2026-05-27
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Finance & Investments
The sports and wellness company saw its market value crash from $1.2B to under $400M following its first competition allowing performance-enhancing drugs.
Investors reacted poorly after the Las Vegas event failed to deliver on promises that doped athletes would shatter multiple world records.
Despite the stock drop, the company beat its annual revenue goal by securing $32M in sponsorships from major streaming and betting brands.
The Big Ten earned $1.47B and the SEC hit $1.11B, fueled by massive television network deals and adding popular new schools.
The Atlantic Coast Conference secured $826.5M, marking six years of growth by adding new schools to reach lucrative media markets like Dallas and California.
Earning $610.9M, the Big 12 trails behind and took $12.5M from private equity firms RedBird and Weatherford to fund new income strategies.
Sumit Varshney will oversee 32 Equity, the league's venture capital arm used to invest in sports, entertainment, and technology startups.
The fund started with just $1M per team, but the NFL now hopes to expand its size and pursue larger business acquisitions.
The league has previously used this fund to back new projects like a professional flag football league and a commercial streaming distributor.
Lakers part-owner Soon-Shiong and sports investor Ben Priest are paying a $15M to $20M fee for the team, debuting in 2027.
Major League Volleyball, recently valued at $325M, is expanding to capture the growing market for women's sports ahead of the 2028 LA Olympics.
The billionaire plans to leverage his ownership of the LA Times media group to actively promote the new franchise to local fans.
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Media, Broadcasting & Sponsorships
Media giant Fox Corp paid global soccer authority FIFA under $500M for broadcast rights that experts value at nearly $1.5B.
FIFA offered this massive discount to stop Fox from suing over schedule changes made to the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Moving the Qatar event from summer to fall hurt Fox by causing broadcast conflicts with the busy American sports season.
A record 8.3K fans attended the women's lacrosse final in Chicago to watch host university Northwestern defeat North Carolina.
This milestone victory marked the first time since 1986 that a women's team won the national championship on its own home field.
The men's tournament returned to a college campus, drawing over 24K fans to watch Princeton University defeat Notre Dame for the title.
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Teams & Leagues
The NFL franchise requested a $1B stadium upgrade, including a new sunshade, and proposed that local taxpayers cover two-thirds of the cost.
The local stadium operator, Tampa Sports Authority, already reserved $58M for immediate maintenance and minor upgrades to boost venue revenue.
Officials worry a recent $976M public funding deal for the local baseball team will drain the available tax money needed for this project.
The SEC and Big Ten sports conferences must agree on a 16-team or 24-team playoff model by December for the 2027 season.
Despite differing expansion views, coaches strongly agree on preserving their annual conference championship game to protect crucial athletic revenue streams.
Coaches admit they have minimal influence over the final format, leaving the ultimate decision to university presidents and athletic directors.
The university plans to launch Hokie Ventures with a $15.2M startup loan to manage sports income.
This follows a recent decision by the school's board to invest $229.2M over four years to upgrade its athletic programs.
Virginia Tech joins other major universities forming similar companies to boost fundraising and help compensate student-athletes.
Felix Rosenqvist, driving for auto team Meyer Shank Racing, secured the win by 0.0233 seconds, the closest finish in event history.
The overall prize pool surged 50% to a record $30.9M, allowing 22 different drivers to take home over $1M each.
The historic auto race attracted more than 350K fans, achieving its highest live attendance numbers since 2016.
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Miscellaneous
The unique rookie card of NBA star Victor Wembanyama is now the most expensive non-autographed basketball card ever sold.
Sports platform Fanatics Collect brokered the $5.11M deal, shattering the player's previous $860K card record due to his massive athletic potential.
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