NBA Europe Franchise Fees @ $1B

The NBA is pursuing franchise fees of more than $500M from teams looking to join the prospective NBA Europe, with many sources claiming the league’s preferred number is somewhere between half a billion and $1 billion.

August 1, 2025

NBA Europe Franchise Fees Likely to Exceed $500M
SBJ’s Tom Friend writes, “The NBA is pursuing franchise fees of more than $500M from teams looking to join the prospective NBA Europe, with multiple sources maintaining the league’s preferred number is somewhere between half a billion and $1B.

“Following the BOG meetings two weeks ago in Las Vegas, one governor told SBJ that the Europe league is ‘very high priority.’ However, another source said the league is willing to walk away if it does not receive entry fees in the desired number range.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Playfly Gets Local Media Sales for Three MLB Teams
SBJ’s Mike Mazzeo writes, “Playfly Sports will handle local media sales for three teams under MLB’s TV umbrella as part of an expanded deal extension with the league. The Twins, Guardians and Rockies will outsource their local media sales to Playfly Sports.

“Playfly Sports has already been doing national media sales for all five teams under MLB’s TV umbrella, including the Padres and D-backs.

“From MLB’s perspective, Playfly Sports has been locked in on advertising sales for regional sports networks for a long time, and the league has already been able to tap into their expertise on a national level. The new deal is an expansion of a partnership that has been successful for both sides.

“‘Early stages, but we really love this model and we think the teams outsourcing the entirety of their sales to us for the inventory is the right model,’ Playfly Sports CEO Craig Sloan told SBJ.”
^{Sports Business Journal, Playfly Sports}

Athletics’ Las Vegas Ballpark to Get Food, Funding From Aramark
Sportico’s Jacob Feldman reports: “Food services provider Aramark has become a minority owner in the Athletics, the sides announced Thursday, as part of a deal that makes Aramark the food and beverage operator for the A’s in Las Vegas.

“A’s owner John Fisher intends to open a new ballpark for the team in time for Opening Day 2028. Former Raiders president Marc Badain became the Athletics’ president this spring as the franchise looks to raise funds for a project that could surpass $2 billion. Aramark is reported to have committed at least $100 million at an undisclosed valuation; the parties have not shared financial details.”
^Sportico

MLB’s Biggest Buyers in Frantic Deadline Weren’t Top Markets
FOS’ Eric Fisher writes, “A lack of dominance from MLB’s economic powers has fueled a flurry of trade deadline activity from the sport’s middle class. As the league hit Thursday’s trade deadline, the recent on-field struggles by the Dodgers, Mets, and Yankees—the game’s top three payroll spenders and a trio often dominating much of the market activity—have emboldened a series of other contenders to try to take advantage of the opening. That, in turn, has given the trade market greater clarity after a much more muddled state earlier this month.”
^{Front Office Sports}

Billionaire Mike Repole Invests in UFL With Plan for Columbus Team
Sportico’s Kurt Badenhausen reports: “Serial entrepreneur Mike Repole has invested in the United Football League, the league announced today. He joins a league ownership group that includes RedBird Capital Partners, Fox, ESPN, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia.

“Financial terms were not released, although Repole, who is investing through his private equity firm Impact Capital, provided some insights on his place in the cap table. ‘It’s a very healthy stake among all the big shareholders, probably top-three stake, maybe even top two,’ Repole said in a video interview.”
^Sportico

Grand Slam Track Misses Deadline to Pay Athletes $3 Million
FOS’ Dennis Young writes, “Grand Slam Track, the debt-ridden startup led by Michael Johnson, promised athletes last month that it would pay the first tranche of prize money it owed by the end of July. It has missed that deadline. Athletes are seeking just over $3 million that they were promised from Grand Slam’s debut event in Kingston, Jamaica in April.”
^{Front Office Sports}

