Highlight Reel: Masked footballer makes mysterious appearance at Pique's King League ⚽️
This week's top stories feature the WWE, Patrick Mahomes, Rafael Nadal, Nick Kyrgios, Break Point, Full Swing, Drive To Survive, Qatar Sports Investments, and Spurs
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Happy Friday!
It’s been another big week for the sports industry with a number of themes emerging, from athlete investment to content creation. Let’s take a closer look👇
Pro-footballer makes masked appearance in Pique's King League
Vince McMahon’s return to WWE ignites sale rumours
Mahomes, Nadal, and Kyrgios all weigh in as athlete owners
Roger Mitchell: Is it Break Point for unscripted drama?
Qatar holds Spurs talks as it pushes to add more clubs to portfolio
Masked footballer makes mysterious appearance at Pique's Kings League ⚽️
The start of the year marked the return for many of the top domestic football leagues following the World Cup. However, it also marked the beginning of an entirely new one, launched by Barcelona legend Gerard Pique and Twitch streamer Ibai Llanos.
The Kings League, a 12-team, seven-a-side competition, with presidents from the world of football, streaming, and social media and began streaming on Twitch on January 1st.
The league has a number of notable rules, including the ability to call up a guest player for each week’s round of matches which caught the headlines this week as it was reported that a current LaLiga player who wasn't allowed by his club, took part in the competition wearing a Mexican wrestling mask and under the name ‘Enigma’ to hide his identity.
Vince McMahon’s return to WWE ignites sale rumours 🏷
Last Friday Vince McMahon returned to the World Wrestling Entertainment board of directors to facilitate potential sale talks ahead of the company’s media rights renewal.
Since then, rumours of numerous suitors have emerged for the company.
A report from Front Office Sports suggested that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) are considering an approach. CNBC have also speculated that Endeavor could add WWE to its stable of assets after agreeing to buy 100% of UFC in 2021.
Mahomes, Nadal, and Kyrgios all weigh in as athlete owners 🏈🎾
Earlier this week, Kansas City Current announced that Patrick Mahomes will join the club’s ownership group; becoming the first active NFL player to have equity in an NWSL team.
Similarly, tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios has also expanded their sports team investment portfolios this week.
Nadal has become the latest sports star to invest in all-electric powerboat championship as a team owner in the the E1 Series. Meanwhile, Kyrgios recently joined the ownership group of Australia’s National Basketball League team South East Melbourne Phoenix.
Roger Mitchell: Is it Break Point for unscripted drama? 🎬
“Does the future of sport lie in unscripted drama, or must it invest more in storytelling, personalities and character arc (like the rest of the modern entertainment industry)?” asks Roger Mitchell in his most recent Sunday column.
Well, posing somewhat of an answer to this debate, today sees the launch of ‘Break Point’, the ATP and WTA Tour’s highly anticipated Netflix docu-series from Box To Box Films, the makers of Formula 1’s Drive to Survive.
It is the first cab off the rank in a line of behind-the-scenes sports docu-series coming in 2023. The PGA Tour will see its show, Full Swing, premiere on February 15th and then Drive To Survive returns for its 5th season on February 24th.
Qatar holds Spurs talks as it pushes to add more clubs to portfolio 🏟
The head of Qatar’s sporting investment group has held talks with Tottenham amid plans to significantly increase the gulf state’s sporting portfolio after the World Cup.
The Guardian has reported that sources close to Nasser al-Khelaifi, the chairman of Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) and president of Paris Saint-Germain, have confirmed that he met Daniel Levy, the chairman of Tottenham, in London last week.
European club football rules forbid teams with the same owner from taking part in the same competition for integrity reasons. However, minority stakes are permitted and a series of them are considered to be on the cards for QSI, who acquired a 22% stake of Braga in October.
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