Utah’s landmark deal has officially brought private equity to college sports

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🚨 Headlines

⚾️ MLB Draft Lottery: The White Sox won the MLB Draft lottery, earning the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft after entering the night with the best odds of any team. The Rays, Twins, Giants and Pirates round out the top five.

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⚽️ Messi wins MVP: Lionel Messi won his second straight MLS MVP, becoming the first player in league history to win the award in consecutive seasons and just the second to win the award multiple times, period.

⚾️ MLB Winter Meetings: Kyle Schwarber is signing a five-year, $150 million deal to stay in Philly and Edwin Díaz is joining the Dodgers on a three-year, $69 million deal, giving the two-time defending champs the best reliever on the market.

🏈 Rivers returns to Indy: The Colts signed Philip Rivers to their practice squad as a potential replacement for Daniel Jones (Achilles). Rivers, 44, hasn’t played since 2020, when he led the Colts to the playoffs in his 17th NFL season.

⚽️ USMNT to face Senegal: The Americans will play Senegal in Charlotte on May 31 in their penultimate World Cup tuneup. Their other three tuneups will come in Atlanta in late March (against Belgium and Portugal) and in Chicago in early June (against Germany).

🎓 Private equity has arrived on campus

College sports’ rapid transformation from amateur endeavor to professional industry has taken another leap forward in the wake of Tuesday’s news: private equity has officially arrived on campus.

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A landmark deal: The University of Utah is finalizing a first-of-its-kind agreement with PE firm Otro Capital to create a for-profit entity that will operate the university’s athletics business and is expected to generate upwards of $500 million in capital, reports Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger.

• The venture is centered around the creation of Utah Brands & Entertainment LLC — a private, independent offshoot of the athletic department whose primary goal is to generate more revenue across areas including ticketing, concessions, corporate sales and sponsorships.

• In a fascinating wrinkle, the university — which retains majority ownership of the new entity — is allowing prominent donors to purchase a stake, essentially formalizing their status as boosters. Indeed, the $500 million figure includes both Otro’s nine-figure cash infusion and commitments from donors.

The big picture: The early NIL era was heralded as the culmination of a decades-long fight against the myth of amateurism. Turns out it was just the beginning, with schools now set to share revenue directly with athletes and enlist outside capital partners — like Utah is doing — to help navigate this brave new world.

Here’s Ross:

The emergence of private equity in college sports is a long time coming. For the last two years, as university athletic departments face mounting financial stressors, dozens of schools pursued private capital or equity deals, including conferences as a whole — most notably the Big 12 and Big Ten. However, when these projects reached the finish line, they were stymied for various reasons.

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For instance, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has twice presented such a deal before his presidential board. Big Ten officials nearly reached the point of a vote on a $2.4 billion capital deal before at least two schools — USC and Michigan — scuttled the project.

Yormark’s pursuit of a capital deal caught the attention of Harlan and Utah administrators, who, more than two years ago, began the process that resulted in the potential deal with Otro.

Looking ahead: There are only so many more ways to continue closing the gap between college and pro sports, and one of the biggest — collective bargaining — may be on its way. Athletes.Org released a detailed framework on Monday for what a college sports CBA could look like, and dozens of athletic directors are meeting this week at an annual conference in Las Vegas where collective bargaining will be a main topic of conversation.

🏈 NFL power rankings

The top of our NFL power rankings held steady this week outside of two scorching-hot newcomers to the top 10, which replaced two reeling teams.

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Moving in: The Texans (8-5) jumped seven spots to No. 7 (and climbed into the AFC playoff picture) after winning their fifth straight game behind the league’s best defense. The Chargers (9-4) jumped three spots to No. 10 after winning five of their last six and gutting out Monday’s overtime victory against Philly.

Moving out: Speaking of the Eagles (8-5), they fell five spots to No. 12 after Jalen Hurts’ five-turnover performance resulted in their third straight loss. The Colts (8-5), meanwhile, fell 12 spots to No. 22 after losing their third straight game, losing Daniel Jones for the season and losing their grip on a playoff spot.

Dive in.

🌎 The world in photos

🇺🇸 Orlando, Florida — The Magic overcame a game-opening 15-0 deficit to beat the Heat, 117-108, and advance to the NBA Cup semifinals. Desmond Bane (37-6-5) led the way for Orlando, scoring exactly 37 points for the third time in his last six games.

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The nightcap: The Knicks also advanced after cruising past the Raptors, 117-101, behind Jalen Brunson (35-3-4) and Josh Hart (21-6-4).

🇮🇹 Milan, Italy — Liverpool beat Inter Milan, 1-0, on an 88th-minute penalty to climb into the top eight of the Champions League table three-quarters of the way through the league phase.

Elsewhere: Tottenham beat Slavia Prague, 3-0, on two penalties and an own goal; Atalanta came back to beat Chelsea, 2-1; Barcelona beat Frankfurt, 2-1, on a brace from Jules Koundé in a three-minute span.

