Unrivaled closed its Series C this week at a $650 million valuation, bringing in $106 million in new money. League president Alex Bazzell said this raise is worth more than all of the league's previous funding combined.

Its Series B closed in September 2025 at $350 million; the number nearly doubled in 11 months. Ten Pillars Sports Fund, backed by UC Investments, led the round.

Carmelo Anthony, Trae Young, Geno Auriemma, and Alex Morgan's Trybe Ventures all added to earlier positions.

Players are still the largest shareholder group after the raise, and their equity pool now sits near $200 million. Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart co-founded the league in 2023 and built player ownership into it from the start. It now runs 8 teams with 54 players.

The new capital goes toward the Miami arena experience, roughly 4x the number of road games, and an expanded NIL program for top college players. The valuation puts Unrivaled ahead of every WNBA team except the Golden State Valkyries. Season 3 tips off in January, and the players will own a bigger piece of it than they did last winter.

LeBron became LeBond James after some breaking news this week.

In March 2018, LeBron James borrowed nearly $300 million against money he had not earned yet, structured as private bonds. An LLC he controls, King James Funding, issued the bonds.

The buyers were North American Company for Life and Health Insurance and Midland National Life Insurance Company, both owned by Sammons Financial Group Companies. Guggenheim Partners arranged the deal.

The bonds pay 4.8% over a 31-year term ending in late 2049. The collateral was his future off-court revenue, including the lifetime Nike deal he signed in 2015.

A second round followed in August 2022, around the time of his 2-year, $97 million Lakers extension: about $60 million of 34-year bonds at 5.75%. His spokesperson says both deals carried third-party credit ratings and the NBA approved the 2022 transaction.

At the end of 2025, the two insurers still held about $245 million of the bonds. Securitization gave LeBron the cash in 2018 and let him keep ownership of everything he bought with it.

The Nike agreement is what made the borrowing possible. An insurer will lend for 31 years against income it can forecast for 31 years, and a contract with no end date gives it that forecast.

James signed a deal that outlives his playing career, borrowed against it, and has until 2049 to pay it off.

If you are a founder reading this, the Athletes & Assets™ app puts your company in front of 220+ pro athletes looking to find long term partners.

Join the community and find your newest team member: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/athletes-assets/id6790524794

IDA Sports makes soccer cleats built on a female foot mold. Laura Youngson co-founded the company in 2018 after organizing a 2017 match on Mount Kilimanjaro that landed in the Guinness Book of World Records, where she noticed every woman was playing in men's or boys' cleats. IDA launched in 2020 around a mold built from scans of more than 700 women's feet, with a wider toe box, more arch support, and a narrower heel cup, plus a stud configuration changed with input from researchers and podiatrists.

Distribution runs direct-to-consumer at 94.99 to 259.99 dollars, plus wholesale, club partnerships, and lines for lacrosse, flag football, and rugby. Michele Kang's Kynisca led a 2 million dollar seed round in October 2024 with Elysian Park Ventures, Firebird Impact, and Tipt Ventures. Revenue tripled from 2022 to 2023, and IDA expected the same in 2024.

Footwear is the category where athlete equity has already paid the most. Federer took a stake in On in 2019 as part of his footwear deal after leaving Nike, and that roughly 3% was worth more than 375 million dollars by 2025. IDA is 1 seed round in, with a pro roster signed as endorsers and an institutional cap table. The 2027 Women's World Cup is the next demand spike.