📰 Sport

Defector

Defector's Chris Thompson takes apart Polymarket's Wolf of Wall Street-style ad starring LeBron James.

Front Office Sports

Front Office Sports on how far Amazon has come in its fifth season as an NFL broadcaster.

Front Office Sports

Texas and Ohio State delivered record college football viewership for a second straight year.

College sport

The Athletic

The Athletic finds the true value of 100-plus college football player deals is murky and open to interpretation.

College sport

The Athletic

Arch Manning apologized for joking about an AI-altered video depicting Steve Sarkisian slapping ESPN's Holly Rowe.

AI

SportBusiness

Investors at SportNXT said institutional capital wants venues, data and fan relationships more than teams themselves.

SportBusiness

Todd Boehly and Mark Walter are close to selling their Chelsea stakes to Clearlake Capital.

The Stadium Business

The Royals picked builders for a $3 billion mixed-use district around a new 34,000-seat downtown ballpark, targeting 2030.

Stadium financing

Front Office Sports

The WTA Finals go to Charlotte through 2029, and the tour is moving its global headquarters there from Florida.

The Guardian

Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour after venues including Robert Kraft's Gillette Stadium refused to host him.

Stadium financing

Men in Blazers

Men in Blazers on Liverpool beating Spurs and Sunderland's first European match in 53 years.

The Hill

The Senate advanced the Protect College Sports Act 74-24, shielding the NCAA from antitrust suits and capping revenue sharing and agent fees.

College sport · Regulation · Antitrust

Yahoo Sports

EuroLeague owners expect a formal NBA proposal for a controlling stake and will discuss it at their October 5 meeting.

The Athletic

A former general manager reads both sides' submitted proposals and finds elements in each that would improve the game.

Front Office Sports

Two low-payroll clubs clinched first, giving the players' union an argument that a hard salary cap is not needed for competitive balance.

Labour

Yahoo Sports

Ballmer accepted a $30 million fine, a one-year suspension and the loss of five first-round picks rather than contest the league's findings.

Front Office Sports

Jacob Fortinsky addressed criticism from professional female athletes and disclosed $1 billion traded on Novig since its August launch.

Front Office Sports

The WNBA players' union called it deeply disappointing that the NBA left the group off a joint letter to state betting regulators.

Women's sport · Regulation · Labour

Front Office Sports

The Gotham FC governor defended both the NWSL's star exception and league-wide salary caps at the Asset Class event in New York.

Women's sport

Front Office Sports

A career-earnings provision can win a spot in the tour's top-tier series, but LIV players still have no route back.

Front Office Sports

Allowed contract terms shorten by a year once the new collective bargaining agreement takes effect at midnight.

Labour

The Athletic

Nairobi beat out London for the 2029 championships.

The Stadium Business

Madrid's new 5.4-kilometer hybrid circuit sold out its first Formula 1 weekend, though drivers criticized the layout's lack of overtaking.

Yahoo Sports

ESPN gave Senator Ted Cruz platform time for the bill without meaningful pushback, and has since booked NAACP President Derrick Johnson to make the opposing case.

College sport

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on What I'm reading next.

Houston Chronicle

Sen. Ted Cruz was booed on ESPN's College GameDay while promoting his college sports legislation.

College sport

Front Office Sports

Steve Ballmer accepted a one-year NBA ban, a $30 million fine and five forfeited first-round picks over the Kawhi Leonard cap investigation.

The Athletic

NFL Week 1's twelve Sunday afternoon games averaged 53.75 points, putting the Week 1 scoring record within reach.

The Athletic

There will be no Monday Night Football doubleheaders this season after as many as four in each of the last two years.

The Athletic

Patrick Mahomes returned for the season opener nine months after tearing the ACL and LCL in his left knee.

The Athletic

The Athletic argues the Browns should move on from Deshaun Watson after a 34-10 opening loss to Jacksonville.

Front Office Sports

Top tennis players paused their public protests after the Grand Slams met their goal of a 22% revenue share.

Yahoo Sports

The Rose Bowl unveiled a $30 million Field Club tied to 1,000 premium seats, with UCLA keeping the revenue.

The Baltimore Banner

A U.S. record rugby crowd of 68,173 filled Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium to watch South Africa beat New Zealand 43-28.

Stadium financing

SportBusiness

The Women's Super League's Sunday evening kick-off has returned after a year, and SportBusiness asks whether it will lift attendance.

