Y! Sports Biz: In the eye of the Hurricane

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Y! Sports Biz: In the eye of the Hurricane

Fri, Sep 18, 2026 ·

10 min read

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👋 Happy Friday!

In this edition:Nike is on Hurricane watch, Mbappé is moving On, Highmark is youngest in an aging litter, leagues are putting more pins on the map, the Nats need number-crunchers, Red Bull's marketing masterclass, and more.

Time to show you the money...

🎓 Nike strikes blow in college brand battle

11 years after losing the University of Miami to Adidas, Nike is heading back into the eye of the Hurricane.

ICYMI:Nike and "The U" have agreed to a 10-year deal worth over $200 million, according to the Miami Herald . The $20+ million annual outlay is believed to be the richest Nike has ever given to a university.

The Swoosh strikes back:Nike's Canes capture follows losses of long-time partners Tennessee and Penn State to Adidas in 2025. Both deals were worth nine-figure sums over 10-year terms, with Penn State's widely reported at $300 million . Nike's failure to retain those schools raised questions about the level of its continued commitment to college sports. Consider those questions answered with the Miami deal, even if it's hard to commit the required resources to every blue-chip school.

Nike nation:Despite the recent tug-of-war for some of the country's top programs, Nike's grip on college sports is far stronger than any other brand, with more than three times as many Power Four schools sporting Swooshes as there are rocking Stripes. The brand boasts a near-monopoly on the SEC, though Adidas has mounted a bigger challenge in the Big Ten.

Choose your fighter:Nike may have unparalleled depth, but Adidas has found itself in elite company in recent years. Both of last year's CFP National Championship contestants sported the Three Stripes. It begs the question: Which roster of top schools would you pick* if each brand was limited to only five?

Nike:Texas, Georgia, Ohio State, LSU, Ole Miss
Adidas:Indiana, Miami, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Penn State
Under Armour:Notre Dame, Utah, Wisconsin, Maryland, Northwestern

Be smart:The headline numbers reported in these deals are massive, but not all of it is cash in the school's pocket. Much of the value in these deals often comes in the form of the gear itself. In fact, only the cream of the crop receive material financial compensation on top of equipment. As competition for top schools heats up, though, those dollars are rising. According to the Miami Herald , about two-thirds of the $20 million annual sum will be cash.

Courting on campus:The major American professional sports leagues execute their apparel deals at the league level. College sports are the rare battleground where brands can still duke it out for the country's blue chips, and fight they do. Nike emerges the winner in this round, taking its talents to Miami.

*We selected the five teams for each brand based on current contracts (Miami is still Adidas for now!) and AP Top 25 standing. But four of Under Armour's six teams are outside the Top 25, leaving us with three slots for four options between Wisconsin, Maryland, Northwestern, and Georgia Tech. Choose your own adventure, but be honest: you aren't picking Under Armour any way you slice it.

⚡Lightning Round

⚽️ Mbappé moving On from Nike:Nike snagged Miami but lost Mbappé. On is expanding into football, and the Swiss brand has secured the French superstar to help with the launch, as first reported by SportsVerse . Mbappé will reportedly receive equity as part of the deal, and the brand's cleats are expected to hit the retail market in 2027.

🎟️ Knicks suspend ticket sales:The Knicks suspended all ticket sales on Thursday after a "mistake" led to much higher prices than intended ( minimum price for the opener: $1,000). Fans who already purchased tickets will be refunded the difference once the team corrects the prices, which will be 12% higher than last season.

💰 LeBron Polymarket deal worth big bucks:Prediction market platform Polymarket is paying LeBron James $15 million per year under their recently announced partnership, per Front Office Sports. Stand down, amateur Pablo Torres: There's no apparent connection between the 76ers and Polymarket.

See what else is trending on the Yahoo Sports Business Hub .

📍 Coming soon to a market near you

Amid the acceleration of the sports business and the appetite to own a piece of it, North American leagues are preparing to put more pins on the map in their quests for domestic and even global domination.

Catch up quick:Expansion talk is heating up across several major professional leagues, as existing owners prepare to clip healthy expansion fees from prospective newcomers in exchange for a slice of league revenues.

🏀 NBA:Adam Silver confirmed this week that the league hopes to reach expansion decisions by the end of the year. Discussion at the Board of Governors meetings centered on Las Vegas, where questions remain about a potential arena site. The Seattle process is more straightforward thanks to existing infrastructure at Climate Pledge Arena.
🏒 NHL:Though nothing is finalized, league officials are working with the Friedkin family (owners of AS Roma and Everton) to determine whether a 33rd team should be placed in Houston or Austin. There is also interest from Atlanta and Phoenix, both of which previously lost franchises to relocation ( this time will be different! ), if the league pursues a 34th team after Texas.
⚾️ MLB:Once the battle over a new CBA concludes, MLB is expected to begin its own expansion process, per ESPN's Jeff Passan , who reports that Salt Lake City currently has the most "compelling case." Other potential contenders in the pursuit of one East Coast and one West Coast team include Nashville, Raleigh, Portland, Orlando, and Montreal.
🏀 WNBA:Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia will take the court in 2028, 2029, and 2030, respectively. But the W isn't stopping at 18 teams. The latest buzz? A group in Vancouver is laying the groundwork for a future bid that would give the Toronto Tempo a Canadian counterpart.

