SBP Snack: Week of 5/19-5/25

Five Interesting, Funny, and Touching Things that Happened in Sports This Week

Alex Abrams
May 22, 2025

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Good Thursday Morning. Bringing you an abbreviated, “snack size” version of SBP this week.

#1: Minority stakes in NFL clubs are starting to move

🚨🏈 BREAKING: @49ers to sell nearly 6% stake at record sports team valuation. The owners of the San Francisco 49ers have reached an agreement to sell about 6% of the NFL franchise to a trio of Bay Area families at a valuation higher than $8.5 billion.
— Sportico (@Sportico)
3:22 PM • May 15, 2025

The NFL has approved a new batch of ownership stakes:
• Chargers: 8% to Arctos Partners
• Browns: 0.1% to Charles Woodson
• Dolphins: 1.1% to a group of businessmen
• 49ers: 6% to the families of Vinod Khosla, William Griffith, and Byron Deeter
— Front Office Sports (@FOS)
10:22 PM • May 20, 2025

🗯️ My thought bubble: The NFL made this rule change nearly a year ago, and we’re starting to see deal velocity pick up. The league is as close to a sure thing as you can get in the market for prospective investors, and it’s a great opportunity for owners to take the significant gains on paper and turn them into something tangible.

Expect to see a continued increase in deal flow.

#2: Winnipeg Jets’ center Mark Scheifele played in Game 6 the day after his dad unexpectedly passed away. Game didn’t end in the Jets’ favor, but it had some incredible moments

THAT ONE WAS FOR DAD 💙
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets)
1:26 AM • May 18, 2025

The hockey world loves you, 55 💙
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet)
3:14 AM • May 18, 2025

A particularly emotional handshake line 🥺🤝
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce)
3:12 AM • May 18, 2025

Stars fans have been donating "$55 for 55" to charities Mark Scheifele supports after the news that Mark's father died before Game 6 in Dallas.
Hockey is a family ❤️
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce)
10:34 PM • May 17, 2025

#3: WNBA does big numbers on its opening weekend

Saturday’s Fever-Sky game drew 2.7M viewers on ABC — the most-watched WNBA regular-season game on ESPN platforms ever & likely the biggest in 25 years 👀
According to @TheAthletic, the game peaked at 3.1M viewers.
— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ)
11:30 PM • May 20, 2025

🗯️ My thought bubble: We’re in for quite a ride with the amount of star power in the league right now. Caitlin Clark is so much better than most of the league and will put butts in seats everywhere she goes, but there are both super teams (i.e., the Liberty) and entertaining rivals (Angel Reese) that will make things interesting.

It is likely the league has a record year, and it will lead to the players having a ton of leverage heading into CBA talks this summer.

#4: Fun way to finish a soccer career

In Jan Vertonghen's final home game before retirement, the 38-year-old's daughter held up the substitution board as he left the field to a standing ovation 🥹
A wonderful touch 💜
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers)
1:37 PM • May 19, 2025

#5: I am blown away by this expansion fee number given the TGL is less than one year old and is still finding its footing.

EXCLUSIVE: @Lions owner Sheila Hamp will be a co-owner of the Motor City Golf Club when it joins the indoor golf league @TGL in 2027. Compared to founding franchises, Detroit paid more than double to enter the league.
@novy_williams with more: wp.me/pc2RuA-1lzjHy
— Sportico (@Sportico)
7:50 PM • May 20, 2025

Until next time, sports fans!

-Alex