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MLB Finalizes Short-Term TV Rights Deals
The MLB has formally unveiled a series of national media-rights deals to cover the 2026 – 2028 baseball seasons. After the two existing media partners for those seasons exercised early outs in their media deals, Major League Baseball ended up finding two new media partners and bringing one of the former media partners back into the fold for national media deals for the 2026 – 2028 baseball seasons. These new deals coincide with Major League Baseball’s existing national rights deals ending in 2028, setting the stage for Major League Baseball to go to market for all of its national media rights deals.
MLB Finalizes Short-Term TV Rights Deals
NCAA Rescinds Rule to Allow Athletes to Bet
Real Madrid Considers External Investment
Big 12 Conference Enters Into Equity Partnership
NIL Enforcement Power
NFL Can Leverage a Major Court Decision
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Sheppard Mullin's Sports Industry Team is uniquely positioned to address the complex and dynamic needs of our sports industry clientele. Our sports practice offers the expertise necessary to provide full service legal counsel to owners, teams, leagues, governing bodies, facility operators, key rights holders, advertising companies, sponsors and others involved in sports-related transactions or disputes.
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A weekly summary of the key trends and stories in sports business.
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The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has rescinded a rule that would allow its athletes to gamble on professional sports. The rule, which did not allow college athletes to bet on college sports, was only just adopted in October 2025 amid the growing acceptance of sports gambling in the United States over the past few years. However, since the rules adoption, there have been several prominent investigations announced in the sporting world related to sports better. In response, two-thirds of the NCAA’s member-institutions voted this past week to rescind the rule.
NCAA Rescinds Rule to Allow Athletes to Bet on Pro Sports
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Real Madrid are considering creating a subsidiary that would allow external investors to buy a stake of around 5% in the world's most valuable football club. Madrid's members will be invited to vote on the proposal that would require a change to its statutes at an extraordinary general meeting in the near future. Real Madrid already has deals with private equity firms selling certain aspects of their revenue streams, but this would be the first opportunity to allow private equity to directly own a piece of the team. If allowed, there would like be no shortage of interest in the opportunity, as Real Madrid is widely considered to be the most valuable professional soccer franchise.
Real Madrid Considers Allowing External Investment
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The Big 12 conference has obtained an equity stake in the Players Era Festival Men’s College Basketball tournament. As part of the investment, the BIG12 will get to have the top 8 teams from the previous conference regular season represented in the tournament from 2026 – 2030. The investment in the tournament, which guarantees a $1M to each participating team, represents the latest way that colleges are seeking to finance their athletic programs.
Big 12 Conference Enters Into Equity Partnership in Players Era Basketball Tournament
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The College Sports Commission (CSC) – the new enforcement agency of college sports – sent a participation agreement to all the power conference schools that details the CSC’s enforcement proposal for the rules established by the House v. NCAA settlement. Among the terms, schools that sign the agreement will waive their right to challenge any CSC rulings in a courtroom, as any appeals of a CSC punishment would instead go through the House settlement’s agreed upon arbitration process. The schools must also agree that they won't try to encourage or assist any other parties – their state's attorney general, for example – to file lawsuits against the CSC.
College Sports Commission Moves to Bolster NIL Enforcement Power
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A U.S. District Court jury ordered the National Football League to pay more than $4.7 billion in damages for antitrust violations. The ruling held that restricting negotiations over rights to broadcast teams’ out-of-market Sunday games to a single, bundled TV package violated competition laws. The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for out-of-market games from 2011 through 2022 on DirecTV. The plaintiffs claimed that the NFL broke antitrust laws by selling its Sunday games package at an inflated price. While the League plans to appeal the decision, the ruling could prompt changes in how rights to air games are distributed, potentially benefiting football teams and fans alike. If the ruling stands, the NFL could lose out on one big-ticket payday. But dicing up rights could spark a wider feeding frenzy. The pot for sports rights is expected to grow to $30 billion annually by 2024.
NFL Can Leverage a Major Court Decision to Boost How Teams and Fans Watch Games
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Weekly Trivia Question
Weekly Trivia Question
How many NFL teams have bird mascots?
Weekly Trivia Question
Answer
Five (the Philadelphia Eagles, the Arizona Cardinals, the Atlanta Falcons, the Baltimore Ravens and the Seattle Seahawks)
REveal Answer
How many NFL teams have bird mascots?
Weekly Trivia Question
In which organization are teams individually owned and belong to governing bodies which promote and relegate teams to different leagues based on performance?
Weekly Trivia Question
a. National Football League (American Football)
b. English Premier League (Soccer)
c. Major League Soccer (Soccer)
d. Serie National de Beisbol (Cuba) (Baseball)
Correct!
b. English Premier League (Soccer)
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Hide Answer
In which organization are teams individually owned and belong to governing bodies which promote and relegate teams to different leagues based on performance?
Weekly Trivia Question
a. National Football League (American Football)
b. English Premier League (Soccer)
c. Major League Soccer (Soccer)
d. Serie National de Beisbol (Cuba) (Baseball)
Correct!
b. English Premier League (Soccer)
Hide Answer
Incorrect
try Again
Real Madrid are considering creating a subsidiary that would allow external investors to buy a stake of around 5% in the world's most valuable football club. Madrid's members will be invited to vote on the proposal that would require a change to its statutes at an extraordinary general meeting in the near future. Real Madrid already has deals with private equity firms selling certain aspects of their revenue streams, but this would be the first opportunity to allow private equity to directly own a piece of the team. If allowed, there would like be no shortage of interest in the opportunity, as Real Madrid is widely considered to be the most valuable professional soccer franchise.
Real Madrid Considers Allowing External Investment
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