Choose your location
Sportico
Apax Partners Sells Final 10% Stake in Genius Sports
Genius Sports’ largest shareholder has sold its remaining shares, according to a Wednesday morning press release. British private equity firm Apax Partners had previously owned 20 million shares or just under 10% of the data company.Rams' Puka Nacua on NBA Celebrity Game, NFL vs. NBA Debate Apax had been unwinding its stake in Genius over the past year. In September, it started selling 23 million shares, which left it with 31 million at the end of 2023. Apax’s stake was reduced to 20 million shares after the first quarter of 2024. The block sale was to new and existing shareholders. Apax acquired...
Average Pro Team Sponsorship Value Nearing $1M, per Study
A new report finds that the average professional sports team sponsorship deal across seven featured North American markets is nearing $1 million for the highest-earning leagues, a sign that brands are paying more to align themselves with local franchises.Jayson Tatum, A'ja Wilson Named NBA 2K25 Cover Athletes On Wednesday, SponsorUnited released its first “State of the Market Marketing Partnerships,” and its research shows that the average team sponsorship deal cost $935,000 in 2023. The average, of course, pulls in a wide range of dollars and locations—for example, a deal in Austin, Texas, goes for less than 40% of what a similar...
U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Leotard Early Reveal Boosts GK Elite Brand
Gymnastics is rarely on the radar of most sports fans, but every four years, the sport takes center stage as arguably the most popular Summer Olympics competition. It also shines a spotlight on the small-town company that produces the team’s leotards.NCAA, USA Gymnastics Discussing Overhaul of Men's Championship On Wednesday, USA Gymnastics unveiled the leotards and apparel their women and men gymnasts will wear at the Paris Olympics from GK Elite; the company is based in Reading, Pa., where the uniforms are designed, cut and assembled. Fans typically have to wait until the gymnasts walk out on the mats at the...
Tatum, Doncic NBA Finals Jerseys Fetch Big Bucks at Sotheby’s
Auction house Sotheby’s has concluded its initial auction of 2024 NBA Finals jerseys, in which the Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks in five games. The Celtics now have the most titles in NBA history with 18.NBA Rights Contracts Hit Adam Silver's Desk With All Eyes on TNT The auction included Jayson Tatum’s uniform from Game 2, when he had a double-double with 18 points and 12 assists in a 105-98 Celtics win. It sold for $108,000—more than double its listed estimated range of $30,000 to $50,000. Finals MVP Jaylen Brown’s Game 2 uniform sold for $60,000. Mavs superstar Luka Dončić’s NBA...
La Previa 44: AFA CMO on Messi and Growth of Argentina’s Brand in U.S.
On the latest episode of La Previa, Leandro Petersen, the CMO of The Argentine Football Association (AFA), joins Asli Pelit to discuss the organization’s efforts to grow the brand in the United States.Euros and Copa América Are Windows on the World for U.S. Fans Petersen started working for the association right before the 2018 World Cup in Russia when the Albiceleste reached the round of 16 before being eliminated by France in a 4-3 thriller. Commercially, the team could only rely on national sponsors back then. On and off the pitch, Argentina, known as a soccer powerhouse, was facing challenging times. Following...
The Dog Days of Sports Are Over—for Good
Last month, a potentially ill-advised video caromed around the internet, as they are wont to do. CBS Sports betting analyst Mackenzie Brooks put together a “Sports Calendar for the Girls,” laying out when men’s attention spans are most likely to be consumed by their various fandoms. NBA Rights Contracts Hit Adam Silver's Desk With All Eyes on TNT Setting aside the video’s gender essentialism (it’s all delivered tongue-in-cheek, to be fair), it clearly found an audience, with nearly 2 million views on X alone. The summer is the best opportunity for women who are not sports obsessed to connect with men, Brooks explained...
Highest-Paid Tennis Players 2024: Alcaraz Leads With $45M
Novak Djokovic has built a resume in tennis that stands above all others in the modern era with a trio of on-court records: 24 Grand Slam titles, 428 weeks ranked No. 1 and $182.5 million in career prize money.LeBron James Returning to Lakers on 2-Year Deal With Player Option But one crown Djokovic has relinquished: The world’s highest-paid tennis player. Carlos Alcaraz earned an estimated $45 million over the last 12 months, $6 million more than Djokovic ($38.7 million), flipping their ranks among 2023’s top-earning athletes. The two tennis aces are a step above other stars in the sport for income from...