Business Insider

Researcher Jacob Coxon said AI companies are gambling with our lives, which pushed the safety debate to a boiling point.

Sports betting · AI

Vetted Sports

A deal worth close to $700 million shows private equity treating fitness brands like sports franchises, with more than 60% of top U.S. gym chains already PE-backed.

Private equity · M&A

Status

College GameDay gave Ted Cruz nearly ten minutes to push the Protect College Sports Act, drawing boos and questions about equal time.

College sport

ProFootballTalk

Mike Florio accused ESPN of leading the conga line for the bill while giving its opponents little airtime.

College sport

ESPN

Messi reached a preliminary deal to take over second-division Eldense, pending due diligence and approval.

Front Office Sports

Further reading from the day's section on Sports Business: Hyrox, Shirt Deals and a Senator on GameDay.

College sport

The Athletic

Bill Ackman, the 60-year-old, $10.4 billion hedge fund CEO, played a pro match on the Hall of Fame grass trying to become the oldest player to earn ATP points.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on the U.S. Open final and the business of play.

The Athletic

An Akron season-ticket holder won a drawing to call his team's opening drive, and learned in four plays that football rarely follows the script.

The Washington Post

The Post profiled the billionaire Trump ally blowing up college football.

College sport

The Athletic

The Athletic explains why South Africa vs. New Zealand, rugby's biggest moneymaker, is being played in Baltimore.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's reading list.

The Athletic

LIV Golf's bankruptcy filings list IMG as the top unsecured vendor creditor and a first $14M draw on a Saudi PIF loan.

Defector

Giri Nathan's diagnosis of the Open: everything is phone, everything is gambling, as a semifinal ticket fell to $28.

Sports betting

Front Office Sports

The DOJ opened a criminal investigation into the Clippers' alleged off-cap payments to Kawhi Leonard.

The Athletic

The NFL drew 100,021 to the Melbourne Cricket Ground for its first regular-season game in Australia.

Front Office Sports

Further reading from the day's sports business section.

Defector

The Queensboro Bridge scene, explained, on the 25th anniversary of the attacks.

The Athletic

His parents' first interview since their son's death.

The Athletic

LIV Golf's bankruptcy came more than $5 billion of PIF money later, as the Saudis also scrapped a ski resort and largely cancelled The Line.

The 4th Quarter

Further reading from the day's section on sports business as the money runs out.

The Athletic

A Populous and Project Level report values purpose-built women's stadiums at $1 billion to $3.8 billion in incremental revenue over thirty years.

Stadium financing · Women's sport

Sports Business Journal

Kansas City's CPKC Stadium lifted club revenue 260% to $36 million, and a new $185 million public plan would expand it.

Stadium financing

Front Office Sports

The NHL has a formal agreement with Dan Friedkin to explore an expansion team in Houston or Austin for 2029-30.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's lightning round.

Reuters

Big Ten wants a 24-team College Football Playoff, SEC wants 16, with a decision due by December 1.

College sport · Labour

Front Office Sports

The NFL moved the Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl rematch to Wednesday, and it won't be the only Wednesday game this season.

Front Office Sports

NBC Sports is abandoning its blended linear-plus-streaming audience math and reverting to Nielsen's standard.

Front Office Sports

Ben Shelton beat Alcaraz in a match that ended at 3:33 a.m. Eastern, the latest finish in US Open history.

Puck

Further reading from the day's section on sports business and the NFL's new day of the week.

College sport

Front Office Sports

The SEC amended its federal suit against LSU to seek authority to expel it from the conference, over an eligibility fight about rostering former NFL players.

Front Office Sports

LeBron James let his DraftKings deal lapse and signed with Polymarket, as the AGA blames prediction markets for a flat NFL betting projection.

Sports betting

The Lineup

A Bank of America survey found one in five Americans see sports betting as investing, against an average return under 75 cents on the dollar.

Sports betting

JohnWallStreet

Zuffa is running the UFC and WWE playbook on boxing, with 100+ fighters signed exclusively and twelve committed events this year.

Combat sports

The Stadium Business

Further reading from the day's section on sports lawsuits, prediction markets and the Zuffa bet.

Stadium financing

The Athletic

Cherry juice is the Premier League's new must-have supplement, roughly four seasons behind marathoners.

Front Office Sports

NFL owners finalized a four-year extension for Roger Goodell, carrying him to 2031 and a quarter century in the job.

