The Death of The Collective?

A recent letter to Division I athletic directors could be the next step in shuttering today’s version of the collective.

July 11, 2025

The New College Sports Agency is Rejecting Some Athlete NIL Deals With Donor-Backed Collectives
AP News’ Eddie Pells writes, “The new agency in charge of regulating name, image, likeness deals in college sports sent a letter to schools Thursday saying it had rejected deals between players and donor-backed collectives formed over the past several years to funnel money to athletes or their schools.

“Those arrangements hold no ‘valid business purpose,’ the memo said, and don’t adhere to rules that call for outside NIL deals to be between players and companies that provide goods or services to the general public for profit.

“The letter to Division I athletic directors could be the next step in shuttering today’s version of the collective, groups that are closely affiliated with schools and that, in the early days of NIL after July 2021, proved the most efficient way for schools to indirectly cut deals with players.”
^{AP News}

Kevin Durant, Livvy Dunne Invest in PE-Backed Spindrift
Spindrift, the sparkling water and soda company bought by private equity firm Gryphon Investors this year, has gained some more fizz through several investors from the sports world, including Kevin Durant. Other investors include Pittsburgh Steelers wideout DK Metcalf, UConn star guard Azzi Fudd, Boston Celtics guard Derrick White, influencer and former LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne and FC Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes.
^Sportico

FanDuel Valued at $31B in Flutter Stake Purchase From Boyd
Flutter Entertainment reportedly struck an agreement with Boyd Gaming to acquire the final 5% stake in sportsbook operator FanDuel it does not already own. The $1.55 billion pact values FanDuel at $31 billion, Flutter said. The deal also includes $205 million attributable to the revision of various existing commercial terms, according to Flutter, bringing the total value of the transaction to $1.76 billion. Flutter has a market cap of about $51 billion. The deal, if approved by regulators, will give Flutter full ownership of FanDuel.
^Sportico

Sports Tech Dealmaking Roars Over Tariff Speed Bump
Capital markets activity in sports technology managed to produce record dollar volume in the first half of the year, according to investment bank Drake Star­—despite a spring lurch in activity brought about by the Trump tariff pronouncements.

“We had a bit of a wait and watch with the tariffs and the trade war last quarter, but activity is starting to reemerge in some capacity,” Star said.
^Sportico

Gareth Bale Group Makes New Offer for Cardiff City 
A group featuring legendary soccer player Gareth Bale has submitted a new offer to buy Wales-based club Cardiff City, Bale tells Front Office Sports, after a previous bid was recently rejected. Details of the offer—which Bale revealed during an appearance on FOS Today—were unclear. Bale consortium reportedly made a proposal to existing Cardiff owner Vincent Tan, who declined, but Bale’s interest never waned. The offer was reportedly worth $54 million (£40 million). 
^{Front Office Sports}

ESPN Eyes Big Summer League Audience With Flagg
The NBA 2K26 Summer League begins tonight from Las Vegas, and the marquee game to tip things off is Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks playing Bronny James and the Lakers on ESPN. That’s one of 35 games that will air from Vegas across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU over the 10-day event. The “NBA Today” studio show is also live from Vegas today and Friday.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Audience Analysis: MLB National Partners All Seeing Gains Headed Into All-Star Break
MLB is seeing its strongest viewership numbers in years heading into the All-Star break. First, Fox is having its best numbers since 2021 (2.06 million viewers) and is up 1% from the same point last year. One example: Fox averaged 2.51 million viewers Saturday night for regionalized action featuring Astros-Dodgers (the second-best Fox MLB window this season to date). ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” package is at its best point since 2017 (1.75 million viewers) -- and is up 11% year-over-year.
^{PGA Tour}

Report: Apple Offered $150M-$200M for F1 Rights
Apple is in talks to acquire the U.S. media rights for F1, and sources said the tech company’s offer “came in between” $150M and $200M per year -- “far above” the reported $85M-$90M that ESPN is currently paying per year, and “far beyond what ESPN can rationally afford.” Disney CEO Bob Iger and ESPN Chair Jimmy Pitaro “will inevitably have to persuade” F1 owner Liberty Media’s John Malone and Derek Chang “to take less from ESPN in order to maintain the reach and marketing that ESPN provides.”
^{Puck via Sports Business Journal}

Sebastian Coe to Lead ManU’s New Stadium Project
Premier League club Manchester United has confirmed that World Athletics President Sebastian Coe “will be spearheading the project to build a new stadium for the club.” The 100,000-seat stadium is “aiming to be open by the start of the 2030/31 season” and is “likely to cost United as much as” US$2.7B to complete the project.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Kevin Harlan, Brent Barry Join Amazon Prime Video’s NBA Coverage: Sources
The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch reports: “Harlan joins the streamer after calling the NBA for Turner Sports from 1996 to 2025. The broadcaster was on the mic for Turner’s last-ever NBA broadcast on May 31 , as the company concluded its coverage of the Pacers-Knicks series. There have been many reports, including from the The Athletic, that Harlan was headed to Amazon Prime Video.”
^{The Athletic}

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Athletic Departments Express Renewed Interest in PE in Wake of House Settlement
FOS’ Amanda Christovich writes, “The House v. NCAA settlement, approved June 6, allows schools to share up to $20.5 million in revenue with players, as well as offer as many scholarships as new roster limits would allow. New money being distributed to athletes means athletic departments need more revenue—and they’ renewing their search for creative, and in some cases, unorthodox solutions.

“In the days and weeks since the settlement’s approval, athletic departments have shown interest in inviting private capital into their schools…”
^{Front Office Sports}

Congress Planning to Introduce Amended College Sports Compensation Bill
The U.S. House of Representatives is “rolling out bipartisan legislation” later today “that will mark a major shift in the world of college sports, particularly the compensation of student athletes,” according to Elizabeth Elkind of FOXNEWS.com via SBJ. The bill “would codify the right for student athletes to get paid for the use of their”NIL while “mandating that colleges and universities also provide them with ‘comprehensive’ academic, career counseling, and medical support.” Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger wrote the bill -- which is “on track to progress further than any all-encompassing athlete compensation legislation” -- codifies the House settlement, “grants liability protection, preempts state NIL laws” and “includes anti-employment clause.”
^{Fox News, Yahoo Sports, Sports Business Journal}

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