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LEAGUES & TEAMS
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Photo: University of Utah and Otro Capital officially establish Crimson Brand Partners, the commercial operating entity for Utah Athletics.
University of Utah and foundation finalize Crimson Brand Partners, a new commercial operating company for Utah Athletics, with financing from Otro Capital (June 12th)
New venture will manage sponsorships, licensing, ticketing, events, branding, and digital media starting July 1st
Crimson Brand Partners will be led by CEO Matt Webb, with leadership experience across the Saints, Pelicans, Royals, Clippers, Dolphins, and other pro sports organizations [University of Utah]
Crystal Palace owners explore sale after club’s historic trophy run and Woody Johnson’s 2025 stake purchase (June 15th)
Crystal Palace’s ownership group, including Josh Harris, David Blitzer, Woody Johnson, and Steve Parish, is reportedly open to options including a full sale; Raine Group appointed to handle the sales process
Process comes as Palace appoints Pierre Sage after Oliver Glasner led the club to through a trophy-laden period [Reuters]
EuroLeague founding clubs set to receive €30M+ each from planned €400M expansion windfall (June 17th)
EuroLeague’s 13 shareholder clubs are moving toward permanent franchise status, with expansion fees expected to boost league and team valuations
First expansion phase could add 6-8 new franchises by 2027-28, generating €400M+ to be distributed among founding teams [Eurohoops]
Dallas Stars advance $3B Plano arena and mixed-use development plan as franchise eyes suburban move (June 15th)
Plano approved a non-binding letter of intent for a $1B arena and $2B surrounding development at the Shops at Willow Bend site
Project reflects the broader suburban sports real estate trend as Dallas-area teams move closer to fan bases and year-round mixed-use revenue opportunities [FOS]
Legends Global bids for Oakland Arena as venue sale process draws competition from Oak View Group (June 17th)
Legends offered to invest $102M across the arena purchase and repairs as Oakland Acquisition Co. works to finance its Coliseum site deal
Bid puts Legends, the venue’s current manager, against Oak View Group in the race to control the 19,200-seat arena [SBJ]
Manchester United adds $125M in long-term debt after refinancing Glazer-era takeover borrowings (June 12th)
Club refinanced $425M in senior secured notes into $550M of debt due in 2031, with the interest rate rising from 3.79% to 5.36%
Total financial debt now stands at £728M, with United also carrying £360M in outstanding transfer debt [The Athletic]
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey outlines fixes to Protect College Sports Act as conference leaders push for revisions (June 15th)
Sankey flagged roughly two dozen proposed changes, including concerns that athlete lawsuit provisions could increase legal exposure
SEC and Big Ten have not backed the bill as written, but believe targeted revisions could create more stability for college athletics [SBJ]
IPL 2026 becomes most-watched season ever with 1.2B viewers and record final viewership (June 16th)
JioStar said IPL 2026 reached 1.2B viewers, up 7% year-over-year, with total watch time hitting 870B minutes
RCB’s title-winning final became the most-watched IPL match ever, while connected TV grew 22% and digital video views reached 25B [HT]
Portuguese club Benfica blocks former Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke’s proposed 16.4% stake acquisition over multi-club ownership concerns (June 16th)
Leiweke’s Entrepreneur Equity Partners withdrew after Benfica flagged potential conflicts tied to the fund’s minority stakes in other European clubs
Deal would have been one of the largest foreign investments in a Portuguese club, following Lenore Sports Partners’ 5.24% Benfica stake last year [Bloomberg]
Big 12 sues Texas Tech and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as Brendan Sorsby eligibility fight escalates (June 15th)
Big 12 argues Paxton and Texas Tech’s lawsuit threats interfere with the conference’s ability to sanction schools under its own bylaws
Case centers on whether Texas Tech can play Sorsby after alleged sports betting activity, despite a state court injunction requiring NCAA eligibility [Sportico]
Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský becomes West Ham’s largest shareholder after increasing stake to 43% (June 16th)
Křetínský raised his stake from 27% through 1890 Holdings after striking a deal with joint-chair Vanessa Gold
Ownership shift follows David Sullivan’s resignation amid misconduct allegations, which he denies, and West Ham’s relegation to the EFL Championship [Sportcal]
Motor City Golf Club joins WTGL as fourth team ahead of inaugural women’s team golf season (June 17th)
Backed by the same ownership group behind TGL’s Motor City Golf Club, including Michael Hamp, Rob Walton, RHC Group, Eberg Capital, and others
WTGL now has teams in Detroit, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and New York ahead of its fall launch [WTGL]
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STARTUPS & VENTURE CAPITAL
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Photo: Hexis, a personalized nutrition app for athletes, raises $2.1M seed round.
