The Evening Brief: Records fall across sports; Paramount clears merger's final hurdle

The evening's headlines split between the field and the boardroom. In Dallas, Dak Prescott threw his 249th career passing touchdown on September 20, his fourth TD pass of that day and his second to CeeDee Lamb, breaking Tony Romo's franchise record of 248. Prescott reached the milestone in 15 fewer games than Romo. In women's basketball, Olivia Miles scored 21 points in Minnesota's 101-89 victory over Connecticut on September 20, breaking Caitlin Clark's WNBA rookie scoring record. Miles, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 draft, also swept the Rookie of the Month award across all available months this season.

The cancer is unrelated to a previous diagnosis he survived in 2021. Kuiper will miss broadcasts on September 21 and 22 but intends to return September 23 and September 27 to honor retiring broadcast partner Mike Krukow before the season concludes. The exact timeline of his treatment remains undefined, making his return dates unconfirmed.

On the business side, Paramount Global settled a multi-state antitrust lawsuit on Monday, September 21, removing the last major legal obstacle to its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. A trial scheduled for March 2027 is now averted. California attorney general Rob Bonta, who led the complaint on behalf of 12 left-leaning states, stated that he does not view the settlement as "a vote of support for this merger" and expressed concern that "further consolidation in markets that are essential to American economic life doesn't serve the economy, consumers, or competition well." The settlement imposes independent editorial boards for CNN and CBS, a $30 million-per-film penalty if Paramount misses a 30-movie-per-year commitment, and a $650 million quarterly ticking fee beginning October 1 if the deal does not close. The merger would combine CBS Sports and TNT Sports into a single entity holding broadcast rights across nearly every major U.S. professional and college sports league except the NBA.

In injury news, New Orleans Saints left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., the ninth overall pick in the 2025 draft, suffered a severe high ankle sprain in the third quarter of the team's 24-17 win over Baltimore on September 20 and will undergo surgery with an indefinite return timeline. Coach Kellen Moore announced Monday that Banks is out indefinitely, though NFL Network reported he has a chance to return late in the season if all goes well.