A segment of Dallas Mavericks fans are expressing frustration over a change to the team’s partial season-ticket plan for the 2026-27 season.

In two different 10-game plans the Mavericks are offering for the upcoming season, one of the regular-season games has been replaced by a preseason game.

The Mavericks’ Oct. 14 preseason game against the New Orleans Pelicans is included in the “Three Point” 10-game plan the team is offering, while the Oct. 16 preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks is part of Dallas’ “Weekend” 10-game offering.

Season-ticket holders accustomed to 10-game packages that exclusively contain regular-season games have called the change a “bait and switch” on social media. Some have also noted that marquee games involving Luka Dončić’s Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James’ Philadelphia 76ers are not included in any of the 10-game packages.

When asked for comment, a Mavericks spokesperson told The Athletic that among the eight season-ticket plan options the team offers, six are exclusively made up of regular-season games, while two do contain one preseason game each.

“The ‘Three Point’ and ‘Weekend’ plans each include 10 Mavericks home games, consisting of nine regular-season games and one preseason game,” the spokesperson said. “These are two of eight ticket-plan options we are offering for the 2026-27 season. The packages were designed to provide fans with a strong mix of opponents, dates and overall value at their respective price points.”

In February, Mavericks CEO Rick Welts said that season-ticket prices for the 2026-27 season wouldn’t increase, at governor Patrick Dumont’s behest.

“It was one of the strangest meetings I’ve been in in my 48 years in the league, where you sit down with the owner,” Welts said in February. “The staff has done two months of work to figure out where tickets might be underpriced.

“Patrick preempted the conversation before it got started and said, ‘Look, we didn’t deliver this year. We didn’t deliver on the team as expected. We’re not going to raise one ticket price this year.’ A popular decision. The right one as well.”

There is no uniformity across the NBA regarding which teams include a preseason game in their partial season-ticket packages. According to the San Antonio Spurs’ website, their two 10-game plans both contain one preseason game. But the Houston Rockets — the Mavericks’ and Spurs’ neighbor in the Lone Star State — offer four different 10-game season-ticket packages, none of which include a preseason game. Several other teams, including the Golden State Warriors, offer packages that include 10 regular-season games and one additional preseason contest.

According to Mavericks fans on social media and other fans who reached out to The Athletic directly, the team initially planned to include one preseason game in select 10-game season-ticket packages ahead of the 2022-23 season before reversing course. At that time, Mark Cuban was still the Mavericks’ majority owner. However, Cuban offloaded his majority stake in the team to Miriam Adelson and Dumont in December 2023.

Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic’s F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox twice a week during the season and weekly in the offseason.

Welcome back to Prime Tire, where today I’m really looking forward to the Dutch Grand Prix and this coming weekend.

Firstly, because I’m getting married — so it’ll be Patrick Iversen in your inboxes next week when we shift back to our regular newsletter cadence. And, of course, because the F1 championship is back in action after a long summer break.

I think my fiancé Emily will be happy with the order of those references …

I’m Alex, and Luke Smith will be along later.

The Return: Lawson gets (temporary) Red Bull call-up

There’s something about Liam Lawson, big breaks and the Dutch GP.

Three years ago, the New Zealander made his F1 debut at Zandvoort for a team then called AlphaTauri — now Racing Bulls — after Daniel Ricciardo broke his hand in a practice crash.

This weekend, Lawson was called up to race for Red Bull from Racing Bulls, after Isack Hadjar sustained a wrist injury over summer break.

Hadjar, a keen boxer, reportedly sustained his injury punching a sandbag as part of his summer training. (Obviously.)

Last week, I touched on the pressure Lawson’s facing regarding his long-term F1 future. Now, Lawson has received a huge vote of confidence from his Red Bull benefactors. He is about to do something no Red Bull driver has ever done before: return to the senior Red Bull team after being demoted back to the junior squad.

For Lawson, the ruthless demotion last year happened just two races into the 2025 campaign.

Now, yes, his rise back is only happening through specific and unfortunate circumstances — with every indication that Hadjar will keep his place alongside Max Verstappen for 2027. But it still stands out as very different from what has come before.

