Sports, in brief

Unrivaled, a three-on-three women's basketball league, closed a funding round valuing it at $650m. [1][3]

That is nearly double the $340m the league was valued at in September 2025. [2]

The players hold about 30% of the company. Their combined stake is worth close to $200m. [2][5]

The league says the players are its largest single group of shareholders. [1][4]

Every player was offered shares when they signed. About 95% took them. [2]

The ones who declined asked for more cash instead, and were paid it. [2]

The shares vest over four years, the way a startup's do. Leave early and the rest is forfeited. [2]

Sabrina Ionescu played only the first season. She keeps what had vested and the league can buy her out. [2]

The league guaranteed six-figure salaries at launch, when the WNBA minimum was under $70,000. [2]

Only one WNBA club, the Golden State Valkyries at $1bn, is now valued higher than the whole league. [5]

The $650m is the league's own estimate, not a price anyone paid for the whole thing. [4]

Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart founded it in 2023. Collier's husband, Alex Bazzell, runs it. [1][3]

Ten Pillars Sports Fund, backed by the University of California's investment office, led the round. [1][3]

Season three tips off in January on TNT, with four times as many games away from Miami. [4][6]

Why it matters. Watch whether any player is allowed to sell a stake, because until one does the $200m is a number the league wrote down rather than money anyone has been paid. [4]

Tampa's city council voted 4-3 to approve a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium including $967m of tax money, ending a two-decade search. [7][8]

Why it matters. The city's own share is $80m, about 3% of the budget; the county votes on the rest the next day. [7][9]

Owners voted unanimously to approve the sale of the Seattle Seahawks to Vinod and Neeru Khosla for $9.612bn, from the estate of Paul Allen. [10][11]

Why it matters. It is the highest price ever paid for an NFL club, and every rival owner voted for it. [10][11]

Owners proposed reworking when players reach free agency, alongside a hard salary cap. The union called it an artificial window that would cut player leverage. [12]

Why it matters. The current labour deal expires on 1 December and a lockout is expected then. [12][14] Owners say a cap would steady rosters. [12]

Marc Lore is selling his control stake in the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx to Marc Stad at a $4.5bn valuation, 14 months after buying it. [15][16]

Why it matters. Alex Rodriguez stays as governor of the Lynx; the deal still needs NBA approval. [15][16]

Premier League clubs have spent over £2bn this summer with a week left. Aston Villa alone banked a €132.6m trading profit. [17][18] Liverpool's pursuit of Bradley Barcola is the window's dominant saga. [19]

Why it matters. Villa were fined €22.5m by UEFA in June for breaching its squad-cost rule, so the selling is not optional. [18]

In a US federal court filing, UEFA accused Gianni Infantino of promoting a fraudulently off-market price when trying to sell a fifth of FIFA's commercial arm for $4.2bn. [20]

Why it matters. European football's governing body says the price was never tested by an independent valuer or an open auction. [20]

The 10th Circuit stayed a nationwide order letting former college players return for a fifth year. Players can still win the same right in individual state courts. [21][24]

Why it matters. The Big Ten then became the first conference to ban NFL players returning outright, so the answer differs by state and by league. [22][23]

All 32 clubs must trim to 53 players by 6pm ET Sunday, a day earlier in the week than in recent years. [25]

Why it matters. The league also scrapped the Pro Bowl entirely; its television audience had fallen away and players said they did not want to play it. [25][26]

The NHL could award a franchise to Austin or Houston by year end, after agreeing a $2bn expansion fee with Daniel Friedkin's group. [27][28]

Why it matters. The fee is about three times what Seattle paid in 2021, and a bigger television footprint strengthens the league's next media deal. [27]

Sky's parent Comcast is buying ITV's broadcasting arm for £1.6bn, which analysts say lets Sky put selected matches on free channels. [29][30]

Why it matters. England's cricket board is planning more free-to-air packages from 2029, and ITV is interested in the Hundred. [30]

London investment firm APEX will put up to $30m into the Northern Super League, on top of the $5.45m the Canadian government pledged last year. [31]

Why it matters. The NWSL added two teams this season and England's top women's league grew to 14, so the money is not an isolated bet. [31]

Boston Legacy will play its entire 2027 NWSL season at a 10,500-seat ground in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, because its own stadium is still being built. [32]

Why it matters. A new club with investors and players can still be stopped by the one thing money cannot hurry, which is construction. [32]

Joey and Jesse Buss are taking a stake of roughly 5% in the San Diego Padres, which sold last week at a record $3.9bn for a baseball club. [33][34]

Why it matters. They ran the Lakers until their family sold control, and now hold a minority stake plus an advisory board seat. [33][34]

NIL agents representing college athletes need no certification and face no fee cap, unlike the 3% ceiling the NFL players' union imposes. [35]

Why it matters. One agency founder describes the whole business in a word: discretionary. There is no union and no governing body. [35]

College athletes are taxed as independent contractors, owing 15.3% self-employment tax plus state rates that run from zero to 13.3%. [36]

Why it matters. Arkansas has already exempted this income from state tax, which turns a tax code into a recruiting pitch. [36]

Leandro Paredes was banned for 10 matches over the World Cup final brawl, with Nahuel Molina given seven and Thiago Almada one. [37]

Why it matters. Argentina's federation was fined $110,000 and says it will take legal action against the punishments. [37][38]

A WPBL investor and board member asked Delaware's Court of Chancery to force the league to hand over records, three weeks after it launched. [39]

Why it matters. The filing alleges undisclosed family links among insiders and money paid to an entity owned by the chief executive. [39]

Public objections to letting the England rugby ground hold concerts on up to 15 days a year ran 456 against to 240 in favour. [40]

Why it matters. Local councillors want the union to fund the transport and road impact; the decision comes in October. [40]

The New York and New Jersey host committee says its eight matches generated $3.5bn across the region, from a report it commissioned. [41]

Why it matters. The figure excludes ticket money, which went to FIFA along with a 15% cut of resales. [41]

Firms that place foreign athletes at US colleges, charging $3,900 to $10,000 a head, spent July waiting on embassies that had stopped scheduling student visa appointments. [42]

Why it matters. One firm alone has about 350 clients, mostly tennis and soccer players, placed from Division I down to NAIA. [42]

Kalshi signed sponsorships with the Braves, Red Sox, Dodgers, Padres and Giants, joining the Mets and Yankees who had deals with rivals. [43]

Why it matters. It is happening while Congress presses for tighter rules and New York sues the industry. [43]