The Information

Art by Clark Miller

Moneyball for Minors: Inside the Booming Business of Youth Sports Apps

By Sara Germano · Oct 17, 2025 9:00am PDT · 3 comments

Lauren Drapp has a hectic job working as a gas scheduler for a private equity firm in Houston, triangulating natural gas between suppliers, pipelines and customers. But she’s arguably even busier as a mother of young athletes: Her two daughters, ages 12 and 13, play on club volleyball and softball teams, each traveling some eight times a year to... Lauren Drapp has a hectic job working as a gas scheduler for a private equity firm in Houston,...

Sara Germano (left) and Bay FC's Aly Wagner. Photo by Erin Beach

Sports Braces for a New Referee: AI

By Sara Germano · Oct 11, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

About halfway through a panel discussion at The Information’s first-ever sports business event this week, Bill Schlough, chief information officer of the San Francisco Giants, asked our capacity crowd for a show of hands. How many people, he asked, were in favor of artificial intelligence–assisted umpiring in baseball? Almost every hand in... About halfway through a panel discussion at The Information’s first-ever sports business event...

Bleacher Report's Katie Arkins. Art by Clark Miller. Photos via Getty Images and Bleacher Report

NBA Commissioner’s Viral Comment Sparks a Sports Highlights Debate

By Sara Germano · Sep 20, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Late last week, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver inadvertently went viral on social media with a passing comment that quickly got under the skin of basketball fans. When asked during a press conference about how expensive being an NBA fan has become—mainly due to fragmented TV broadcasts and streaming price hikes—part of Silver’s... Late last week, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver inadvertently went viral on social media with a...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

Is Steve Ballmer Too Rich for the NBA?

By Sara Germano · Sep 13, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images.

Is Steve Ballmer Too Rich for the NBA?

By Sara Germano · Sep 13, 2025 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Earlier this week, a handful of the richest people in the world convened at a five-star hotel in midtown Manhattan to discuss typical titans-of-industry fodder: overseas expansion, the future of media, yadda yadda. But there was an elephant in the room: Did a billionaire in their ranks secretly siphon millions of dollars to an NBA star through a... Earlier this week, a handful of the richest people in the world convened at a five-star hotel in...

Art by Clark Miller

Why the NFL and Nielsen Are Beefing as Sports Streaming Surges

By Sara Germano · Sep 5, 2025 11:39am PDT

The NFL, the world’s richest and most powerful sports league, would like you to know something: It is not thrilled with the way Nielsen measures its TV audience. Earlier this week, the NFL took the extraordinary step of criticizing media measurement firm Nielsen, which the football giant argued is undercounting the number of viewers for its... The NFL, the world’s richest and most powerful sports league, would like you to know something:...

Art by Clark Miller; Getty Images

Can Tennis Connect With Young Fans Through the Metaverse and TikTok?

By Sara Germano · Aug 30, 2025 6:00am PDT

For decades, the U.S. Open Tennis Championships has been a crown jewel of the global sports calendar. As the fourth and final Grand Slam of the tennis season, it has hosted historic athletic feats by everyone from Arthur Ashe to Venus Williams. Boisterous night matches—like last weekend’s Daniil Medvedev meltdown—are attended... For decades, the U.S. Open Tennis Championships has been a crown jewel of the global sports...

Art by Clark Miller; Images via Getty

The UFC Alone Isn’t Enough Streaming Punch for David Ellison’s Paramount

By Sara Germano · Aug 16, 2025 6:00am PDT

It didn’t take long for David Ellison, the fresh-faced millennial owner and CEO of Paramount Skydance, to make a statement. Just five days after the merger between Paramount and Skydance closed, the scion of Oracle’s Larry Ellison reached into his deep pockets to acquire seven years of broadcast rights to UFC mixed-martial arts matches for $7.7... It didn’t take long for David Ellison, the fresh-faced millennial owner and CEO of Paramount...

Art by Clark Miller

Sports Leagues Hunt for Startup Investments in a Chummy Style of Venture Capital

By Sara Germano · Jul 25, 2025 9:04am PDT

Art by Clark Miller

Sports Leagues Hunt for Startup Investments in a Chummy Style of Venture Capital

By Sara Germano · Jul 25, 2025 9:04am PDT

A couple weeks ago, LeBron James was in Las Vegas, seated courtside at the Thomas and Mack Center to watch his team, the Los Angeles Lakers, scrimmage against their crosstown rivals, the Clippers. The game was a highlight of the NBA’s annual off-season Summer League tournament, where rookies and rising stars—like James’ son,... A couple weeks ago, LeBron James was in Las Vegas, seated courtside at the Thomas and Mack Center...

Art by Clark Miller (photo: Getty Images)

Why The WNBA’s Chicago Sky Struck a Deal With a Counter-Terrorism Startup

By Sara Germano · Jul 1, 2025 2:39pm PDT

During the first game of the WNBA season, Chicago Sky star forward Angel Reese received a hard foul from her archrival, the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark. The tough basketball play sparked a maelstrom of hate speech that snowballed across social media, an episode that highlighted how quickly such abusive discourse travels and how the league... During the first game of the WNBA season, Chicago Sky star forward Angel Reese received a hard...