Perhaps if the unrelenting Red Bull F1 old guard of Christian Horner and Helmut Marko were still in charge, then it would be Arvid Lindblad stepping up from Racing Bulls right now. They favored such rapid promotions and getting the chance to assess a young driver in the toughest F1 test: being Verstappen’s teammate.

But that new Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies has selected Lawson instead is revealing. It shows a new mentality — one not afforded to Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Ricciardo or Daniil Kvyat in previous eras.

And a healthier mentality at that.

(FWIW, Red Bull’s F1 history actually started with swapping junior drivers Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi between races in 2005, but that’s very different from the cold indifference shown to those four drivers above — plus Yuki Tsunoda, with more on him to come — once they were dropped from the main team’s lineup in the modern era.)

Lawson has been driving very well this year, even around Lindblad’s searing qualifying speed in what is a good Racing Bulls car.

A good Zandvoort result — such as his first Red Bull points after his awful two-race stint there last year before he was replaced by Tsunoda — would go a long way to ensuring Lawson’s place in the Red Bull F1 fold for 2027.

This would keep current Formula 2 points leader and Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov on the outside looking in, but as I argued last week, the Bulgarian racer has time on his side.

Now, over to Luke to explain why Red Bull hasn’t recalled Tsunoda to replace Hadjar, even though he is the team’s reserve driver.

Inside the Paddock with Luke Smith: Why didn’t Red Bull go back to Tsunoda?

Tsunoda will be excited to get back on the F1 grid at Zandvoort. But is there a case to be made that he should be driving the Red Bull car, not the Racing Bulls car?

Although Tsunoda’s performances didn’t set the world on fire in 22 races last year on Red Bull’s top team, which led to Hadjar replacing him for this year, Red Bull saw enough to retain him as its official reserve driver.

Yet now the team is in need of a replacement, and it opted for Lawson instead. That’s despite Tsunoda having more F1 experience (111 starts overall to Lawson’s 46) and more recent knowledge of a Red Bull car.

So, why Lawson?

• Well, his form this year has been sparkling, leading Racing Bulls efforts and looking the most confident he’s ever been in F1.
• His rookie teammate, Lindblad, has posed close competition, but Lawson has finished ahead in all but two races both drivers have finished.
• Crucially, Lawson also has racing experience with the 2026 cars that are vastly different to those Tsunoda drove in 2025. The learning curve for Tsunoda would be much steeper, even if Lawson also needs to adjust to the Red Bull car.

As much as Lawson will want to use this opportunity to prove how much he has grown since his shock Red Bull demotion, it’s really a chance to remind the F1 world of what he can do, and why he would deserve to be back on the grid in 2027.

Back to you, Alex.

Feedback Loop: How you ranked the drivers so far in 2026

In last week’s PT, I asked you to rank the F1 drivers based on their performances so far this season, after Luke and Madeline Coleman released their combined top 10 drivers so far.

Your results are in, and your top drivers are:

1. Kimi Antonelli
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Max Verstappen
4. Lando Norris
5. Charles Leclerc
6. George Russell
7. Oscar Piastri
8. Isack Hadjar
9. Liam Lawson
10. Pierre Gasly
11. Arvid Lindblad
12. Franco Colapinto
13. Ollie Bearman
14. Gabriel Bortoleto
15. Carlos Sainz
16. Alex Albon
17. Nico Hülkenberg
18. Esteban Ocon
19. Fernando Alonso
20. Sergio Pérez
21. Valtteri Bottas
22. Lance Stroll

(One thing to note: Everyone who responded was voting on the whole field, not just picking a top 10 like Luke and Madeline.)

My main takeaways:

• In comparison to Luke and Madeline, who had Hamilton fifth, the British Ferrari driver is the biggest gainer, leaping to No. 2.
• McLaren’s Norris was the biggest faller. He dropped from second in our rankings to fourth in yours.
• Everyone else in the top 10 was pretty much in the same order.
• Of those drivers only PT readers voted on, 16th seems harsh for Sainz — even with his Piastri-bashing while being lapped last time out in Hungary.
• But 20th, 21st and 22nd seems spot on for Pérez, Bottas and Stroll, respectively.