Comcast Awaits NBA Boost as Peacock Losses Hit $10 Billion
Sportico’s Anthony Crupi writes, “A seasonal dearth of live sports content contributed to a mixed bag for Comcast’s streaming service, as Peacock subscribers remained flat at 41 million, while losses narrowed to $101 million in the second quarter of 2025. While that marked a not-insignificant improvement compared to the $348 million hit the platform took in the year-ago period, Comcast’s latest results pushed Peacock’s cumulative losses past the $10 billion mark.”
^Sportico

BIG EAST Conference & Playfly Sports Extend Multimedia Rights Partnership Through 2031
The BIG EAST Conference and Playfly Sports, the sports industry’s leading revenue maximization company, today announced the extension of their multimedia rights agreement through 2031, continuing a longstanding partnership that has driven impressive sponsorship growth and fan engagement opportunities.

In partnership with Playfly Sports, the BIG EAST has seen its sponsorship revenue grow by over 165% over the past four years. The extended agreement solidifies Playfly Sports’ commitment to enhancing the conference’s brand and commercial success while fostering meaningful partnerships with top-tier sponsors.
^{Playfly Sports}

Fox Buying Stake in Penske Entertainment; Will Extend IndyCar Media Rights Deal
Fox Corp.’s stunning announcement today that it has purchased 33% of IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Penske Entertainment points to the open-wheel series’ need for a boost at a time when motorsports is teeming with aggressive rivals. The transaction was first reported by the Wall Street Journal before Fox Sports later formally announced the move; the transaction price was between $125-$135M, the newspaper said.
^{Fox Sports, WSJ, Sports Business Journal}

NBC Focusing on NASCAR Drivers’ Courage, Quirks for 2025 Race Intro Video
SBJ’s Adam Stern writes, “While this weekend’s Iowa Corn 350 on USA Network is the first premier series race in 2025 on an NBCUniversal channel, this will actually be the sixth one notched under the belt of NBC Sports’ NASCAR production team. That’s because Amazon hired NBC Sports to produce the green-flag-to-checkered-flag portions of Prime Video’s five Cup Series broadcasts this summer. Prime is one of three new media partners for NASCAR this year, with The CW doing the entire secondary series season and WBD’s TNT, TruTV and Max having just wrapped up five on its end. NASCAR now gets $1.1B in annual licensing fees between the five.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Multiple Sports Developments Planned in Denver Raises Logistical Questions
A mix of sports ownership groups has “now planted their flag” in Denver. Still, the issue for the city is “whether enough demand exists to properly support so many sports-anchored developments in such a tight space,” according to Luca Evans of the DENVER POST. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment is “investing in the sprawling River Mile district and a new-look entertainment redevelopment around Ball Arena,” while owners of a new NWSL franchise plan to “integrate a new soccer stadium with an entertainment complex at Santa Fe Yards.” A “heap of evidence points to the Broncos’ interest in a new stadium site at Burnham Yard.” That marks “three potential stadium districts in a constricted five-mile radius.”
^{Denver Post via Sports Business Journal}

Stanford Hires Former Nike CEO John Donahoe as AD
ESPN’s Pete Thamel tonight tweeted: “Sources: Stanford is hiring former Nike CEO John Donahoe as the school’s new athletic director, per me and @SethWickersham. Stanford coveted a non-traditional candidate for the role, and Donahoe’s hire delivers a seasoned CEO with stints at Nike, Bain & Company and EBay.”
^{ESPN, X/Twitter}

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Deal on ‘Valid Business Purpose’ Avoids Threat of College NIL Settlement Heading Back to Court
AP News’ Eddie Pells reports: “The new agency vetting name, image and likeness deals in college sports reached an agreement Thursday that relaxes standards on player agreements with third-party collectives and avoids taking the issue back to court after years of legal wrangling.

“The College Sports Commission said it will now consider a third-party company that seeks to pay a player to have a ‘valid business purpose’ if the deal ‘is related to the promotion or endorsement of goods or services provided to the general public for profit.’ It did away with the concept that collectives established simply to pay players did not have a valid business purpose even if they sold products for profit.”
^{AP News}

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