Steph Curry is wearing Nikes?!
Plus: A soccer league's existential crisis, AI ticketing, and skiing on top of the world.
Back by popular demand, here are six sports business items worthy of your attention at the start of the week…
A Photo I Never Thought I’d See 👟:
That’s Steph Curry wearing… Nikes?? In a stunner late last week, Under Armour announced it was separating from Curry Brand, leaving the NBA star free to take his namesake shoe/apparel brand elsewhere. Curry has been Under Armour’s most prominent endorser since it landed the Warriors guard in 2013. He’d been a Nike athlete to that point, but Nike showed him a deck bearing Kevin Durant’s name, and Under Armour promised to build its entire basketball business around Curry. Now, amid a huge spending pullback, Under Armour has changed course.
It’s a second stunner that Curry is already wearing Nikes, even if just to warm up. Under Armour is releasing the Curry 13 in February, and will keep selling the brand through October. Good luck selling the Curry shoe if Curry doesn’t wear it.
What Made Me Gasp ⛷️: In September, Polish ski mountaineer Andrzej Bargiel climbed Mount Everest and then skied down from the summit. Last week he released footage of the feat, and it’s incredible. Drones and wearable cameras—plus perfect weather and an empty mountain—combine to create the best footage I’ve ever seen of the world’s tallest mountain.
It’s 30 minutes long but it’s mesmerizing. You should watch it, ideally on the biggest screen you own.
Marketing That I Appreciate 🐂: Staying on this topic, Bargiel is a Red Bull athlete, and if you make it to the end of the video, you’ll see the advertising portion of the feat. The Austrian energy drink company has a very diverse sports portfolio—it owns soccer, hockey, F1, and MotoGP teams—but I’ve come to appreciate its action sports presence.
The strategy seems to be this: give amazing athletes resources to do really cool shit, and take some hi-res footage along the way. Sign me up. And if they have to wear a Red Bull helmet or ski suit, so be it.
Sportico Story of the Week 🎟️: I’m willing to bet everyone reading this newsletter has bought tickets online for a sporting event or concert. And most of you probably have a horror story or two. Last week, Jacob wrote about whether AI’s “agentic capabilities”—in other words, its ability to perform actions, not just give information—will make this better or worse for fans. It includes this quote from a SeatGeek co-founder: “Now there are sort of good bots and bad bots.”
Non-Sportico Story of the Week ⚽: I’ve been very public about my concern for the NWSL’s long-term position as the world’s best women’s soccer league given the growing spend coming from clubs in Europe. Now the U.S. league appears to be at a critical crossroads. Washington Spirit star Trinity Rodman is due for a new contract, and she’s in talks with teams on both sides of the Atlantic. Over at The Athletic, Meg Linehan wrote a great breakdown of why the league’s brand new CBA, negotiated specifically to allow teams to better compete with Europe for talent, may already be the problem. The NWSL “can’t keep Trinity Rodman and its current salary cap,” Linehan writes. “It’s up to the league to choose.”
What Got Me Wearing My Tin-Foil Hat 🎩: Could a looming decision by DraftKings and FanDuel result in Democrats taking back control of the Senate?
Gaming analyst Steve Brubaker thinks so. Here’s his X thread laying out the theory. It involves investments by the Trump family and a powerful casino lobby.
Club Sportico is a community organized by Sportico, a digital media company launched in 2020 to cover the business side of sports. You can read breaking news, smart analysis, and in-depth features from Eben, Jacob and their colleagues at Sportico.com, and listen to the Sporticast podcast wherever you get your audio. Contact us at club@sportico.com.