Thanks to everyone who voted in last week’s PT poll. We’ll have a final 2026 driver rankings — and team report card grades — at the end of the season.

Outside the Points

📝 Sainz and Albon will continue to race for Williams in 2027, and as teammates for a third successive season, with fresh contract statuses announced on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

⛏ Luke dug further into Cadillac’s sudden predicaments, just five months into its first F1 season.

⚡ I visited the London E-Prix to get Formula E’s response to catching strays from Verstappen in the four-time world champion’s vocal campaign railing against F1’s new engines earlier this year.

🇮🇹 Luke also revealed how Mercedes is keeping Antonelli so grounded around all his success this year, with an in-depth interview with the team’s outgoing junior driver scout.

👩‍💻 And Madeline and I answered reader questions on the season so far in this special summer mailbag.

📫 Love Prime Tire? Check out The Athletic’s other newsletters.

Inside: Readers pick the destination for a non-U.S. NFL team, plus Mike Sando revisits Dak Prescott’s 2026 QB Tier ranking and we have an exclusive Aaron Glenn interview. Only 21 days till kickoff!

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NFL’s international franchise ideas

Not once in the 100-plus years since Jim Thorpe was elected the first president of the American Professional Football Association (which then became the National Football League) has an NFL team been based outside the United States.

Could that change? I’m skeptical, given how well the 32-team, eight-division format works (not to mention the difficulties around time zones, taxes and travel). But Roger Goodell expects it, as we mentioned yesterday.

“At some point, there will be NFL teams outside the USA,” Goodell said to a German broadcaster. “I have no doubt that this will happen one day.”

Inspired, many of you shared ideas for a team outside America. These 20 were the most notable, either popular (the first 10) or unique (Nos. 11-20).

London is the obvious top choice. Kevin T. and Mark L. (plus many, many others) point out the NFL-ready stadium, a growing number of U.S. citizens in town (about 70,000) and London’s international presence. It’s also a six-hour flight from the East Coast, only slightly longer than the flight from New York to Los Angeles.

Mexico City was the second-most popular. Ryan B. explains why it’s a fit:

“Mexico City established it has the infrastructure capabilities (during the World Cup). There wouldn’t be a major time difference, and naming them the Aztecs would be a good tribute to Mexican history and provides for awesome merch.”

Most were logical. The third option, Toronto, makes plenty of sense. Volker H.’s Frankfurt Galaxy point was well taken. And I admired the thought put into the Helsinki Thunderstones, complete with team uniform colors and a “Sisu!” cheer.

Many made me laugh. Everyone who explained the London Red Coats, Toronto Tariffs, Ruben G.’s Hail Mary-heavy team from the Vatican. The most surprisingly justified was Rob B., who suggested Iceland’s Reykjavík Eyjafjallajökulls, which Google tells me is pronounced “EY-uh-fyat-lah-YOH-kuhtls”:

“Listening to Pat McAfee try to pronounce this would be comedy gold. Logistically, the flight to Iceland is two hours shorter than to Munich. And all the fans in Cleveland, Chicago, KC, and elsewhere will soon be deprived of proper outdoor games. Iceland’s capital offers a true Ice Bowl every time the Eyjafjallajökulls host a game.”

The World League of American Football failed to pave the way for a full-fledged franchise. Same story with NFL Europe. Yet a non-American team might be more realistic than we realize.

The NFL added six expansion franchises between 1976 and 2002. It has now been 24 years without one, the longest span without adding a team.

Perhaps the Tristan da Cunha Explorers? Jack B. suggested that “the American football market in Tristan da Cunha is untapped.” For those unfamiliar, Tristan da Cunha is the world’s most remote inhabited island with a population of 221 people. Think: Chargers fans at home games.

Over to Mike Sando, whom I asked a simple question: What surprised you most about this year’s QB Tiers?

