LEAGUES & TEAMS

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]

STARTUPS & VENTURE CAPITAL

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]

M&A AND INVESTMENTS

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]

STRATEGIC VENTURES

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]