Sports Business Journal

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced her retirement after seven and a half years, two CBAs and a $75 million capital raise.

Women's sport

The Athletic

A replay review put one second back on the clock after the broadcast showed zero, and Michigan won on a Hail Mary; WMU's coach said the refs did not cost them.

College sport

Semafor

Investors hunting AI-proof assets are pouring money into sports, from Bezos buying into Liverpool to venture bets on MMA and padel.

Combat sports · AI

Wunderfan

Further reading from the day's section on sports business.

Vetted Sports

Stan Kroenke bought control of the Los Angeles Angels for about $4 billion, a record, and Angel Stadium sits on 130 acres of city-owned parking.

Stadium financing · M&A

Front Office Sports

LeBron James jumped from DraftKings to Polymarket, which sits awkwardly against NBA rules restricting player interests in league-adjacent wagering.

Off The Pitch

League One shareholder loans have passed £600M, up from about £180M in 2021/22.

Sports Marketing Mavericks

Further reading from the day's section on sports ownership as a land and capital play.

Front Office Sports

Further reading from the day's section on the youth sports industrial complex.

The Athletic

George Toma, who oversaw every Super Bowl field, assessed the failing grass at the Bills' new stadium: somebody fell asleep.

Stadium financing

The Athletic

The Athletic says Cathy Engelbert did her job and the WNBA now needs a visionary, as average franchise value rose from $10 million in 2019 to $460 million.

Women's sport

The Athletic

Candidates to succeed Cathy Engelbert as WNBA commissioner include Bethany Donaphin, Swin Cash and Condoleezza Rice.

Women's sport

Front Office Sports

The Premier League's twenty clubs spent a combined $4.7 billion in the European transfer window.

Front Office Sports

Some Native American leaders said the Commanders should retire the old name and logo permanently rather than reissue them on limited merch.

The Athletic

The NBA's investigation ended with a $30M fine, five first-round picks and a one-year Ballmer suspension, and the Clippers are heading to arbitration.

Defector

Portland offered $120M in public arena money against a 20-year lease and union labor, and Tom Dundon's people called the city too crummy to expect it.

Labour

Front Office Sports

Cathy Engelbert is out as WNBA commissioner at year end.

Women's sport

Front Office Sports

A Louisiana judge granted an injunction letting players who took NFL preseason snaps return to LSU.

Regulation

Front Office Sports

Further reading from the day's section on the Clippers penalty and billionaire team owners.

Sport & Story

Playfly landed a $250M private credit facility from Bain Capital, a proxy for how much debt is flowing into sports services.

Front Office Sports

Private equity took a minority slice of the Seahawks' $9.6B transaction.

Private equity

Defector

Defector's Ray Ratto casts the Clippers penalty and Ballmer's defiance as another episode of Billionaires Eating Billionaires.

Front Office Sports

The NBA fined the Clippers $30M, stripped five first-round picks, banned Steve Ballmer for a year and suspended Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker.

Front Office Sports

Premier League clubs spent a record $4.7B in the window, more than LaLiga, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A combined.

The 4th Quarter

Further reading from the day's section on the NBA's Clippers punishment and team ownership.

ESPN

Stan Kroenke's $4B Angels purchase makes him the only owner with a franchise in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS and Premier League.

Front Office Sports

Further reading from the day's section on the NBA's Clippers punishment and team ownership.

Sportico

With six NHL teams added, Amazon is now in-market for 34 teams across four leagues.

The Athletic

The Premier League window closed at a record £3.5bn, headlined by Enzo Fernández to Manchester City for $170m.

Men in Blazers

Enzo Fernández's $170m move to Manchester City made him the first player ever to sell twice for more than $135m.

Front Office Sports

Further reading from the day's section on sports as an asset class.

Defector

Tom Ley reports Bill Simmons described handing his FanDuel login to his daughter's boyfriend, a practice FanDuel explicitly prohibits.

Front Office Sports

New Jersey petitioned the Supreme Court to decide whether prediction-market sports contracts are financial products or gambling.

Sports betting · Regulation

Front Office Sports

The New York Times' own union demanded management abandon partnership talks with Kalshi.

Labour

ESPN

A former Texas Tech receiver is suing the NCAA over betting penalties, months after a Texas Tech quarterback did the same.

Sports betting · College sport

Vanity Fair

The excerpt from John Talty's book on Lane Kiffin includes Nick Saban's staff guidance.

