🏟️ The Endorsement Leagues Weren’t Ready For

Welcome to this week’s edition of Sports Industry Weekly.
We’re breaking down the biggest headlines, boldest moves, and emerging trends shaping the business of sports. From major deals to industry shifts, here’s what you need to know. Let’s dive in.

Bryson DeChambeau’s partnership with Kalshi has opened a new frontier in athlete endorsements, marking the first time a professional athlete has formally aligned with a prediction market. The deal includes commercial appearances and integrated content tied directly to Kalshi markets, signaling how athletes could one day monetize audience trust and real-time performance in entirely new ways.

But the breakthrough comes with firm guardrails. Both the PGA Tour and NFL continue to prohibit their athletes from endorsing prediction markets, drawing a clear line between traditional gambling partnerships and markets tied to live competitive outcomes. DeChambeau’s LIV Golf affiliation gives him latitude that Tour and league-controlled players do not currently have.

The moment highlights a looming tension in sports business: innovation versus integrity. As prediction markets grow in visibility and legitimacy, leagues are moving cautiously to protect competitive credibility, while athletes and startups test the boundaries of monetization. Whether DeChambeau’s deal becomes a blueprint or a one-off exception will help shape how far athlete-driven betting and prediction partnerships can go in the next phase of sports commercialization. (read more)

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🎟️ CFP title tickets near $3,000, on pace to be the most expensive in history.

🏆 Adidas snaps a 27-year drought as Tennessee delivers its first college football title since 1998.

🔁 College football transfer portal entries fall 23% year over year.

🧠 The NFL coaching cycle starts early with John Harbaugh nearing a Giants deal.

🌍 NBA Europe moves closer, but Adam Silver calls it a decades-long profitability play.

🏀 Project B’s spring tour could collide with an earlier WNBA training camp under the new CBA.

📺 RSN pressure rises as nine MLB teams warn FanDuel Sports Network to secure a new guarantor or lose deals.

🏃 Track’s startup boom falters as Michael Johnson’s league owes Gabby Thomas nearly $250K.

🥊 UFC’s $7.7B Paramount deal hits turbulence amid price hikes and underwhelming cards.

🏟️ The Commanders unveil early plans for a $3.65B HKS-designed stadium and mixed-use district targeting a 2030 opening.

🐻 The Bears’ stadium search shifts leverage as Illinois signals new openness to funding amid the team’s $5B-plus saga.

📺 Netflix lines up an all-cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, escalating pressure on TNT Sports as media deal stakes rise.

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