Tottenham Hotspur has received a nearly $134 million (£100 million) capital infusion from its majority owner, giving the club financial firepower to invest in players, facilities, and more as it builds on early momentum this season.

The investment from the Lewis family trust, through majority owner ENIC Sports & Development, comes as the team has batted back three takeover attempts since the start of September. The offers came from PCP International Finance, Firehawk Holdings, and a group led by Brooklyn Earick, a U.S. entrepreneur who runs a Singapore-based venture capital firm. 

ENIC—run by London-born billionaire Joe Lewis—has been adamant the team is not for sale. Spurs have an estimated valuation of $3.3 billion, according to Forbes.

The new capital is aimed at shepherding the club to long-term success and showing the Lewis family’s “ongoing commitment to the club and its future,” according to a Thursday statement.

“As I stated a few weeks ago, our focus is on stability and empowering the management team to deliver on the Club’s ambitions,” Peter Charrington, non-executive chairman for Tottenham said in the statement. 

According to its most recent financial results, Spurs revenue for last year was $703.9 million (£528.2 million), down from $732.4 million (£549.6 million) in 2023, with the team “predominantly” attributing the decrease to the club’s participation in Champions League in 2023 (the club did not qualify for Champions League in 2024). Despite the dip in revenue, the team’s 2024 net loss was $34.8 million (£26.2 million), down from $115.4 million (£86.8 million) in 2023.

Spurs are off to a hot start this year, sitting at third place in the Premier League with a record of 4-2-1. If they keep it up, the team is on track to once again qualify for the Champions League—the highest level of European soccer—which carries significant financial implications (every team gets about $21 million for making the Champions League, and can get even more for winning and drawing big TV audiences). The team already qualified for the 2025–26 Champions League. 

The fresh capital may help Spurs sign and retain talent, something it has had issues with in recent years. This summer, Arsenal reached a deal with midfielder Eberechi Eze worth up to $91 million (£67.5 million), despite Spurs thinking they were close to finalizing a deal of their own. Spurs were also recently unsuccessful in a bid to sign midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, who ultimately chose to stay with Nottingham Forest.

The investment comes shortly after longtime Spurs executive Daniel Levy stepped down in early September. The former chairman of the team, who was one of the most influential people at Spurs for nearly 25 years, still owns a stake in the club.

Apparel brand Malbon Golf raised nearly $28 million from two undisclosed investors, which is over 12 times more than the company had previously raised, according to regulatory filings.

The almost $28 million is part of a larger planned equity raise that seeks $43 million in total, according to a Monday U.S. Securities and Exchange filing. Previously, Malbon Golf raised a little over $2 million from one investor in 2023.

The company was founded in 2017 by Stephen Malbon and his wife, Erica, who sought to shift some long-held trends in golf. “We’re a lifestyle brand inspired by golf, similar to how Ralph Lauren is inspired by polo,” Malbon told Front Office Sports earlier this year. “But most people who wear Ralph Lauren, historically, have never played polo.” Malbon clothing is much flashier than the traditional staid golf attire. 

Malbon received notoriety in 2024, when pro golfer Jason Day left Nike to sign with the company and wore a vest in the second round of the Masters Tournament that read “Malbon Golf Championship” in extra-large print. Augusta National asked him to remove the vest (Augusta is famously conservative when it comes to player attire). The following year, Day and Malbon, his sponsor, sent the clothing he would be wearing, including during practices, to Augusta National ahead of the tournament, to make sure it was O.K. “Yeah, there was a back-and-forth,” Malbon told FOS at the time.

On the women’s side, LPGA golfers Charley Hull and Jeongeun Lee play in Malbon garb. Additionally, the company has done collaborations with many well-known brands, from Coca-Cola and Budweiser to Adidas and TaylorMade, the latter of which makes golf equipment and apparel.

Over the summer, Shop Eat Surf Outdoor reported the company was nearing $100 million in revenue, and that up to 35% of its sales come from international markets, and more specifically, Asia.

Malbon is not the only retailer that works with golfers and has raised money this year. In February, Detroit-based Greyson Clothiers—which works with golfers including Justin Thomas and Erik van Rooyen—raised $20 million from a group of investors that included Thomas, as well as other celebrities such as singer Justin Timberlake and former NFL Pro Bowler Larry Fitzgerald.

