📬 The Berkida Brief: A Weekly Dive into Sports, Media, Entertainment, Music & Gaming
Welcome back to The Berkida Brief – your weekly download of strategic developments across global sport, media, entertainment, music, and gaming.
This edition covers athlete-led ownership, franchise record-breakers, digital transformation in fan engagement, and the next phase of AI-powered sports innovation.
⛵️ Mbappé Joins SailGP Ownership as Star Power and Institutional Capital Converge
Kylian Mbappé has joined the ownership group of the French SailGP team, continuing the league’s trend of attracting world-class athletes and entertainers as minority investors. The move follows similar commitments from Serena Williams, Jodie Foster, and more recently Ryan Reynolds. SailGP is positioning itself at the intersection of elite competition, sustainability, and premium media—framed as the “Formula 1 of the sea” but with centralised rights, consistent formats, and a clear ESG message.
The investment was announced during the league’s New York Grand Prix, which also featured a new equity stake by Ares Management, adding further institutional weight to SailGP’s team ownership model. Founded by Larry Ellison and Sir Russell Coutts in 2019, the league has grown rapidly by combining tight race formats, real-time data overlays, and a central commercial model that retains media and sponsorship control at the league level while allowing investors to buy into individual teams.
With high-profile global stops, a growing youth pathway programme, and mounting broadcast partnerships, SailGP has emerged as one of the most sophisticated challenger leagues in global sport. Mbappé’s involvement - coming at the height of his footballing career - signals not just endorsement, but belief in the long-term commercial viability and cultural relevance of SailGP. The league is expected to pursue further fundraising later this year as it accelerates expansion and content production globally.
🏀 Lakers Sold at $10 Billion Valuation as Mark Walter Takes Control
Mark Walter, co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and founding partner of Guggenheim Partners, has acquired a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Lakers, valuing the franchise at $10 billion. The Buss family will retain around 15 percent and Jeanie Buss will remain as team governor, maintaining a visible presence in the organisation.
This transaction marks the most valuable franchise sale in NBA history, reinforcing the league’s position as a global investment-grade asset class. Walter now adds the Lakers to his growing portfolio of Los Angeles-based sports properties, which includes stakes in the Dodgers and WNBA’s Sparks, bringing increased strategic alignment across media rights, venue infrastructure, and sponsorship.
For the NBA, the valuation further anchors elite franchise pricing north of $7 billion and reflects confidence in the league’s global growth, digital monetisation, and long-term broadcast upside. Institutional buyers continue to see basketball as a scalable international product with strong youth and social media traction, and this deal underscores the growing influence of cross-franchise owners in shaping commercial strategy at the league level.
🏏 RCB’s First IPL Title Draws Record Viewership and Commercial Boost
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) secured their maiden Indian Premier League title in a gripping final against Punjab Kings, ending a 17-year wait for the franchise. This milestone moment coincided with staggering media engagement: the match attracted 169 million TV viewers on Star Sports (the highest-ever for a cricket match on Indian television), while 57.8 million concurrent digital streams were recorded on JioCinema - the most-streamed IPL game of the season. These are quite impressive numbers that position the IPL final ahead of the Super Bowl in terms of total viewership, which of course benefits from its strong positioning in India.
The entire 2025 IPL season drew a combined audience of one billion viewers across TV and digital platforms, generating over 840 billion minutes of watch-time, further underscoring the tournament’s dominance as a global sports-media property and the compelling power of digital-first rights strategies, especially through Viacom18’s JioHotstar delivery.
For RCB, the title is not only an emotional triumph but also a landmark commercial realignment. The record engagement provides a definitive platform for sponsorship negotiation, fan monetisation, and elevated team valuation - propelling them into the billions‑of‑dollars bracket alongside legacy IPL franchises..
🏐 Blitzer and Holt Back LOVB’s Austin Franchise Following Title-Winning Season
David Blitzer, Peter J. Holt (San Antonio Spurs) and investor Amy Griffin have acquired the Austin franchise in League One Volleyball (LOVB) and taken equity stakes in the league itself. The investment follows Austin’s championship-winning debut season and leverages the city’s deep collegiate and youth volleyball roots.
LOVB is developing a professional, city-based league model designed to sit alongside youth participation, offering a vertically integrated approach to athlete development and fandom. The league has already attracted attention for its athlete-first governance, grassroots engagement strategy, and growing media footprint.
This latest deal continues a wave of strategic investment into women’s sport by institutional and athlete-aligned capital, reflecting growing belief in its long-term scalability and commercial value. With plans to expand to new markets and deepen its digital engagement model, LOVB is emerging as a key player in the next generation of women’s professional leagues.
💻 Teamworks Hits Unicorn Status with $235 Million Series F Round
Teamworks, a leading athlete operations and communication platform, has raised $235 million in a Series F funding round led by Dragoneer Investment Group, reaching a valuation above $1 billion. With more than 6,000 teams globally on its platform, including NCAA programmes, Premier League clubs, and franchises across the NFL and NBA, Teamworks is increasingly becoming the standard for athlete logistics, performance coordination, and health tracking.
The new funding will be used to deepen its AI-powered tools, expand product integrations across its portfolio, and pursue targeted acquisitions to consolidate the sports SaaS market. The round also included participation from General Catalyst and Sequoia Capital, adding further weight to its institutional backers.
