🚀 Upside Weekly Recap: NWSL Expansion, MLS Aligns with European Calendar, and Curry/UA Split

Dear colleague,

The week was dominated by major institutional capital flowing into European football and athlete representation, highlighted by Apollo Global Management acquiring a majority stake in Atlético de Madrid in a deal valuing the club up to €2.5 billion, and Goldman Sachs taking a strategic stake in Excel Sports Management at a near-US$1 billion valuation, confirming that top clubs and athlete agencies are now treated as core, alternative-asset opportunities. Concurrently, major league and structural shifts are underway, with the MLS aligning its calendar with top European soccer leagues starting in 2027 and the NWSL continuing its expansion by targeting an 18th team by 2028.

Other key moves include the formal completion of Sportradar’s acquisition of IMG Arena’s sports-data and betting rights portfolio, the high-profile 13-year partnership split between Under Armour and Stephen Curry, and notable coaching appointments, such as Rob Edwards returning to Wolverhampton Wanderers as head coach to lead a club “refresh” and Marko Mitrović taking the reins at the New England Revolution (MLS).

⌚ New Sports Biz News

• NWSL to continue expansion, targets 18th team in 2028 (Source: ESPN)

• Under Armour, Stephen Curry parting ways after 13 years (Source: SBJ)

• MLS to align calendar with top leagues around the world (Source: MLSoccer.com)

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⌚ New Product / Initiative / Structural Moves

• Whoop’s Advanced Labs blood test uploads go global after soft rollout (Source: Wareable)

• Apple’s cheapest pair of AirPods just hit a new record-low price (Source: Wareable)

• Multi Radiance Medical Recognizes Research Team Members on 2025 Stanford University Top 2% Scientists List (Source: Businesswire)

• Samsung Galaxy Ring could soon become a smart glasses controller (Source: Wareable)

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📅 What’s Next for Upside

Join us at our upcoming events:

• 2025 Upside VIP Dinner – MLS Symposium | December 10 | Atlanta, GA

• 2026 Upside VIP Dinner – NBA Summer League | July 2026

• 2026 Upside VIP Event – Atlético Madrid Stadium | September 2026

• 2026 Upside Annual Summit | Date & Location TBD

We are working on organizing additional Upside events in the US and Europe in 2026.

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Want to Speak or Sponsor an Upside Event?

If you’re interested in speaking or sponsoring one of our future Upside events, please contact us at: julien@upsideglobal.co

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📖 Upside Analysis of the Week

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🎙️ Upside Podcasts of the Week

📅 Upcoming Upside Podcasts

• 11/17: Upside podcast interview with Dr Ron Dick, Associate Professor of Sports Marketing at Duquesne University (NCAA).

• 11/18: Upside podcast interview with Brandon Epstein, UFC Performance Mental coach

• 11/20: Upside podcast interview with Mike Proman, Partner, Scrum Ventures

• 11/25: Upside NBA Group podcast with top NBA practitioners.

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🔍 Recent M&A Deals Of The Week

Apollo Global Management — majority stake in Atlético de Madrid

Apollo Sports Capital (Apollo’s sports vehicle) agreed to buy a majority stake in Atlético de Madrid; the transaction was announced Nov 10, 2025 and is expected to close in Q1 2026. (Source: Financial Times)

Upside Take: Institutional capital treating top clubs as core alternative-asset opportunities continues to accelerate — size of the valuation shows appetite for stadium/real-estate development, sponsorship expansion and global fan-monetisation playbooks.

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Goldman Sachs — majority / strategic stake in Excel Sports Management

Goldman Sachs’ alternatives/private-equity arm announced a strategic partnership / majority stake acquisition in Excel Sports Management (announced Nov 10–11, 2025), which represents top athletes and brands; press and trade outlets report the deal values Excel at close to US$1bn. (Source: Goldman Sachs Asset Management)

Upside Take: This confirms the trend of major financial institutions moving into the athlete-representation and brand-management layer of the sports ecosystem — they’re buying access to recurring revenue streams (sponsorship, IP, events) and athlete IP.

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Other recent / near-term closes you should know

• Sportradar completed acquisition of IMG Arena (sports-data & betting rights portfolio) — announced/closed Nov 3, 2025 (so outside the strict 7-day window but still material this month). This was a strategic data/rights purchase and remains worth tracking. (Source: Sportradar Investors)

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📌 Big picture

This week’s activity (Apollo + Goldman) highlights two parallel themes: (1) club/franchise ownership continues to attract large institutional capital (seeking real-assets, stadium projects, and steady commercial growth), and (2) adjacent services (agencies, rights, data) are premium targets as buyers chase recurring, scalable revenue tied to athletes, sponsorships and betting/data flows. Expect more cross-sector bids as banks, PE and specialised sports funds deploy capital. (Source: Financial Times)

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👀 Things to Watch Next

1. Will other top agencies or sports-services firms (player representation, rights distributors, experiential platforms) seek similar financings or strategic exits?

2. How Apollo structures governance at Atlético (degree of autonomy for sporting leadership vs private-capital optimisation).

3. Regulatory / league scrutiny (ownership rules, antitrust, data/betting regulation) — especially for transactions that touch betting/data or cross-jurisdictional club ownership.

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⭐ Major Coaching / Practitioner Moves

⚽ Soccer / Premier Leagues

Rob Edwards appointed head coach of Wolverhampton Wanderers (English Premier League)
Rob Edwards has been confirmed as the new head coach of Wolves, signing a three-and-a-half-year deal to lead the struggling club. He replaces Vítor Pereira. (Source: The Guardian)
Upside Take: Wolves have brought back a familiar figure who knows the club and its culture. Edwards’ mandate is to “refresh the whole club” and instil belief in a side currently bottom of the league.

