Deal Brief · Week of Nov 2
Tracking the deals shaping the business of culture.
Investments
Justin Marks’ Trackhouse MotoGP Team Adds 1936 as Minority Shareholder
Trackhouse Racing has sold a minority stake in its MotoGP operation to 1936, the London-based sports investment firm led by former British World Cup alpine skier Charlie Raposo. The investment applies solely to the motorcycle racing division rather than Trackhouse’s NASCAR Cup team, placing 1936 alongside founder Justin Marks and Avenue Sports Fund on the cap table.
As the only American-owned outfit on the MotoGP grid, Trackhouse has won Grand Prix races with riders Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez in 2026 after taking over the former RNF grid slots in 2024. The fresh capital will fund commercial and content operations as private investors bet that Liberty Media’s ownership of MotoGP can replicate Formula 1’s commercial growth in the US.
Joe Montana’s Liquid 2 Ventures Backs Kivo Health’s $10M Series A
Liquid 2 Ventures, the San Francisco venture firm co-founded by Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Montana, has invested in a $10 million Series A for remote lung-care startup Kivo Health. Allumia Ventures led the financing, joined by Y Combinator, MassMutual Ventures, and UCSF’s Rosenman Institute.
Kivo provides virtual pulmonary rehabilitation for seniors with COPD, shipping patients a cellular-connected tablet and Bluetooth pulse oximeter for live video sessions with respiratory therapists. While clinical rehab sharply reduces hospital readmissions, fewer than 3 percent of eligible patients complete in-person programs due to travel barriers. Kivo already contracts with Stanford, UCLA, and Optum Health, saving insurers an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 per patient.
New ventures
Mike Trout & Eric Mandelkern Launch Sports Collectibles Company Generation One Collect
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout has co-founded Generation One Collect alongside CEO Eric Mandelkern, entering the sports collectibles market with an initial focus on live card breaking. The company debuted with a live pack-opening event at Trout’s youth baseball camp and plans to expand into original content and athlete-hosted collector events.
Trout returned to card collecting during the pandemic after growing up buying baseball and Pokémon cards at flea markets, and he has been a regular participant in online breaks over recent seasons. While athlete-backed collectibles startups often struggle to retain users once the initial promotional push fades, Trout hopes to help Generation One Collect build sustainable engagement by fostering direct connections between athletes and collectors, participating himself in live breaks and collector chats to share in the excitement of opening packs.
Jimmy Butler Brings Bigface Coffee Home to the Houston Area With an H-E-B Cafe
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler is expanding his specialty coffee brand, Bigface, to his native Houston area in mid-November with a mobile cafe outside the Fairfield Market H-E-B in Cypress, Texas, just south of his hometown of Tomball. The trailer will serve espresso and filter drinks using beans sourced from Central America, South America, and Africa.
Bigface started in the 2020 NBA bubble when Butler brewed $20 cups of coffee from his hotel room before evolving into a direct-to-consumer roaster and a permanent flagship store in Miami’s Design District. Partnering with Texas grocery heavyweight H-E-B lets the brand test physical demand in a second market without taking on another luxury retail lease.
Fundraising and acquisitions
Athlete-Backed Mac-and-Cheese Brand, Goodles, Acquired for $750M
Italian food group Barilla has acquired better-for-you macaroni-and-cheese company Goodles for $750 million in cash, with an additional nine-figure earnout tied to future performance. The exit marks a sharp step-up for the Santa Cruz-based company, which raised roughly $27 million in total outside funding and was valued at $88 million during its L Catterton-led Series A in 2023.
The sale delivers a major consumer-packaged-goods windfall for an athlete cap table that includes Klay Thompson, Khris Middleton, Domantas Sabonis, DK Metcalf, and Weston McKennie alongside founding partner Gal Gadot. For family-owned Barilla, buying a high-growth boxed pasta challenger offers an immediate foothold in the US boxed mac-and-cheese aisle long dominated by Kraft Heinz.
Athlete-Backed Prediction Market Platform Kalshi Raises $1B at $40B Valuation
Prediction market exchange Kalshi has raised a $1 billion Series G at a $40 billion valuation, nearly doubling its price from May. Sequoia Capital and Wellington Management co-led the round, joined by Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, CapitalG, Morgan Stanley, and quantitative trading firms Hudson River Trading and Balyasny Asset Management.
Kalshi now clears $1 trillion in annualized trading volume, generating $1 billion in annualized non-sports revenue alongside a fast-growing sports event-contract business. The valuation surge delivers major paper gains for a deep roster of athlete shareholders who bought in earlier, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, Kyle Kuzma, equity ambassador Canelo Álvarez, and a Series E syndicate backed by Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, Richard Sherman, and Marshawn Lynch.
Brand endorsements
LeBron James Becomes WHOOP Global Ambassador as the Company Weighs an IPO
LeBron James has signed on as a global ambassador for Boston-based wearables company WHOOP, formalizing an 11-year relationship with the brand. James first wore the screenless fitness strap in 2015 as one of its earliest 100 users and later invested in the company.
The deal arrives as WHOOP weighs a public listing after raising $575 million at a $10.1 billion valuation earlier in 2026. Now serving more than 3 million members with a $1.1 billion annual revenue run rate after turning cash-flow positive in 2025, the company is using the soon-to-be 42-year-old Lakers star to pitch its subscription hardware beyond elite training and into the broader consumer longevity market.