🇨🇦 Calgary, Canada — Fans of the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen showered the ice with 26,828 stuffed animals on Sunday during the team’s 30th annual Teddy Bear Toss, which remains one of the great traditions in sports.

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Teddies for charity: Since their inaugural 1995 toss — triggered by the team’s first goal in each annual game — the Hitmen have collected 508,300 teddy bears, which they then donate to local hospitals and charities.

🏀 Wilson named TIME Athlete of the Year

Aces superstar A’ja Wilson was named TIME’s Athlete of the Year on Tuesday, becoming the second straight WNBA player to earn that honor after Caitlin Clark in 2024.

Unmatched résumé: Wilson won her record fourth WNBA MVP in 2025 after leading Vegas to their third title in four years. She also won her second straight scoring title, second WNBA Finals MVP and third DPOY, all while being a “culture shifter” whose impact merely begins on the court.

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While refusing to relinquish her supremacy on the basketball court, Wilson has managed to extend her power far beyond the field of play, a trick that only a precious few athletes can pull off. LeBron. Ali. Serena. A’ja. “A’ja isn’t a rising star anymore,” says philanthropist Melinda French Gates, whose publishing imprint released Wilson’s best-selling memoir, Dear Black Girls, in 2024. “She’s at the center of her own solar system.”

Read the full profile.

📺 Watchlist: Wednesday, Dec. 10

🏀 NBA Cup Quarterfinals

The knockout round of the in-season tournament continues tonight with two Western Conference matchups. First up, the historically-hot Thunder host the Suns (7:30pm ET, Prime). Then it’s Spurs at Lakers in the nightcap (10pm, Prime).

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Best start ever? OKC (23-1) is one win away from matching the 2015-16 Warriors for the best 25-game start in NBA history.

⚽️ Real Madrid vs. Manchester City

Today’s Champions League slate is headlined by a heavyweight clash between 2023 champion City and 2024 champion Madrid (3pm, Paramount+), both of whom currently sit second in their respective domestic leagues.

Best of the rest: Defending champion PSG visits Athletic Club (3pm, Paramount+) and Premier League leader Arsenal, the lone undefeated team in Champions League play, visits Club Brugge (3pm, Paramount+).

🏈 Overtime Nationals

Powerhouse programs Corner Canyon (Utah) and St. Frances Academy (Maryland) will go head-to-head tonight (7pm, ESPN2) in the inaugural Overtime Nationals High School Football Championship at Baltimore’s Under Armour Stadium.

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What’s at stake: In addition to owning the title of National Champion, the winner of the game will also receive a $250,000 donation to their school.

More to watch:

• 🏒 NHL: Rangers at Blackhawks (7:30pm, TNT); Kings at Kraken (10pm, TNT) … Connor Bedard is thriving (40 points, sixth-most in the league), but Chicago has lost eight of 10.

• 🏀 NCAAW: No. 11 Iowa at No. 10 Iowa State (7pm, ESPN) … The Hawkeyes have won eight of the last nine games in the Cy-Hawk Series.

• 🏒 Women’s Hockey: USA vs. Canada (7pm, NHL) … Edmonton hosts Game 3 of the Rivalry Series after the Americans won the first two games at home.

• ⚽️ Women’s Champions League: Barcelona vs. Benfica (12:45pm, Paramount+) … One of five matches to close out the penultimate Matchday of the group stage.

Today’s full slate.

⚾️ MLB trivia

Edwin Díaz, the newest Dodger, has 253 saves since his MLB debut in 2016, tied for the second-most in the majors in that time.

Question: Who is the only player with more saves since Díaz’s debut?

Hint: He began his career with the Dodgers.

Answer at the bottom.

📚 Good reads

⚾️ Jake Mintz: If the Tigers aren’t trading Tarik Skubal, they need to go for it this winter

With the back-to-back AL Cy Young set to hit free agency next fall, Detroit must act aggressively this offseason to try to build a legitimate World Series contender for what might well be Skubal’s final year with the team.

🏈 Charles McDonald: The Chiefs are staring at their longest offseason in a decade — and it could be just the reset they need

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After seven straight years of reaching at least the AFC Championship, the Chiefs are 6-7 and looking like a good bet to miss the playoffs entirely. Maybe that’s just the medicine they need after coasting for so long on Patrick Mahomes’ arm and Steve Spagnuolo’s game-planning.

🏀 Morten Stig Jensen: The Giannis Antetokounmpo trade market: What’s the best deal for all 30 teams?

The Greek Freak hasn’t formally requested a trade yet, but it certainly seems like we might be heading that way. So it feels prudent to gauge what each team could theoretically offer the Bucks for their two-time MVP.

Trivia answer: Kenley Jansen (334 saves)

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