2026-08-11
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Finance & Investments
British businessman Amit Bhatia leads a wealthy investor group that includes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.
The group is negotiating to buy a share of the English soccer team from its current owner, American sports company Fenway Sports Group.
This marks the team's first outside funding since investment firm Dynasty Equity purchased a three percent share for nearly $200M in 2023.
Global sports firm Fenway Sports Group bought Boston Common Golf, one of five founding teams in the new WTGL women's league.
This marks the firm's first team ownership in women's golf, building on prior investments in the league's creator, TMRW Sports.
The new league launches this fall in Florida, featuring top professional players to help expand global access to the sport.
City leaders dropped plans to use $180M in public taxes to fund a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team.
The revised plan uses taxes generated by commercial development directly around the stadium, avoiding the use of broader public funds.
Total public spending is capped at $976M, meaning the team must cover remaining costs and finalize agreements quickly for a 2029 opening.
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Media, Broadcasting & Sponsorships
The preseason football broadcast on television network NBC averaged 6.99M viewers, a slight increase over last year.
Despite featuring two struggling professional football franchises, the matchup was the most-watched exhibition opener since 2021.
This massive turnout proves NFL practice games still draw larger crowds than most regular-season baseball, basketball, and hockey events.
Major cable provider Comcast agreed to new fees with entertainment giant Disney, ending a three-month blackout of NFL Network and NFL RedZone.
The agreement restores football television access for Comcast's 10.67M cable subscribers just before the preseason games officially begin.
Disney gained distribution rights to these channels in February by giving the NFL a 10% ownership stake in its sports network, ESPN.
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Teams & Leagues
Regional governing bodies UEFA, Concacaf, and the AFC issued a joint letter demanding Infantino step down over a controversial private investment plan.
The failed proposal would have allowed private investors to buy commercial stakes in major global tournaments like the World Cup.
The groups are demanding an independent review of his actions, though Infantino still retains support from African and South American football bodies.
Fans at the Buffalo Bills' new $2.2B NFL stadium went viral sharing photos of railings and stairs obstructing their views of the field.
The professional football team made $260M selling 53K seat licenses using digital previews, leaving some fans feeling misled by the actual physical sightlines.
The franchise secured $850M in public funding to build the venue and now has six weeks to address complaints before its home opener.
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Miscellaneous
Trading card company Upper Deck auctioned this one-of-a-kind sealed box containing the basketball legend's highly coveted rookie cards.
The $1.48M sale price is surprisingly lower than a single signed rookie card, which sold for a record $2.7M recently.
Collectors spent over $68M on the star's individual cards in early 2026.
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