Coca-Cola could be close to acquiring BodyArmor.

Coke has had a minority stake in the sports drink company since 2018 and may be adding it to an owned lineup that already includes Powerade, vitaminwater, Honest Tea, Minute Maid and many others.

“We can confirm that The Coca-Cola Company has filed a pre-acquisition notification with the Federal Trade Commission relating to its intent to acquire a controlling interest in BodyArmor,” the company told BevNET.

BodyArmor co-founder and chairman Mike Repole responded with a statement that Coke acquiring the sports drink company is a “distinct possibility” but that reports about it are “premature.”

Some of the best athletes in the world hold equity stakes in BodyArmor: Naomi Osaka, Mike Trout, James Harden, Megan Rapinoe and Dustin Johnson, among others. Keurig Dr Pepper owns 12.5% as well.

Kobe Bryant reportedly owned around 10% of the company, investing $6 million in BodyArmor starting in March 2014, when the company hadn’t yet seen more than $10 million in annual sales. When Coke acquired its minority stake in Aug. 2018, the valuation of Bryant’s shares increased to $200 million.

Last August, Repole told CNBC that BodyArmor was “either going to go bankrupt in five years or going to be the No. 1 sports drink by 2025.” In the 30 months since the first deal with Coke, BodyArmor has exploded.

• Yearly sales are up to $1 billion, an increase of 43.4% year-over-year as of Feb. 6, according to Nielsen. 
• The brand has a 13.7% market share of the sports drink category — surpassing Coke-owned Powerade’s 8.6%.

PepsiCo-owned Gatorade is the market leader with a 70% share, and has been a consumer favorite during the pandemic, receiving a chunk of the credit for PepsiCo’s $22.5 billion in fourth-quarter revenue last year.

Before co-founding BodyArmor in 2011, Repole sold Glaceau — maker of vitaminwater and smartwater — to Coke for $4.1 billion in 2007.

The latest development in the NFL media rights saga is that the league wants each of its four network partners to pay 100% more for broadcasts when current contracts expire at the end of the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Disney, which has paid $1.9 billion each year for Monday Night Football since 2011, reportedly rejected a $3.8 billion annual price tag starting in 2022. CBS, NBC and Fox — which all pay in the $1 billion range yearly — are expected to be more agreeable about doubling their payments.

Super Bowl viewership took a tumble this year, but the league is still largely reliable when it comes to producing stellar ratings. NFL games accounted for the five most-watched broadcasts of 2020.

“If there’s a deal that will be accretive to shareholder value, we will certainly entertain that and look at that,” Disney CEO Bob Chapek said on an earnings call earlier this month. “But our first filter will be to say whether it makes sense for shareholder value going forward.”

The league wants broadcast agreements with networks set by the time the new NFL year officially begins on March 17.

• CBS and Fox will likely keep Sunday afternoon games and NBC will hold its Sunday Night Football package.
• ESPN+ is being considered to take over DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket package.
• Disney has expressed interest in making ABC part of the Super Bowl rotation that already includes CBS, NBC and Fox. 

Part of the reason the NFL has sought such high payments from Disney is the extent of the rights package Disney is looking for. In addition to Monday Night Football games on ESPN, Disney wants to secure highlight rights, double-headers that include ABC and streaming rights for ESPN+.

Last year, the NFL struck a 10-year labor agreement with the NFL Players Association to include more postseason games and an 18-week regular season schedule, adding an extra game to the calendar for Disney and every other partner network.

Former NBA star Chris Webber is creating a $100 million private equity fund to support underrepresented minority entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry. 

Webber, who now works as a TNT commentator, will partner with JW Asset Management, whose portfolio already has substantial investments in cannabis funds.

“It’s crucial that we diversify the leadership in the cannabis industry and level the playing field for people from our communities,” