Emerging Themes This Week

This week’s sports business landscape was driven by major capital moves, global media shifts, and continued momentum in women’s and emerging leagues. Private equity tightened its grip on experiential sports assets, European football leaned into new ownership structures, and U.S. leagues pushed deeper into expansion and stadium development. Meanwhile, tech and wellness wearables drew significant investment, and prediction markets continued blurring the line with traditional sports betting. Overall, growth, consolidation, and global scale defined the week.

Investment, Capital & M&A

CalPERS committed $775M to Sixth Street’s new sports fund.

Adding significant fuel to an already aggressive portfolio targeting teams, live events, and premium hospitality.

Topgolf Callaway is selling 60% of Topgolf/Toptracer

to Leonard Green at a $1.1B valuation.

Learfield is exploring strategic options, including a potential sale.

This would reshape the commercial core of college sports.

HBSE-backed Seregh picked up a data analytics firm 

As stadium district developers push deeper into insights and modeling.

Sinclair quietly buying 8% of Scripps

Adds another chapter to the looming consolidation in local broadcast.

Steve Cohen is exiting most of his Sphere position

This shows how quickly the market is reassessing next-gen venue economics.

Toto Wolff sold part of his Mercedes F1 stake to CrowdStrike.

Emerging Leagues & New Markets

Real Madrid is preparing to sell

They’re planning on selling a 5% stake via a new subsidiary,

LPGA making money moves

A record $128.5M prize purse for 2026.

The NBA Injury Bug

An early-season injury wave that’s impacting star availability.

The Kennedy Center 

Will host the 2025 FIFA World Cup Draw for $7.4M, plus an additional $2.4M donation from FIFA.

The NWSL movement

They expect a Championship sellout at PayPal Park.

The PWHL 3rd Season

it’s third season with new branding, packed buildings, and confirmed expansion into Seattle and Vancouver.

Tech, Performance & Wellness

Lumia raised $7M

For their blood-flow-tracking smart earrings, aiming to be a more reliable alternative to wrist wearables.

Ozlo x Calm entered the space.

These two companies co-branded Sleepbuds.

NextSense raised $16M

In hopes of bringing consumer-friendly EEG earbuds to market.

Samsung expanded its fitness ecosystem

With a play through, deeper integration with iFIT.

True Fitness live workouts

They will pull live workouts and gym-based data directly into Samsung Health.

Kalshi introduced parlays.

Moving prediction markets closer to traditional betting while still keeping limits tight.

Fanatics stepped into the prediction space 

Through a new partnership with Crypto.com

Media & Content

Paramount is closing in on a new deal.

The move will get them a majority of Champions League rights in the U.K. and Ireland.

Netflix’s new MLB package 

It seems the streamer is gearing up for something bigger, possibly a run at top-tier MLB rights down the road.

How Locked On Scaled a Sports Podcast Network to National Success

That wraps up this week’s Constant Sports Weekly. Where sports founders, investors, and operators get their news. Subscribe and join the Constant Sports Community! The industry continues to evolve fast, from athlete-led startups and tech acquisitions to major media and investment shifts.

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