LEAGUES & TEAMS
Photo: Chinese billionaire Lin Bin buys into the Miami Dolphins at a $12.5B valuation.
Chinese billionaire Lin Bin acquires 1% stake in the Miami Dolphins holdco at a $12.5B valuation (Mar. 3rd)
NFL finance committee approves; full owner vote pending
Xiaomi’s (HKEX) Bin acquires a stake in the holdco owner of the Dolphins, Hard Rock Stadium, and F1 Miami GP at a $12B+ valuation; Dolphins value estimated by Forbes at $7.5B (August 2025) [Sportico]
Euroleague Basketball targets $2.91B capital raise to fund franchise model (Mar. 3rd)
League seeks $1.74B for growth; $1.16B for venue development over three seasons
Roadmap includes permanent franchise licenses, geographic expansion, expanding to 20+ teams, and NBA partnership talks [Euroleague]
USL lands Weatherford Capital investment ahead of 2028 promotion-relegation system launch (Feb. 26th)
Weatherford joins BellTower Partners as equity investor; brings media rights expertise as CBS and ESPN deals expire post-2027, with USL Premier launch targeted for 2028
Weatherford sports portfolio includes IMG Academy, Tampa Bay Rays, Collegiate Athletic Solutions, Curve Sports, and Players Era Festival [USL]
WNBA proposes CBA boosting max salaries to $1.3M, fast-tracking rookie eligibility (Mar. 2nd)
Salary cap could rise from $1.5M (2025) to $5.75M (2026), reaching $8.5M by year 6
Max salaries could jump from $249K (2025) to $1.3M (2026), nearing $2M by 2031, under proposal; Rookies may be eligible for a max contract in their fourth year [AP]
NBA Europe reportedly explores broadcast with Amazon, YouTube conversations underway (Feb. 27th)
No final partner selected yet ahead of Oct. 2027 launch; league targets $500M-$1B franchise fees for European teams [SBJ]
NFL sets 2026 salary cap at $301.2M per team, marking a ~18% jump in two years (Feb 27th)
Cap rises from $279.2M in 2025, $255.4M in 2024; free agency opening March 11
League has nearly doubled the cap since 2014's $133M ceiling, reflecting explosive revenue growth [NFL]
San Diego Padres reportedly attract record-level interest with five potential strong bidders (Feb. 26th)
Sale could hit $2.5B+, topping Mets’ 2020 record at $2.4B; acquired for $800M (2012)
Among the interested, Jose Feliciano (ClearLake Capital) , Dan Friedkin (The Friedkin Group) and Joe Lacob (GS Warriors); The Athletic reports a Joe Kudla-Drew Brees joint bid [SDUnionTribune]
Cristiano Ronaldo acquires a 25% stake in La Liga second-division club UD Almería (Mar. 26th)
Investment via CR7 Sports Investments; the club is majority owned by a Saudi Media Company (SMC) Group-led consortium [ESPN]
Youtuber KSI acquires a minority stake in sixth division English club Dagenham & Redbridge (Mar. 4th)
National League South club ‘Daggers’ have previously competed in the EFL League One (3rd Division)
Influencer cites long-term Premier League ambitions for the East London club [SportsPro]
Houston Dash renews sale process after prior ~$120M deal collapse (Mar. 2nd)
Previous deal with RHC Partners stalled; current owner Ted Segal acquired the Dash (W) & Dynamo (M) for $400M back in 2021
Relaunched sale leverages NWSL’s higher valuations, following Atlanta’s $165M expansion fee [Sportico]
English ‘Prem Rugby’ ditches promotion-relegation for franchise model (Feb. 27th)
12-team top flight to implement criteria-based expansion and demotion from 2026/27
Clubs must field a Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR) team or fund regional women’s development programs; fines for non-compliance [SportsPro]
Brady-backed Knighthead Capital eyes Birmingham Premiership Rugby franchise (Feb. 26th)
Move comes amid Prem Rugby plans to swap its promotion-relegation model for a franchise-based league
Knighthead houses stakes in Birmingham City FC, Birmingham Phoenix (The Hundred), and Birmingham Panthers (NSL) [TheGuardian]
Premier League club Brentford FC secures increased minority investment via holdco Best Intentions Analytics (BIA) sale (Mar. 2nd)
Funds aimed at commercial growth via investor expertise across finance, music, and entertainment
Existing owners, Gary Lubner and Sir Matthew Vaughn, raise stakes in the holding structure, following their July 2025 minority stake acquisition [BrentfordFC]