College sport

Front Office Sports

Kroenke Sports & Entertainment agreed to buy the Angels from Arte Moreno, making Stan Kroenke the first owner in all four major US men's leagues.

Sport & Story

LIV Golf is preparing a Chapter 11 filing as the Saudi PIF pulls its backing, while negotiating with BC Partners for a restructured LIV 2.0.

Stadium financing

JohnWallStreet

UNA Sports Group bought two X Games League franchises at $10M each, on a valuation justified on EBITDA rather than revenue.

Front Office Sports

Clemson's Tristan Smith won a fifth-year eligibility injunction with $600K of NIL on the line, one of hundreds of similar suits.

College sport · Regulation

The Athletic

UCLA parted with AD Martin Jarmond over what the chancellor called an unsustainable deficit, with a $5.6M buyout.

Private equity

Front Office Sports

Callaway and Good Good are both ousting an executive after the driver-ad fiasco.

The Lineup

Messi retired from international football, and 11 NBA change-of-control sales have totaled $54.1B since 2020.

The Stadium Business

The $325M Franklin Park stadium project cleared its lawsuit and still slipped a year on construction.

Stadium financing · Regulation

Front Office Sports

Kalshi became the US Open's exclusive prediction-market partner three days after an appeals court ruled Nevada can enforce its gaming laws against it.

Regulation

Front Office Sports

Scottie Scheffler passed Tiger Woods on the career PGA Tour money list at $130,390,661.

Front Office Sports

Aaron Donald unretired for $20 million with the Rams.

ESPN

The Rays got approval for a $2.3 billion ballpark.

Stadium financing

OffBall

Further reading from the day's section on Lake America, NASA's Roman telescope, Nepal's floods and other quick hits.

Sport & Story

More than 200 NFL players are interested in Olympic flag football, including Allen and Burrow.

Global Game HQ

Greg Kahn argues deals like the $12.5B Lakers sale reflect scarcity: a franchise stays finite while its audience scales globally at almost no cost.

Vetted Sports

Vetted Sports weighs Unrivaled's $100M+ Series C at a $650M valuation, a 14x revenue multiple on $45M.

Venture capital · Women's sport

Off The Pitch

Off The Pitch reads FIFA's Transfer System 2027 as leaving no compensation formula on either side after the Diarra ruling.

Front Office Sports

Further reading from the day's section on sports franchises as a scarcity trade.

The Athletic

Kalshi signed multi-year deals with five MLB clubs.

Sports betting

Front Office Sports

A court ruling lets college football players who took part in NFL preseason activities return to college, and LSU's Lane Kiffin tried to sign two.

College sport

Puck

John Ourand reports LSU's headlines revived the Protect College Sports Act: probably through the Senate, not yet the House.

College sport

Front Office Sports

Cale Makar signed for $163.2M over eight years, the richest contract in NHL history and the fourth landmark NHL deal in eleven months.

Front Office Sports

Bill Belichick's second year at UNC opens against the TCU team that beat him 48-14, after a 4-8 season.

Private equity

Front Office Sports

Further reading from the day's section on college football's upheaval and sports business.

The Athletic

The Athletic asks what Callaway, which signed off on the co-branded ad, learns about creator partnerships as the Good Good implosion accelerates.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on college football's upheaval and sports business.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on the deaths of Dolly Parton, Tim Curry and Yayoi Kusama.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on the deaths of Dolly Parton, Tim Curry and Yayoi Kusama.

The Athletic

NFL MVP, Hall of Famer, Minnesota Supreme Court justice and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.

Regulation

The Athletic

The American soccer market for Wrexham and Birmingham after the World Cup.

Front Office Sports

Further reading from the day's section on the media business and AI-drafted op-eds.

Press freedom

NFL.com

NFL owners unanimously approved the Seahawks' sale to the Khosla family for a record $9.612 billion, ending 29 years of Allen family control.

ESPN

Saudi Arabia's PIF ended LIV Golf's funding after 2026, staff are being cut, and CEO Scott O'Neil is pitching a leaner LIV 2.0 on a possible $250M.

Front Office Sports

Callaway ended its Good Good Golf partnership over an ad depicting a cofounder shoving a woman, and Good Good withdrew from a $6M PGA Tour sponsorship.

Front Office Sports

Further reading from the day's section on the Seahawks sale, LIV Golf's collapse and Good Good Golf.

Front Office Sports

Further reading from the day's section on FIFA in court and repriced sports franchises.

