Jason Russell

Washington, D.C.

Managing Editor at Reason

Managing editor for @reason, award-winning sportswriter, and author of "Free Agent" newsletter. @UofR alum. Michigander. Husband to the lovely @KellanHowell.

Articles

Why the FIFA Club World Cup matters (especially if your team or rival is competing)

1 week ago | reason.com | Jason Russell

Good morning and welcome to another edition of Free Agent! Remember with everything else in the news this week, there's always a sports angle. We've got a full soccer takeover of the newsletter today (except for a few of the bullet points below). We've got the Club World Cup, some MLS labor issues with it, the regular World Cup, and a few thoughts about Welcome to Wrexham, which I'm a newcomer to. Locker Room Links Money Talks The vibes around the Club World Cup are not great.
NCAA athletes can now get paid by colleges, following federal court settlement

2 weeks ago | reason.com | Jason Russell

Good morning and welcome to another edition of Free Agent! Hold onto your buckets and your babies—this might be a wild ride. College sports is officially entering a new era. Amateurism is over and professionalism is (mostly) here. Athletes can officially get paid directly by their schools without a workaround involving boosters or a name, image, and likeness (NIL) collective. Instead of our usual format, the newsletter this week is focused on this monumental change.
The SEC is following the sports version of crony capitalism

3 weeks ago | reason.com | Jason Russell

Good morning and welcome to another edition of Free Agent! Maybe think twice before jumping for joy today (especially because the A's still lost). Plenty to talk about today, with college football in turmoil again (I could copy and paste that every week), plus an interesting sports-related tax issue to discuss, along with two new racing documentaries and the NBA and NHL reaching the final stages of their playoffs. Let's get to it. Locker Room Links S-E-C Guarantee?
The SEC (the Sports One) Is Acting Like It's Invincible

3 weeks ago | aol.com | Jason Russell

Good morning and welcome to another edition of Free Agent! Maybe think twice before jumping for joy today (especially because the A's still lost). Plenty to talk about today, with college football in turmoil again (I could copy and paste that every week), plus an interesting sports-related tax issue to discuss, along with two new racing documentaries and the NBA and NHL reaching the final stages of their playoffs. Let's get to it.
The first Enhanced Games are coming in May 2026

1 month ago | reason.com | Jason Russell

Sports Plus: Brett Favre, Monaco, and an unprecedented media ban. | (Oscar J.
How to kill draft lotteries without encouraging tanking

1 month ago | reason.com | Jason Russell

Sports Plus: the tush push, Pete Rose, and Eddie Vedder.
Why die-hard sports fans hate the draft lottery system

1 month ago | reason.com | Jason Russell

Good morning and welcome to another edition of Free Agent! Be sure to help somebody with their bag today, and you too might get drafted second overall. But you wouldn't be drafted first overall by the Dallas Mavericks or the New York Islanders, the biggest winners of this season's losers. (I cannot believe the NBA includes the losers of the Play-In Tournament in the lottery).
Should Sid Meier's Civilization video games be fun or realistic?

1 month ago | reason.com | Jason Russell

Video Games Some players like the game to mimic the real world. Others like to play as Gandhi but nuke their enemies into oblivion. | It's 1944. The world is plunged deep into war.
How the NBA can change things up to win back basketball fans

1 month ago | reason.com | Jason Russell

Sports Plus: Horse racing thrives, and spring football should too.
The Kentucky Derby puts federal horseracing subsidies back in the spotlight

1 month ago | reason.com | Jason Russell

Good morning and welcome to another edition of Free Agent! Watch your mouth with your teammates at work today, because language like this probably isn't going to fly. Amid a wild sports weekend, you may have missed that it's Kentucky Derby week. Click here to see the field and choose your rooting interests based on name or trainer.