College sports is the “new frontier” and private-equity firms are working hard to figure out how to get in, although their entry point remains unclear, partners from RedBird Capital and Carlyle Group told Front Office Sports.

Julia Wittlin, a partner at private-equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, didn’t hold back when asked about PE interest in college sports on a panel at last week’s Huddle in the Hamptons.

“That’s a controversial question,” she said. “Look, I’m just going to say it: College sports is the new frontier. … Everyone is kidding themselves if they think that’s not the direction of travel.”

Private equity has already broken into pro sports and even youth sports. But it has been slow going for PE in college as players and schools figure out the right path. There has been some activity in the space, such as the new $500 million initiative from sports business consultancy Elevate announced in June. And FOS reported in June that Boise State is “actively considering” bringing private-equity investment into the Broncos’ athletic department, with a deal expected within the next six months. 

But besides bits and pieces, the floodgates have yet to open.

“The dam will break at some point,” Ben Fund, a partner at Carlyle Group, said on the same FOS panel. “I hope it’s soon, because there’s a huge opportunity to generate returns and, I think, professionalize programs and invest in schools.”

In the wake of the landmark House v. NCAA settlement, which was granted final approval in June, “the reality is that schools need to pay the players, and they also need to think about their own infrastructure,” Wittlin said. There are also “something like” 30-plus college stadiums that need to be refurbished, she added. “Who’s going to pay for that now?”

Fund acknowledged that college sports is an area Carlyle has spent a lot of time thinking about.

“I would say it’s an … academically interesting place to theoretically deploy capital,” he said. “My return on time and legal spend is unbelievably low given we’ve deployed zero dollars and spent many millions of dollars trying to understand the opportunity set.” 

Fund added that many people “have spent a lot of time trying to figure it out. Nobody has yet.”

One hurdle is the obvious sensitivities around putting private-equity money into schools, according to Chuck Baker, who co-chairs the entertainment, sports, and media practice of law firm Sidley Austin.

He recently told FOS that while private equity “is excited to get into the college sports sector, university conferences and their boards are being properly diligent.”

“Colleges exist as nonprofit institutions to educate people. That’s their real mission,” he said in June. “As attractive as PE investment may be, universities, conferences, and their boards are being very mindful of not necessarily wanting to be trailblazers in this space.”

Editors’ note: RedBird IMI, in which RedBird Capital Partners is a joint venture partner, is the primary investor in Front Office Sports.

Kalshi’s recent legal winning streak has come to an end with an early loss in its case against Maryland’s gaming regulator, but the prediction markets start-up hit right back with an appeal.

A federal judge in Maryland on Friday denied Kalshi’s request to stop the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission from blocking Kalshi from offering its sports event contracts in the state, ruling that Kalshi must comply with state gambling regulations.

U.S. District Judge Adam B. Abelson was clear in a 30-page ruling that he does not agree there is a clear distinction between Kalshi’s sports event contracts and sports betting. 

Kalshi has argued that typical wagers placed have users betting against “the house”—casinos or sportsbooks like DraftKings or FanDuel, which set the odds and profit when bettors lose—while Kalshi operates a nationwide marketplace where users are trading against one another.

Judge Abelson explicitly referred to the “sports gambling portion” of Kalshi’s platform, noted the company has not successfully shown a “likelihood of success on the merits” and said “the courts and Congress have long recognized states’ authority to regulate gambling conducted within their borders.” 

The dispute between Kalshi and the Maryland regulator dates back to April, when the latter issued a cease-and-desist letter demanding the former stop offering sports event contracts in the state. In response, Kalshi sued, arguing—as it has successfully argued in separate cases against regulators in Nevada and New Jersey—that it falls under the “exclusive” jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Kalshi claims the CFTC’s authority supersedes that of state regulators through a law called the Commodity Exchange Act, which regulates the trading of commodities like grains and oil, but also less obvious commodities, such as sports when considered in a trading context. 

Following Judge Abelson’s ruling—under which Kalshi is not technically allowed to continue offering sports event contracts in Maryland—Kalshi immediately filed a notice of appeal to the Fourth Circuit, and separately asked the Maryland federal court to consider an immediate injunction that would allow it to continue operating in the state pending its appeal. 

Kalshi says an immediate injunction is warranted for multiple reasons, including that complying with the order would be “impossible” because Kalshi would need to implement geolocation to be able to block users in Maryland, something it says would “at minimum, take months and cost tens of millions of dollars.”

On Monday, Kalshi informed the court that attorneys for the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission said the regulator has agreed to hold off on any enforcement until after a status conference that the parties intend to request be held Aug. 13.

That means Kalshi can continue in Maryland until at least that date.

The ruling comes as M&A activity in the prediction markets space is expected in time for the football season, the busiest time of year for sports betting. 

In June, Front Office Sports reported that FanDuel and Kalshi have held discussions about a deal that would include various betting efficiencies. In July, FOS reported that DraftKings was in talks to buy Railbird Exchange, an upstart prediction markets platform that recently gained federal licensure. 

A source familiar with the matter now tells FOS that DraftKings is expected to announce a prediction-markets-related partnership of some kind—which may or may not be related to the reported Railbird talks—as soon as next week. 

Some deal activity has already taken place. Polymarket, another prediction markets operator, is poised to join Kalshi as an officially licensed operator in the U.S. after buying the QCX exchange, a small derivatives exchange that was recently regulated by the CFTC, a federal regulator.