Art by Clark Miller

Coming to Amazon: A 3D-Printed Nike Sports Bra?

By Sara Germano · Jun 21, 2025 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

More than 1,700 men have broken the 4-minute mile, but no woman has ever done so. The fastest any female runner has ever covered the distance is 4 minutes and 7.64 seconds, the current world record set by Faith Kipyegon in 2023. Which is to say: not even close. Nevertheless, Nike is staging a race in Paris next Thursday where Kipyegon will... More than 1,700 men have broken the 4-minute mile, but no woman has ever done so. The fastest any...

How Online Gambling Forces Athletes to Battle Hecklers on Their Own

By Sara Germano · Jun 7, 2025 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

As a triple Olympic champion, Sports Illustrated and Vogue model, and Harvard alum, sprinter Gabby Thomas attracts thousands of fans wherever she competes. She also attracts some genuine weirdos. Last weekend, for example, a man attending Thomas’ race in Philadelphia began to loudly berate her—yelling that she was a “choke artist” and that... As a triple Olympic champion, Sports Illustrated and Vogue model, and Harvard alum, sprinter...

Art by Clark Miller.

The WNBA and Sports Have an Online Abuse Problem—and Few Good Solutions

By Sara Germano · May 24, 2025 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Art by Clark Miller.

The WNBA and Sports Have an Online Abuse Problem—and Few Good Solutions

By Sara Germano · May 24, 2025 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Last Saturday, the WNBA’s Indiana Fever hosted the Chicago Sky for their 2025 season opener, a highly anticipated matchup between archrival stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. It was a hard-fought game until the third quarter, when everything went off the rails. Clark, who is white, committed a flagrant foul on Reese, who is Black, leading to a... Last Saturday, the WNBA’s Indiana Fever hosted the Chicago Sky for their 2025 season opener, a...

Clark Miller

How Sports Leagues Learned to Love Creators Instead of Fighting Them

By Sara Germano · May 2, 2025 9:04am PDT

In summer 2021, Matt Scharf and some of his guy friends were playing a round of golf at a leafy course near Austin, Texas, when they arrived at the 14th hole, a 290-yard uphill par 4. Clad in a busy Hawaiian-print polo and a trucker hat, Scharf thwacked a drive straight down the fairway to the green, eliciting immediate whoops of “Dude!” and “... In summer 2021, Matt Scharf and some of his guy friends were playing a round of golf at a leafy...

Art by Clark Miller

The WNBA and Its New Tech Owners Have a Merch Problem

By Sara Germano · Apr 5, 2025 6:00am PDT

Keia Clarke thought she had a handle on her surging customer demand. As chief executive of the New York Liberty, she runs the business of one of the WNBA’s hottest teams, whose recent on-court success has led to surging viewership and sales of tickets and merchandise. To prepare for the Liberty’s home opener at Barclays Center last spring,... Keia Clarke thought she had a handle on her surging customer demand. As chief executive of the...

Art by Clark Miller. (Photos: Getty Images)

The Information’s Database of the Tech Moguls Who Own Sports Teams

By Sara Germano · Mar 21, 2025 12:00pm PDT · 1 comment

Last June, the Boston Celtics clinched their 18th NBA Championship, making them the most decorated pro basketball franchise of all time. On Thursday, Symphony Technology co-founder Bill Chisholm reached an agreement to buy the team at a valuation of $6.1 billion, giving the Celtics yet another title: the most expensive U.S. sports club ever... Last June, the Boston Celtics clinched their 18th NBA Championship, making them the most...

Art by Clark Miller

What the NFL and Netflix Could Both Want: An Overseas Super Bowl

By Sara Germano · Feb 1, 2025 5:00am PST

Art by Clark Miller

What the NFL and Netflix Could Both Want: An Overseas Super Bowl

By Sara Germano · Feb 1, 2025 5:00am PST

When selecting the venue for next weekend’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL went with a traditional choice: New Orleans. It’ll be the 11th time the Big Easy has hosted the Big Game, tying it with Miami for hosting the most Super Bowls ever. Recently, however, the world’s richest... When selecting the venue for next weekend’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and...

Art by Clark Miller

The Sneaker Wars’ Surprise Twist: Female Basketball Stars Can Outsell Men

By Sara Germano · Dec 20, 2024 9:08am PST

A pop quiz: Which living basketball player has the most-worn signature sneaker in the NBA this season? If you guessed perennial All-Stars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant or even Michael Jordan, you’d be wrong: It’s Sabrina Ionescu, starting point guard for the WNBA champion New York Liberty. Indeed, sales of Ionescu’s unisex... A pop quiz: Which living basketball player has the most-worn signature sneaker in the NBA this...