The winning formula:The recipe for securing a successful bid begins with the expansion fee. NBA fees, for example, could exceed $10 billion in Vegas and land near $7 billion in Seattle, per ESPN's Shams Charania . But It's not just about who can say the biggest number, to paraphrase Logan Roy. Groups also need a credible ownership structure, a feasible site or a path to one (hello, public funding!), and a market that can grow the pie.

Extending abroad:The NBA also has ambitious European aspirations, as it continues negotiating with the EuroLeague over a potential new competition. And you'll notice the NFL has no domestic expansion plans. Could it expand across the Atlantic instead? Roger Goodell has "no doubt" there will eventually be a team based outside the U.S. — though perhaps not until the league finishes expanding to Wednesday and beyond. Today, the calendar. Tomorrow, the world.

🏟️ Welcome to the world, Highmark

The Bills christened Highmark Stadium with a win on Thursday night in its first regular-season game. Highmark is the newest stadium in the NFL, where the average age is 26 years and change, but it won't have claim to that title for long.

Coming soon:The Bills' new home is the first of several NFL stadiums to open in the coming years.

Ground broken:Titans (2027), Browns (2029).
Plans revealed:Commanders (2030), Chiefs (2031).
Bridges to cross:Bears (Indiana or Illinois?!), Broncos (site chosen, moving slowly ).

30 and thriving?30 years old has become an informal line of demarcation for stadium replacement or renovations as teams race to offer a facility equipped with all the necessary revenue-generating accommodations. Much of the league hovers near that line, with multiple stadiums in development, others under renovation (Jaguars, Panthers, Bengals), and others already updated (Patriots, Ravens).

Bottom line:Don't get too comfy. Nobody — perhaps the Packers excluded — wants to be the oldest one at the party.

⚾️ Dream Job: Save the Nationals

Welcome to "Dream Job," where we explore some of the most fascinating and desirable job openings in the sports industry. Along the way, we'll learn just how diverse the sea of sports opportunities really is.

In today's edition:A triple header! The Washington Nationals are building their analytics department, hiring at three levels to help them predict player performance.

Roles:Player Projections Director , Senior Analyst , and Junior Analyst
Location:Washington, DC
Compensation:$180,000 - $240,000 (Director), $120,000 - $150,000 (Senior Analyst), $65,000 - $80,000 (Junior Analyst)

Responsibilities:As the Nats put it in the Director job posting, "A successful Player Projections group will identify the traits most predictive of player performance, build statistical models to identify the best and most undervalued players, and inform the roadmap for the organization to acquire, develop, and deploy those players."

New regime:A year ago, the Nationals hired former Red Sox assistant GM Paul Toboni as their new president of baseball operations. An influx of new personnel well steeped in the values of an analytics-forward organization followed. The shift inundated a smaller analytics department with report requests, according to The Athletic , motivating the team to expand it.

Save needed:The Nationals rank third in MLB in runs scored but fourth-to-last in runs allowed, with an MLB record 38 blown saves . There's no way their models predicted that many defeats snatched from the jaws of victory. Please, we beg, someone out there, help the Nats identify traits that predict an ability to slam the door shut!

🏁 Patch Things Up: A Bull without Horns

Max Verstappen overtook 100 karts in Red Bull's "Max vs. 100" challenge on Wednesday (more on that in a minute).

Patch Things Up:We've removed Red Bull Racing's title sponsor from Verstappen's suit in the above picture. What company is it?

Hint:Ellison.

Answer at the bottom.

🏎️ It gives you wings

Want to sell energy drinks? Put one of the best race car drivers on earth in a kart and have him overtake 100 influencers. It'll traverse the internet faster than any traditional ad ever could.

ICYMI:Max Verstappen charged through a pack of 100 karts in just 14 laps at Silverstone on Wednesday. Clips of the spectacle grew wings of their own, flying through the digital streets and attracting millions of eyeballs.

Bullish business:The challenge was the latest in a long line of Red Bull spectacles designed to start conversations, embody limit-pushing, and defy barriers seemingly born from childlike imaginations. The company spends billions of dollars on marketing each year, but its media focus delivers earned value that most companies would pay handsomely for.

Ideate and distribute:Some ideas are of quieter conceit, filmed in obscurity before dazzling the masses upon release. Take, for instance, Daniel Ricciardo facing off against Bath Rugby Club in a scrum. Or Red Bull's F1 car racing Leeds United stars across the pitch after Red Bull became the club's new front-of-shirt sponsor and a minority investor.

Promote and prosper:Other concepts gather spectators and news cameras eager to witness something never seen before. Who could forget the late Felix Baumgartner free-falling from space (82 million YouTube views )? And who but Red Bull would strap F1-style carbon-fiber wings to Baumgartner to skydive across the strait between England and France?

Compete and cash in:Red Bull's fingerprints (wing-erprints?) are all over sports competitions worldwide. From the Red Bull Rampage (above) to ski jumping and pole vaulting, if competitors are pushing human limits — and each other — Red Bull is probably there in some capacity.

Have a good weekend: I'll spend mine trying to calm the jitters after succumbing to the marketing tactics of Big Energy Drink.

Patch Things Up answer:Oracle. The company extended its title partnership with Red Bull Racing earlier this year. It's believed to be worth more than $100 million annually.

Thanks for reading! Wanna talk shop? Follow me on X and Linkedin , or drop me a line: dylan.dittrich@yahooinc.com .

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