Six Georgia Football Players Sign NIL Deals With Nike, Fronting Its Outkast Collection
Nike has signed six University of Georgia football players, including defensive standouts KJ Bolden, Ellis Robinson IV, and Chris Cole, to NIL deals fronting a limited-edition apparel collaboration with Atlanta hip-hop duo Outkast. Created alongside collegiate streetwear brand Class Trip, the collection blends Georgia’s bulldog logo with Outkast’s crown emblem across varsity jackets, jerseys, and fleece.
Timed to the October 31 Georgia-Florida game, which moved from Jacksonville to Atlanta for the first time since 1933, the campaign recreates classic portraits of André 3000 and Big Boi on campus in Athens. Pairing active college players with local music estates gives Nike a template for selling higher-margin lifestyle capsules beyond standard sideline gear.
Hotel Group De Vere Names James Guy, Jess Breach and Hugo Milner Sports Ambassadors
British hotel and conference operator De Vere has appointed Olympic swimming gold medalist James Guy, England rugby winger Jess Breach, and triathlete Hugo Milner as sports ambassadors. Under the agreement, the trio will speak on leadership and performance at corporate dinners and conferences hosted across De Vere’s UK properties in exchange for using the hotels as recovery bases between competitions.
Structuring the partnership around corporate speaking appearances rather than consumer advertising allows De Vere to use Olympic and international rugby talent to differentiate its high-margin business events and conference bookings.
Indiana Guard Malia Samuels Signs NIL Deal With World’s Finest Chocolate
Indiana University women’s basketball guard Malia Samuels has signed an NIL partnership with Chicago-based confectioner World’s Finest Chocolate, becoming the company’s first female college athlete endorser. The senior point guard joins LSU running back Harlem Berry and UCLA wide receiver Leland Smith in the brand’s “Let Them Reign” campaign, which launched in August.
Samuels sold World’s Finest chocolate bars from third through fifth grade to pay her youth travel basketball fees. For an 80-year-old fundraising brand whose core customers are youth sports leagues and school clubs, recruiting Division I athletes who used its catalog to pay for their own childhood tournament fees offers a direct pitch to parents and youth coaches.
Partnerships
Carlos Vela and Saioa Cañibano Become Partners in Supplement Brand Evoria Health
Former LAFC captain Carlos Vela and his wife, former Spanish sports journalist Saioa Cañibano, have joined Beverly Hills nutrition company Evoria Health as equity partners. The couple worked alongside co-founders Harry Tsao and Jason Nava on product formulation ahead of the brand’s commercial rollout.
Evoria is entering the crowded consumer longevity market with a three-part daily regimen comprising a cellular aging formula built on NMN and Urolithin A, a daily multinutrient, and a melatonin-free night recovery supplement using magnesium and ashwagandha. Bringing in Vela gives the startup an established bilingual frontman in Southern California and Mexico as it begins direct-to-consumer distribution.
Miami WR Malachi Toney Signs NIL Deal With JPMorgan Chase
University of Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney has signed an NIL partnership with JPMorgan Chase, adding the nation’s largest bank to a commercial roster that already includes Adidas and Red Bull. The campaign centers on educating students and young adults on how to spot digital financial scams.
The partnership grew out of Toney’s own experience earlier in the 2026 season, when he nearly fell for a fraudulent endorsement offer from impostors posing as brand representatives. As college roster payouts and NIL valuations climb into the seven figures, financial institutions are increasingly using campus sponsorships to capture high-earning student-athletes as early private banking clients.
Saxo Bank Partners With 9 Athletes To Explore Investing Habits and Mindsets
Danish online investment platform Saxo Bank has signed nine international athletes to front a multi-market marketing campaign focused on investor psychology and long-term financial discipline. The roster is headlined by Formula 1 driver Lando Norris, chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, tennis star Aryna Sabalenka, and former Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale, alongside Thibaut Courtois, Rasmus Højlund, Stan Wawrinka, Jutta Leerdam, and French judoka Teddy Riner.
The campaign marks a return to sports marketing for the Copenhagen-based brokerage, which previously sponsored Tour de France cycling and Formula 1 teams before shifting toward individual talent with cross-border digital followings across Europe.
Media deals
Candace Parker Partners With EICOP to Launch Sports and Media Fellowship
Three-time WNBA champion Candace Parker has partnered with the Entertainment Industry College Outreach Program (EICOP), the nonprofit behind the HBCU in LA initiative, to launch the Candace Parker Sports and Media Fellowship. Run through the Candace Parker Foundation, the program will place students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities into paid summer internships across major media markets.
Alongside corporate placements and professional mentorship, the fellowship provides subsidized summer housing, addressing one of the primary financial hurdles that keeps students from taking entry-level television and production jobs in New York and Los Angeles.
Roles and appointments
JJ Watt Signs Multiyear Deal as CBS Sports’ Lead NFL Analyst
JJ Watt has signed a multiyear contract to remain CBS Sports’ lead NFL game analyst, calling the network’s marquee Sunday afternoon matchups alongside play-by-play voice Jim Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson. The agreement makes permanent a booth promotion Watt stepped into earlier this season after CBS parted ways with Tony Romo.
Watt joined the network in 2023 as a studio analyst on The NFL Today following a 12-year playing career with the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals. Locking in the three-time Defensive Player of the Year stabilizes CBS’s top broadcast crew ahead of Super Bowl LXII in Atlanta in February 2028.
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