Closing Bell

Harbinger Sports Partners, an investment fund led by Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban, is “buying a minority stake” in the A’s. The move “signals a bet on the burgeoning sports market in Las Vegas,” where the franchise is scheduled to move to in a couple years. Representatives for Harbinger declined to provide the value of the investment. Harbinger General Partner and former MLB CFO Jonathan Mariner noted that MLB teams “are undervalued,” and he “sees upside in MLB franchises” as upcoming media rights and labor negotiations could “reshape the league’s economics and push team valuations higher.” Harbinger’s debut fund also has its “eyes on other pro teams in Las Vegas.” It is not currently part of a group trying to buy an NBA expansion team, but it did “express interest in future investment.” The entity has also ruled out the Aces and Golden Knights “because it’s focused on taking stakes in NFL, NBA and MLB franchises.” Harbinger launched in 2025 and includes Cuban, co-founder & CEO Steve Cannon and Falcons limited partner Rashaun Williams (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 7/23).

The Rays on Thursday shared part of their “vision for the mixed-use development” the team has said that it will build “entirely with private funding” to surround its proposed ballpark in Tampa. The team has “promised an investment of at least” $8B into the development, but it has not shared further financing details. In the interior ballpark renderings released earlier this month, a “large glass panel building is visible beyond the outfield.” Thursday’s renderings “primarily provide a closer look at that building.” The mixed-use development is “envisioned to include office space, retail, dining and hospitality, among other features across more than 100 acres.” Additional renderings of the mixed-use district, including the portion with a revamped Hillsborough College, “will be shared soon” (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 7/23).

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Aflac and the WNBPA are expanding their partnership by increasing supplemental prize awards for players competing in the Friday night events of the WNBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago. OneTeam Partners negotiated the deal on behalf of the WNBPA. Aflac is bringing a new multi-tier payout structure. Aflac will supplement prize winnings for WNBA players competing in the Friday night skills competitions, increasing Aflac’s total contribution to $170,000 in 2026. Aflac, for the first time, will provide supplemental prize checks for the first, second and third-place winners of the 3-Point Contest: with First place receiving $40,000; second place receiving $30,000; and third place receiving $15,000. Aflac is also investing $85,000 in supplemental payouts for the timed shooting competition (Aflac).

The Athletes Unlimited Softball League on Saturday will play the “first professional softball game ever telecast on broadcast TV” when ABC broadcasts Game 1 of the league’s championship series, and Disney is activating around the game with some of its most popular characters. “Toy Story” characters Woody and Jessie will “lead a pregame parade featuring youth softball players” and also “take part in the ceremonial first pitch.” Scenes from both “will be included in the ABC telecast.” Disney’s “extra efforts show the company’s growing commitment to emerging sports and women’s leagues.” ESPN “will produce the championship series,” something AUSL has done on its own since debuting last year. ESPN will “tap 23 cameras, including three super-slow-motion cameras; a drone; and the Megalodon shallow-depth-of-field handheld camera.” One player from each team will “have a live microphone on them during the games.” Game 2 of the championship series is slated to air Sunday at 2pm on ESPN. If necessary, a third game will be held Monday and be broadcast on ESPN2 (VARIETY, 7/23).

The Disney activation is the centerpiece of a broader commercial push around championship weekend with other activations including Adidas staging its largest AUSL activation to date with a “This Is Legendary” area on site, and Sephora promoting the AUSL Championship on its Times Square billboard. The investments come as the AUSL closes a season of substantial growth:

• The regular season averaged 198,000 viewers across ESPN platforms, up 183% from the comparable point last year.
• The league recorded 23 regular-season sellouts.
• AUSL’s social audience grew 87% year over year, adding nearly 447,000 followers across platforms.
• Social impressions increased 88%, to more than 391 million, while video views rose 126%, to more than 118 million.
• Merchandise sales have increased approximately 200% year over year (AUSL).

IndyCar announced that the 2027 season “will again begin with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg” on March 7, 2027. The announcement “confirms that the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will remain on the IndyCar calendar,” as an extension of the race past 2026 “had not been publicly announced.” The race has kicked off the IndyCar season for 15 of the last 18 years and has been run annually since 2005. Additionally, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will return for a second year to be “the day before the IndyCar race.” The 2027 IndyCar season will also “begin one week later” than the 2026 season. This could be “in hopes of IndyCar returning to Phoenix Raceway, where it did a joint weekend with the NASCAR Cup Series this year” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 7/23).

The Malaysian GP has “emerged as a potential option to return to the Formula 1 calendar this year between rounds in Azerbaijan and Singapore.” F1 has been “exploring options” to reinstate the Bahrain GP to the calendar after calling off the race, originally scheduled for April 12, due to the outbreak of the Iran war. The Saudi Arabian GP, due to take place one week later, was also cancelled, provisionally dropping the calendar to 22 races. The gap between the races in Azerbaijan on Sept. 26 and Singapore on Oct. 11 was initially seen as “the most likely slot” for Bahrain, but a return to the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia has “now emerged as an option to go into that gap.” The circuit on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur would be “well-placed geographically for paddock ahead of the race in Singapore, which is less than one hour away by plane.” The Malaysian GP was a mainstay on the F1 calendar between 1999 and 2017, only to then drop off the schedule “due to concerns about the financial viability of the event moving forward” (THE ATHLETIC, 7/23).

