With an agreement in place to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves — plus a new venture capital firm and a $500 million SPAC — Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore are on a major roll.

The deal for the Timberwolves — first reported by Front Office Sports on Thursday — also includes the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx and is expected to be about $1.5 billion. It will require the approval of NBA owners before it’s finalized.

The former New York Yankees star and Lore, the former e-commerce chief at Walmart, also made headlines Wednesday when they formed their own venture capital firm, Vision/Capital/People, or VCP.

VCP is launching with $50 million in funds from the duo. It could reportedly raise an additional $300 million to $500 million.

“If you have a big idea, you don’t want to start with a couple hundred grand,” Lore told CNBC. 

Together, Rodriguez and Lore have made some notable moves in the last six months: 

• Successfully raised $500 million for their Slam Corp. SPAC, which intends to pursue business in sports, media, entertainment, health and wellness, and tech.
• Backed an air-taxi company called Archer Aviation.
• A-Rod joined the $650 million hospitality fund CGI Merchant Group to invest in hotels.

Rodriguez founded the A-Rod Corp. holding company in 1995. Its portfolio includes more than 30 companies and over $1 billion worth of real estate.

Lore’s e-commerce site, Jet.com, was acquired by Walmart for $3.3 billion in 2016. When he announced his departure from the retailer back in January, he correctly predicted: “I’m going to probably buy a sports team.”

ESPN has reached an eight-year broadcasting rights deal for all 380 LaLiga matches per season, Disney announced on its fiscal Q2 2021 earnings call Thursday.

ESPN’s coverage of the league — the premier men’s soccer division in Spain — is slated to kick off in August 2021. 

BeIN Sports has held U.S. broadcasting rights to LaLiga since 2012 and will keep them through 2024, but the Qatar-based network’s lack of availability for Comcast Xfinity and DirectTV customers created a contractual loophole allowing ESPN to move in. 

ESPN’s deal with LaLiga continues the network’s focus on establishing a global footprint through soccer. It previously held U.S. broadcasting rights to Italy’s Serie A but lost them to CBS in March. That deal runs for three years at $75 million per year.

Meanwhile, NBCUniversal’s Peacock is thriving thanks in part to its English Premier League content. Peacock reported 42 million U.S. subscribers in Q1 2021, up 33 million in Q4 2020.

Disney reported that ESPN+ is up to 13.8 million subscribers after signups increased 75% year-over-year. In total, ESPN+ will air more than 2,900 soccer matches per year. LaLiga gives them access to powerhouses like FC Barcelona.

Despite a bevy of financial issues caused by the pandemic — crucial negotiations with star Lionel Messi have been complicated by a club-ordered audit — Barcelona is the first and only sports team to surpass $1 billion in annual revenue.

With a valuation of $4.76 billion, Barca is the fourth-most valuable team in the world behind the Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees, and New York Knicks.

LeBron James has won four NBA titles with three teams, but he’s only on his second soft drink sponsorship — the King switched to Pepsi earlier this year after 17 years with Coke.

While James may eventually expand his endorsement to Gatorade or other Pepsi products, for now his assignment is to build up the company’s main energy drink: Mtn Dew Rise. 

“We know it’s a crowded category,” James told CNBC. “But we believe there’s more room.”

• Global energy drink sales reached $57.4 billion in 2020, and the industry is expected to grow 7% on average annually. 
• PepsiCo bought Rockstar, a major player in the market, in a $3.85 billion deal in March 2020.
• Monster and Red Bull, which have marketed heavily to extreme sports enthusiasts, have the biggest market shares at 33% and 24%, respectively.

The size of the deal hasn’t been disclosed, but LeBron earned $65 million in endorsements over the last 12 months, and his lifetime deal with Nike may be worth over $1 billion. Pepsi, the official soft drink of the NBA, also has deals with Joel Embiid and Zion Williamson. 

PepsiCo revealed the debut Mtn Dew Rise commercial featuring James on Thursday. Naturally, it’ll run throughout this year’s NBA Playoffs as LeBron chases his fifth ring.