Front Office Sports

Unrivaled, the three-year-old 3v3 women's league, raised an oversubscribed $100M+ Series C at $650M, with players holding about 30%.

Venture capital

Sportico

Arctos is buying 10% of the Falcons at a $10-11B valuation on about $800M of revenue and 55 ticketed stadium events a year.

Stadium financing

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on FIFA in court and repriced sports franchises.

The 4th Quarter

A sports-investment thesis that rolls up a sport rather than buying minority stakes in teams.

The Athletic

The rights-market consequences of Sky's buyout of ITV for football-watching in the UK.

Private equity

The Athletic

The Big Ten and SEC ruled no member school may sign a player who previously signed a pro contract, raising whether conference-led enforcement is next.

Front Office Sports

NFL owners ratified the $9.6B sale of the Seahawks to a Vinod Khosla-led group.

The Athletic

Unrivaled nearly doubled its valuation to $650M in eleven months.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on sports valuations, LIV's contraction and college eligibility.

Front Office Sports

Further reading from the day's section on sports valuations, LIV's contraction and college eligibility.

Front Office Sports

Further reading from the day's section on sports valuations, LIV's contraction and college eligibility.

Front Office Sports

Further reading from the day's section on sports valuations, LIV's contraction and college eligibility.

OffBall

Further reading from the day's section on Dolly Parton, a cancer breakthrough and New York real estate.

The Athletic

A labor mailbag ahead of what looks like an ugly MLB bargaining cycle.

Front Office Sports

Front Office Sports first broke The Athletic's advanced talks with prediction-markets company Kalshi.

Sport & Story

The NHL is in talks with Phoenix and Atlanta about a 34th franchise while awarding its 33rd to a Texas group paying a $2B fee.

ESPN

Jeanie Buss is contesting her siblings' vote to sell the family's 17.8% Lakers stake.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's reading list.

The Athletic

LIV Golf is no longer trying to usurp the PGA Tour as golf's hegemonic power; it is trying to survive.

Front Office Sports

The Cincinnati Open's $260M renovation, funded 50/50 public and private, still left traffic access and crowd capacity unsolved.

MedPage Today

Further reading from the day's section on sports business in survival mode.

College sport

NJBIZ

Further reading from the day's section on sports business in survival mode.

Stadium financing

The Athletic

ESPN is exploring a McAfee-fronted Monday Night Football alt-cast, with league approval pending.

Vetted Sports

Marc Stad's Dragoneer is taking control of the Timberwolves and Lynx at $4.5B; the NBA has had 25 majority-ownership sales since 2010.

M&A

Off The Pitch

Nine clubs in UEFA's 11th-to-30th ranked leagues won their first title in over a decade last season, and none was its league's biggest spender.

The Athletic

The Padres sold at $3.9B after Peter Seidler gave Machado 11 years and $350M and Bogaerts 11 years and $280M.

The Athletic

The Athletic investigated why Mark Walter and Todd Boehly are selling up at Chelsea.

The Athletic

Macombs Dam Park, promised to the South Bronx as part of the new Yankee Stadium deal, has decayed into a symbol of neglect.

Stadium financing

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's reading list.

The Athletic

Marc Lore sold his controlling stake in the Timberwolves and Lynx to Dragoneer's Marc Stad at a $4.5B valuation.

The Athletic

Five Buss siblings want to sell the Lakers, while Jeanie Buss wants to remain governor.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on sports team ownership changes.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on sports team ownership changes.

Global Game HQ

The Premier League opened 33 days after the World Cup final, running simultaneous watch parties in 15 US cities.

The Current

The Trade Desk's data shows 72% of women's sports fans consume sports content daily.

Women's sport

CNBC

Novig did more than $125M in trading volume in its opening week, the biggest first week any prediction market has posted.

Sports betting

Sports Business Journal

Fanatics is now the official NFL sportsbook, ending a months-long vacancy after FanDuel, DraftKings and Caesars' deals lapsed.

Sports betting

Sportico

MLB owners unanimously approved a record $3.9B sale of the Padres.

The Athletic

Roger Goodell said he has no doubt the NFL will eventually base teams outside the U.S.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on sports business.

The Athletic

The $1 million sports card club has 33 names, with some all-time greats still missing from the list.

The 4th Quarter

Novig went from three weeks of runway to a $75M Series B at a $500M valuation and signed the Mets as a partner.

