🔊 This Company Is Taking Over Canadian Sports

📰 TOP STORY
Rogers Communications Is Taking Over Sports In Canada

• Rogers Communication Buys Out Bell's 37.5% Share Of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. Rogers Communications, a mega telecommunication conglomerate is making a huge push to dominate sports in Canada. This week, the company announced that it is purchasing Bell's (another Canadian telecommunication company) 37.5% share of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) for $3.5B, giving it 75% ownership of the sports conglomerate. Rogers and Bell currently hold equal shares at the time of writing. MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum, via his holding company Kilmer Sports, owns the other 25% stake. The MLSE portfolio includes assets such as NHL Maple Leafs, NBA Raptors, CFL Argonauts, Major League Baseball's Blue Jays, MLS Toronto FC, and AHL Marlies plus Scotiabank Arena, and its Rogers Centre home (more here).

Here are all of the sports assets that Rogers Communication will now have complete or partial ownership of:

• Toronto Blue Jays (MLB)

• Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL)

• Toronto Raptors (NBA)

• Toronto Marlies (AHL)

• Toronto United FC (MLS)

• Toronto Argonauts (CFL)

• Several esports teams

• The Score Media

• Sportsnet

• Rogers Centre

• Scotiabank Arena

• Naming rights to sports venues in Edmonton, Toronto, and Vancouver

• National NHL media rights in Canada

• Local media rights to the NHL’s Canucks, Flames, and Oilers

• Partial local media rights to the Maple Leafs and Raptors

💰 MONEY MOVES 
Flutter Entertainment Acquires Italian Gaming Company

• Flutter Is Acquiring Snaitech For $2.6B. Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of FanDuel is acquiring Italian gaming company Snaitech in a deal that values Snaitech at €2.3B ($2.56B). This deal allows Flutter to expand its access to Italy, Europe's largest gambling market at €21B in gross revenue in 2023. Snaitech will add to Flutter's previous efforts in Italy and give the company an estimated share of roughly 30% of the country's online gaming market (more here).

• Saudi Arabia’s SURJ Sports Investment Looks To Acquire Stake In Euroleague For €1B. SURJ Sports Investment, the sports investment arm owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has entered the sale process for EuroLeague. Shareholders in EuroLeague Commercial Assets, which owns EuroLeague and the second-tier EuroCup, want to sell about a third of the business at a €1B valuation. SURJ Sports Investment may also invest alongside private equity group General Atlantic in its bid to buy a stake in EuroLeague. British private equity group BC Partners is also involved in the ongoing sale process as a competitor. BC Partners has been building its sports portfolio, including a recent stake for its credit arm in sports agency GSE Worldwide (more here).

• MLBPA Is Suing Multiple Sportsbooks. This week, the MLB Players Association filed separate lawsuits in New York and Pennsylvania, alleging that sports betting and fantasy baseball companies DraftKings, FanDuel, Underdog, and bet365 wrongfully used the names and likenesses of MLB players. The lawsuits allege those companies used player names and imaging for prop bets despite having no license. It also argues that people may see the player's images as endorsing sports betting. The lawsuit requests a jury trial while stating that monetary damages could exceed $150,000 (more here).

 🤝 PARTNERSHIPS
Fastbreak.AI Announces Another Significant Partnership

• Fastbreak.AI Partners With The AHL. Fastbreak.ai, a leader in AI-driven sports scheduling technology announced that the American Hockey League (AHL) has selected its scheduling platform to assist in managing the league's scheduling needs. Fastbreak.ai will help the AHL optimize its 1,152-game regular-season schedule by providing tools to assist the league in considering logistical and financial factors such as competitive fairness and team travel (more here).

• Finlete Partners With MLB All-Star Emmanuel Clase. Finlete, the platform that empowers fans to invest in athletes' careers in exchange for a piece of their future earnings, has signed Cleveland Guardians All-Star pitcher Emmanuel Clase. Fans can now support Clase’s career by investing through Finlete. Every share purchased through Finlete offers fans a tangible financial stake in Clase’s success (more here).

• Mark Cuban Foundation & Dallas Mavericks Bring Free AI Bootcamp To Dallas Teens. The Mark Cuban Foundation, in partnership with the Mavericks, is bringing the only AI camp of its kind, free of charge, to high school students locally. With a custom and highly relevant curriculum focused on teaching students about the latest developments in the world of AI and Generative AI, the camp will provide the tools to make these technologies work for them and promises to educate, inspire, and fuel the next generation of AI professionals. The program aims to provide students with a foundational understanding of artificial intelligence and its applications to future careers. Students can select from six tracks: healthcare, arts and entertainment, business and entrepreneurship, computer science, sports science, or education and career readiness (more here).

