with the great hoops mind @levakabas.bsky.social on what this all means whether the Clippers can fight it:
sportico.com
NBA Docks Clippers’ Draft Picks, Suspends Ballmer in Cap Caper
The NBA severely punishes the Clippers by stripping team of 5 draft picks and other penalties as NBA finds cap circumvention in Kawhi deal.
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
38-year-old Adrian Mannarino 🇫🇷 has played 28 tournaments this year, more than any man or woman at the US Open He was totally unaware that he holds this superlative “I’ve never paid attention... You know, if there’s a tournament one week, I’m going. Why not?” Legend wp.me/pc2RuA-1lzHil
wp.me
The US Open’s Hardest-Working Player Is 38 Years Old
Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who is 38 years old, has played in 28 tournaments this year. His attitude is simple—if there's an event, he plays it.
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Stan Kroenke has reached an agreement to buy a control interest in MLB‘s Los Angeles Angels He already owns the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, NBA’s Denver Nuggets, NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, Premier League’s Arsenal and MLS’ Colorado Rapids, worth a combined $25.2 billion!
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Alex Eala mania continues tonight at the US Open When it was announced that she would play tonight in Louis Armstrong Stadium, ticket prices went from $180 to over $450, per TicketData
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The US Open sold $17 million of Honey Deuce cocktails in 2025 How many will they sell this year?
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The U.S. Open's purse will increase 20% to $108 million in 2026 Early round losers got the biggest bumps, with Round of 128 loser payout up 27% and the winner's prize up only 10%
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
U.S. Open prize money is up 20% from last year's record total: • $108M total purse • $5.5M for the singles winners • $140K for first round losers Full story to come shortly
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Olivia Miles is having an insane rookie season
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
3-point attempt rates for every NBA team since 2005 3️⃣🏀📈
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The US Open's Honey Deuce price will remain at $23 this year, per @markjburns88.bsky.social It's the first time the price has stayed the same for three straight years since 2012-2014, but the price increase since then still well outpaces inflation
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
A data viz on now Hall-of-Fame NBA coach Mike D'Antoni His teams finished 1st, 1st, 2nd, 5th, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 9th, 1st, 1st, 1st, and 1st in the league in 3-point attempt rate 🔥
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Ben Shelton defended his title 🏆 at the 2026 Canadian Open in Montreal last night Everyone knows he has a rocket for a 1st serve, but Shelton's second serve is really insane... In the past 52 weeks, 27% (!!!) of his second serves have been unreturned, per @tennisviz.bsky.social
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
NBA back-to-backs have hovered around 17% of all games since the league made a big effort to reduce them in the second half of the 2010s
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Every NBA team's national TV / streaming games in 2026-27 ⬇️ LeBron and Wemby get bumped up to the max 34 games, joining the Knicks and Lakers
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
MSG Sports revenue in the quarter ending June 30 was up $75 million in 2026 thanks to the New York Knicks' NBA title run and surging MSG ticket prices
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Russell Westbrook's $350 million in on-court career earnings, visualized:
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
🚨 Russell Westbrook is retiring 🚨 In his 2017 MVP season, he had 42 triple doubles
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Joshua Kushner & Bob Iger have reached an agreement to buy the Los Angeles Lakers for ~$12.5 billion, according to ESPN That's the most expensive sports franchise sale ever, topping Mark Walter's purchase of... the Lakers last year for $10 billion
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Nine NFL teams are now worth at least $10 billion, according to @sportico.bsky.social's latest franchise valuations The Dallas Cowboys lead at $15.5 billion Full list: wp.me/pc2RuA-1lyBKJ
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Lev Akabas @levakabas.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Just a random Friday morning thinking about how the 2026 New York Knicks played the most dominant 10-game stretch in NBA history, all against playoff opponents
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