Topps has been the leading baseball card producer since the 1950s, but Fanatics is reportedly swooping in to completely disrupt the market.

Wednesday brought about an impressive second-quarter earnings report for Topps: a 77.7% increase in net sales to $212.2 million. By the end of Thursday, news surfaced that MLB and the MLBPA had ended their 70-year relationship with the iconic company.

Who’s taking their place? None other than Fanatics — and they’re going for more than baseball.

MLB, the NBA, both of the unions representing their players, and the NFLPA have struck deals that give their exclusive trading card licenses to a new company controlled by Fanatics. Each league and all three unions get equity stakes in the joint venture.

• MLBPA executive director Tony Clark says it’s the largest deal the union has ever done and one of many that will bring in close to $2 billion through 2045.
• The union deal starts in 2023, while the MLB one kicks off in 2026.

This development comes just days before a meeting where shareholders are set to vote on a proposed merger between Topps and SPAC Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corporation II — a deal that would value the combined entity at $1.3 billion and result in a public listing.

Significant financial irregularities that allegedly stretched back more than a decade played a role in the mysterious departures of three Las Vegas Raiders executives, sources with knowledge of the issue told Front Office Sports. 

FOS reported last week that the team had launched an internal investigation, an inquiry that remains ongoing. That investigation is focused on accounting issues over the last several weeks that coincided with the exits of three top Raiders executives this summer:

• President Marc Badain, who served as team president for more than six years and had been employed with the team since 1991. 
• CFO Ed Villanueva, a Raiders employee for nearly 19 years. 
• Controller Araxie Grant, who had the role for about a year and a half. 

A fourth executive, Brandon Doll, also left the team this summer. But Doll, the club’s former vice president of strategy and business development, exited for reasons outside of the accounting issues, a source told FOS.

The specifics of what type of incongruencies have been uncovered so far were not immediately known. Messages over the last two weeks left for Badain, Grant, Villanueva, and Doll by FOS were not returned. 

The turnover in the Raiders’ front office sparked massive speculation within the NFL as the team embarks on its first season in front of fans at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The team moved from Oakland after the 2019 season.

With legendary New Zealand rugby team All Blacks threatening to block a proposed deal with Silver Lake Capital, the private equity firm could strike a similar pact in neighboring Australia.

Rugby Australia, the sport’s governing body in the country, has the buy-in of its players union on a framework to bring in private equity, in which it would sell a 10-15% stake in its commercial assets through a holding company.

The proposal could be put before investors as soon as September, with Silver Lake a potential buyer, per Fox Sports Australia.

That creates an interesting wrinkle as New Zealand Rugby and Silver Lake work to coax its players association to agree to their proposed pact.

• Under the deal with New Zealand Rugby, Silver Lake would buy a 12.5% stake in a company that would hold All Blacks’ commercial rights. 
• The California-based private equity firm would invest around $264.4 million into growing the game’s local and global audience.
• The deal values the All Blacks at $2.2 billion. It received unanimous approval from over 24 regional associations and the Māori Rugby Board.

Both leagues could use the cash.

New Zealand Rugby lost $12.8 million in 2020; Rugby Australia had a net deficit of $27.1 million in 2020 after weathering a $45.7 million drop in revenue from the previous year.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans race takes place this weekend in France, and recent regulatory changes are bringing in more name-brand auto manufacturers.

The introduction of the hypercar category into the FIA World Endurance Championship series is the catalyst for the shift. Hypercars are intended to resemble prototypes of future models, so car manufacturers can showcase and test their concepts.

• Peugeot said it would enter the race’s hypercar category in 2022, with Ferrari following in 2023.
• Porsche, Audi, Acura, and BMW will compete in sister class Le Mans Daytona h in 2023.
• General Motors has indicated that Cadillac may be on its way in, as well.

The new regulations, designed to create more parity among racers, provide tight controls on downforce, drag, and engine power. 

The endurance series, like Formula 1, sees racers compete around the globe on tracks such as Spa in Belgium, Silverstone in England, Monza in Italy, and Fuji in Japan. Teams vie to cover the greatest distance in a set amount of time, as opposed to finishing a set length. 

Most races last six-to-eight hours. Le Mans is the outlier at 24 hours. Attendance at the day-long race will be held to around 50,000 — 20% of its normal capacity of a quarter million.