A representative for Malbon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Parents of a Georgia cheerleader have filed a staggering lawsuit against Varsity Brands, its former private-equity owner, USA Cheer, and others seeking more than $200 million over claims their minor daughter was sexually exploited, drugged, and filmed by her longtime cheer coach.

The suit was filed in Georgia state court last month on behalf of their daughter, referred to as Jane Doe. It was served to the defendants last week, a person familiar with the matter tells Front Office Sports. In addition to Varsity Brands, its former owner Bain Capital, and USA Cheer, the suit names as defendants multiple other cheer organizations, the Walton County School District (where Jane Doe attended high school), the coach who allegedly abused her, two Atlanta-area cheer gyms, and more. 

Local Atlanta outlet 11Alive was the first to report the suit. 

KKR, the private-equity firm that bought Varsity brands from Bain Capital in 2024 for a reported price of $4.75 billion, including debt, is not named as a defendant. KKR declined to comment, and Bain Capital did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The suit contains explicit allegations and 18 causes of action, including RICO claims, under which the defendants are accused of operating an organized enterprise that systematically enabled and concealed rape, sexual abuse, drug use, and exploitation of young athletes.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of Jane Doe but claims hundreds of young athletes have been harmed, the defendants coordinated to “create an unending pipeline” of young athletes who were abused, including by encouraging parents to send their children to host families who were either coaches, gym owners, or people who lived near Varsity Brands–sponsored gyms.

“The system overall is designed to disassociate the athletes from their families and foster closeness” with gyms, gym owners, and coaches associated with Varsity Brands, according to the complaint.

A spokesperson for Varsity Brands tells FOS “children should always be protected and safe, and no child should ever experience the kind of abuse alleged in this lawsuit.” 

“While we find these claims to be abhorrent, Varsity categorically rejects any claim that it enabled such behavior,” the spokesperson says. “The individual named in this lawsuit was never a Varsity employee, and Varsity did not own or operate the gyms referenced in the complaint. Varsity is deeply committed to safety, which guides everything we do; any suggestion otherwise is untrue.”

Jane Doe was specifically abused by Charles Archibald Moore, who is named as a defendant and was a cheerleading coach at multiple gyms in the Atlanta area affiliated with defendants including Varsity Brands, as well as the high school she attended, the complaint says. The lawsuit alleges that Varsity Brands, USA Cheer, and others were part of a system that enabled and concealed abuse, although they are separate entities.

The suit asserts that Varsity Brands effectively controls “every aspect of cheer at every level in the United States.”

“All defendants failed to implement reasonable safeguards to avoid acts of unlawful sexual conduct” by Moore, the suit says.

Moore was arrested in June 2024, over a similar allegation; the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office charged him with one count of sexual exploitation while he worked at Star Athletics—which is also named as a defendant in the suit. Moore was being held in jail in Barrow County until Thursday, when he was released and sent to Gwinnett County, the sheriff’s office tells FOS. Gwinnett is where the new lawsuit was filed. The sheriff’s office in Gwinnett did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

“Even today, Moore has not been permanently suspended,” the suit says.

“USA Cheer takes all reports of misconduct seriously and we are horrified by what has been alleged,” a spokesperson for USA Cheer tells FOS. “We can confirm that the individual named has never been a member of USA Cheer. While we do not oversee individual gyms, our focus remains on promoting athlete safety and education across the cheer community.”

Varsity Brands has had a turbulent last few years featuring multiple lawsuits, including other sex abuse suits in federal court in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and more. Additionally, it faced an antitrust class action in Tennessee federal court that settled for $82.5 million last year. That suit, brought by parents of cheerleaders, alleged the defendants held a monopoly over cheerleading events and overcharged for apparel, in violation of antitrust laws. 

Before that, in 2023, Varsity agreed to pay $43.5 million to settle a suit led by Fusion Elite All Stars, a California-based operator of cheerleading gyms. That suit was originally filed in 2020, and it featured similar allegations to the one that settled for $82.5 million. It is still fighting an antitrust lawsuit in Texas federal court that was filed in 2023 by cheer competition producer Open Cheer. 

The company had sought to turn the page from its legal issues this summer with the announcement of the “world’s first” pro cheerleading league. In June, it revealed its subsidiary Varsity Spirit—also a defendant in the latest lawsuit—would launch the Pro Cheer League next year, with initial teams in Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, and San Diego.