As performance, compliance and data security become more central to elite sports organisations, the value of integrated infrastructure continues to rise. Teamworks’ latest milestone confirms that the sports enterprise category is maturing rapidly and attracting late-stage capital on the back of sticky customer relationships and scalable product design.
📹 Sony Leads $3.2 Million Investment in SportsVisio’s AI Sports Video Platform
SportsVisio, a startup building AI-powered video analytics for sport, has raised $3.2 million in a round led by Sony Innovation Fund. The company’s platform enables automated stat tracking, visual overlays, and game highlights using computer vision. While originally focused on semi-professional and youth leagues, the tech is gaining traction with collegiate and developmental programmes aiming to enhance scouting and fan engagement.
The investment reflects a wider surge of capital into sports technology firms focused on automation, personalisation, and accessibility. With low production costs and fast deployment, SportsVisio’s tools position it to scale quickly across underserved market segments.
📰 Monumental Sports Takes Minority Stake in The IX and The Next
Monumental Sports & Entertainment has acquired a minority interest in women’s sports media platforms The IX and its basketball-focused outlet The Next. The publications, founded by journalist Howard Megdal, have built loyal subscriber bases by offering consistent coverage of women’s sports - a space still underserved by traditional media.
The investment will support editorial growth, distribution infrastructure, and commercial partnerships, with Monumental pledging to preserve full editorial independence. The move aligns with a broader shift by rights holders toward investing in storytelling platforms that deepen brand engagement while promoting visibility for underrepresented athletes.
🌐 Barça Media Launches BarçaPass to Expand Digital Wallet Ecosystem
FC Barcelona has launched BarçaPass, a digital wallet and fan identity platform developed with Futureverse. The product enables fans to manage digital collectibles, create custom avatars, and participate in exclusive content activations. It forms a cornerstone of Barça’s broader push into Web3 and immersive digital experiences.
As clubs seek to monetise global fanbases outside traditional broadcast and matchday models, tools like BarçaPass offer new revenue streams while expanding the club’s direct-to-consumer ecosystem. The project follows previous ventures into NFTs and virtual merchandising, but aims to provide a more integrated, long-term engagement layer.
📺 Fox Acquires Caliente TV to Expand Spanish-Language Sports Reach
Fox Corporation has acquired Caliente TV, a Spanish-language sports broadcaster with growing audiences in Mexico and the US Hispanic market. The deal strengthens Fox’s content pipeline in football, boxing, and regional programming, and complements its existing digital and sports betting initiatives.
With demographic shifts and rising interest in cross-border sports rights, the acquisition reflects a targeted expansion strategy into culturally aligned media properties. It also signals ongoing competition among legacy broadcasters to secure footholds in niche verticals underserved by major platforms.
📊 Sky, ITV and Channel 4 Partner to Build Joint AdTech Marketplace
Three of the UK’s biggest broadcasters - Sky, ITV and Channel 4 - have announced a new joint venture to launch a unified video advertising marketplace. The platform will allow brands, including small and medium-sized businesses, to buy inventory across all three networks with simplified access and shared measurement tools.
This move is a direct response to the dominance of digital platforms like Google and Meta in the UK ad market. By pooling their addressable inventory, the broadcasters hope to maintain share in a rapidly programmatic environment and offer buyers a scaled, brand-safe alternative rooted in premium content.
🏗️ BSE Global to Open Youth Basketball Training Facility in Brooklyn
BSE Global, parent company of the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty, has announced the opening of an 18,600-square-foot youth basketball centre across from Barclays Center. The facility will feature two courts, a shooting lab, and flexible event space for clinics and development programmes.
The investment aligns with a wider trend of NBA franchises deepening grassroots infrastructure as a long-term strategy for community engagement, talent identification, and local brand extension. The project also reinforces the Nets’ presence as a pillar institution in Brooklyn’s sports and civic ecosystem.
🔎 Final Thoughts
This week’s stories reflect several cross-cutting themes that continue to shape the sports, media, and entertainment investment landscape:
1. Athlete capital is going mainstream
From Mbappé and Durant to Blitzer and Holt, athlete and athlete-aligned capital is moving further up the stack - from endorsements and personal brands into structured ownership positions, strategic board seats, and league-level equity.
2. Franchise value is becoming a global benchmark
The $10 billion Lakers transaction sets a new bar for U.S. sports valuations and signals to private capital worldwide that elite franchises are institutional-grade assets. These benchmarks will increasingly influence valuation frameworks across football, cricket, and beyond.
3. Women’s sport is maturing as a commercial asset class
With League One Volleyball attracting seasoned sports investors and media platforms like The IX scaling up with support from rights holders, the women’s sport ecosystem is demonstrating traction across both grassroots and pro pathways.
4. Infrastructure and technology remain essential growth levers
From Teamworks and SportsVisio to physical spaces like BSE Global’s youth centre, investment in operational and physical infrastructure continues to underpin broader strategic ambitions - whether in performance, participation, or fan engagement.
5. Challenger leagues and platforms are here to stay
SailGP and LOVB are not side bets - they are front-foot, purpose-driven ventures competing directly for audience, capital, and storytelling space. Their traction highlights the demand for alternative formats, diverse ownership models, and brand alignment with next-gen values.
6. Legacy media is repositioning through consolidation and storytelling
Fox’s acquisition of Caliente TV and the Sky-ITV-C4 adtech alliance all illustrate how incumbents are adapting- through strategic alignment, culturally resonant content, and defensible data-driven platforms.