getty images

23XI Racing

The team created by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin (right) had its first full season in NASCAR’s Cup Series. Known for its emphasis on diversity initiatives such as its SPEED Institute, 23XI brought on top-tier brands McDonald’s, DoorDash and Dr Pepper as sponsors for driver Bubba Wallace (left). And, in a nod to Wallace’s strong following, Netflix agreed to a docuseries deal for the young driver.

Courtesy of Candy Digital

Candy Digital

The Fanatics-owned entity broke into sports and NFTs, with deals for NASCAR/Race Team Alliance, MLB/MLB Players Inc. and WWE. It created an MLB-licensed  NFT of Lou Gehrig’s famous “luckiest man” speech last summer. The digital collectible featured video excerpts of the speech and a three-dimensional bust of Gehrig in an iron finish. Proceeds from the auction benefited ALS  charities. The company completed a $100 million Series A round in October.

Courtesy of Crypto.com

Crypto.com

The cryptocurrency platform announced itself in a big way when it signed the most expensive  naming-rights deal in history by putting its name on the former Staples Center in Los Angeles for $700 million. Crypto.com’s other blockbuster deals included branding within the UFC’s octagon and as its first global fight kit partner, naming rights to the Formula One race at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, sponsorship of the Philadelphia 76ers in the form of the team’s jersey patch, and  and partnering with LeBron James on crypto education.

getty images

FTX

The company became the first crypto brand to put its name on a big-league arena (Miami Heat), in addition to securing naming rights to the field at Cal’s Memorial Stadium and putting its patch on MLB umpire uniforms. FTX has signed deals with Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the Golden State Warriors, Shohei Ohtani, the Mercedes F1 team, Tom Brady, the North American League of Legends circuit (esports) and naming rights for the TSM esports team.

KAGR

Kraft Analytics Group: KAGR

The organization brought on its first external investor in JP Morgan, which uses KAGR’s Future of Live Events & Sports report to inform investments for current and prospective clients. The NFL also made an investment in KAGR’s Integrated Ticketing Platform, connecting the league, teams and ticketing partners. KAGR counts more than 20 clients, including On Location Experiences, NASCAR and UFC, that it assists with ticketing and insights.

Learfield: LevelNext and The Varsity Network

Learfield continued to push its collegiate esports efforts with LevelNext, a league playing games like Madden NFL and Rocket League (with sponsors including Snickers, Unilever, Cheez-It, Degree and others on board). It also created more than 70 intra-college esports tournaments on college campuses. Learfield and Sidearm Sports created The Varsity Network mobile app with podcasts, including exclusive ones like “Hello Heisman!” with Desmond Howard, and college football programming like “College Football Saturday Night” with Mike Golic and Kate Scott.

getty images

Most Valuable Promotions

MVP is a fight promotion started by Jake Paul (right) and his promoter Nakisa Bidarian with the aim of drawing new (young demo) eyes to boxing. An event featuring Paul and Tyron Woodley sold out Amalie Arena in Tampa in December. MVP has raised awareness of women’s boxing, signing top female fighter Amanda Serrano (center), working for equity across the sport. MP also signed a deal to co-promote Serrano’s fight against Katie Taylor (left), which was the first female headliner in 140 years of boxing at Madison Square Garden.

Omaha Productions

Omaha Productions

The Manning family’s production company was behind the “ManningCast” around “Monday Night Football.” Omaha also produced “Peyton’s Places” and its spinoffs for ESPN+ around Eli Manning (left), Ronda Rousey, Abby Wambach and David Ortiz. In addition to helping produce the NFL Honors show, the company also worked on ads for the Manning family with Caesars Sportsbook and “The Eternals” movie.

getty images

Playfly Sports

The company made major inroads across the sports space with acquisitions of Home Team Sports, Fox Sports College Properties, Impression Sports and Entertainment and Premier Partnerships. Playfly is now helping Real Salt Lake find a new sponsor for its soccer stadium in Sandy, Utah. It also added East Carolina as a property, helped Maryland sign a betting deal with PointsBet and created a strategic sales partnership with CSMG.

Seattle Kraken

Seattle Kraken

The NHL’s newest franchise opened play last fall in the $1.15 billion state-of-the-art Climate Pledge Arena, the first net-zero carbon arena in the world. During the first five days that team jerseys were made available to the general public in September, sales skyrocketed, making it the highest-selling newly released sweater in NHL history. The team also agreed to a community impact partnership with Starbucks around the Kraken Community Iceplex, inside which the coffee company opened one of its community stores.