Venture capital

The Athletic

The Athletic covers fallout from the Lakers sale among players and front office, and the possible end of the Buss family's 47-year run.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on sports as an asset class.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on sports as an asset class.

Stadium financing

NBC Sports

Fanatics became an official NFL sportsbook by paying the Genius data fees that FanDuel and DraftKings are refusing to swallow.

Sports betting

The Kansas City Star

Kansas City formally offered $600M toward a $1.9B Royals ballpark where the team would pay $1 a year in rent.

Stadium financing

ESPN

Further reading from the day's section on sports as an asset class.

The Athletic

Mark Walter and Todd Boehly are selling their Chelsea stake.

The Athletic

Jeanie Buss is blocking the sale of the remaining 17.8% Lakers stake, which preserves her role as governor, after her siblings initiated a vote.

The Athletic

The NBA said ESPN's report on the Clippers probe contained numerous and significant inaccuracies, and the Clippers issued their own denial.

Puck

The Roberto Clemente license-plate case raised $15 million, none of it for the family, and is now before the Supreme Court.

College sport · Regulation

JohnWallStreet

Lenovo put 25,000 devices and 350 engineers across 600 World Cup sites and generated 20 billion impressions from the opening goal alone.

SportBusiness

Further reading from the day's section on franchise sales and sports money.

The Athletic

Adam Kilgore on Macombs Dam Park, built as a shrine to Yankees history and now largely unplayable.

Stadium financing

The Athletic

Two of Mark Walter's insurance businesses are under federal scrutiny, with some transactions under investigation involving his sports teams.

The Athletic

Adam Kilgore reports NIL agents have no central governing body, no players union and little to no certification.

College sport · Labour

Sports Business Journal

Further reading from the day's section on sports money.

Women's sport

The Athletic

Dijon FCO replaced season cards with club scarves.

The Athletic

The Lakers sold to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for $12.5 billion, $2.5 billion above what Mark Walter paid for control twelve months ago.

Vetted Sports

Apollo Sports Capital is putting $2.6 billion into Yankee Global Enterprises in a debt-and-equity mix, with Al Tylis joining the board.

Private equity

Liverpool FC

A Bezos-backed consortium took about a third of Liverpool from FSG at a valuation just over $7 billion.

Sportico

Further reading from the day's section on private equity buying into sports franchises.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on private equity buying into sports franchises.

The Athletic

Paul Skenes has a 5.00 ERA in the sixteen starts since a 1.98 start to the season, with Pittsburgh going 3-13 in them.

The Athletic

Cardinals prospect Joshua Báez homered in each of his first three MLB at-bats at Wrigley, the first three-homer debut in league history.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on a lightning round of baseball, raw milk and other quick hits.

The Athletic

The Yankees' record valuation and Apollo's investment, another case of investors treating teams as a safe asset.

The Athletic

Liverpool confirmed a roughly 33% minority sale at a $7B-plus valuation to a consortium including Jeff Bezos, his first pro sports investment.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on the $12.5 billion Lakers sale and team valuations.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on the $12.5 billion Lakers sale and team valuations.

The Athletic

American Samoa, quarterbacked by Taulia Tagovailoa, ended the U.S. flag football team's 14-year undefeated streak.

The Athletic

Kushner approached Walter last Friday and the $12.5B Lakers deal came together in about five days; the Board of Governors must still approve.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on Wall Street money flowing into sports.

The Athletic

Portland's city council committed to Trail Blazers arena renovation funding, with the lease fight still ahead.

SportBusiness

Further reading from the day's section on Wall Street money flowing into sports.

SportBusiness

UEFA, the AFC and Concacaf are pushing for Gianni Infantino's resignation.

NBC Chicago

Bears chairman George McCaskey confirmed due diligence on a stadium site in Hammond, Indiana, after Illinois incentive legislation failed.

Stadium financing

SportBusiness

OneFootball has reached positive EBITDA four years after the NFT deals that nearly killed it.

The Athletic

Mark Walter agreed to sell his controlling Lakers stake to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner at $12.5B, fourteen months after buying control at $10B.

The 4th Quarter

Further reading from the day's section on the Lakers deal and the new economics of sports ownership.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on the Lakers deal and the new economics of sports ownership.

Sports Business Journal

KKR disclosed that Arctos's first two sports funds have returned roughly 22% net IRR on $4.7B deployed.