The Gainbridge Super League and the USL Players Association on Thursday announced a “tentative agreement over key terms” of its first CBA. The agreement would give players of the first-division women’s soccer league “standardized rights” for the first time since launching in 2024, including “minimum salaries starting at $37,200, housing benefits, and fully covered insurance premiums.” Many of the key points in the USL labor deal “mirror rights that have also been established” for players in the NWSL’s most recent CBA, including “consent to all transfers, which is not universally mandated in the USL’s men’s leagues.” The term of the tentative agreement is 5 1/2 years, through the end of 2031. Additional benefits include “leave protocols standardizing an in-season break, parental leave, family emergency leave, and mental health leave.” There are also “group licensing rights for name, image and likeness of players” as well as “housing benefits.” The league’s minimum salary will “increase throughout the agreement, although the parties did not yet share specifics.” The tentative agreement “still needs to be ratified by players and the league” (ESPN.com, 7/23).

WWE has inked a deal with SiriusXM to “launch a new station, WWE Radio,” which will include “live audio coverage of the WWE’s premium live events like WrestleMania, select weekly episodes of shows like ‘Raw’, as well as a slew of ancillary programming.” WWE Radio will “take over channel 156 starting July 27,” which had been Pro Wrestling Nation 24/7. The launch comes ahead of WWE SummerSlam, one of the company’s signature PLEs, which will be available live on the channel with ring commentators Vic Joseph and Booker T “calling it for radio, as well as other programming leading up to the event.” WWE podcasts produced in partnership with Fanatics like “What Do You Want to Talk About?” hosted by wrestler Cody Rhodes; “Six Feet Under with The Undertaker;” “What’s Your Story?” with former WWE exec Stephanie McMahon and “WWE Now, Raw Recap” hosted by Sam Roberts and Megan Morant will “run on the channel, as will some of SiriusXM’s existing wrestling shows” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 7/23).

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast, SBJ Contributor Richard Deitsch draws a striking comparison between Fox and Telemundo’s World Cup rights deal and one of the most celebrated media agreements in sports television history: CBS’s longtime SEC football partnership. He explains why Fox’s investment in the World Cup could ultimately be viewed as a transformative, franchise-defining acquisition that reshaped the network’s sports portfolio and delivered enormous long-term value. Is this the modern equivalent of the CBS-SEC deal -- a rights agreement that looks even smarter with time? Deitsch breaks down the strategy, economics, and lasting impact behind two landmark sports media deals.

“Nothing Major,” the tennis podcast hosted by former ATP players John Isner, Sam Querrey and Stevie Johnson, has signed a multiyear licensing deal to join Colin Cowherd’s podcast network, The Volume. The agreement will see The Volume take over “Nothing Major’s” sponsorship and advertising sales (which had been managed by Athletes First) and provide expertise in other areas like production, creative strategy and marketing as needed. The deal was catalyzed by a relationship between Athletes First EVP/Broadcasting & New Media Gideon Cohen, a member of SBJ’s 2019 Forty Under 40 class, and longtime media executive Jamie Horowitz, who helped Cowherd launch The Volume in 2021. The Volume’s podcast portfolio also includes sports shows featuring former NBAer Jeff Teague (“Club 520″), Fever G Sophie Cunningham (“Show Me Something”), retired NFL CB Richard Sherman (“The Richard Sherman Show”), MMA analyst Daniel Cormier (“The Daniel Cormier Show”), former MLB star Anthony Rizzo (“The Lovable Reunion”) and FS1 host Nick Wright (“What’s Wright?”).

“The Volume began with a focus on core sports -- building around voices in the NFL and NBA like Colin Cowherd, Richard Sherman and ”Club 520." Over time, it’s expanded into different categories beyond the initial vision, including music, comedy and entertainment,” Horowitz told SBJ, citing Cunningham’s show and the hip-hop focused “Joe and Jada” and “New Rory and Mal” podcasts. “When you look at the portfolio, it was clear tennis was missing. With ‘Nothing Major,’ that gap is filled while staying true to The Volume’s core focus: working with digital creators who combine personality and authority. John, Sam and Steve are a perfect fit for that.”

“Nothing Major” launched in 2024 and, according to its executive producer, Charlie Fox (whose agency Sift Creative manages the show’s production and social media channels), has averaged 6M monthly views and downloads this year. The show has also attracted sponsors like Tennis Warehouse, IBM and NordVPN.

“It’s been a steady growth,” Fox said. “There is still room to grow organically, but what was attractive about [The Volume] was we want to speak to non-tennis fans as well who may be a casual fan.

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