Today's Sports Business Pulse
Messi joins Ronaldo as billionaire after US endorsement deals
Lionel Messi has entered the billionaire club, driven by a series of high‑value U.S. endorsement and licensing agreements announced this month. His net worth now exceeds $1 billion, matching Cristiano Ronaldo as the only footballers to reach that milestone.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Lucra raises $20M to expand its eSports gamification platform
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Addresses if Agency Aims to ‘Influence’ NFL Rights Negotiations
The Department of Justice has opened an antitrust investigation into the NFL’s exemption under the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act, prompting heightened scrutiny from the FCC. Chairman Brendan Carr told CNBC the agency is reviewing the exemption and may advise Congress or the DOJ, signaling a possible push to keep games on over‑the‑air TV. The timing coincides with the league’s upcoming rights negotiations with its five major broadcast partners, including CBS and Fox, which are owned by families with close ties to the Trump administration. Carr’s comments suggest the FCC may be positioning itself to influence those talks.
Barilla's Wheel Pasta: Cheapest F1 Merch at $1.77
At $1.77 a box, Barilla's racing wheel-shaped pasta is the cheapest F1 merch you can buy. https://t.co/WQ3YftrWhY
Thunder's Local TV Rights Far Below $16.6M Benchmark
Hard to see how the Thunder come close to that (pretty low) local rights figure from FDSN via local broadcast TV….
Will Amazon Get the First Streaming Super Bowl?
Amazon Prime Video is poised to become the first streamer to secure exclusive Super Bowl rights, a shift analysts deem inevitable within the next decade. The company already streams Thursday Night Football and leverages its massive e‑commerce cash flow, backed...
Uh Oh, Prime Video
Amazon’s Prime Video, in its debut NBA media rights season, streamed its first playoff game but lost the feed for nearly two minutes during overtime due to a hardware failure in a production truck. LeBron James highlighted the glitch on...
Trump's NFL Antitrust Push Likely Backfires via Streamers
Rethinking the NFL antitrust freakout: the streamers are in it, the real battlefield isn’t the FCC, and Trump’s enforcers will likely talk tough before blinking. My latest. https://puck.news/how-trumps-anti-nfl-crusade-could-backfire/
How Trump’s Anti-NFL Crusade Could Backfire
The Justice Department has opened an antitrust probe into the NFL, intensifying criticism from the Trump administration that the league is monopolistic and should be reined in. The investigation follows a Wall Street Journal editorial accusing the NFL of anti‑competitive...
Charlotte Hornets Thrive: Best Season, Record Attendance
The Charlotte @hornets just finished their best regular season in 10 years and a 28-10 record since Jan. 1. Attendance rose an NBA-best 9%, and the Spectrum Center set a building record with 25 sellouts, including 15 straight to end...
Rory Triumph Delivers 14M Masters Viewers for CBS, Most Since 2015
Rory McIlroy captured a historic back-to-back Masters victory, the first since Tiger Woods in 2002, driving CBS’s final‑round audience to an average of 13.995 million viewers. The rating marks the network’s most‑watched Masters final since 2015 and represents an 8% increase...
Royals One Step Closer to New Kansas City Stadium
Kansas City’s Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee approved moving forward with financing talks for a proposed $1.9 billion Royals stadium at Washington Square Park, authorizing up to $600 million in city funding backed by future tax revenue. The Board of Parks...
League One Average Revenue Climbs to £12.5 Million
Finances for all League One teams are now in (some clubs do not submit full figures) so here is a summary for 2024/25. Revenue averaged 12.5m but skewed at the top end by Birmingham and Wrexham with well over £33m...
Vuori Hires Chief Product Officer
Vuori, the California‑based active‑lifestyle brand, has appointed Heather Archibald as its first Chief Product Officer. In the newly created role she will oversee the entire product lifecycle—from design and raw‑material planning to merchandising and sourcing strategy—driving the company’s global product...
PNC Bank CMO on Leveraging Experiential to Rally Hockey Fans in a Growth Market
PNC Bank transformed its Dallas Stars arena plaza into a pop‑up barbershop, the “Mane St. Branch,” featuring a giant synthetic mullet and co‑branded hats. The two‑day activation distributed more than 20,000 hockey‑hair hats and sparked over 13 million earned social engagements,...
Nubank Secures Naming Rights to Latin America’s Largest Arena in Major Sports Push
Nubank, Brazil’s leading neobank with over 80 million customers, announced a five‑year naming‑rights deal for São Paulo’s 55,000‑seat arena, the largest indoor venue in Latin America. The agreement, valued at roughly $150 million total ($30 million per year), includes a co‑branded ticketing platform that...
How Ally Hit Its Target for Sponsoring Women's Sports
Ally Financial announced it achieved gender‑parity in sports sponsorship a full year ahead of its five‑year pledge, shifting its spend from a 90‑10 split to an even 50‑50 balance between 2022 and 2025. The bank’s accelerated investment landed its logo...
