Slapped Silly

Shoutout to UTN guest Seth Wickersham for getting this scoop. The number shatters league comps — 59% above the then-record $6.05B Josh Harris paid for the Commanders three years ago, and more than double Rob Walton's 2022 Broncos price. Khosla will divest his 49ers minority slice, which he held alongside Silicon Valley peers Bret Taylor (Sierra/OpenAI), Byron Deeter (Bessemer), and Will Griffith (ICONIQ) — to take control in Seattle. Expect more moves like this from hyper-liquid tech leaders in the coming years.

I flagged Poolhouse eight months ago as a business that fits squarely in the IRL-community node of the Sports Economy value chain. But it's the data play that makes these businesses legible to growth investors. Bluestone calls the venues "the most visible expression of the brand," while the $55 million primarily funds BillyQ (its proprietary gameplay system) as they push it into hotels, casinos, bars, and eventually residences. I brought Poolhouse up with Lucra CEO Dylan Robbins because once these activities get a data layer, the room for gamification and wagering shows up immediately.

The Yankees are in advanced talks with Apollo for roughly $3 billion in financing (mostly debt with some equity), which Hal Steinbrenner would use to refinance existing obligations and fund future projects. As a reminder, MLB caps individual institutional funds at a maximum 15% ownership stake in a single franchise.

Sean Payton gave Seth Wickersham (see above) unprecedented access during Denver's playoff push, and the piece captures the intensity, quirks, and obsessiveness inside an NFL facility. Fans only see the finished product on Sunday. This takes us behind the curtain, into the long days and the late, and I mean LATE, nights that produce it.

The Reddit co-founder, Seven Seven Six GP, and husband to Serena Williams gives an articulate breakdown of why sports and live events are booming. UTN regulars will do a lot of nodding watching this one. Can't say I'm sold on Coogan's robot circus, though.

So far this year, only five movies — counting their full global theatrical runs across thousands of screens in hundreds of countries — have earned more at the box office than Sphere has made from its single-venue run of The Wizard of Oz.

This is one of the most mind-boggling, odds-defying things I’ve ever seen. 19 years ago, families entered a raffle and Barcelona players were matched to them by a random draw, and by chance a 20-year-old Messi was paired with five-month-old baby Lamine Yamal. Yes, it’s real.