• Socios.com & Serie A Expand Their Partnership. Serie A is tapping deeper into blockchain technology by extending its partnership with Socios.com to provide fans with more benefits via digital fan tokens. Socios, part of the Chiliz Group, initially teamed up with Serie A in 2021. The Italian top-flight pursued the deal to enhance fan engagement, and offer followers the chance to own a piece of their club’s history by accessing Game-Scored Balls from Serie A and Coppa Italia matches. Over the last two seasons, 188 balls were collected and redeemed by Fan Token holders of Socios’ Serie A partner clubs through the dedicated app (more here).

• WSC Sports & Pro League Extend Partnership. Belgian soccer’s top-tier Pro League has extended its partnership with WSC Sports, the sports-focused AI-powered video content provider. The renewed partnership will continue to see all 29 professional clubs continue to utilize AI-powered video content solutions. Since partnering in 2019, the Pro League has provided all its member clubs with access to WSC Sports’ platform for automated video footage delivered in multiple languages. AI-powered video has been credited with playing a key role in the league’s growth across its digital channels in recent years. In 2023, the league shared almost 20,000 videos with its clubs, equating to a 107% increase yearly (more here).

🔊 ATHLETES & OTHER SPORTS NEWS
AT&T’s Revolutionary Helmet Gets NCAA Approval

• NCAA Approves Gallaudet Football Team's Use Of Helmet For Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing Players. The NCAA has given full approval for Gallaudet’s football team to use a helmet designed for players who are deaf or hard of hearing for the remainder of the season. The helmet developed by Gallaudet University and AT&T debuted last year with the team playing one game with it. The technology allows a coach to call a play on a tablet from the sideline that shows up visually on a small display screen inside the quarterback’s helmet (more here).

• Lionel Messi Launches His Own Production Company. Inter Miami star Lionel Messi has launched a production company called 525 Rosario, which will be focused on creating family programming and premium television content. The project is a joint venture with Smuggler Entertainment, the company that produced the Apple TV+ docuseries "Messi's World Cup: The Rise of a Legend" and "Messi Meets America." 525 Rosario is also set to produce films, sporting events, and branded commercials for athletes worldwide (more here).

• Woj Is Leaving ESPN. ESPN senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski has agreed to become the general manager of the men's basketball program at St. Bonaventure. Wojnarowski is a St. Bonaventure alumnus and has a strong relationship with the program, including as a fundraiser for the school's collective in recent years (more here).

• Soccer Fandom Is Booming In America According To New Report. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup less than two years away, soccer has never been so fashionable in America. A new report on the state of soccer fandom in the US by marketing, media, and experiences company For Soccer, shows that the number of people who have been soccer fans for 5 years or fewer is up 57% compared to last year, and the number of first-time fans is up 400% year-over-year (more here).

• WNBA Is Bringing A Team To Portland. The Portland team, set to begin play in the 2026 season, will be owned and operated by RAJ Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal. Portland is the third expansion franchise awarded by the WNBA during this round of expansion, following the Golden State Valkyries and a Toronto franchise, bringing the league from 12 to 15 teams (more here).

• Women’s Sports Bar The Sports Bra Starts Franchising. Following a major investment from Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, founding control owner of Angel City FC, and founder of the 776 Foundation, The Sports Bra is expanding. As of September 18, The Sports Bra is officially opening the opportunity to invest in a franchise. A passion for women’s sports is a must for franchisees, along with an alignment with the mission of supporting, empowering, and promoting women and girls in sports (more here).

• Tennis Social AI Launches First-Of-Its-Kind Simulators. Tennis Social AI, a developer of immersive tennis simulators announced the completion of its V1 Tennis Simulator, which is slated for full-scale production and installation by early 2025. This innovative technology transforms how tennis is played and enjoyed, making it more accessible, engaging, and social (more here).

💬 INTERVIEWS
Meet The Founders & Innovators Building The Future Of Sports

• How Uplift Labs Is Elevating Human Performance Using Artificial Intelligence. Technology is drastically changing human performance. It has allowed coaches, trainers, and organizations to improve processes and become more informed. As a result, athletes are lasting longer and becoming better. One of the companies at the forefront of this movement is Uplift Labs. They use 3D movement tracking and analysis to help athletes improve movement performance, health, and longevity using just iPhones. So far, they've honed in on baseball, but envision this technology impacting athletes across multiple sports. In this interview with Uplift Labs Co-founder Masa Kabayama, we discuss how they came up with the idea and got it off the ground, how teams and even fans are engaging with their technology, and his thoughts on the future of AI in sports (more here).

• How Sparket Is Reinventing Social Sports Betting. A lot is happening around sports betting. Even though modern sportsbooks are still evolving, technology is helping to speed up the process. One of the companies leading this innovation is Sparket. Sparket, founded by Aaron Basch and Evan Fisher, is a sports betting platform on a mission to democratize event wagering by providing more content in live events, esports, and traditional sports. With their technology, sportsbook operators can offer infinite free-to-play and pay-to-play betting opportunities and consumers can bet on anything. It’s a win-win for both sides and the future of fan engagement. In this interview with Aaron Basch, we discuss how their technology works within the sports betting ecosystem, how their partnership with PENN Entertainment came about, and the future of the industry (more here).