North America

In this week's US sports industry round-up: Delaware ushers in new sports betting era; United 2026 bid outscores 'high risk' Morocco; and the New York Yankees win scheduling battle with ESPN.

Oliver Luck, a former executive at the National Collegiate Athletic Association, has taken up a new role as commissioner and chief executive of the XFL, a new American football league.

North America’s Major League Baseball has participated in the acquisition of Rawlings Sporting Goods, a leading manufacturer and marketer of sporting equipment.

Major League Soccer (MLS) has forged a strategic partnership with R/GA Ventures, the investment and innovation arm of the R/GA agency, in a move that will seek to identify groundbreaking technologies that will drive continued growth of the North American league’s fanbase.

In December 2016 the Fifa Council decided to expand its flagship World Cup competition to include 48 participants from 2026 onwards

The local management group behind efforts to bring a Major League Baseball (MLB) team to the US city of Portland has announced that NFL American football star Russell Wilson and his wife, singer Ciara, have signed on as owners/investors in the project.

New York Cosmos owner Rocco Commisso has withdrawn his offer of $500m funds for a revived North American Soccer League after the US Soccer Federation refused to meet his demands.

World football’s governing body Fifa has cleared the way for a contest later this month to decide the host of its 2026 World Cup, but its Bid Evaluation Task Force has spelled out the “high risk” posed by Morocco’s plans for the national team tournament when compared to the vision of United 2026.

An exploratory committee put in place to assess the viability of bringing the winter Olympic Games to Denver, Colorado in 2030 has recommended that city and state leaders pursue a bid, but only with approval in advance through the staging of a referendum.

NFL American football franchise the Denver Broncos is involved in an ownership dispute after Beth Bowlen, one of the seven children of owner Pat Bowlen, saw her effort to secure control rebuffed by the trust in charge of the team.

Looking at historical data of the publicly-traded commercial partners of the US major leagues shows that investing in Official Corporate Partners is a sound long-term investment strategy. 

Golf’s PGA Tour will stage its first tournament in Detroit, and return to the state of Michigan for the first time since 2009, through a deal backed by mortgage lender Quicken Loans.

US tennis legend Serena Williams has made her latest venture into the women’s fashion market with the launch of her own clothing line.

In this week's US sports industry round-up: NBA Finals tickets are cheapest in four years; FC Cincinnati to join MLS in 2019; and Twin Cities 'netted $370m from Super Bowl'

USL president Jake Edwards talks to SportBusiness International at Leaders Week in NYC about his concern for legalized sports betting, rising expansion fees and the possibility of promotion and relegation

Bundesliga International chief executive Robert Klein tells SportBusiness International how its new US department will help build its relationship with Fox Sports and why Bayern Munich made the league's entrance easier in the States.