Gaming
SBJ Gaming: The Show 26 enjoys series’ second-strongest debut
MLB: The Show was March's best-selling game, per Circana, and it was also the series second-best launch ever, only slightly trailing 2021's debut. Also: A lacrosse game appears!
Gaming speed reads
A roundup of sports video game industry news from Sports Business Journal and other outlets for the April 24, 2026, SBJ Gaming newsletter.
MLB: The Show 26 debuts as bestselling game of March with its strongest launch since 2021
Sony’s MLB: The Show 26 enjoyed the franchise’s second-strongest launch since the series’ debut in 2006, per data from market research firm Circana.
Gaming speed reads
A roundup of sports gaming business and development news from Sports Business Journal and other outlets for the April 10, 2026, SBJ Gaming newsletter.
SBJ Gaming: EA Sports enlists its first high school football player
Elijah Haven is the top-rated QB in high school football, and he's signing up as a Gen/EA Sports athlete, as EA looks for ways to build long-term relationships. Also in SBJ Gaming for April 6: Hasbro works with FIFA for the first time for board games and Valorant's esports reset and new sponsors.
Riot Games adds four sponsors as it reorganizes Valorant esports
ExpressVPN, HP/HyperX, Zowie and Samsung are signing up as sponsors of the Valorant Championship Tour Americas, joining existing sponsors Red Bull, Secretlab, Verizon and Pulsar as Riot Games reorganizes the esports scene for its online shooter.
Hasbro sees FIFA World Cup as an idea fit for marketing Connect 4, Monopoly games
Hasbro is working on its first sports activation for FIFA for the Men’s World Cup under the Monopoly and Connect 4 banners as part of the toy company’s long history for special editions of games.
EA Sports signs top prep QB Elijah Haven to its athlete roster
The Gen/EA Sports program added its youngest athlete yet in Elijah Haven, the No. 1 QB in 247Sports’ 2027 class of high school players (and second-ranked overall). He joins a group that includes Jaguars WR/CB Travis Hunter, Chelsea’s Alyssa Thompson (she was with Angel City FC when first signed), Re...
Riot Games brings League of Legends Worlds back to the U.S.
League of Legends’ Worlds 2026 championship tournament is returning to the U.S., with early stages in L.A. and Allen, Texas, and the finals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Gaming data layer idPair gets backing from Ehrenberg’s Game Changers Ventures
IdPair, a platform acting as a data infrastructure layer to support safer gambling habits, has closed an institutional funding round led by Roger Ehrenberg’s Game Changers Ventures. An amount was not disclosed with SBJ.
Gauging Ohtani, Yamamoto’s effect on MLB: The Show in Japan
We’re seeing a trio of baseball milestones at the moment: The World Baseball Classic, the upcoming MLB season and Tuesday’s launch of MLB: The Show 26. With all these happenings, I wanted to check in on playing and sales trends around Sony’s baseball series in Japan, especially with the “Shohei Ohta...
SBJ Gaming: Ubisoft’s ‘major milestone’ with NASCAR
The March 13, 2026, SBJ Gaming newsletter reports on Ubisoft's first partnership
Global Gaming League signs deal with iHeartRadio
The Global Gaming League made its splash over the summer, and after running ads with iHeartRadio (I first heard these on, of all things, the “Behind the Bastards” podcast), it’s signed a deal with the media company. GGL and iHeartRadio negotiated the deal directly, without any outside agencies. GGL’...
Blizzard brewing a classic game competition for BlizzCon
Here’s something I hope we see more of on the esports scene: multigame competitions. Throw in a relay race-style setup with classic names that were once the biggest in gaming, like StarCraft? That’s even better.
SBJ Gaming: A 30-year-old Japanese soccer series goes global
The Feb. 27, 2026, SBJ Gaming news covers Sega Football Club Champions celebrating its 30th year with a global release, Rocket League's Boston Major's milestone, the and boost NASCAR saw from the Daytona 500 for its gaming efforts.
Rocket League’s Boston Major hits viewership peak, rolls out new sponsor Michelin
The Rocket League Championship Series Major at Boston University’s Agganis Arena was another sellout (5,000 each day) Saturday and Sunday. Now, sellouts aren’t news for Blast events — they often choose venues that fit their crowds. Setting viewership marks, however, doesn’t happen at every event.
Daytona 500 boosts NASCAR’s gaming efforts
The Daytona 500 on Feb. 15 saw a viewership bounce for NASCAR, and per the governing body, the Cup Series season-opening race provided a bounce for its video game efforts as well in NASCAR 25, eNASCAR and Roblox’s Driving Empire.
Gaming speed reads
A roundup of sports and esports video game business and industry news from Sports Business Journal reporters for the Feb. 27, 2026, SBJ Gaming newsletter.
SBJ Gaming: MLB: The Show 26 takes cue from 2025 World Series
The Feb. 13, 2026, edition of the SBJ Gaming newsletter reports on how the 2025 World Series inspired the gameplay director to create a new mechanic for pitching, other changes to bring a more modern, analytical feel to fielding and pitching and Roy Campanella joining the Storylines pantheon.
Yamamoto’s Game 7 heroics inspired a mode in MLB: The Show 26
In a World Series of great moments, Yoshinobu Yamamoto had the greatest. After pitching six innings in a winning effort in Game 6, he threw 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to close out the game and clinch the Dodgers’ second straight World Series championship. It was an inspiring performance for t...
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Quote of the Day
Italy's possible re-qualification for the 2026 World Cup ... is firstly not possible, and secondly, not appropriate. I don't know what comes first.-- Italian sports minister Andrea Abodi, on the suggestion from a Trump envoy that Italy should replace Iran at the World Cup this summer.
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