Otro Capital closes $1.2B debut fund
Sports-focused private equity firm Otro Capital closed its debut fund late last week, securing commitments for a total $1.2B. The firm had targeted a $500M raise. Co-founder and partner Alec Scheiner told SBJ that Otro’s “operational experience, network and team” were largely responsible for driving...
Challenges with Olympics hospitality raise concerns about IOC’s new model
For decades, the marketplace for Olympics tickets and hospitality has been crowded, with tickets dispersed to dozens of organizations and packaged in any number of ways through a fragmented network of authorized ticket resellers. Ticketing scandals regularly plagued the Games, so in 2020 the Interna...
X Games League reveals inaugural teams in L.A., N.Y., São Paulo, Tokyo
With this past weekend’s X Games Aspen in the rearview, the action sports giant is fully turning its focus to the launch of X Games League, the new team format set to debut in Sacramento this June. XGL has revealed four city-branded teams and their GMs, and the league is expected to reveal its team ...
Adam Rippon, host of NBC Olympics podcast, talks athlete storytelling ahead of Milan Cortina Games
LOS ANGELES -- With the 2026 Milan Cortina Games set to kick off next week, NBC is revving into high gear to get American fans excited. As part of those plans, NBC began rolling out the latest season of its athlete interview podcast series, “My New Favorite Olympian,” earlier this month. The first e...
The Snow League lands Jeep sponsorship
Shaun White’s The Snow League has signed Jeep to a multiyear sponsorship. The deal will see Jeep get event sponsorship assets and host on-site activations featuring its vehicle lineup. TSL will also introduce a “Jeep Badge,” awarded to the athletes with “the most progressive and highest-impact momen...
X Games League lands eight-figure title sponsorship from MoonPay
The upcoming X Games League, a new year-round action sports property, has signed crypto fintech platform MoonPay as its title sponsor. The deal represents the first ever series entitlement for the X Games (Jeep served as a presenting sponsor of this past weekend’s X Games Aspen event).
885 Capital ups PFL investment with an eye on direct relationships with sports fans
On Wednesday, Professional Fighters League founder Donn Davis abruptly revealed on LinkedIn that he’s stepping down as chairman of the challenger MMA promotion. The revelation came alongside an announcement that the PFL raised a new strategic investment to “retire existing debt and fund ongoing grow...
X Games League lands betting deal with Stake
The X Games will announce later today that Stake will serve as the official online casino and sports betting sponsor for the upcoming X Games League, which debuts later this year. Real-time odds, utilizing data from existing X Games partner Alt Sports Data, will be integrated into live broadcasts. T...
Netflix records banner year, projects further growth and doubling of ad revenue in ’26
Amid its planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix reported new highs in annual revenue and profit in 2025. The company recorded revenue of $45.2B, up 16% over 2024, and a 28% increase in operating income to $13B. During the final three months of the year, Netflix crossed $12B in quarte...
Investing in women’s sports: A promising shift in approach is afoot
In his monthly Finance column in the SBJ magazine, my colleague Chris Smith ID’d some 2026 trends in sports finance. No surprise, women’s sports made the list. But what’s different this year is a more sophisticated shift to greater nuance in where the women’s sports ecosystem investors want to put t...