Yahoo Finance

Sportsbooks are projected to burn over $500 million in adjusted EBITDA chasing prediction-market users, which PENN calls an irrational arms race.

Sports betting

Sky Sports

NBA Europe's London franchise has become a three-way fight between Daniel Levy, the Lewis family and Nikesh Arora.

The Athletic

Buster Posey, an unassailable Giants legend, is 131-152 as head of baseball operations and openly risking his legacy.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on FIFA's revolt, prediction markets and the money behind sports.

SportBusiness

Having abandoned a $4.2B private-investment vehicle, FIFA's ideas for growth include 64-team expansion, winter World Cups and hydration breaks.

The Athletic

The Broncos' owner says delivering the Burnham Yard stadium and entertainment district by 2031 is not going to be easy.

Stadium financing

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on the Lakers sale, team valuations and venues.

Washington Business Journal

Capital One extended arena naming rights in D.C. through 2047, midway through a $1B-plus renovation.

Stadium financing

SportBusiness

Further reading from the day's section on the Lakers sale, team valuations and venues.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on quick hits, from eclipse logistics to science funding lotteries.

The Athletic

An NFL super-agent, a lost GM job, a dead business partner and two hung juries in a 37-year-old crossbow killing.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's reading list.

SportBusiness

With its $4.2B private-investment vehicle dead, FIFA's growth ideas include streamers, 64-team expansion, winter World Cups and hydration breaks.

The Athletic

UEFA, Concacaf and the AFC jointly called for Infantino's resignation, and Trump said removing him would be a terrible mistake.

The Athletic

Candace Buckner's WNBA column: it feels like psychological warfare just to engage with the league.

Women's sport

The Athletic

Stewart Mandel on the absent fallback if Congress can't save college sports.

College sport

The Athletic

Mike Trout brought Angels teammates to his private New Jersey golf club on August 3, and three were traded while on the course.

The Athletic

Bruce Feldman's Freaks List returned, with South Carolina's Nyck Harbor at No. 1 for a record third time.

The Athletic

Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson died at 86.

Sports Business Journal

SBJ reports an $11 million one-of-one Ohtani card at the National Sports Collectors Convention.

The Stadium Business

Further reading from the day's section on sports business.

Stadium financing

Vetted Sports

LIV Golf named a new lead private equity investor to replace Saudi Arabia's PIF, with terms, identity and closing timeline undisclosed.

Private equity

MLS

MLS owners named LAFC co-owner and former Apollo partner Larry Berg commissioner, succeeding Don Garber on January 1, 2027.

SBC Americas

Genius Sports struck data partnerships with both Polymarket and Kalshi.

ESPN

Further reading from the day's reading list.

The Athletic

The Women's Pro Baseball League launched with four teams, 15-player rosters and every game at a neutral site in Springfield, Illinois.

The Athletic

The White Sox lost starter Noah Schultz after one out because manager Will Venable made a second first-inning mound visit.

The Athletic

The WNBA players' union denounced hate, abuse and demonization of transgender people after backlash to Fever guard Sophie Cunningham's comments.

Women's sport · Labour

The Athletic

Ted Cruz's bill would cap Power Four conferences at 19 teams, and The Athletic ran the scenarios: Notre Dame to the Big Ten, Miami to the SEC.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on the money map of global sports.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on sports business, health and the lightning round.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on sports business, health and the lightning round.

The Fourth Quarter

Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions is merging with the PFL to take on the UFC.

Combat sports

The Athletic

FIFA scrapped its $4.2 billion deal to sell 21% of its commercial operations to Josh Kushner's Thrive Eternal after UEFA, Concacaf and the AFC rejected it.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on sports business and the fight over who the WNBA is for.

Defector

Defector's Lauren Theisen notes there is no trans player in the WNBA, so the discourse since Sophie Cunningham's comments is about a concept.

Women's sport

Defector

Further reading from the day's section on sports business and the fight over who the WNBA is for.

Women's sport

Defector

The response to the ESPN profile of Sophie Cunningham that started the WNBA news cycle.

Women's sport

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on sports business, public markets and private leagues.

Elections

The Athletic

At the MLB trade deadline, Toronto and Washington both sold without, per The Athletic's writers, getting enough back.

The Athletic

The MLB trade deadline produced a quieter kind of drama, with the Dodgers already holding Tarik Skubal.

The Athletic

As of Friday night, Gianni Infantino's plan to sell up to 21% of a new World Cup entity to private shareholders is dead.

