Deal Brief · Week of Oct 5
Tracking the deals shaping the business of culture.
Investments
Lionel Messi completes his purchase of CD Eldense
Messi acquired 100% of CD Eldense, the Spanish second-division club, buying out the full stake held by Colombian investment group Grupo TH — pending approval from Spain’s National Sports Council. It’s his second Spanish club this year, after fifth-tier Cornellà in April, and he’s also involved with Uruguay’s Deportivo LSM alongside Luis Suárez.
Micah Parsons joins RejuvStem as investor and board member
Parsons came on as investor, board member, and ambassador at RejuvStem, a regenerative-therapy and wellness company — a strategic role advising on brand growth and positioning.
Jake Shane joins Dolce Glow’s cap table
The creator made his first brand investment, taking a stake in self-tanning brand Dolce Glow and signing on to work across events, launches, and content, including through his podcast. Dolce Glow closed an $11M Series A led by CAVU in August.
New ventures
Sammi Cohen launches business news show Social Commerce Network
Cohen is launching SCN, a livestreamed news-and-interview show pitched as a modern-day CNBC — CEOs and operators across consumer, tech, fintech, retail, beauty, and the creator economy.
Warner Bailey launches entertainment-industry workspace Loyd
Bailey — who built the anonymous “Assistants vs Agents” account into a media brand off a decade of Hollywood assistant complaints — co-launched Loyd with Ryan McCaffrey and Vince Morales, an intelligent workspace built to streamline the grunt work usually dumped on entry-level staff.
Greg Mabin and Tevaun Smith launch supplement brand Liquid Theory
Greg Mabin and Tevaun Smith have launched Liquid Theory, a daily energy and recovery supplement built around a 600mg liposomal NMN/NAD+ pouch. The two former Iowa teammates are joined by Anthony Gair, who left Big Four consulting to run day-to-day operations, and Adam Runquist, the consumer-brand operator who advised Carbon6 through its $210 million exit.
Fundraising and acquisitions
Brad Pitt’s Miraval raises €15M from Crédit Agricole
The Provence wine business Pitt co-owns raised €15M from Crédit Agricole’s investment arms, which take a minority stake via a reserved capital increase to fund international expansion and marketing. Pitt and Angelina Jolie bought the Correns estate for around €25M in 2008 and partnered with the Perrin family in 2012.
Slow Ventures backs three more creators from its $64M Creator Fund
Slow took equity stakes in creators Erin McGoff, Will Lasry, and Kyle Lee out of its $64M Creator Fund — a model where it invests in a creator’s holding company for roughly 10% of earnings, with a right of first refusal on spinouts. It now has seven completed investments and expects to back around 20; its highest-profile deal to date is Steven Bartlett’s Steven.com, valued at $425M last October.
BetterDays launches with $7M from Maveron and Will Ventures
Celebrity barber Victor Fontanez (VicBlends) co-founded men’s grooming brand BetterDays with CEO Joey Thomas, launching with $7M in pre-revenue funding. Fontanez brings 23M-plus followers and a client list that includes Barack Obama and Tom Brady; Thomas ran digital expansion at DUDE Wipes.
Brand endorsements
Nothing names BTS’s V a global brand ambassador
V fronts the launch campaign for Nothing’s flagship Headphone (1) Pro. He joins Charli XCX, who became Nothing’s first global ambassador earlier this year — and took an equity stake.
Donovan Mitchell signs a multi-year extension with adidas
Mitchell’s extension carries his signature line through the D.O.N. Issue 10, making him the seventh active NBA player to reach ten signature shoes with a single brand — a group that includes LeBron, Durant, and Curry. The deal also expands adidas support for his former high school.
Olivia Miles signs with adidas on the day she’s named WNBA Rookie of the Year
The Lynx guard joined adidas Basketball as an ambassador the same day she won Rookie of the Year, joining a women’s roster led by Candace Parker that includes Kelsey Plum and Kahleah Copper.
Christian Gonzalez signs with adidas Football
The Patriots cornerback joined adidas’s football roster — alongside Patrick Mahomes and Travis Hunter — debuting not in a performance launch but in the Willy Chavarria x adidas “October Collection,” a fashion collaboration.
LaNorris Sellers signs an NIL deal with Midas
The South Carolina quarterback formalized a relationship that predated the contract — he’d promoted the auto-repair chain and fronted a tire-giveaway campaign before signing.
Wonderful Pistachios signs its first NIL roster of seven college athletes
The brand launched its first NIL program with seven athletes across six sports — including Quincy Wilson and JuJu Lewis — anchored by a “Don’t Hold Back All-Stars” social campaign through the 2026–27 season.
Devin Booker debuts the Futura x Nike Book 2
Booker gave the Futura x Nike Book 2 its first public appearance at Phoenix Suns Media Day, wearing the unreleased collaboration on court. The artwork was created specifically for Booker, who built a friendship with Futura over several years before the collaboration.
Tyrese Maxey and New Balance unveil the Maxey v1
Maxey’s first signature shoe released worldwide. He worked with the New Balance product team on the design, which pairs FuelCell cushioning with a dual rail plate system and draws on the brand’s lifestyle models, including top-lacing cues from the 2002 and sculpted outriggers in the spirit of the 9060.
Partnerships
Hailey Bieber’s rhode launches at Sephora across 19 European markets
rhode made its first physical retail entry into continental Europe — 500-plus Sephora stores across 19 markets, a full branded takeover of the Champs-Élysées store, and a Café Rhode in Paris. The e.l.f.-owned brand cleared $10M at Sephora US within two days of its 2025 launch.
Media deals
Shaquille O’Neal joins crime drama Gravesend for season three
O’Neal joined the Prime Video series as a cast member (playing Mustafa) and executive producer. Gravesend’s season-three premiere topped Prime Video’s purchased-sales chart after its late-September debut.
Baron Davis stars in and produces sports drama Last Shot
Davis co-stars as a basketball coach and executive produces the coming-of-age film, alongside Jaime Pressly and Michael Rapaport, drawing on his own playing career for the role.
Shawn Levy signs an overall TV deal with Disney’s 20th Television
Levy and 21 Laps signed a multi-year overall deal with 20th Television starting October 2027, ending an eight-year Netflix run that produced Stranger Things. He’ll keep working in the Stranger Things universe while continuing his film work for Marvel and Lucasfilm.