Tonight in Unpacks: In SBJ’s fourth annual ranking of the 50 Best Sports Business Cities, Atlanta rose to the top, serving as a model for other markets for how it brings together owners, venues, sponsors and public officials to work together to promote the city as fertile ground for investment.
Also tonight:
- Sports finance: Newsmakers and emerging trends
- Inside Evolv Sports Management’s merger
- The secret genius of DraftKings’ combined app
- Greg Norman op-ed: Stripping away trees strips away strategy
Listen to SBJ’s most popular podcast, Morning Buzzcast, where Austin Karp kicks off the week with more takeaways from the NFL schedule release, intriguing NBA conference finals matchups, the Preakness Stakes in need of a serious jolt and more.
Best Sports Business Cities: 2026
Sixty years after Atlanta built a new ballpark to entice the Milwaukee Braves to move south, the city’s sports business ecosystem has become a model for other markets. World-class venues, entrepreneurial team owners, a diverse lineup of events, a blue-chip roster of sponsors and forward-thinking public officials have positioned the city as a global leader in the industry.
In the end, the data, the industry and even rival markets agree: Atlanta is No. 1.
For SBJ’s fourth annual Best Sports Business Cities™ effort, we went back to our 2023 roots and looked at the overall wins, losses and sustained successes of the 2,384 markets that are the home of at least one professional or Division I college athletic program, a permanent event or a major stakeholder; read more about our methodology.
Here’s a sample of what we tracked:
• 9,409 unique entities
• 520 construction projects
• More than 1,000 naming rights, uniform patches and on-field logos
• 1.48 billion in attendance
• 300+ sports industry B2B events
• 1,600+ sponsors
Here are the 50 Best Sports Business Cities™ for 2026:
#11 Washington, D.C.-Northern Virginia
Sports finance: Newsmakers and emerging trends
Between earnings calls, media upfronts and conferences hosted by the Milken Institute, MoffettNathanson and others, the month of May likely offers the best insight into how the sports industry’s top decision makers are thinking about the future.
This year, much of the focus has been on Disney under new CEO Josh D’Amaro, who insists his company will not divest ESPN. Elsewhere, key learnings emerged across sports media, live events in the Middle East and the value of Rogers’ newly expanded sports empire in Toronto.
Paramount’s Sisgold: Branded content “a race to tell women’s stories”
Jesse Sisgold, the former Skydance president and COO who’s overseen sports entertainment for Paramount since the companies merged last year, wouldn’t touch his employer’s ongoing acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery while onstage at the Milken Global Conference earlier this month. That deal, if approved by regulators, would only add to Sisgold’s already-impressive level of influence in the world of sports content.
He did address changing viewership behaviors among younger sports fans, saying that he laments seeing the 35-and-under crowd gravitate away from live games to highlights and other sports content, but explained that “New Paramount” is prepared to take on an evolving landscape.
“If you add any level of interactivity, namely fantasy or betting, the preference is up over 80%. And almost 90% of Gen Z’s first contact with sports is through social,” Sisgold said. “When we arrived at Paramount, CBS Sports was doing an incredible job for live broadcast, but the rest of the pie is pretty vacant. So that’s a huge opportunity for us.”
Other key takeaways from Sisgold’s time on stage included the decline of athlete-led production companies that now have “a bit of a negative stigma”; the value of leagues letting storytellers use their trademarks, like in “The Land,” the upcoming Hulu series about a fictionalized version of the Cleveland Browns; and how branded content is turning into “a race to tell women’s stories.”
“For big, broad brands that are household names, it’s the first question we’ve got over the last four months in doing this. We already have six shows that are brand-funded that touch [women’s sports],” Sisgold said. “Our broader Hollywood ecosystem is having a rough time, but this sports-meets-culture, meets food, meets fun, clothing, whatever? We have now greenlit more shows that fit that billing in the last 12 months than we did in the four years leading up to that. That’s 20 shows, it’s a lot.”
TKO Group Holdings’ expectations in the Middle East and approach to fan affordability
TKO’s earnings calls are appointment listening if only for insight into how President and COO Mark Shapiro views the industry. Few sports executives share the breadth of his remit, or his outspokenness.
Earlier this month, Shapiro appeared unconcerned about continued unrest in the Middle East, which has been pegged as one of the reasons Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund pulled its support for LIV Golf. He told analysts that WWE’s Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia posted the highest-grossing gate in the event’s history, and that TKO is not changing plans to host six more events in the Middle East this year across UFC, WWE and Zuffa Boxing.
“They’re frankly thirsty to tell the world they are not just open for business, they are hungry for business and events,” Shapiro said. “We have zero doubt that those are going to go off. The demand for [event hosting agreements] is still strong.”