Kalshi first launched its sports event contracts in January. Users can “trade” on the outcomes of sporting events, such as what Giannis Antetokounmpo’s next team will be, or whether a Canadian team will win the Stanley Cup Final before the 2031 season.

Last month, Kalshi touted that more than $2 billion had been traded across its sports event contracts since launch.

In addition to lawsuits Kalshi filed against state regulators in Maryland, Nevada, and New Jersey, the company has been hit with cease-and-desists from four other states: Arizona, Illinois, Montana, and Ohio. It has also been sued by three Native American tribes in California, and faces five state court lawsuits that all cite versions of the Statute of Anne, a centuries-old provision that voids certain gambling debts and allows third parties to sue for damages if the original bettor fails to act within six months.

Representatives for Kalshi and the Maryland regulator declined to comment.

Major League Volleyball will absorb the Pro Volleyball Federation, thinning a crowded field for pro indoor women’s volleyball in the United States.

The merger, announced Tuesday, will result in a combined league operating as MLV. Its debut season will start in January 2026 and feature eight teams, in Atlanta, Columbus, Dallas, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Omaha, Orlando, and San Diego.

The PVF reportedly raised $40 million in connection with the deal, which Sportico stated values the combined league at more than $325 million. PVF spokesperson Rob Carolla declined to comment on financial details. 

In response to a question about the potential for further consolidation in the realm of pro women’s volleyball—in addition to MLV there is League One Volleyball (LOVB) and the AU Pro Volleyball Championship—Carolla said “while we wouldn’t want to speculate on the future, the league is excited to provide the athletes the best professional opportunities in the United States.”

The PVF, founded in 2020, had already played two seasons, while MLV was set to launch in January 2026 with $100 million in funding. The upcoming season will be considered a third season for what is now called MLV.

The agreement culls what was becoming a crowded field of women’s volleyball leagues in the U.S. Following the transaction, there will still be three separate leagues competing for fan attention: MLV, LOVB, and the AU Pro Volleyball Championship from Athletes Unlimited, which runs multiple women’s sports leagues in addition to volleyball, including softball, basketball, and lacrosse.

LOVB, which was founded in 2020, held its debut pro season this year—starting in January and going through April—with six teams. The Austin team won the inaugural championship. In 2024, LOVB announced $100 million in funding in a round led by private-equity firm Atwater Capital.

Cassidy Lichtman, VP of volleyball for Athletes Unlimited, tells Front Office Sports there is room for all three leagues. In fact, the existence of MLV and LOVB benefits Athletes Unlimited in particular because the seasons don’t overlap, with the Athletes Unlimited season in the fall. Plus, Lichtman says that as many as 90% of its players also play in one of the other leagues, as there are no restrictions barring players from competing in multiple leagues.

“We pull players from both,” she says. “We welcome the investment in the sport, it provides for more opportunities for players and keeps more players in the United States, which helps our talent level grow each year.”

Before Athletes Unlimited’s 2020 launch, there hadn’t been a pro indoor women’s volleyball league in the United States since the 1980s. (That league, which is now defunct, was called Major League Volleyball.)

“There was no opportunity here until Athletes Unlimited started in 2021,” she says. “Now, players are inundated with opportunity.”

A spokesperson for LOVB said in an emailed statement to FOS “we believe the rise of these leagues underscore the excitement around pro volleyball in the U.S.—both as a sport and a fast-growing asset class.”

“But their announcements have no impact on LOVB,” the statement said. “For the last seven years, we’ve been building deliberately and our focus is on long-term, sustainable success. We are doing that through a community-up vision and youth-to-pro model that sets us apart in American sports, and we remain focused on our strategy.”

The new combined league has well-known franchise owners, including Orlando Magic owner Dan DeVos, who is CEO and owner of MLV’s Grand Rapids Rise, and Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé, who will own a franchise in Northern California that will not compete in 2026 but is expected to be ready for the 2027 season.

DeVos said in Tuesday’s statement that “this is a major step in the evolution of pro women’s volleyball here in the United States.”

Ranadivé said “women’s volleyball is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, with fan interest and viewership at an all-time high,” and “we have a unique opportunity to build something special, elevate these phenomenal athletes, and create unforgettable fan experiences.”

There is data to back up his claim. College volleyball continues to turn in stellar ratings for Fox and ESPN, though the pros have been a tougher sell on TV. Participation is at an all-time high at the high school level.

The announcement comes after the Omaha Supernovas earlier this year announced they were leaving the PVF—which has played two seasons—to be a founding member of the upstart MLV. 

Another PVF team, the Vegas Thrill, are not currently planned as an MLV franchise. In Tuesday’s statement, the leagues said the Thrill are actively seeking new owners “but have not been able to finalize the specifics prior to this announcement.” If a new ownership group emerges, the team “would have the opportunity to continue playing professional volleyball at the highest level.”

The AU Pro Volleyball Championship, launched in 2021 in partnership with USA Volleyball and Athletes Unlimited, boasts four teams. In 2022, Athletes Unlimited completed a $30 million funding round that included participation from Kevin Durant’s 35 Ventures and seasoned private-equity executive and sports team owner David Blitzer, money which was spread across its sports leagues, including volleyball.

Representatives for Bank of America, which acted as financial adviser to the PVF, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.