Sando’s Pick: Dak Prescott comp

Dak Prescott jumping up five spots to No. 7 in our 2026 QB Tiers was the biggest surprise to me. Was there something we didn’t know about Prescott already after his first decade in the league? Where was this new information coming from?

Prescott himself was feeling it, talking openly about the Super Bowl, which got me thinking: Has any quarterback in the Super Bowl era reached one for the first time after so many seasons with the same team? (Prescott has been with Dallas since it drafted him in 2016.)

Setting aside Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr, who played in championship games before the Super Bowl existed, there’s only one comp for Prescott: Ken Anderson.

Anderson was a two-time Pro Bowler with an 0-2 postseason record through his first 10 NFL seasons, all with the Bengals. Then, in 1981, Anderson won MVP honors under a new coordinator (Lindy Infante) and led Cincinnati to its first Super Bowl appearance (a 26-21 loss to Joe Montana’s 49ers).

Prescott, like Anderson way back when, is entering his 11th season. He has a relatively new play caller (second-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer) and some of the best weaponry in the league, led by CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens.

Like you, we’ll believe it when we see it.

(For those wondering, Matthew Stafford reached the Super Bowl for the first time in his 13th season, but only after leaving the Lions for the Rams.)

Back to you, Jacob.

Aaron Glenn’s plan

It was never going to be easy for head coach Aaron Glenn. He also didn’t make things easier on himself.

The Jets haven’t made the postseason since Rex Ryan’s fourth-quarter comeback came up short in the 2010 AFC Championship Game. Glenn hoped to change that last season by becoming the first Jets coach since 2015 with more than seven wins.

It wasn’t all his fault. “He had a good plan as a first-year head coach. There were a lot of other factors,” said one coach who worked with Glenn last season. “I don’t have anything against A.G. I think he was stuck in a tough situation.”

Star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams was sent to Dallas, and cornerback Sauce Gardner went to Indy. But Glenn was also part of the group that bet on Justin Fields at quarterback.

“I’m not here to make any excuses like that,” Glenn said in a rare sit-down interview with my colleague Jonathan Jones.

The Jets averaged 17.6 points per game, struggling in losses to the playoff-bound Broncos and Panthers despite holding each to 13 points. The defense had its own issues, ranking 31st in points against and 25th in yards allowed.

The 2025 Jets made league history as the first team without an interception and the first to lose five straight games by 23 or more points. They were outscored by an average of 11.9 points per game, the worst mark in the league.

So the team pivoted, firing 10-plus coaches and reshuffling the roster, including the quarterback.

“When you have a vision for something, and as you execute it — sometimes you got to pivot,” Glenn said. “And I think the toughest people, just in general, are the ones that are not afraid to pivot and not afraid of what anybody else will say on the outside. Because if you don’t pivot, you crash and burn.”

Unfortunately for Glenn, crashing and burning is usually how Jets coaches go down. He wants to change that, starting with … a better relationship with the media?

Extra Points

👀 Seven quarterbacks are listed in Nick Baumgardner’s top 50 prospects for the 2027 draft. How many should the Jets draft?

💔 Chargers update. Offseason signing Tyler Biadasz was supposed to bring stability to the Chargers’ center position. He was instead carted off from yesterday’s practice. Not good.

📊 NFL projections. The Broncos land outside the playoff picture in Austin Mock’s AFC projections. “I keep coming back to Bo Nix,” Mock said. “Last year, the QB ranked outside of the top 20 in both EPA per dropback and dropback success rate when adjusting for opponent.”

🏟 Cleveland’s $2.6 billion home. The future Browns stadium is a good idea, writes Jason Lloyd, and is promised as something for fans. “Prices will reveal how sincere that promise truly is.”

↩️ Christian McCaffrey could return to practice soon, per coach Kyle Shanahan. The star running back has missed practice with an unexplained “tightness,” not a contract dispute.

▶️ Most-clicked: Jeremiyah Love’s spin move was the most-clicked for a fourth straight day! We’re closing in on a record here, with six as the mark to beat (remember when the Colts were in punt formation on first down? And it worked?).

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