Shapiro was also pressed on fan affordability concerns and criticisms that UFC and WWE overly prioritize monetization, whether through ticket prices or sponsorships. He explained the company’s approach to walking a tightrope between serving diehard fans and leveraging them for revenue, even suggesting the latter can fuel the former.
“Our audience there is particularly unique. It’s young, it’s diverse, it’s hard to reach, it’s super passionate, and they want access to our IP. Those marketers want access to our IP, and we’re working to give them that access while maintaining the balance,” Shapiro said. “By the way, as we commercially integrate, that revenue allows us to be more creative with our product and with our superstars.”
Rogers Communications to welcome minority team investments
At this week’s Sports Business Awards in New York, Rogers is vying to take home Deal of the Year honors for its majority acquisition of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the parent of the Maple Leafs, Raptors and other Toronto-based sports assets. Rogers doubled its existing stake in the business to 75% for nearly $3.5 billion and plans to exercise its option to buy out Larry Tanenbaum’s 25% stake later this year.
Tony Staffieri, Rogers’ president and CEO, recently told investors that the company will then consolidate its sports and media assets into a single entity and look to bring on minority investment at a valuation of more than $18 billion, with the proceeds being used to pay down the company’s $25 billion in long-term debt.
Asked how Rogers arrived at that number, Staffieri explained that it actually started with public team valuations from outlets such as Forbes and Sportico. A review of those estimates suggests that Rogers’ teams across MLB, MLS, the NBA and NHL are worth around $13 billion.
What explains the remaining $5 billion-plus?
“We also look at the valuation of some of our businesses, including live entertainment or the concert business, as well as our current media assets that include Sportsnet and Sportsnet+,” Staffieri said. “When you look at our streaming services in sports, as an example, it continues to grow at double digits. Streaming valuations, particularly in the sports context, continue to have a significant value premium to them.”
Chris Smith can be reached at crsmith@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
Inside EVOLV Sports Management’s merger
Two weeks out from launching EVOLV Sports Management after the merger of MVP Sports Group and Beverly Hills Sports Council, new agency leaders Danny Horwits and Dan Lozano said they’re looking to build one of baseball’s most important talent representation agencies with EVOLV. Equity in EVOLV is split evenly between Horwits and Lozano.
The newly formed agency will launch with over 35 employees, including at least 12 certified agents. All staff from both legacy firms have been brought under the new banner, with MVP’s former L.A. office now serving as EVOLV’s headquarters. The former BHSC offices are no longer in use. Internally, EVOLV is organized into eight specialized departments that collectively provide more than 15 distinct service areas. Those units include functions such as contract and salary arbitration, analytics, marketing, social media and content strategy, NIL, and international representation.
EVOLV opens its doors with more than $6B in negotiated contracts and over 400 salary arbitration cases on the books, along with a client list that already spans some of the sport’s biggest names. The firm represents Padres 3B Manny Machado and 2B/RF Fernando Tatís Jr. as well as Astros DH Yordan Álvarez.
The goal, Lozano and Horwits said, is to pool resources and institutional knowledge developed over more than three decades in the business to give players a broader platform. While both predecessor firms operated across the amateur and pro landscapes, Horwits said Beverly Hills Sports Council historically devoted more attention to the amateur and draft side, while MVP Sports Group skewed slightly more toward established pros.
The agency will also expand its reach into off-field business for its clients in the future. The goal will be to expand services around post-career opportunities in coaching, front offices, scouting, broadcasting and potential ownership stakes.
EVOLV’s client roster also features Brewers OF Jackson Chourio, Blue Jays OF Anthony Santander, Angels P Kirby Yates, Giants 2B Luis Arraez, Dodgers P Tanner Scott, Angels RF Jorge Soler, Rangers C Kyle Higashioka, Dodgers SS Miguel Rojas, Astros P Cristian Javier, Rays P Drew Rasmussen and Cubs P Hunter Harvey.
What’s so ‘Super’ about DraftKings’ one-stop shop?
The secret sauce of the unified “Super App” that DraftKings announced in March isn’t that it allows users to toggle between its sportsbook, casino, predictions and lottery offerings — though it does that. There certainly are cross-sell benefits in a handful of states as a result.
No, the magic of combining them into one app is that it will allow DraftKings to use a single, unified ad campaign to introduce prediction markets that look identical to sports bets in states that haven’t legalized online sportsbooks, and do it while continuing to reach bettors in legal states with the same 30-second spot.
On your couch in Chicago thinking about taking the Bears laying 2½ points?
Fire up the DraftKings app.
Out for breakfast in L.A. and feeling good about the Rams getting 1½?
Fire up the DraftKings app.
Picture LeBron James and Kevin Hart in a buddy movie-styled ad campaign, romping from L.A. to New York, Dallas and Miami and finding that the DraftKings app now works wherever they go.
Just click the green icon.
