🔊 Mark Cuban-Led Sports Fund Makes First Investment

Harbinger Sports Partners, a private-equity firm dedicated to sports and backed by former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, announced a minority acquisition of the MLB’s Athletics.

The firm, which was launched last year, said it has raised more than $450 million and is also led by Rashaun Williams, a limited partner in the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons; Jonathan Mariner, formerly Major League Baseball’s chief financial officer; and Steve Cannon, a former Falcons executive.

Forbes values the A's at $2 billion, though the size of the stake and price paid were not disclosed.

The team also plans to move to Las Vegas in 2028, as its new stadium is under construction.

Aramark, which will provide food and beverage services at the new A’s stadium, acquired a piece of the team last year along with Team 61, a South Korean sports management company founded by legendary former MLB pitcher Chan Ho Park.

Harbinger initially stated its goal was to raise $750 million for its first fund and to target minority-stake investments in North American sports franchises. It plans to make 10 to 12 investments from its first fund and is already in talks with other teams.

Why This Matters

Private equity into sports isn’t a new trend.

But this deal stands out for a few reasons.

To start, Harbinger isn’t a group of financiers looking to capitalize on sports, media, and entertainment.

It's primarily a group of actual sports operators who understand finance, deal structure, and undervalued assets.

That differentiation is important.

They're proven executives and owners who know the game and the inner workings of the business, especially as they pertain to fans.

Furthermore, Harbinger appears to be executing a similar model to Arctos’.

Arctos, a sports-focused private equity firm that built an $11 billion portfolio by acquiring multiple minority stakes across various leagues and teams before being acquired by KKR, pioneered this diversified platform strategy starting in 2019.

Sports teams have been proven to be resilient, scarce assets, and this model allows select firms to participate and ride the upside while minimizing a lot of the downside risk.

Lastly, this deal happening before the team moves to Vegas is a telling sign.

Vegas is a major emerging sports market.

According to the Las Vegas Review, sports tourism and events in Las Vegas bring in billions of dollars annually, with recent data showing an economic impact of $5.7 billion, including $3.6 billion in direct visitor spending, and 25,000 total indirect jobs tied to the wider hospitality, entertainment, and sports ecosystem.

Let's break down the teams that are already there, plus the annual events hosted.

Teams:

Events held on an annual basis:

The foundation is solidified, and the market is primed.

What we have is a sports-first, operationally focused group, a proven thesis, and a rapidly expanding city.

That’s how you win big in sports investing.

• OnDeck Partners Acquires Wilmington Blue Rocks. OnDeck Partners, the Minor League Baseball investment firm backed by Marc Lasry’s Avenue Sports Fund, announced its acquisition of the Wilmington Blue Rocks, the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. With the acquisition, OnDeck Partners now owns and operates three Minor League Baseball clubs, including the Montgomery Biscuits and the Visalia Rawhide. Financial details were not disclosed (more here).

• Garmin Acquires TrainingPeaks & TrainHeroic. Garmin, a GPS and fitness-tracking company, acquired TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic, expanding its digital fitness ecosystem to include endurance analytics and strength conditioning. TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic are digital services that connect coaches and athletes of all abilities looking to improve. Financial terms were not disclosed, though 120 employees have joined Garmin (more here).

• PathFinder Raises Angel Round. PathFinder, a Philadelphia, PA-based sports AI agent hardware company, has raised an undisclosed amount in an angel round. The round was led by Jinqiu Capital. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate product development, scale manufacturing, and prepare for its upcoming global crowdfunding launch (more here).

• FutureSport Raises Seed Round. FutureSport, a new index provider that converts professional and college sports statistics into rules-based financial benchmarks, has emerged from stealth after raising a Seed round co-led by Marquee Ventures, the venture arm spun out of the Chicago Cubs’ ownership group. Financial details of the round were not disclosed (more here).

