Sports & Entertainment
Fan engagement, venue tech, and live event innovation.
SBJ's Tech Awards: Winners Span Data, Performance, Fan Access
SBJ's 2026 SBA: Tech awards named winners in AI, athlete performance, fan accessibility and venue operations, including Elevate's EPIC and OneCourt.
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Pre-World Cup Forecast Projected $135M in Lost Naming-Rights Value
A pre-tournament Navigate analysis, published in June 2026, projected up to $135M in lost naming-rights media value at World Cup stadiums.
Pollstar names winners of 2026 Excellence in Concessions Awards
Pollstar published its 2026 Excellence in Concessions Awards on Sept. 2, recognizing venue food, beverage and hospitality programs across the U.S.
Euroleague Plans Unified Digital Platform as US Open Venue Upgrade Continues
SportsPro reporting details Euroleague's planned direct-to-consumer platform and the US Open's US$800 million stadium renovation.
Turkish Airlines to Replace Standard Chartered on Liverpool Shirts
Turkish Airlines agreed to sponsor Liverpool’s shirts from 2027-28 in a five-year deal reported at about $81 million annually.
NFL Puts The Athletic Content on NFL.com, Renews TikTok Deal
The NFL finalized a deal placing The Athletic's articles on NFL.com and renewed a multiyear TikTok partnership, per Front Office Sports and MediaPost.
Sports venues are now being specced like IT projects
Facilities teams are planning for connectivity, drones and LED lighting while projects like a proposed $70M Louisiana complex show pipelines getting bigger
US Open’s million-plus crowd is turning event tech into data ops
USTA’s startup program and Deloitte’s US Open work point to the same shift: major events are buying and governing a data-operating model, not just event tech.
Uefa is selling referee sleeve ads, and the small patch creates a big match-day workflow
Uefa’s first referee-sleeve sponsor deal with Strauss is a small patch with big operational ripple effects for rights teams, kit suppliers, and brand safety wor
Presidio’s Resonate uses agentic AI to turn sports archives into searchable inventory
Presidio is pushing agentic AI into sports media ops, pairing Captivate fan experiences with Resonate back-end search, tagging, and clip generation on AWS Media
30% of high schools have canceled games for referee shortages, AB survey finds
Athletic Business survey data shows officials are the bottleneck in prep sports, while colleges keep building. That’s shifting spending toward flexible systems
Cosm’s 700-seat domes make NFL rights run like venue operations
Cosm will show NFL games in its 12K LED domes in Los Angeles and Dallas, forcing venue ops teams to plan like broadcasters.
Fastbreak AI is quietly becoming the scheduling engine for 50-plus pro leagues
Fastbreak AI says its software now schedules 50+ pro leagues. For ops teams, the real shift is treating schedules like constrained optimization, not calendar wo
YouTube TV adds ESPN Unlimited inside the app as ESPN raises DTC prices
YouTube TV added ESPN Unlimited in-app as ESPN lifts DTC prices on Sept. 17, shifting how operators should value bundled sports streaming versus stand-alone tie
Record $9.612B Seahawks sale turns ticketing controls and sponsor deliverables into board-level work
NFL owners approved the $9.612B Seahawks sale. For operators, ticketing controls, resale leakage and partner deliverables move from back office detail to board-
The NBA’s local streaming hub is shaping up as a billion-dollar procurement for 25-29 teams
NBA and YouTube are in advanced talks on a 2027-28 local-games hub that could top $1B, with team count, geofencing, and RSN coexistence driving the spec.
Snow League’s NBC, Peacock and YouTube plan makes Season Two a production workflow test
The Snow League adds YouTube simulcasts, >50 hours on Peacock, and a second U.S. stop. For media ops teams, it’s a multi-platform workflow problem.
Turf equipment makers are selling less downtime
New 2027 equipment messaging is shifting to productivity and fleet visibility, while turf teams tie machine decisions to soil moisture, salinity, and ET data.
SBJ Tech: Timberwolves’ reported “$5M-plus” ticket-revenue gain puts tech ROI under the microscope
SBJ Tech reported that the Timberwolves posted a “$5M-plus” increase in ticket revenue, as EA Sports, Next League and venue technology teams look for clearer ti
Sports rights deals are being won with data and distribution, not bigger checks
New survey data and fresh rights moves show platforms are negotiating for reach, data and packaging, while local carriage deals get more targeted.
SportBusiness is selling Deals Tracker as a dataset of 2,000 sponsorship portfolios
SportBusiness is pitching Deals Tracker as a dataset covering 2,000 sponsorship portfolios and 10,000 decision-maker contacts, as rights holders and sponsors mo
College sports departments keep building facilities in 2026 even as new revenue remains limited
Athletic Business survey data shows active capital projects and thin new revenue lines. Athletic Director U explains why costs rise anyway.
Microsoft’s Blue Jays deal brings Copilot signs and Azure data into stadium operations
Microsoft’s multi-year Blue Jays partnership signals a playbook: cloud-first data stacks, AI-branded fan moments, and tighter links between venues and talent pi
$2.3 billion Rays stadium plan highlights how venues are starting to resemble utilities
Tampa's $2.3B Rays ballpark deal restructures an $80M piece into a 35-year revenue-sharing plan for city infrastructure, part of a wider look at how venues manage funding, automation, and sustainability.
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