NFL Players Union Head Lloyd Howell Resigns After $2,426 in Strip Club Receipts Scrutinized
Plus: WNBA players want a raise, and Trump wants Redskins?
Hello and welcome to another edition of Free Agent! Hold onto your pool noodles, it's hot out there.
We're covering three huge stories this week, and I don't want to shortchange any of them: Two NFL players union officials resigned in disgrace, WNBA players want more money, and President Donald Trump wants to bring the Redskins back. Let's get to it.
Locker Room Links
- No, the MLB All-Star Game did not generate $100 million for Georgia, and no one even knows where that number came from.
- TV ratings for the All-Star Game were good, but were blown out of the water by the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off.
- Something to watch out for: Yahoo Sports got a draft of a presidential executive order on college sports.
- Elsewhere in Reason: "Hunter Biden Walks Free While This Iowa Man Serves 4 Years for the Same 'Crime'"
- Sorry not sorry that I'm a huge Scottie Scheffler fan.
Winning golf tournaments: cool
Being a dad: cooler
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) July 20, 2025
Stripped of a Job
Lloyd Howell Jr. is going to have to find a new employer to expense his strip club visits.
The now-former executive director (i.e. head) of the NFL Players Association resigned last week after getting embroiled in more and more negative news cycles. There was the weird conclusion to the collusion arbitration case (that we covered here). Then there was an ESPN report that Howell was working as a "paid, part-time consultant" for a private equity firm that may seek ownership in NFL teams, a clear conflict of interest for the players union head. But ESPN asking questions about strip club receipts is apparently the straw that broke the camel's back.
Don't miss sports coverage from Jason Russell and Reason.
During the union's summit in February, Howell, two union employees, and some players went to the Magic City strip club in Atlanta and racked up $2,426 in expenses, including use of two "VIP rooms." The expense report calls the trip a "Player Engagement Event to support & grow our Union." In another instance, Howell expensed a car service to take him to an all-night visit to the world's largest strip club, conveniently located just 6.5 miles away from his luxury Miami condo.
Folks, even at Reason this is not allowed—I asked. (It might be allowed for a valid journalistic purpose.)
The bawdy details are laughable, but Howell may be in some legal trouble because of it. Federal labor laws don't look kindly on union leaders using dues money improperly. The union had already hired a lawyer to investigate Howell, and is still investigating after his resignation.
As labor lawyer Bob Stropp told ESPN about the strip club expense reports, "It's hard to believe that anyone would be that stupid."
And yet, it happened—because Howell didn't learn his lesson from when his private sector job wasn't pleased with him expensing thousands of dollars at a strip club in 2015.
Naturally, Howell's sketchy right-hand man, J.C. Tretter, was the favorite to succeed Howell until Tretter wisely resigned from the union too. The union is going to need some help—former linebacker Will Compton said, "We've gotta be the dumbest Union in all of sports."
Payday for the W
WNBA players are about to get a raise when their collective bargaining agreement expires after the season, but how much is still up in the air. Complicating the situation is that no one knows how much the league makes independently of the NBA. "We don't know what the WNBA earns on its own because TV rights deals and corporate sponsorships are bundled with the NBA," as Substack writer Ethan Strauss posted. "The league is just in an unusual situation."
A league earning so much of the spotlight despite having a maximum salary of $250,000 is indeed unusual. While I'm sure players will be asking for the moon, the league's owners have to be careful: They face an uncommon (for sports) amount of competition for the players.
When NFL players negotiate with owners, they don't have a lot of leverage. There's only one league with the power and wealth to pay the players what they want (although college football might be nipping at the NFL's heels on the younger and lower-paid end of the spectrum). The same goes for hockey and baseball—there are some foreign leagues, sure, but they aren't a real long-term option for players on strike.
WNBA players actually have a lot of leverage, though. In the offseason, many of them already go abroad to play and supplement their income, or have deals with the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league. Some of the players have bigger brands than the teams—do you go to see Caitlin Clark play, or to see the Indiana Fever play? They'll still have plenty of commercial opportunities if the players get locked out.
Fans are more connected with the players than the teams. If the players walk, fans will go with them. Clark could start her own Globetrotters-esque team, tour the country in packed arenas, and still make bank.
If there's a lockout, WNBA players have a lot of short-term and long-term options. League owners shouldn't forget that in salary negotiations.
Redskin in Chief
You'd think the president would be more worried about the economy, Jeffrey Epstein, international relations, or nuclear missiles than sports, but alas. "The current news cycle is another compelling reason for the president to stay out of college sports," Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde wrote. "He's got other issues that should be *drawing* his attention." And that was before Trump demanded the Washington Commanders rebrand back to the Redskins, or else their stadium deal may be in jeopardy.
The Washington "Whatever's" should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this. Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past. Our great Indian people, in massive…
— Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) July 20, 2025
My statement on the Washington Redskins has totally blown up, but only in a very positive way. I may put a restriction on them that if they don't change the name back to the original "Washington Redskins," and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, "Washington Commanders," I won't…
— Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) July 20, 2025
As my colleague Joe Lancaster writes, "If he did scuttle the stadium deal, Trump would be doing the right thing, but in perhaps the most corrupt way possible."
How Trump would actually wield power over the deal is unclear, because ownership of the stadium site transferred from the federal government to the Washington, D.C., government before Trump took office. The federal government does wield power over the district's government, though: Congress could pass a law forbidding the stadium deal, or tucking a provision into some must-pass budget legislation is more likely.
This could be open to litigation on First Amendment grounds, though. Government officials cannot compel speech from private individuals, like forcing them to call their football team a certain name. Nor can they compel speech as a condition for a financial package or benefit (my first Reason piece was about requiring the national anthem be played before games if your team wants state subsidies).
Whatever you think about the name, quarterback Jayden Daniels is still a smart draft pick in your fantasy football league—and Trump can't force me to say that.
Replay of the Week
Nobody saw this coming.
RONALD ACUÑA JR. WITH THE THROW OF THE YEAR pic.twitter.com/ddTetbUsZc
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 19, 2025
That's all for this week. Enjoy watching the real competition of the week, the regional competitions for a chance to play in the Little League Softball World Series (all week long on ESPN+). Who can resist Omaha, Nebraska, vs. Floyds Knobs, Indiana?
