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Latest Analysis

Browse the latest legal alerts, case analyses, explainers, and strategic commentary on the forces reshaping sports and entertainment.

Business & Deals

+2

The Endorsement Deal Is Becoming an Ownership Deal

Sep 19, 2026

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10 min read

The Endorsement Deal Is Becoming an Ownership Deal

The old endorsement agreement rented a celebrity’s attention. The emerging model gives athletes, actors, musicians and creators a piece of the business their attention helps build. That changes the economics—but it also changes the risk, the law and what sophisticated talent should negotiate.

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde

High School Sports

+1

Youth Sports Is Becoming Big Business. The Business Model Is Writing the Regulatory Agenda.

Sep 19, 2026

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10 min read

Youth Sports Is Becoming Big Business. The Business Model Is Writing the Regulatory Agenda.

Private capital is scaling youth sports by integrating facilities, clubs, tournaments, travel, software, streaming, and data. The same integration that makes the sector attractive to investors creates its biggest legal vulnerability: when access to play becomes leverage to force purchases, limit choice, or monetize children’s information.

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde

Business & Deals

+1

Women’s Sports Is No Longer a Growth Story. It Is Becoming an Asset Class.

Sep 19, 2026

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9 min read

Women’s Sports Is No Longer a Growth Story. It Is Becoming an Asset Class.

The important shift is not that more people are watching women’s sports. It is that capital can now see what it is buying: scarce franchises, contracted media inventory, repeatable ticket and sponsorship revenue, dedicated infrastructure, and increasingly mature labor and governance systems. The next fight will be over who captures the value those assets create.

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde

Business & Deals

Sports and Entertainment Are Becoming One Fandom Business

Sep 19, 2026

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10 min read

Sports and Entertainment Are Becoming One Fandom Business

The old industry sold games, shows, tickets, ads and merchandise through separate businesses. The emerging industry is built around a different asset: the fan relationship. IP attracts attention; live events create urgency; creators distribute culture; streaming owns the interface; and commerce, collectibles and wagering turn attention into transactions.

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde

Business & Deals

+2

AI Is Turning “Consent” Into the Most Valuable Word in Talent Contracts

Sep 19, 2026

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10 min read

AI Is Turning “Consent” Into the Most Valuable Word in Talent Contracts

Digital replicas can turn one recording session, scan, or appearance into an effectively unlimited supply of future performances. That changes the central bargain in talent agreements: the most valuable asset may no longer be the footage, recording, or likeness itself, but the continuing permission to make the person perform when the person is not there.

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde

Business & Deals

+2

The Endorsement Deal Is Becoming a Cap-Table Deal

Sep 19, 2026

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10 min read

The Endorsement Deal Is Becoming a Cap-Table Deal

Athletes are increasingly taking ownership alongside endorsement money. The deeper shift is that brands are learning to finance growth with athlete influence—and athletes are deciding that renting out their fame may be less valuable than owning part of what it builds.

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde

Business & Deals

+1

The RSN Didn’t Die. It Was Unbundled.

Sep 19, 2026

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11 min read

The RSN Didn’t Die. It Was Unbundled.

Local sports television is not moving from cable to streaming so much as from one integrated business model to a menu of interchangeable parts. Teams and leagues are gaining control over production, distribution, and the fan relationship—but they are also taking back the financial risk that regional sports networks once absorbed.

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde

Business & Deals

+1

The Media-Rights Deal Is Becoming an Equity Deal—and That Changes Who Owns the Upside

Sep 19, 2026

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8 min read

The Media-Rights Deal Is Becoming an Equity Deal—and That Changes Who Owns the Upside

The NFL’s stake in ESPN is more than an unusual media transaction. It points toward a different model for sports distribution—one in which leagues increasingly ask why they should merely license the content that creates a platform’s value instead of owning part of the platform, participating in its economics, or controlling distribution themselves.

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde

Business & Deals

+1

The Next Sports Empire Won’t Just Own the Team. It Will Own the Fan Relationship.

Sep 19, 2026

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9 min read

The Next Sports Empire Won’t Just Own the Team. It Will Own the Fan Relationship.

The franchise is becoming the anchor of a much larger operating system spanning media, venues, real estate, data, betting, commerce, content and hospitality. The real prize is not another revenue stream. It is control over what happens before, during and after the game.

Jesse Wilde
Jesse Wilde
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The Game Behind The Game

Sports & Entertainment Law + Business Analysis

© 2026 The Game Behind The Game

The Game Behind The Game provides commentary and analysis for informational purposes only. Nothing published here constitutes legal advice, creates an attorney-client relationship, or should be relied upon as a substitute for advice from qualified counsel regarding a particular matter. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s law firm, its attorneys, or its clients.

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