Top Tier Lessons Signs with Horseshoe Collective | Ariel Investments launches $250 Million Women's Sports Fund

Get up to speed with latest news impacting the sports business landscape in Chicago and beyond. 🗞️

🚀 Chicago Startup Spotlight - Top Tier Lessons

⚽️ Top Tier Lessons signs Horseshoe Collective to Launch Youth Camps

The Horseshoe Collective has partnered with Top Tier Lessons to launch Horseshoe Camps, a first-of-its-kind collaboration that will provide opportunities for Boise State student-athletes to use their Name, Image and Likeness to host camps and clinics throughout the community, the collective has announced. 

Top Tier Lessons (TTL) is a college athlete led sports training platform founded in 2023 by former University of Illinois athlete Cara Bognar. Originally launched as a marketplace connecting college athletes with youth players for private lessons, TTL has evolved into a differentiated NIL infrastructure company.

Top Tier Lessons has already signed multi-million-dollar partnerships with schools including Santa Clara and Horseshoe Collective (Boise State), with a growing pipeline across Division I programs.

🏟️ Sports Funding & Acquisitions

🎟 Upcoming Local Events 

Join us on February 12th, as we host a panel discussion on "The Future of Investing in Sports” at the Sports & Entertainment Innovation Summit brought to you by 1871. Featured investors will be: Marquee Ventures, KB Partners and Ryan Sports Ventures.

Event Highlights:

Keynote Conversations: Fireside Chat with Jaime Faulkner, President of the Chicago Blackhawks. Gain direct, high-level insight into leadership and the future of professional sports.

Industry Expert Led Breakout Sessions:

• Investing in the Future of Sports Technology with Chicago Sports Tech

• Stadium and Arena Innovations with Levy

• and more.

Startup Pitch Showcases: Hear directly from our exclusive portfolio founders as they demonstrate how their solutions are transforming the Sports & Entertainment landscape.

Startup Alley & Happy Hour: Discover the latest innovations from our portfolio companies while connecting with summit attendees.

Get your ticket at https://luma.com/d9s8dmly

Email [email protected] for more information

🍻A Northwestern basketball alum is opening a women's sports bar in Wrigleyville It’ll be Chicago’s third dedicated women’s sports bar. But it’s opening in arguably the most sports-centric part of town. Level Sporting Club follows the lead of Babe’s in Logan Square and Whiskey Girl Tavern in Edgewater, ushering in an unprecedented era for women’s sports. Clarissa Flores, a guard for Northwestern in the late 90’s, has assembled an all-star team of investors to help her level the playing field. It includes the head coach of UC-Chicago’s women’s basketball team and Jennifer King, the first woman to hold a full-time NFL assistant coach position. Once Level opens as planned during the Spring, it’ll quadruple the number of women’s sports bars that have opened since the start of 2025. At the beginning of last year, there were only six such establishments. Now there are two dozen, with five based in the Midwest. Investors are now flocking to invest in what’s become one of the hottest niches among brick-and-mortar venues. Crain’s lists some of the key investors and executive chef teaming up with Flores for Level.

💨 Chicago's United Center now serving THC drinks With alcohol consumption trending downwards nationwide, United Center becomes the first major arena to offer consumers a different kind of buzz at events. According to Gallup, only 54% of U.S. adults reported drinking alcoholic beverages on occasion. This is the lowest number on record since they started tracking alcohol use in 1981. The rise of non-alcoholic drinks and THC drinks has forced operators to adjust their marketing strategy. Senorita and Rythm, both locally based in Rolling Meadows, will be the brands offered at the United Center starting in February. Before you get excited about watching the Bulls or Hawks in slow-mo after grabbing a THC drink from concessions, sporting events are excluded from the new change. The NBA and NHL restrict any cannabis advertising or sponsorships. For now, the drinks will only be offered at non-family-oriented events and concerts. Axios Chicago details what to expect in the THC drinks offered and the controversy surrounding hemp-derived THC products.

💰Rare Michael Jordan rookie card to be auctioned off There’s only one name in basketball that commands instant attention. Even 22 years after he last stepped on a court, anytime something related to Jordan goes on sale, everyone stops what they’re doing. This particular MJ rookie card is one of just 23 ever made. It’s one of 89 Jordan memorabilia items for sale at the Heritage Auctions’ Winter Sports Card Catalog Auction, but the only one with an estimated valuation over $500,000. The flawless condition and Jordan’s autograph, done on the card’s 20th anniversary, are other factors that send its estimated value through the roof. Despite commanding the price of a home, it wouldn’t even sniff the top five most expensive Jordan sports cards ever sold. It’s only $12 million short of the crown as the most expensive. Last August, a 2007-2008 Upper Deck Exquisite Dual Logoman autographed card featuring signatures from Jordan and Kobe Bryant sold for $12.9 million. So the 1986 Fleer MJ rookie card is in rare air, but not quite in the same atmosphere. This Crain’s article describes other factors contributing to the card’s valuation and the total number of items available for auction.