In Illinois, New York and the other 25 legalized states in which DK operates, you’ll land on the sportsbook side of the app’s backend, placing a traditional wager.
In California, Texas, Florida and the other 14 states previously off limits to DraftKings and other sportsbooks, you’ll be on the predictions side, buying an event contract.
In the event that the NFL hasn’t cleared the networks to accept prediction app advertising during games by the start of the season, it won’t be a problem for DraftKings. It’s not promoting the still murky product; just its home. And that $100 million plus per year that DK committed to spend with ESPN to reach half the country?
It’s now hard at work, from sea to shining sea.
“A huge part of having these national partnerships is being able to have a national, singular sort of offering and message that we put out there,” DraftKings CEO Jason Robins told analysts on the company’s first quarter earnings call last week. “And that’s been a core effort that we’ve been really focused on as we’ve thought about what our back half of the year and also [our] remaining Q2 plans are for the Super App.
“It’s really less about advertising predictions and more about advertising a unified DraftKings platform that’s accessible in almost every state in the country.”
So artful is this approach that archrival FanDuel quickly followed suit, telling investors and analysts last week that it intends to pivot away from the free-standing FanDuel Predicts app that it soft-launched late in December, with hopes of integrating predictions into its primary app in time for football.
“Critically, this now allows us to leverage FanDuel’s strong nationwide brand awareness by giving customers one app that delivers access to an increasingly compelling sports experience,” Flutter CEO Peter Jackson said in opening remarks during the FanDuel parent company’s earnings call last week.
Rolling predictions onto the familiar flagship app cut DraftKings’ customer acquisition costs for the new offering by more than 80% in April, Robins said. As a result, an initially slow growth curve has rocketed upward, with prediction volume per customer exceeding sportsbook handle per customer, Robins said. Volume does not equate to handle. But industry insiders say a 50% discount often will get you close, with the caveat that volume on events such as golf that play out across four days with frequent leaderboard changes can equate to as little as 10% or 20% of traditional handle.
Robins and Jackson hailed the potential to for their companies to make money as “market makers,” providing liquidity on contracts and taking advantage of pricing inefficiencies when their predictive models identify them.
“We’re probably one of the few people who’s making any money in our prediction markets at the moment,” Jackson told analysts.
Greg Norman: When golf courses strip away trees, they strip away strategy
I would love to see these iconic Donald Ross masterpieces -- along with many other historic, traditional golf courses -- no longer reduced to venues where “strategy from the tee is pretty non-existent” and players simply “bash driver down there and figure it out from there.”
Rory McIlory is absolutely correct in saying that when traditional courses remove large numbers of trees, strategy off the tee becomes far less relevant.
As a former player, golf course architect, and lifelong admirer of traditional shot-making golf courses, I believe the widespread practice of stripping away magnificent specimen trees during renovations of these iconic venues must stop.
Many of these great classic golf courses were never designed to be overpowered by today’s equipment and athleticism alone. They were designed around angles, placement, decision-making, discipline, and consequence. Their brilliance was rooted in how they challenged the mind as much as the swing.
When you remove the framing, visual intimidation, strategic corridors, and risk-reward decisions created by mature tree lines and natural shaping, you fundamentally alter the architectural DNA of the golf course.
What remains too often becomes a one-dimensional test of power.
Traditional golf courses historically defended themselves through a combination of strategy, positioning, shot values, and extraordinary green complexes, with green speeds matching the contours -- not simply raw yardage. Today, many are left with only one remaining defense: their greens and putting surfaces.
To Aronimink Golf Club’s credit, it defended itself admirably this week against the extraordinary -- and frankly obscene -- distances modern professionals now hit both drivers and irons. But relying solely on green complexes to protect par should never become the long-term blueprint for championship golf.
The game at its highest level should demand more.
Professional golf is an art form when power and precision coexist — when players are required to think strategically from the tee, shape shots both ways, choose angles, manage risk, and execute under pressure. That combination is what separates great championship architecture from a modern driving exhibition.
We cannot continue modernizing classic golf courses into indistinguishable layouts built purely around distance.
The preservation of strategic architecture, traditional shot values, and the identity of these historic courses matters deeply to the future of the game.
As an architect, I have always believed the best golf courses challenge both the athlete and the intellect. That balance is essential — and it must be protected and restored at the highest level of professional golf.
Greg Norman is a two-time Major winner, an architect of golf courses around the world, and the former CEO of LIV Golf.
Speed reads
- Next League signed a technology agreement with AI engineering firm Marvik aimed at bolstering its AI enablement services for sports properties, writes SBJ’s Rob Schaefer.
- SponsorCX, a SaaS platform that helps rights holders manage their sponsorship deals, announced a “multimillion dollar” Series A round, though it did not share specifics, notes SBJ’s Ethan Joyce.