SPORTS PRO 🔵 What were the biggest sports business deals of Q4 2025?

The last three months represented another packed period of deal activity in the sports industry.

A standout in September was video game giant Electronic Arts (EA) being the subject of the largest leveraged takeover in US history, while October included Apple’s long-anticipated broadcast partnership with Formula One and Apollo Sports Capital snapping up a majority stake in Atletico Madrid. November proved a busy month for broadcast agreements, with new deals involving Major League Baseball (MLB), the Uefa Champions League and LaLiga.

Below, SportsPro offers summaries, analysis and data-driven insights on the deals that dominated industry conversation over the past quarter, highlights the standout ‘Top Dealer’ of the last three months, and presents every sponsorship and media rights deal recorded in that period.

BCCI signs Apollo Tyres as new lead sponsor in record deal

Sport: Cricket
Category: Sponsorship
Terms: Deal to run until March 2028 and reportedly worth US₹579.06 crore (US$66 million)

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has unveiled Apollo Tyres as its new lead sponsor.

SportsPro says…

The BCCI has moved quickly to secure a new lead sponsor after ending its deal with Dream11 at the end of August.

The fantasy gaming platform had signed a three-year partnership with the national governing body in 2023, reportedly worth ₹358 crore (US$40.8 million). However, the deal was terminated following Dream11’s decision to wind up its paid gaming operations, which came after the Indian parliament passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, banning all forms of money-based online gaming and their promotion.

The new deal with Apollo Tyres is reportedly worth ₹579.06 crore (US$66 million), equating to around ₹4.5 crore (US$513,000) per bilateral game. This represents a significant increase over the BCCI’s previous lead sponsor agreement. It also marks Apollo Tyres’ first-ever foray into Indian cricket.

Electronic Arts agrees U$55bn private equity takeover

Sport: Multiple sports
Category: Finance & investment
Terms: Electronic Arts valued at US$55 billion; all-cash offer from consortium consisting of Silver Lake, Affinity Partners and the Public Investment Fund (PIF)  

EA is going private in a transaction that values the video game giant at US$55 billion.

SportsPro says…

EA transformed sports video games with its focus on realism. While constrained by the technical limitations of the time, its Madden, FIFA and NHL titles eschewed arcade conventions with a focus on realistic gameplay, integrated licensing and sleek presentation, establishing a blueprint that has been replicated across the industry.

More recently, EA Sports has changed the game again by establishing a lucrative live service model through Ultimate Team and creating online communities that mean its games are no longer just digital recreations of the real thing – they are an important channel of engagement for sport.

While the video game industry currently faces some uncertainty caused by macroeconomic conditions and some of EA’s recent product launches may not have met expectation, the company is as close to a cash cow as possible.

Which is why although Amazon, Apple, Comcast and Disney have all been linked with a takeover in previous year, hoping to use EA’s cash and assets to bolster their own businesses, private equity makes sense.

Fans will just be hoping that a private EA won’t have to make cuts to make the sum work – either by cancelling projects, laying off staff, or cutting features. There will also be concerns about additional in-game purchases, while some sports that aren’t a guaranteed success, including rugby, cricket and even golf, might not get the EA Sports treatment in such an environment.

Apple strikes deal for F1’s US broadcast rights

Sport: Formula One
Category: Broadcast & OTT
Terms: Five-year deal will see Apple TV+ air every practice and qualification, sprint race, and Grand Prix from the 2026 season at no additional cost to subscribers, who will also gain access to F1 TV Premium; deal reportedly worth US$750 million

Apple has agreed a five-year deal to become the exclusive broadcaster of Formula One in the US from next season.

SportsPro says…

As the main beneficiary of the bundle and the entity most likely to dictate its future, ESPN has had to carefully manage its transition to DTC, ensuring that the potential revenues would offset the potential loss in carriage fees.

After all, streaming involves additional technology, marketing and customer service costs and expertise that were previously absorbed by cable providers. The challenge for ESPN was to build out its streaming footprint to a point where DTC income compensates for the loss of cable subscribers.

The Disney-owned network has spent the past few years building out the proposition, signing carriage agreements with distributors and securing content. And although pay-TV households are decreasing, it is thought the death of cable will be a drawn-out affair rather than an overnight phenomenon – especially since, at US$29.99 a month, ESPN’s DTC service isn’t priced aggressively.

The addition of the NFL’s media assets secures high value, exclusive content for the DTC launch, while the addition of WWE is a shrewd move given the loyal nature of wrestling fans who are used to switching broadcasters to follow their favourite sport. The relatively high price point of ESPN compared to Peacock could dissuade some fans from making the transition, however.