The Athletic

UEFA's 55 member associations voted to boycott all FIFA competitions, men's and women's, including the upcoming Women's World Cup.

The Athletic

Concacaf rejected the plan, as did the Asian Football Confederation, together with UEFA close to two-thirds of FIFA's 211 members.

Defector

Further reading from the day's section on sports business and the long read.

Stadium financing

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on sports business and the long read.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on sports business and the long read.

Defector

A surprised review of LA Metro during the World Cup, and what a $1.75 fare with ten-minute frequencies actually buys.

The Athletic

FIFA plans to spin its commercial operations into FIFA Forward Enterprise and sell roughly 20% at a $20B valuation to raise up to $4.2B.

The Athletic

JPMorgan is running FIFA's stake sale, with Josh Kushner's Thrive reported to be in talks to lead.

The Athletic

Infantino defended the stake sale as a golden opportunity after UEFA voted to boycott the World Cup and all FIFA competitions.

The Athletic

Apollo proposed a $1.1B loan to the Bundesliga backed by twenty years of media rights.

Streaming rights

Defector

Further reading from the day's reading list.

The Athletic

MLS owners will hear proposed roster and spending rule changes at the Charlotte board meeting.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on FIFA's stake sale and sports business.

Front Office Sports

Cuban's new PE firm Harbinger took a minority stake in the Athletics as its debut investment, ahead of the team's 2028 move to Las Vegas.

Awful Announcing

Further reading from the day's section on who owns the upside in sports business.

The Athletic

A decade of trade deadline behavior, analyzed for what bubble teams should actually do.

The Athletic

The 21-year-old won the 3M Open, and the verdict is that the hype is deserved.

The Stadium Business

Sepang returns for the first time since 2017, backfilling races postponed by the Gulf conflict.

The Athletic

Alex Kirshner weighs whether Detroit should trade Tarik Skubal, a two-time Cy Young winner and free agent in months, with the team at 50-56.

The Athletic

Cathy Engelbert may be unpopular with WNBA players, but she isn't paid to be their friend.

Women's sport

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on the trade deadline, the WNBA commissioner and prediction markets.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on the trade deadline, the WNBA commissioner and prediction markets.

Vetted Sports

Mark Cuban's Harbinger Sports Partners made its first investment, a minority stake in the Athletics, two years before the Las Vegas move.

ESPN

The World Cup final drew 62.8m US viewers, the most-watched soccer match in American TV history, and Fox averaged 7.74m, up 116% from Qatar.

The Athletic

A case study in nine-figure coaching commitments, through Brian Kelly's last days at LSU.

The Athletic

After LeBron James chose Philadelphia, The Athletic's evening newsletter was writing Golden State's obituary.

The Athletic

The Athletic has deadline intel on potential Mariners trade pieces, plus Cubs pitching targets and how the White Sox offset Kyle Teel's absence.

The Athletic

Andrew Marchand writes that ESPN is still a destination but has not been a utopia for a long time, as layoffs cut Karl Ravech and others.

Labour

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on the World Cup's final accounting and prediction markets.

Stadium financing

The Athletic

Portland and the Trail Blazers are fighting in public over a $600M arena renovation.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's reading list.

Digiday

TikTok is positioning itself as gatekeeper between creators and rights holders through its NBA and WNBA creator deal.

Women's sport

The Athletic

ESPN fired analyst Ryan Clark during a commercial break of NFL Live, after learning the news was about to leak.

The Athletic

Spain and Morocco are openly competing to host the 2030 final, which CONMEBOL says will balloon to 64 teams.

Defector

The MetLife sod was too dry and slow for elite soccer but fit to be cut up and sold, at $450 to $3,000, for a potential $11.2M.

Defector

Further reading from the day's section on the World Cup's aftermath and legacy.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on the World Cup's aftermath and legacy.

The Athletic

Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time, and The Athletic's verdict on Argentina's conduct, for behavior rather than scoreline, is unhedged.

The Athletic

The Athletic called Fox's final broadcast Super Bowl-like and credited studio host Rebecca Lowe with making Zlatan Ibrahimović a TV star.

Film and TV

The Athletic

Argentina played Spain in the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium: the holders against the European champions.

Stadium financing

The Athletic

Messi, now 39, chased back-to-back titles against a Spanish side with a teenage Lamine Yamal, in what The Athletic framed as Father Time against Messi again.

The Athletic

Further reading from the day's section on World Cup final day.