After raising $634 million for future acquisitions in February, JD Sports has reportedly purchased a majority stake in Missy Empire, an online fashion retailer for women. 

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Missy Empire generated $29.8 million in revenue last year.

Despite new ownership, the online retailer will continue to run as a separate brand. Its sportswear collection, Missy Sport, could hit brick-and-mortar stores and JD Sports websites next year. 

JD Sports’ latest move comes as no surprise, as its portfolio has expanded considerably over the past year. 

• Acquired California-based Shoe Palace for $325 million. The footwear company has 167 U.S. stores and stocks brands including Puma, Nike, New Balance, and Jordan. 
• Purchased a 60% stake in sportswear seller Marketing Investment Group, which operates over 410 retail stores and websites across nine countries in Central and Eastern Europe. 
• Bought Manchester-based clothing retailer Oi Polloi. The company stocks several brands including Levi’s, Stone Island, adidas, and Reebok. 
• Acquired Baltimore-based lifestyle retailer DTLR Villa for $495 million. The company has more than 254 stores across 19 states. 

JD Sports’ acquisition frenzy is starting to pay off. 

With more than 2,600 stores worldwide, JD Sports has generated roughly $7.3 billion in revenue so far this year, already surpassing 2020 revenue of $7.2 billion.

Sportradar is teaming up with LiveLike to create emBET, an industry-first, real-time integrated betting technology.

With the ability to plug into existing video players, emBET will combine live odds, data, insights API, advertising technology, Sportradar OTT, and AV technology to maximize wagering opportunities and betting partnerships with top sportsbook operators.

Live odds and other sports betting elements can be available onscreen to viewers, just as scores and player stats are incorporated into broadcasts.

The global sports betting industry reached $203 billion last year. Shortly after the Supreme Court legalized sports betting in 2018, the U.S. market was worth $2.4 billion.

“With the US recently clearing the 50% mark of states that have a legalized betting framework, we’re going to see more betting content naturally embedded into the sports experience,” Sportradar said.

The offering continues the company’s rapid expansion.

• After withdrawing from discussions with SPAC sponsor Horizon to go public — valuing the company at $10 billion — Sportradar announced plans to opt for an IPO.
• The Swiss company purchased InteractSport in May, its third acquisition in 2021 after losing exclusive NFL data rights to Genius Sports in April.

Sportradar monitors, analyzes, and delivers insights for more than 720,000 sport events across 75 sports.

“With audience consumption habits shifting dramatically, it’s more important than ever to create a dynamic viewing experience built on rich data,” said Arne Rees, Sportradar US CEO. “Doing so eliminates the need for fans to turn to second screens.”

Minor League Baseball was hit first by contractions and then by a canceled season, but a bill introduced in Congress could provide relief.

The bipartisan measure introduced on Thursday by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), would allow minor league teams to draw from $550 million in unused pandemic relief funds. 

The Small Business Administration would distribute up to $15 million per team, but only after the agency determined that the money wasn’t needed for its original purpose. To qualify, teams would have to have been active in February 2020 and lost at least 75% of their revenue.

• Minor league teams make between $3 million and $25 million in a normal season. Teams lost around 90% of their revenue in the canceled 2020 season.
• Legislators advancing the bill say that minor league teams provide 3,300 full-time and almost 32,000 part-time or seasonal jobs. 
• Minor league teams cost over $2 million per season to operate, regardless of whether the teams are playing, according to a lawsuit filed by teams against insurers who were denying claims related to the pandemic. The lawsuit failed in November.

Last fall, Major League Baseball contracted the minor leagues across four levels from 160 guaranteed teams to 120.

This season, MLB raised minor league minimum pay by between $400 to $700 each week, depending on the level.

Players are only paid during the season, and MLB successfully lobbied Congress in 2018 to pass an exemption to minimum-wage laws that warded off a lawsuit attempting to force teams to pay minor leaguers during the offseason.