Haslam Sports Group-backed ownership group explores NWSL expansion franchise in Columbus (Feb. 27th)
HSG, Nationwide Realty Investors, and the Edwards family eye joint bid for Columbus as NWSL's 18th franchise
Group targets 2028 debut at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field alongside AMB Sports’ Atlanta set franchise, which broke the expansion record at $165M last November [ESPN]
Sheffield Wednesday's preferred bidder withdraws, leaving the club in administration (Feb. 25th)
James Bord-led consortium exits after deeming the club's value below its £47.8M offer post-relegation, citing club mishandling and a ‘pattern of catastrophic underinvestment’ [BBC]
Major League Volleyball team Dallas PULSE secures strategic investment led by NBA HOFer and Mavs head coach Jason Kidd (Feb. 26th)
Kidd joins former pro athletes and business leaders as minority investors in the Dallas franchise [MLV]
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STARTUPS & VENTURE CAPITAL
Photo: Devotion, an AI-powered creator marketing platform, raises $4M in Seed funding.
Equipe, a sports customer data platform, raises $1.5M in Seed funding (Mar. 2nd)
Platform builds unified fan profiles from ticketing, merch, and streaming data with Salesforce integrations, among other platforms
Investment led by Game Changers Ventures; portfolio includes Anvara, Arkero, Betr, C15 Studio, Equipe, and Track Titan [SBJ]
Devotion, an AI-powered creator marketing platform, raises $4M in Seed funding (Mar. 2nd)
Leverages AI to help brands discover, manage, and scale influencer campaigns - enabling large creator ecosystems rather than relying on a handful of macro creators
Investment led by Basecase and Will Ventures [TechCrunch]
XENOM, a global functional fitness competition series, raises $15M Seed in funding to launch (Feb. 27th)
Self-proclaimed ‘Decathlon of Fitness’ is set to debut June 27-28 in Frisco, TX; 11 events planned across the US and Europe in Season 1
Investment led by WndrCo [Athletech]
Illume, an intelligence platform for wellness practice operators, raises Pre-Seed funding (Mar. 3rd)
Funds to scale ops, product development, and support rebrand from InsightX
Investment backed by Keyhorse Capital and Cintrifuse Capital [Illume]
Zenniz, smart tennis court technology provider, raises $6M and establishes North American HQ in Atlanta (Feb. 24th)
Funding will support global expansion of its AI-powered tennis court systems, now deployed in 25+ countries
Investment led by Butterfly Ventures and Superhero Capital; other investors include Seventure Partners, Bromélia Capital, and Wolt founder Miki Kuusi [Zenniz]
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M&A AND INVESTMENTS
Photo: Paramount set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for $111B.
Paramount advances with $111B bid for Warner Bros. Discovery as Netflix exits; HBO Max, Paramount+ to merge into one streaming service (Feb. 27th)
Netflix declined to match Paramount's revised $31/share all-cash offer, calling the deal ‘no longer financially attractive’
Combined entity merges sports properties CBS Sports with TNT Sports, adding MLB, NHL, college hoops, European Olympics, and UK Premier League rights [Paramount]
MyFitnessPal, a calorie-tracking app for fitness & weight management, acquires AI photo-recognition nutrition-tracking app Cal AI (Mar. 2nd)
Cal AI generated $40M+ in revenue, garnered 15M downloads within 2 years; app will operate independently, receiving marketing and product development investment from MFP [FittInsider]
Teamworks reportedly set to acquire football news & analysis platform Pro Football Focus at a $130-$140M valuation (Feb. 25th)
Deal marks a ~$100M valuation decline from a reported $223M peak; follows Silver Lake's $50M investment in 2021 [WideLeft]
Eight Sleep, a smart sleep tech systems startup, raises $50M in Strategic funding at a $1.5B valuation (Mar. 4th)
Firm aims to expand beyond consumer products; seeks to delve into sleep apnea-mitigation and develop a sleep-focused AI agent
Investment led by Tether Investments [TechCrunch]
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STRATEGIC VENTURES
Photo: Betr partners with Polymarket to launch its own prediction markets product.