Both WWE and the NFL also stand to gain significantly from additional exposure on the most influential broadcaster in US sport. WWE could make regular appearances on flagship shows like SportsCenter or the Pat McAfee show, while WrestleMania is set to be broadcast on ESPN’s flagship channel.

Meanwhile, the NFL is now literally invested in ESPN’s success.

Apollo acquires Atletico Madrid majority stake

Sport: Soccer
Category: Finance & investment
Terms: Apollo reportedly acquiring between 51 per cent and 55 per cent of Atletico at €2.5 billion valuation

Apollo Sports Capital (ASC), the sports investment subsidiary of Apollo Global Management, has agreed to buy a majority stake in Atletico Madrid.

SportsPro says…

The deal for Atletico is one of the biggest investments into European sport from a US private equity firm. The club is among the best in Spain and has become a challenger to Real Madrid and Barcelona in LaLiga, as well as being a regular in the Uefa Champions League.

From a commercial standpoint, Atletico have increased their revenues considerably, thanks to lucrative partnerships with the likes of Riyadh Air, Nike, Kraken and Visit Rwanda. The club now wants to go further in developing Parque Metropolitano, which would unlock a new income stream.

Apollo will be confident that the LaLiga team’s ongoing success and the build of its project will help the firm make a return on its investment. It now becomes the latest private equity firm to buy into Spanish soccer, with US investment firm ALK Capital completing a takeover of Espanyol and CVC Capital Partners already investing €2 billion (US$2.35 billion) in LaLiga in exchange for a portion of the league’s media rights income.

Toto Wolff sells 15% of Mercedes stake

Sport: Formula One
Category: Finance & investment
Terms: Deal reportedly values Mercedes at roughly US$6 billion; Kurtz has acquired 15 per cent of Wolff’s ownership entity, which owns one-third of the Mercedes team

Mercedes Formula One chief executive and team principal Toto Wolff has sold a minor stake of his ownership in the team to CrowdStrike founder and chief executive George Kurtz.

SportsPro says…

This deal sets a record valuation for a Formula One team, surpassing the UK£3 billion (US$4.06 billion) McLaren Racing were reportedly valued at in September.

It also marks a significant increase considering that Ineos paid UK£208 million (US$273 million) to acquire a 33 per cent stake in Mercedes in a deal announced in December 2020, highlighting the rapid rise in team valuations since Liberty Media took control of Formula One in 2017.

Earlier this year, Mercedes released their financial accounts for 2024, which showed a profit of UK£120.3 million (US$164 million). Revenue grew by 16 per cent year-over-year (YoY) to UK£636 million (US$866.2 million).

Wolff has been team principal of the team since 2013 and has led the outfit to seven drivers’ championships and eight constructors’ championships during his tenure. He will retain a stake in Mercedes, while his executive roles and the governance of the team remain unchanged.

Paramount+ beats TNT Sports to UK Champions League rights

Sport: Soccer
Category: Broadcast & OTT
Terms: Combined UK rights deals between 2027 and 2031 worth UK£2.2 billion

Paramount+ will broadcast the majority of the Uefa Champions League in the UK from 2027 to 2031, with Amazon Prime renewing its package of first pick Tuesday night games and Sky Sports taking over responsibilities for the Uefa Europa League and Uefa Conference League.

SportsPro says…

Paramount bagging the Champions League’s UK rights is a groundbreaking move.

In the UK, Paramount+ now elevates itself as a priority subscription for soccer fans. The competition’s visibility may be a concern given the change in broadcaster, but Paramount and Uefa will be confident the more affordable Paramount+ will help win subscriptions.

As the US rightsholder to the competition, Paramount will potentially be able to offer a global version of CBS’s popular coverage. The conglomerate also owns Channel 5, which it can use to offer live games on free-to-air (FTA) TV.

For Uefa, the bumper rise in revenue will serve as further vindication for changing the Champions League’s format, given there are few European properties that can extract similar levels of growth.

Meanwhile, TNT Sports will lose a significant sign-up driver and a major source of content, which it will now face the difficult task of replacing. Meanwhile, Sky gains the ability to offer live soccer virtually every day of the week, while Amazon keeps hold of its most valuable European sports property.

ESPN gets MLB.TV and Netflix secures Home Run Derby until 2028 in baseball broadcast shakeup

Sport: Baseball
Category: Broadcast & OTT
Terms: Combined deals until 2028 are reportedly worth approximately US$800 million per year. Annually, ESPN’s deal is valued at US$550 million, NBC’s at US$200 million and Netflix’s at US$50 million

MLB has agreed three-year domestic broadcast contracts with ESPN, Netflix and NBC, with the league’s MLB.TV streaming service integrated into ESPN’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform.