Marko Mitrović named head coach of New England Revolution (MLS)
Mitrović has been appointed as head coach of the Revolution, replacing the previous permanent/interim structure. His experience includes US U-20 and U-23 teams. (Source: revolutionsoccer.net)
Upside Take: A modern coach with international youth credentials stepping into MLS could bring fresh tactics, youth-integration and a long-term mindset.

Shao Jiayi appointed head coach of China men’s national football team
Shao, a former China international, has been selected as head coach of the national team — the first Chinese national to hold the top job since 2002. Reuters
Upside Take: This appointment signals an intent by the national association to develop home-grown coaching leadership and perhaps refocus on long-term development.

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⚾ MLB

Tony Mansolino hired as third-base coach of Atlanta Braves
Mansolino, formerly interim manager at the Baltimore Orioles, has been announced as the Braves’ third-base coach for the 2026 season, with J.P Martinez joining as bullpen coach. (Source: FOX Sports)
Upside Take: Elevating someone with interim manager experience to a key base-coaching role may bring fresh perspective to the Braves’ coaching staff.

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🔍 Big Picture — What’s New / Why It Matters

• The appointments reflect a willingness among clubs and national associations to make decisive changes during transitional periods (Wolves, China, New England).

• There’s a mix of external fresh hires (Mitrović, Shao) and home-grown or internal-familiar figures (Edwards returning to Wolves).

• Not every move is a head-coach hire — in MLB especially, key practitioner/staff roles (third-base, bullpen coach) matter a lot for structural change.

• The velocity of change in coaching roles underscores how performance pressure in elite sport is severe — clubs/nations are quicker to act.

👀 Things to Watch Next

• How quickly Rob Edwards can turn around Wolves’ form — will there be immediate tactical/psychological shifts?

• Whether Marko Mitrović’s international development style translates into club success at the Revolution — how he handles MLS-specific challenges (travel, roster rules, salary cap).

• In China, how Shao Jiayi framework for player development and international competitiveness plays out — his appointment is long-term; watching early qualifiers and friendlies will signal progress.

• MLB staff moves: Will the Braves’ new base and bullpen coaches influence next-season performance, and could this trigger further coaching/staff reshuffles across the league?

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As a reminder, in July 2025, Upside announced our new AI based product comparison tool (Interactive tables, Upside AI Assistant) which is part of our Upside Tech scouting platform which is being trusted by 100+ teams (NBA, NFL, MLS, MLB, NHL, WNBA, Premier League, NCAA, national rugby teams, Top 14, Calcio, laliga, pro tennis..).

At Upside, we’ve built one of the most comprehensive performance technology databases in sports and tech with the top 500 products and companies in performance tech. From GPS tracking and recovery systems to strength training solutions and biometric monitoring tools, our platform covers the products shaping athlete performance today.

But technology in sports moves fast—new SKUs, product launches, and price changes are happening constantly. That’s why our team updates the database every single week, so that teams, practitioners, and decision-makers always have access to the most accurate and up-to-date information.

Our brand-new Product Comparison Tool offers a comprehensive comparison of over 500 performance products and companies across a wide range of categories (AMS, GPS, hydration assessment tools, cognitive training, velocity training systems, video analysis, sleep tech, etc..). Whether you’re evaluating vendors for AMS platforms, velocity training, or other categories, this tool allows you to compare pricing, specifications, customer bases, capabilities, funding, and more—all in one place.

Here is a screenshot of what our Upside AI assistant looks like:

Picture: Upside Global, confidential, October 2025

Here is a video explaining how our Upside AI assistant works:

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• Upside Tech Scouting: An AI-based platform designed to help sports teams discover and vet top technologies to boost performance, save time and money, and maintain a competitive edge.

• Upside Career (Launching soon): An AI-powered recruiting platform that connects sports organizations and technology vendors with ideal candidates.

• Upside Consulting: Focuses on accelerating business development for startups in elite sports by helping them expand into new markets/leagues and assisting with fundraising through a network of trusted teams and investors. Upside also helps teams with special projects focused on innovation, tech scouting, and so on.

Here is a video explaining how the Upside Career platform works:

We will soon allow candidates to create their profiles and for teams to post job opportunities. We are also in advanced conversations with top Universities to organize job fairs with top universities/NCAA organizations and teams in 2026. More details coming soon.

As a reminder, Upside Global is a network of 10,000 sports executives. The Upside Newsletter is sent 5 days per week to practitioners (Head of performance, HAT, Head of rehab, S&C coaches, PTs..) of all the NBA, NFL, MLS, MLB, NHL teams, 130 NCAA teams, top European soccer teams (Premier League, Calcio, Laliga, Ligue 1..), national rugby teams, tennis academies, top VCs, investors.

Learn More About Upside Global

If you want to learn more about Upside Global and our services—including Upside Tech scouting platform, Upside Career, and Upside Consulting—please visit www.upsideglobal.co or email us at julien@upsideglobal.co.

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Join Today

All these features—the product comparison tool, Upside AI assistant, are available through flexible membership options, including monthly and annual plans. The practitioner community and product review sections are free for all practitioners. So if you are a practitioner who wants to join our online community of practitioners please contact us at julien@upsideglobal.co and we will create your online exec profile.

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