Betr, a real-money, micro-betting super app, partners with Polymarket to launch prediction markets to 1M users (Mar. 4th)
Adds prediction markets spanning sports, politics, and culture, among other markets
Complements Betr Picks, Betr Social Sportsbook, Betr Social Casino, and Betr Arcade [Betr]
TWG Global launches ticketing analytics platform ‘RightsHelper’ developed within the LA Dodgers organization (Mar. 3rd)
Tool built from Dodgers’ Demand Analytics product; Used by 40% of MLB teams
TWG aims to integrate its TWG AI into RightsHelper, spanning predictive modeling, scenario analysis, and real-time decision support [TWG]
Premier League and telecommunications conglomerate StarHub unveil first DTC platform ‘Premier League+’ in Singapore (Feb. 26th)
All 380 matches to stream in Singapore from 2026/27 in six-year deal with StarHub; takes production in-house via Premier League Studios hub [ESPN]
Kalshi partners with luxury watch marketplace Bezel to launch prediction markets on watch prices (Mar. 3rd)
Allows users to trade contracts on luxury watch price movements, expanding Kalshi’s push into collectibles markets
Follows earlier collectibles partnership with StockX [The Defiant]
Note: Bezel is a portfolio company of Courtside Ventures
Kings League targets stateside launch; names David Muoser as US MD (Feb. 26th)
Former NBA and Cabot executive to lead US expansion of Gerard Piqué's creator-led seven-a-side soccer competition
Kings League recently raised $63M led by Alignment Growth; Kings World Cup Nations 2026 drew 1.6B social impressions [Business Wire]
37 Partners, Metta World Peace’s talent and IP venture platform, unveils AI avatar platform for athlete likeness monetization (Mar. 4th)
Perpetual Celebrity Commerce launches, powered by Johnsmith.ai digital twin
Platform offers per-project licensing, revenue splits, and legal protection against unauthorized deepfakes; World Peace debuts with Shopee activation [Yahoo Finance]
Horizon Sports, a sports marketing agency, partners with women’s sports media company Togethxr to launch women's sports content JV IX to Five (Mar. 4th)
Spans premium storytelling, live experiences, and brand partnerships in women's sports
Debut slate features WNBA players ‘StudBudz’ Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman alongside Sports.ish founder Lily Shimbashi; build on Horizon and Togethxr’s Women’s Champions Classic partnership [Variety]
Genius Sports announces expanded adtech partnerships with NBC Sports RSNs for dynamic, augmented NBA advertising (Feb. 26th)
Expansion deploys AR adtech across an additional 4 teams on NBC RSNs (now 15)
AI-driven media inventory to feature brands during high-impact live moments, spanning Player ID, Shot Probability, Shot & Defender Distance, and Heat Maps [Genius Sports]
PrizePicks partners with creator-led golf brand Bob Does Sports (BDS) on multi-platform fantasy sports integration (Mar. 3rd)
PrizePicks to become exclusive fantasy sports partner across Bob Does Sports’ 5.5M+ follower ecosystem, spanning social content, podcasts, live events, and golf challenge programming [PrizePicks]
WHOOP extends partnership as Official Health & Performance Wearable of the PGA Tour through 2028 (Feb. 25th)
Deal adds WHOOP Advanced Labs, delivering 65-biomarker insights to PGA TOUR, Champions, and Korn Ferry Tour members.
Partnership, active since 2021, expands into WHOOP Live real-time biometric data integration across World Feed broadcasts. [WHOOP]