Countdown Begins as Seven Eyes Big GLASGOW 2026 Games Coverage
Seven Network announced it will broadcast the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games live, free and exclusively on its main channel and the 7plus Sport streaming platform from July 24 to August 3. The ten‑day event will showcase 10 sports, including a...
NBC Plans to Air NBA Playoffs Following Derby, Preakness
NBC Sports announced it will use the Kentucky Derby and possibly the Preakness Stakes as lead‑ins for its 2026 NBA playoff broadcasts. The network will air three consecutive nights of double‑header games to kick off its first postseason coverage since...
More Evidence Of Sports Marketing's Generational Inflection Point
Sports marketers are pivoting toward a new generation of socially driven fans, investing heavily in high‑tech venues and premium experiences. While younger attendees embrace in‑seat digital activations, older loyal season‑ticket holders often feel alienated by app‑only entry and complex interfaces....
Billie Jean King Wants to Break Another Barrier: Getting Female Golfers Into the Masters
Tennis icon Billie Jean King announced a personal campaign to secure an LPGA tournament at Augusta National, aiming to give women a chance to compete for a Masters‑style title. She highlighted the club’s recent inclusion of female members, beginning with Condoleezza Rice and...
Sweepstakes Betting Is Expanding Fast. Here’s What SportsTech Companies Need to Know
Sweepstakes‑based betting is rapidly reshaping the U.S. SportsTech landscape by allowing operators to sidestep fragmented state gambling laws and reach users nationwide. The model uses two virtual currencies—one for gameplay with no cash value and another redeemable for cash or...
The Stadium Beer Model Is Changing, and Athletic Brewing Is Ahead of It
Athletic Brewing Company, the United States' largest dedicated non‑alcoholic brewer, has secured high‑visibility partnerships with the San Francisco Giants and Arsenal F.C., showcasing two distinct activation models. In baseball, the brand is woven into the entire matchday experience at Oracle...
Patrón Takes Shot at Sponsoring Prime Video’s NBA Nightcap Through the Playoffs
Amazon Prime Video is elevating its NBA playoff coverage by naming Patrón Tequila the presenting sponsor of the post‑game show, NBA Nightcap. The partnership will run throughout the postseason, delivering brand integrations across every playoff broadcast and custom content pieces....
Ralph Lauren’s Grip Loosens on Tennis
The Australian Open swaps its long‑standing title sponsor Ralph Lauren for Hugo Boss, marking a strategic shift toward luxury‑sport branding. Tory Burch seeks a $346 million loan to repurchase General Atlantic’s stake, reflecting a broader trend of luxury retailers using debt to regain control....
Digital Health RX
Withum has launched the "Digital Health RX" podcast mini‑series, hosted by tax partner Luca Panarelli. The show targets digital‑health founders and operators, offering practical guidance on business structuring, regulatory compliance, capital‑raising strategies, and exit planning. Panarelli draws on Withum’s deep sector expertise...
The Economic Anatomy of Rory's Second Masters
Rory McIlroy captured a historic back‑to‑back Masters victory, becoming only the fourth player to win consecutive Green Jackets and the first to do so in 24 years. Sportico’s April 2026 valuation now lists him as the golf industry’s most commercially...
The 'Broadcastification' Of Streaming: Why Tech Giants Are Betting Big on Live Events
Streaming platforms are rapidly shifting toward live sports, concerts, and interactive reality TV, a trend dubbed "broadcastification." Nielsen projects the global sports streaming market to grow from $33.9 billion in 2024 to $75.2 billion by 2030. Tech giants see live events as...
UBS Report: NBA Decline Hurt Nike
UBS’s latest equity research links a perceived decline in NBA popularity to a sharp hit on Nike’s earnings, estimating billions of dollars in lost revenue. The bank argues that over‑inflated media‑rights deals have insulated NBA owners from product‑quality pressure, while...
O2 Pens SSE Arena Belfast Naming Rights Partnership
Telecom giant O2 has signed a 10‑year naming‑rights deal for Belfast’s SSE Arena, rebranding the 11,200‑seat venue and its surrounding 23‑acre complex as The O2 Belfast from July. The partnership adds an exclusive O2 Blueroom VIP bar, 48‑hour pre‑sale ticket...
The Handle: Maryland Sports Betting Stands Strong Against March Headwinds
Maryland’s sports‑betting market posted a $604.7 million handle in March, a 2.8% increase from the prior month, while revenue jumped 31% to $62.7 million. The state’s hold rate sat at 10.4%, generating roughly $8.8 million in tax receipts. These figures contrast with a...
Programmatic Live Sports Buying Is Starting To Get Less Complicated
StackAdapt has turned a beta test run during the 2026 Winter Olympics into a generally available programmatic live‑sports buying workflow. The new interface lets advertisers set granular controls for ad frequency, budget pacing, and inventory filters such as league or...
Streaming Wars Threaten NFL’s Sunday Night Broadcast Future
The Varsity * Russini-gate underscores underlying tension between NYT and The Athletic. * NBA ends its season of tanking. Plus, ahead of NFL Kickoff in September, the streaming wolves are circling Sunday Night Football—so media-industry equity research analyst Michael Nathanson stopped by to...