Favre Pursues Replay of Sharpe Defamation Suit in Appeal
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held a hearing Tuesday on whether to reverse a federal judge’s dismissal of retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre’s defamation lawsuit against sports talk show host Shannon Sharpe and reinstate the case.The Volume Hires Barstool's Dane Aagaard as CRO Last October, U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett tossed Favre’s lawsuit on grounds that nothing Sharpe said amounted to defamation, which concerns untrue and reputation-damaging statements that are factual sounding rather than opinion. Starrett emphasized the First Amendment protects “rhetorical hyperbole” and “loose, figurative language” relating to matters of public concern. Favre objected to Sharpe, a fellow retired...
Joel Embiid Fulfills Lifelong Olympic Dream via USA Basketball
LAS VEGAS – When Joel Embiid was growing up in his native Cameroon, he began to harbor a dream of participating in the Olympics.NBA Free Agency Hits $2B in Contracts, Led by 76ers He didn’t know in what sport; at that time, he played soccer and volleyball. Certainly not basketball, he said. Not until his family immigrated to the U.S. and he began to grow into the 7-foot, 280-pound man he is today. Now, he’s a dominant force for the Philadelphia 76ers, an NBA MVP and a member of the USA men’s basketball team with all eyes on winning gold next month...
Adidas Sues Over 100 Sites for Fake Merch in Brand Crackdown
Adidas, lamenting that it and other “famous trademark owners” must expend “significant monetary” resources to combat counterfeiters, sued nearly 120 websites for trademark counterfeiting, infringement, cybersquatting, unfair competition and related claims last week.Jets Logo Sparks Federal Lawsuit Against NFL, Team The complaint, filed in a Florida federal court, takes aim at websites such as adidasemporium.com, profootballjersey.shop and jordan1best.com. These websites are owned and operated by persons residing outside the U.S., and they promote and sell counterfeits and “confusingly similar imitations” of Adidas footwear, shirts, shorts and other products bearing the famous three-stripe mark. The case has been assigned to U.S. District...
Bobby Wagner Eyes NFL Future Far Beyond the Playing Field
Bobby Wagner has spent a career shadowing the NFL’s top quarterbacks. But on this day, he’s shadowing the league’s top executive, commissioner Roger Goodell.Apax Partners Sells Final 10% Stake in Genius Sports As the sun rises over Manhattan, the Washington Commanders linebacker finds himself in a Flatiron District yoga studio heated to over 100 degrees with Goodell, who often does the ancient practice before beginning his workdays running the nation’s most popular league. Led by a class instructor, Goodell and Wagner are put through their poses, focusing on their breathing and breaking a sweat. The private hour-long session was one of...
Sporticast 360: NFL Teams Make $400M+ Before Tickets, Concessions
On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including the $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance Media. The agreement, announced on Sunday, combines the parent of CBS, Viacom and Paramount+ with a global studio that is behind blockbuster movies like Top Gun: Maverick and the new Mission: Impossible.Apax Partners Sells Final 10% Stake in Genius Sports The hosts talk about the intersecting sports aspects of the merger. The Skydance financing is being backed by RedBird Capital, which has an extensive portfolio in sports and media. They...
Baltimore Orioles Hire Catie Griggs as President of Business Operations
The Baltimore Orioles have hired Catie Griggs as their president of business operations, the first woman to be appointed to that role in franchise history.Ted Leonsis Plans 'Credible and Strong' New Offer for Nationals Elevate Talent was retained by the Orioles’ new ownership, led by majority owner David Rubenstein, to fill the position. “Catie’s track record of success, diverse business experience, and commitment to excellence made her the perfect fit to lead the next chapter of our business operation in Baltimore,” Rubenstein said in a statement. Griggs comes east after three years with the Seattle Mariners, where she worked in the same role...
Oregon Asks Court to Reject Title IX Suit’s NIL ‘Theory’
Ahead of settlement discussions, Oregon has filed three motions attempting to dismiss or substantially pare down a federal sex discrimination lawsuit filed last year by current and former female athletes on the school’s beach volleyball and club rowing teams.Learfield, Opendorse Diverge on Tech, NIL and Their Partnership Schroeder et al v. University of Oregon is notable in that it is the first known Title IX suit that seeks relief based on alleged disparities in NIL opportunities for college athletes. The plaintiffs, who are pursuing class certification, have targeted the university’s relationship with its dedicated collective, Division Street, and Opendorse, which hosts...
