Deal Brief · Week of Aug 31
Tracking the deals shaping the business of culture.
Investments
Harrison Barnes buys a community bank in Paton, Iowa
Barnes acquired Community State Bank, a 70-year-old institution in Paton, Iowa, through Barnes Bancorp, where he serves as chairman — putting in $25M of his own capital for controlling ownership. An Ames native, he’s sat on two bank boards over the past decade and built the vehicle alongside managing director Jeff Plagge, a former Iowa superintendent of banking, assembling a board with more than 200 years of state banking experience. His thesis took shape during Covid, when he watched local banks act as “economic first responders” through PPP lending.
New ventures
Christian McCaffrey launches his first signature shoe, The CMC
McCaffrey debuted The CMC through while on earth, the brand he joined as co-founder and investor in August 2025 after ending a longtime Nike deal. He spent a year on development — a single-layer nylon upper, rubberized toe cap, and a midfoot plate against twisting — across four colorways, men’s and women’s. It’s also while on earth’s first signature athlete shoe.
Fundraising and acquisitions
Authentic Brands buys 51% of Drake’s OVO
Authentic Brands Group acquired a 51% majority stake in OVO’s intellectual property, with Drake retaining 44% and creative control, and Vince Holding Corp. taking the remaining 5% plus the operating business. Vince becomes OVO’s primary apparel and retail licensee, running design, merchandising, and stores, with a US retail and wholesale push ahead. OVO, founded in 2008 and now running roughly a dozen stores, joins an Authentic portfolio north of $32B that includes Reebok, Champion, and the personal brands of Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin Hart.
Dolce Glow raises an $11M Series A
The self-tanning brand closed its first institutional round, an $11M Series A led by CAVU Consumer Partners, with Sofia Richie Grainge, Olivia Culpo, and Jaclyn Hill among the participants. Founder Isabel Alysa Vita built it from celebrity house calls into an at-home line in 2021, now stocked at Sephora and Ulta.
Brand endorsements
Gunna named Under Armour global ambassador and creative director of P-Star
Under Armour named Gunna a global ambassador and creative director of P-Star, a new platform spanning apparel, footwear, and cultural storytelling. P-Star is an evolution of P by Gunna, the line he launched with boohooMAN in 2024.
Kristen Bell named L’Oréal Paris global ambassador
Bell joined L’Oréal Paris as a global ambassador across skincare, haircare, color, and makeup, with a debut campaign reframing the brand’s sixty-year-old tagline. She joins a roster that includes Jane Fonda, Kendall Jenner, and Charles Leclerc.
Kim Kardashian joins Broc Shot as brand advocate
Kardashian signed with Broc Shot, tying a decade of public conversation about her psoriasis to the supplement. The company is a roughly 15-person, DTC operation out of Utah, built around sulforaphane from broccoli seeds.
Sophie Cunningham signs with Once Upon a Coconut
The WNBA guard became a national face for the coconut water brand across advertising, retail, digital, and appearances.
Nike signs 11 Clemson athletes to its Blue Ribbon Elite NIL roster
Nike added 11 Clemson athletes across football, softball, and gymnastics to its Blue Ribbon Elite roster, marking 25 years with the school. Blue Ribbon Elite runs deeper than logo placement — athletes work with Nike on brand campaigns, product innovation and creative direction. The full roster across schools including Texas, LSU, South Carolina and Ole Miss is approaching 90 athletes.
Partnerships
Snoop Dogg’s Dr. Bombay teams with Deel to hire an international taste tester
Deel partnered with Dr. Bombay — the ice cream brand co-founded by Snoop Dogg and Cordell Broadus — on a hiring stunt for its first International Ice Cream Taste Tester: a three-month, fully remote contract at $10,000 a month, open globally, with work on a Deel-themed flavor.
Media deals
Netflix signs The Pivot to a multi-year deal
Netflix signed a multi-year partnership with The Pivot — hosted by former NFL players Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder, and Fred Taylor — taking first-look rights on new content from Pivot25 Productions and getting Netflix-exclusive bonus episodes. The show has run independent since splitting from Fanatics in January 2025, and has put out more than 500 episodes and approached a billion views since launching in 2022.
Blake Griffin launches a late-night sports show with Prime Video and Wondery
Griffin is hosting and producing The Stepback with Blake Griffin, a weekly late-night sports show co-produced by Amazon’s Wondery and Mortal Media, the company he runs with former NFL lineman Ryan Kalil. The format has him behind a desk on topics like sports-betting economics, NIL, and taxpayer-funded stadiums.
Disney signs Dhar Mann Studios to a content deal
Disney signed Dhar Mann Studios to an original content deal, opening with a 20-episode order for kids, tweens, teens, and families. Dhar Mann has built one of the world’s largest digital audiences — 170M-plus followers and nearly 300M views a week across platforms.
The Beatles’ Apple Corps and Universal Music strike a global partnership
Apple Corps and UMG signed an exclusive, long-term global deal covering The Beatles’ physical and digital merchandise, licensing, and e-commerce.
Maluma signs a global deal with Fénix Entertainment for his 2027–28 world tour
Maluma partnered with Fénix Entertainment to develop and run his next world tour across 2027 and 2028. Fénix is the Argentine promoter behind Luis Miguel’s 2023–24 run — the highest-grossing Latin tour on record per Billboard Boxscore.
Roles and appointments
Russell Westbrook joins Project B as co-founder and chief strategy officer
Westbrook came on as co-founder and CSO of Project B, taking an ownership stake and a board seat. The league runs as a global grand prix — week-long tournament stops through Asia, Europe, and the Americas, streamed live on YouTube, launching January 2027. He joins co-founders Grady Burnett and Alana Beard, with a women’s roster already signed that includes Nneka Ogwumike, Alyssa Thomas, and Jewell Loyd.
Tristan Thompson joins Dubai Basketball’s front office as global ambassador
Thompson took his first front-office role since retiring, working with Dubai Basketball’s leadership on international expansion. The club launched in 2023 and became the first Gulf team ever to compete in the EuroLeague in 2025–26.
Jon Jay and Tyson Ross join BrknPar as athlete venture partners
The two former MLB players came on as venture partners at BrknPar, committing capital alongside the fund. They’ll help source deals, run diligence, and work with portfolio companies. Jay is on the Cardinals’ management staff; Ross is a special assistant with the Dodgers.
Harrison Barnes buying a community bank is the most underrated deal on this list. No hype, no logo drop, just $25M of his own money into a real cash-flowing business he understands from sitting on bank boards for a decade. That's the difference between chasing NIL checks and building actual net worth - most athletes exit their career with a highlight reel, he's exiting with a balance sheet.