🇺🇸 Commissioners of NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS to meet with Trump over America 250 plans 2026 is gearing up to be a unique year in sports history. It’s not every day that the commissioners of all of the major men’s pro U.S. sports meet with the president. America’s 200th anniversary in 1976 featured some coordinated efforts. Philadelphia hosted four major sporting events in one year, a nod to its critical role in the nation’s early history. And President Gerald Ford threw the first pitch at the MLB All-Star Game. America 250 has much grander plans in store. It starts with a UFC event at the White House and will include some form of recognition during the World Cup. No one knows yet how they will intertwine all the major sports, especially those like the NFL and NBA, which are in their offseasons in July. All we know is that something big is definitely happening. The main questions left to ask are about the overall costs and the extent of the planning process. The Athletic dives into the scope of the planned meeting and some initial ideas on commemorating America’s 250th.

📺 Paramount will implement live programming ad placements during sports events, becoming the first streaming platform to do so Streaming platforms have made it easier than ever for people to catch live sports. It has also posed a challenge for advertisers: finding the best moments during these events to show their ads. Paramount is creating a path to solving this issue once and for all with its Streaming Fixed Units. These units guarantee premium ad placement, such as the first slot in a commercial break, rather than the third slot when people have already gotten up to use the bathroom or grab a snack. Paramount rolled out its new system during UFC 324, the first UFC event its hosted under its seven-year, $7.7 billion media rights contract with the UFC. For advertisers, it could symbolize the end of the era of pre-buying ad space months in advance. For viewers, it could take some getting used to. There were complaints on social media after UFC 324 about people feeling like they were drowning in ads. Advertisers will respond to viewer concerns to make the ads more seamless, but it looks like the innovation is here to stay. Yahoo Finance presents Paramount’s live-ad strategy and plans to expand it.

⛷ Washington Post pulls plug on Winter Olympics coverage two weeks before games It’s one thing to change your mind on something last minute. It’s a major head scratcher to spend nearly $100,000 on it before changing course. So is the current state of the Washington Post, once one of the most respected and powerful news sources. The Post lost more than half of its digital audience following the 2020 election. In 2023, it reported an operating loss of $77 million. Still, it would seem like covering one of the biggest sporting events of the year would be a no-brainer for a publication struggling for relevancy. The Post had already secured 14 credentials and paid for flights, housing, and on-site office space. Sad, but such is the demise of the Washington Post. It seems like a ticking time bomb set to go off at any moment. Awful Announcing provides insight into the internal memo that changed the plans two weeks before the games.

🎽 College Football Playoff and Legends Global Announce Record-Breaking Merchandise Sales for 2026 National Championship When the final whistle blew on January 19th, Indiana had made history for their first college football national title. But before a play was ever run, fans flocked to the on-site shops like never before. Merch sales rose by 18%, breaking the previous record set in Houston for the 2024 title game. Legends Global has become the de facto operator of gameday hospitality and premium services. It manages over 450 venues, numbering 20,000 annual events. Its client list includes the NFL, PGA, and INDYCAR for the Indy 500. If college football viewership continues to grow as it did this past season, Legends Global will help ensure merch sales keep breaking records. Licensing International covers the most popular items fans bought at Hard Rock Stadium.

⚡️ 49ers Say They’re Looking Into Power Plant Injury Theory Everyone loves a good conspiracy theory, at least every now and then. Unless you’re the 49ers, who are at the butt of what was a joke initially. When you look at the number of major injuries the 49ers have endured to star players over the past couple of seasons, it’s hard to brush the theory off as just science fiction. For context, the electrical substation has been in operation since 1986, before the 49ers’ practice facility opened next door and several years before Levi’s Stadium opened adjacent to it in 2014. The theory had allegedly been discussed internally by players for years, but gained traction recently. Wellness business owner Peter Cowan posted findings on X that garnered 22 million views. He suggested that the 49ers’ training field’s location next to the substation was causing chronic low EMF (electromagnetic field) exposure that could explain the number of tendon injuries. In a series of posts, he points out the 49ers are the most injured team in the NFL by a long shot. Multiple medical experts have debunked the theory as nonsense, but GM John Lynch says he’ll look into it because why not? With a long offseason for superfans and the 49ers, it gives both something to discuss before football returns in the Fall. Front Office Sports uncovers the theory and opposing views.