Hexis, a personalized nutrition app for athletes, raises $2.1M seed round led by Apex Capital (June 16th)
New capital will support product development and U.S. expansion as Hexis builds a nutrition operating system for human performance
Investment led by Apex Capital; other backers include Enterprise Ireland, ScaleX Investments, and Sheffield United striker Patrick Bamford [SBJ]
Swsh, an AI-powered fan engagement platform for live events, raises $4M seed round (June 16th)
New capital will help Swsh scale its fan photo-sharing technology into an AI-powered media library and audience data platform for artists, labels, and live events
Investment led by Game Changers Ventures; other backers include Stellation Capital, SignalFire, MaC Venture Capital, Scooter Braun, Guy Oseary, Austin Rief, and Hans Tung [Fortune]
Clair Health, a noninvasive women’s hormone-tracking wearable startup, raises $11.6M round led by Khosla Ventures (June 17th)
New capital will support beta testing and November launch of Clair’s wearable, which uses 10 biosensors to track cycle, inflammation, energy, and hormonal health insights
Investment led by Khosla Ventures; other backers include a16z Speedrun, Brydge Club, Treehub, Cartan Capital, AGI House, Insiders VC among others [TechCrunch]
Kimba, a personalized sleep technology startup, raises $6.5M round led by Selva Ventures (June 16th)
New capital will support commercial launch of Kimba’s device, which uses biometric tracking and AI-timed scent cues to improve sleep depth and recovery
Integrates with WHOOP, Oura, Apple Watch, Fitbit, and Garmin, with pre-orders priced at $299 including device, software, and six months of scents [FinSMEs]
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M&A AND INVESTMENTS
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Photo: Juggernaut Capital Partners launches a dedicated sports fund with global football icon Gareth Bale
Juggernaut Capital Partners launches dedicated sports investment platform with global football icon Gareth Bale (June 15th)
Juggernaut Diversified Sports will target majority stakes across teams, leagues, women’s sports, youth sports, and international football clubs
Platform builds on JCP’s sports portfolio across KemperSports, 3STEP Sports, Mitchell & Ness, and Thrill Sports [Juggernaut]
Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six acquires ONIT, college sports trading card company focused on long-tail athlete collectibles (June 18th)
ONIT produced cards for 8,000+ student-athletes across 67 Division I schools last year, with a major focus on women’s sports
Deal brings in former NASCAR and The Athletic exec Evan Parker as CEO as Ohanian looks to scale affordable college collectibles beyond star athletes [The Athletic]
L Catterton enters exclusive talks to buy stake in fast-growing fitness race brand Hyrox (June 13th)
L Catterton is reportedly negotiating with Hyrox owner Infront Sports & Media, with a deal announcement possible within weeks
Potential investment would extend L Catterton’s push into premium consumer fitness as Hyrox scales its global indoor racing format [Bloomberg]
Fox agrees to acquire Roku for $22B, giving its sports and news portfolio direct control of a major connected-TV platform (June 16th)
Deal gives Fox access to Roku’s 100M+ households, first-party data, ad stack, and The Roku Channel alongside Tubi and Fox One
Acquisition positions Fox to better monetize live sports rights in streaming, though investors reacted negatively as Fox stock fell after the announcement [CNBC]
Ice Cube’s 3-on-3 basketball league BIG3 agrees to go public through SPAC merger with Graf Global at $290M pre-money valuation (June 12th)
Transaction would make BIG3 the first publicly traded U.S. professional sports league, with listing expected under ticker “TONT” after a planned Q4 2026 close
League enters its ninth season with eight city-based teams, CBS distribution, international partners, and growing momentum around 3-on-3 basketball ahead of the 2028 Olympics [BIG3]
Former Hellman & Friedman partner Allen Thorpe buys LA and Park City franchise pairs in X Games League (June 12th)
Thorpe acquired both the Los Angeles and Park City summer-and-winter franchise pairs, with LA debuting June 26 and Park City joining in 2027
Deal marks XGL’s second eight-figure franchise sale in two months, following UNA Sports Group’s purchase of the NYC franchise pair [Sportcal]
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STRATEGIC VENTURES
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Photo: Formula 1 names Fever Official Supplier to power its global ticketing platform.
Formula 1 names Fever Official Supplier to power global ticketing platform beginning in 2027 (June 16th)
Five-year deal will bring official general admission, local hospitality, and Paddock Club ticketing onto a new Fever-powered platform on F1.com
Partnership aims to improve ticket discovery, purchasing, and customer service as F1 scales its global race attendance and hospitality business [Fever]
Novig wins CFTC approval to launch sports-first prediction market as competition intensifies (June 16th)
Moves fully into federally regulated prediction markets, building a peer-to-peer sports trading platform instead of a traditional sportsbook
Follows its $75M Series B led by Pantera Capital, as ProphetX, Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood, FanDuel, DraftKings, and Fanatics crowd into sports event contracts [CNBC]
Fanatics says Knicks championship gear set its 24-hour sales record across all sports after first NBA title in 53 years (June 15th)
Knicks title merchandise became Fanatics’ best-selling championship collection ever in the first 24 hours after a team clinched
Fanatics processed 8,000+ orders per minute after Game 5, with sales already more than double its previous top NBA champion [The Athletic]
Manchester United names Elevate first-ever Official Hospitality Partner ahead of 2026-27 season (June 16th)
Elevate will expand United’s matchday hospitality offering across fine dining, pub-style experiences, Old Trafford venues, and city-centre restaurants
Partnership adds premium fan experiences including behind-the-scenes stadium tours, on-pitch photos, and Q&As with club legends [ManUtd]
Texas Rangers Sports Network pursues local broadcast rights for former Main Street NBA teams
Pitching an 85/15 revenue-share model after production costs, with projected team revenue of $15M+ annually
The model could give NBA teams linear distribution flexibility while the league develops its centralized local streaming hub [SBJ]
MOGL launches Athlete Paid Social, AI-powered tool turning athlete social accounts into targeted media inventory (June 15th)
Brands can run paid campaigns directly through athlete accounts, using MOGL’s data platform to match audiences with creators
Beta test with ProStyl Sports delivered a $0.36 CPC and 2.46% click-through rate, while athletes earn passive income from media spend [SBJ]
Capelli Sport makes World Cup debut as Cape Verde’s kit partner after scaling from youth soccer roots (June 15th)
Capelli signed a four-year deal to outfit Cape Verde’s men’s and women’s national teams after the country qualified for its first World Cup
Brand now outfits 400,000+ youth athletes and 100+ pro teams while targeting federations and clubs underserved by Nike, Adidas, and Puma [Sportico]
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