• Graham Sports & Entertainment Partners & Bolt Ventures Invest In MyGolfSpy. Graham Sports & Entertainment Partners and Bolt Ventures, the single-family office of sports investor David Blitzer, announced an investment in MyGolfSpy, a leading independent golf equipment media and testing platform. Completed in May 2026 through the newly formed Pin High Golf platform, the transaction is designed to accelerate MyGolfSpy’s growth. Financial details were not disclosed (more here).

• Entrepreneur Equity Partners Invests In Bolton Wanderers. Entrepreneur Equity Partners, a sports and entertainment investment firm founded by Tim Leiweke, Francesca Bodie, and Keegan McDonald, has acquired a minority stake in recently promoted Championship league club Bolton Wanderers. The club said EEP will have a particular focus on fan engagement and enhancing the matchday experience while Football Ventures remains the majority shareholder. Financial details were not disclosed (more here).

Sports is having a moment globally right now.

It’s one of the hottest markets out there.

And everyone sees it.

But what most people don't see are the conversations and introductions that happen before these moments.

Vetted Sports is where this happens.

We give investors and dealmakers in sports access to exclusive events, curated deal flow, and a network of the people making real moves in this space.

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• Portland Thorns, Portland Fire & Treasure AI Announce Partnership. RAJ Sports, the owner of the Portland Thorns and Portland Fire, has announced Treasure AI, a customer data and agentic experience platform, as the Official Agentic Experience Platform. According to the club, this is one of the first exclusively women's professional sports AI partnerships in the US. Treasure AI will also become a jersey patch partner, and its platform will support both the Thorns and Fire, integrating AI-driven tools (more here).

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• Nik Bonitto Joins OKC Soccer Ownership Group. Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto has joined the ownership group of OKC United, an Oklahoma City professional soccer club set to debut in the USL Championship in 2028. Bonitto joins other notable athletes like Russell Westbrook, Baker Mayfield, Jozy Altidore, Jalen Williams, and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. The club venture is led by Echo Investment Capital founder and CEO Christian Kanady (more here).

• Underdog Fantasy Launches Prediction Market. Underdog, the sports prediction market and fantasy sports pioneer, announced the launch of its own federally licensed prediction market exchange. The new prediction market exchange, wholly owned and operated by Underdog and licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), will provide Underdog customers even more ways to express their opinions on sports, culture and beyond, all within the existing Underdog app (more here).

• Catapult Launches IMPECT Video Scouting. Catapult, a leading sports technology and data company, announced the launch of IMPECT Video Scouting. The platform is powered by IMPECT's proprietary Packing data, a metric that measures how many opponents a pass or carry beats, and provides contextual intelligence for professional football clubs. It allows scouts to define specific performance criteria and surface footage of exact matches in which each candidate demonstrates those qualities (more here).

• Women Investors Are Reshaping Project B Women's Basketball. Women’s basketball is attracting record audiences and global attention, billion-dollar valuations, and unprecedented investment. Yet, one of the industry’s most consequential stories isn’t about what is happening on the court, but what’s happening in the boardroom. Behind Project B is a coalition of women investors and advisors bringing not only capital but also decades of leadership, strategic influence, and industry expertise across business, finance, media, and entrepreneurship (more here).

• Dick's Sporting Goods Releases New WNBA Documentary. Dick's Sporting Goods has released a six-part docuseries "Life In the W", featuring WNBA stars A'ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, and DeWanna Bonner. The series follows the personal and professional lives of the players during the second half of the 2025 WNBA season and the subsequent offseason. It’s been produced by UNINTERRUPTED in collaboration with Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios, Dick's Sporting Goods' in-house content studio (more here).

• 2026 World Cup Record-Breaking TV Numbers. The 2026 World Cup final TV ratings broke major soccer records across the US, proving that a major international football match can now go toe-to-toe with America's biggest championship events and making it the most-watched soccer match of any kind in US television history. Fox averaged 7.74 million viewers across the entire tournament, up 116% from the 2022 edition in Qatar, while Telemundo and Peacock averaged 6.3 million, a 143% jump from four years earlier. The FIFA World Cup final drew more than 62.8 million viewers in the US (more here).