‘Money in the Bank’ 2024 Sets WWE Event Gate Record in Canada
WWE announced Monday its Money in the Bank 2024 event became the company’s highest-grossing arena event in Canada in its history, according to a news release. It also had 46% more viewership than last year’s July event, hosted at The O2 Arena in London, setting a new high for Money in the Bank.Anthem Sports Group Names Former WWE Exec Chief Revenue Officer The revenue record comes after John Cena, one of the company’s star wrestlers, announced during the event he will retire after WrestleMania 2025. WWE said Cena’s retirement announcement amassed more than 65 million views across social media in the...
Dallas Stars Declare ‘Victory’ With Streaming Channel for Local Games
Days after Sportico reported that the Dallas Stars and Diamond Sports Group have mutually agreed to part ways, the NHL club announced that it has signed a seven-year deal with A Parent Media Co. Inc. (APMC) to stream all regional Stars games free of charge through a new direct-to-consumer FAST platform, Victory+.NFL Sunday Ticket Verdict Shines Light on MLB, NHL Approach The Stars are the latest team to leave the DSG/Bally Sports umbrella, yet are the first major men’s sports franchise in the U.S. to move nearly all local broadcasts out of the regional sports network model and toward a streaming...
NFL Criticizes Sunday Ticket Class Action Ruling, Demands Reversal
The NFL may have lost the Sunday Ticket class action jury trial last month, but the league will play the long game to see it overturned. NFL Sunday Ticket Verdict Shines Light on MLB, NHL Approach Step one: Try to convince the presiding judge to throw out the loss. In a motion filed last week for judgment as a matter of law or, in the alternative, a new trial, the league described the jury’s decision to award $4.7 billion in damages as “nonsensical” and “irrational” since—as the NFL sees it—jurors badly miscalculated the award by, among other things, getting “the relationship between actual prices paid...
Paramount and Skydance Will Beef Up CBS’ Sports Portfolio
Skydance Media’s $8 billion merger with Paramount Global will be marked by consolidation’s usual blitz of cost-cutting measures, but that isn’t likely to apply to the blended company’s sports division.Speaking to analysts during a Monday morning call with investors following the official announcement of the deal, incoming president Jeff Shell said that while Skydance is eyeballing at least $2 billion in budget cuts, the new company plans to bring more sports assets into the fold.“When you look at the CBS Sports portfolio, it is really pretty formidable,” Shell said toward the end of the call. “So while we’re going to...
NFL Sunday Ticket Verdict Shines Light on MLB, NHL Approach
The NFL losing the trial for the Sunday Ticket class action is not only about losing.Dallas Stars Declare 'Victory' With Streaming Channel for Local Games It’s also about the decision to go to trial. Nine years ago, MLB and the NHL faced the same choice. In Garber v. MLB and Laumann v. NHL, consumers accused the two leagues of violating antitrust law by blacking out games to exploit TV and streaming deals. Like the NFL has faced with the Sunday Ticket litigation, MLB and the NHL defended how their teams, which are competing businesses, conspired to limit access to broadcasts. With MLB, some fans living outside of regional...
NFL 2023 National Revenue Hit $13 Billion, $400 Million-Plus Per Team
Each of the 32 NFL teams received just over $400 million from the league office for the 2023 season, according to multiple people familiar with the league’s finances who were not authorized to speak publicly. The tally is up 6% to 8% from the 2022 season, depending on the accounting used by the team.How Do NBA Contracts and the Salary Cap Work? The total represents national media rights, league sponsorships and shared revenue and royalties from the league’s various affiliates and subsidiaries, such as NFL Properties, NFL International and NFL Enterprises and adds up to roughly $13 billion. Representatives from the NFL...
Sportico
8K+
Posts
17M+
Views
Sportico provides daily, actionable, enterprise reporting covering the sports business and cultural ecosystem. It will be the daily "go to" place for anyone seeking the latest and highest quality news and information in the $500 billion worldwide sports industry.
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments. It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency: our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. We strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation. Join us in shaping the news narrative together.