CBS Launches Four-Year MLB Broadcast Deal in 1990
📺 ⚾️ April 14, 1990: CBS began its four-year deal with Major League Baseball, with an afternoon doubleheader: Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates followed by Los Angeles Dodgers at Houston Astros. The first game had the network’s main broadcast team...
How Liverpool FC Overhauled Its Fan Experience with Wasabi
Liverpool FC launched a cloud‑based digital content platform with Wasabi to streamline video storage, tagging and delivery. The AI‑powered Wasabi AiR solution cut cloud costs by roughly 80% and eliminated over 5,000 hours of manual media management each year. As...
CBS Simulcast Delivers UFC’s Biggest Audience in a Decade
CBS simulcast once again pays off for @ufc with the most-watched telecast for the MMA outfit in 10 years 2.65 million viewers for UFC 327 on Saturday. That tops the 2.47 million for the UFC 326 simulcast
Stadiums Prove Poor Public Investments After 50 Years Research
Always good to hear from *both sides*, which makes it appear that this is some sort of debate upon which *reasonable people can disagree*. Not mentioned in the article: 50 YEARS OF RESEARCH HAS CONCLUSIVELY DEMONSTRATED THAT STADIUMS ARE TERRIBLE...
Pac‑12 Meetings Tackle 2026 Bowl Lineup, Clarity Unlikely
Pac-12 meetings this week in Corvallis will address a barrage of issues, including the bowl lineup for 2026 (just don't expect any clarity) -->
Major Sportsbooks Back Minnesota Betting Bill, Unlike Wisconsin
FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Fanatics and bet365 reaffirm support for Minnesota online sports betting bill during informational session in a legislative committee today; Wisconsin recently passed a mobile sports betting that was not supported by the major books
Minnesota Lawmakers Discuss Mobile Sports Betting Legalization
Minnesota lawmakers Tuesday will discuss, but not vote, on a mobile sports betting legalization bill; though no action will be taken today, a conversation in committee is a positive sign in what has been a long (long) journey to bringing...
NBA League Pass Needs All-Streaming Service Bundle
NBA league pass should offer a bundle that includes all the streaming services. I think they will get to this when they can.
World Cup Economic Projections Are Clearly Phony, Says Skeptic
I will be more blunt. No serious person ever believed what were obviously phony economic impact projections for the World Cup, especially the people touting them. https://t.co/jbTQdpjTAg
Anonymous Yelp for College Coaches Sparks Controversy
Yelp for college coaches. What could go wrong? Loved this @DanielLibit story at @Sportico about a corner of the NCAA internet I had no idea existed, where people can anonymously review (and skewer) their college coaches 👇 https://t.co/VCdTZ14bkC
Podcast Explores NBA Playoffs Streaming Shift and Masters Coverage
NEW PODCAST: @paulsen_smw, @AustinKarp and @JoshACarpenter join me to discuss Prime Video and NBC joining ESPN for the NBA playoffs, CBS’s Masters coverage and the Russini-Vrabel story. TO LISTEN: https://t.co/ldSOoKDIvD
BetMGM CEO Backs Kentucky’s 21+ Betting Age
FWIW, BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt supports Kentucky raising its minimum sports betting age to 21
Media Rights Shift Drives UCSB’s WCC Move and Mid-Major Realignment
blogged about why UCSB joined the WCC, how the media rights calculus for expansion has changed, and what it means for the future for mid-major realignment you can read it by clicking on the link after this tweet
AECOM’s Stadium Impact Study: Definitive but Hallucinated Data
Maybe it's best to say AECOM "hallucinated" the economic impact of a Rays stadium, since much like AI, its report produces definitive answers while giving no reason to believe they're more accurate than what you'd get from asking the nearest...
Ally Shifts Ad Spend From Cable to Women's Sports
Financial-services firm Ally wanted to increase the ad dollars it spent on women's sports. To do so, it cut the commercials it ran on traditional entertainment-focused cable networks.... https://t.co/BmFwrCvBNw via @variety
BetMGM Lowers FY2026 Outlook, Targets Lower EBITDA Range
BetMGM revises FY 2026 guidance down, per Q1 release: "We continue to expect FY 2026 Adjusted EBITDA between $300-$350 million, albeit towards lower end of the range, while Net Revenue now expected to be between $2.9-$3.1 billion"
BetMGM Q1 Revenue Rises 6% with Strong iGaming Growth
BetMGM Q1 notable figures: - Net Revenue of $696 million, +6% YoY - iGaming Net Revenue +9% YoY - Online Sports Net Revenue +4% YoY - Adjusted EBITDA of $25 million, +11% YoY
Kalshi Wins Courts, Shifts Battle to Montana
Kalshi has had the winning hand in court of late and now takes its legal battle to Montana. More on the state-by-state fight over prediction markets, federal preemption, and state gambling and sports betting laws: https://t.co/xz2Ll0GUHR.
Keeping the Heisman Relevant in the NIL Era
Stakeholders look to keep Heisman Trophy relevant in the NIL era of college sports https://t.co/auynNEvsZX