SportsPro says…

The short-term future of ESPN’s rights had been a key off-field narrative during the 2025 MLB season, which once again offered further evidence of baseball’s resurgence – not least massive viewing figures for the World Series.

The sport is more popular in the US, especially among younger audiences, than it has been for several years thanks to rule changes that have sped up the game, strong performances by major market teams and the emergence of a new wave of young star players.

ESPN’s decision to end its contract wasn’t necessarily because it was unhappy with how baseball was performing on its platforms. Rather, it believed the sport wasn’t doing as much as it could for it in the modern media environment.

It would have been inconceivable for MLB not to have a continued presence on ESPN, the most influential sports platform in the US, given its ability to reach highly engaged sports fans. This short-term arrangement ensures a satisfactory resolution to the situation while also giving MLB wider exposure to network audiences on NBC and younger viewers on Netflix.

LaLiga strikes €5.25bn domestic broadcast deals with Telefonica and DAZN

Sport: Soccer
Category: Broadcast & OTT
Terms: Five-year deals run from 2027/28 to 2031/32 season and are worth more than €5.25 billion (US$6.08 billion); Telefonica and DAZN to share allocation, taking five games per matchday each

LaLiga has netted a six per cent increase in the value of its domestic media contracts, with Telefónica and DAZN retaining the league’s rights for its next five-year cycle.

SportsPro says…

LaLiga will be pleased to have secured a more lucrative domestic broadcast deal as it seeks to narrow the financial gap to the Premier League, particularly in a challenging media landscape illustrated by Ligue 1’s recent difficulties in France.

Although the new agreement hasn’t attracted fresh entrants, the league will benefit from continuity, with DAZN and Telefónica remaining on board for another cycle.

LaLiga will also feel vindicated in its efforts to combat piracy and improve its broadcast product. The uplift in revenue will be welcomed by clubs, who can now plan with greater financial certainty through to 2032. With domestic rights settled, the league can turn its attention to international markets, where it has already shown a willingness to experiment – as seen in the UK. Its US rights will also require focus, with the current ESPN deal set to expire in 2029.

‘Big five’ European soccer leagues generate US$1.1bn in new sponsorship deals

Date: October 2025
Published by: Ampere Analysis
Market(s): Europe
Category: Sponsorship

• The ‘big five’ European soccer leagues have already amassed US$1.1 billion in income from new sponsorship deals and renewals
• Total annual sponsorship spend across the top five European leagues and teams was US$5.4 billion at the start of the 2025/26 season
• First-time sponsors were responsible for 53 per cent of all new agreements for the ongoing campaign

Access the full report here.

UK women’s sport attracts record female viewership in 2025

Date: October 2025
Published by: Women’s Sport Trust
Market(s): Europe
Category: Broadcast & OTT

• Female viewers made up 44 per cent of the UK broadcast audience for Uefa Women’s Euro 2025
• Women comprised 43 per cent of UK broadcast viewership for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup (RWC)
• Total viewing hours between January to September 2025 reached a record 357 million hours, surpassing the 339 million hours for the same period two years ago

Access the full report here.

LA28

Founded: 2017
HQ: Los Angeles, USA
Sport: Olympics, Paralympics
Category: Sponsorship & marketing
Key deals signed: Google, Starbucks, T-Mobile, Intuit, Highland Electric, Sunbelt Rentals

While the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games are still more than two-and-a-half-years away, the event’s organising committee is hard at work to ensure the Games are a commercial success.

The fourth quarter saw three companies join LA28’s founding partner level, which is the highest domestic sponsorship tier, with deals reportedly starting at US$200 million. The trio includes Intuit, which has retained naming rights to the Intuit Dome, the venue that will host the Olympic and Paralympic basketball tournaments. It joins Comcast and Honda as a sponsor of LA28 venues, following an unprecedented move by organisers to sell offer naming rights to competition sites for the first time.

Starbucks and Google have also agreed founding-level partnerships. Starbucks will succeed Coca-Cola-owned Costa Coffee as the official coffee supplier, while Google will provide cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) services to support backend systems and fan-facing operations.

Google’s involvement strengthens LA28’s roster of technology-focused partners. Mobile operator T-Mobile has signed on to deliver telecommunications services, joining electric school bus provider Highland Electric and rental equipment specialist Sunbelt Rentals.

LA28 has set an ambitious target of generating US$2.5 billion in sponsorship revenue. On the evidence of this quarter’s activity, organisers will feel increasingly confident of reaching that goal as the countdown to 2028 continues.

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