professional-sports
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The 123-Year-Old Startup That Put a Clock on Baseball
Thirty rival owners, one shared product, and a rulebook that finally admitted the game was too slow. Inside the business behind the batter's-box logo.
The NWSL Is Building the League Women’s Soccer Was Always Told to Wait For
Sixteen clubs, four major media partners and one newly liberated player market have turned the NWSL into a revealing test of what happens when women’s soccer is treated as a durable business, not a charitable cause.
The WNBA's 30-Year Overnight Success
After decades of proving the audience existed, women's professional basketball has entered its infrastructure era. The WNBA is adding cities, screens and revenue-sharing at the same time - and learning how to turn attention into an institution.
The Miami HEAT Turned Two Words Into a Business System
Miami sells basketball, tickets, media, merchandise and access. The unusual part is the operating doctrine behind all of it - a thirty-year effort to turn standards, conditioning and a sense of place into a product fans can recognize.
Pro Padel League
Pro Padel League (PPL) is North America's premier professional padel league, founded in 2023 by CEO Mike Dorfman. It runs a city-based franchise model of 10 teams across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, each fielding both men's and women's sides, with a season of multi-city events culminating in the City's Cup Finals. Backed by a $15M Series A led by Charlotte Hornets governor Rick Schnall, PPL is building the commercial and broadcast infrastructure to capitalize on padel's rapid growth in the American market.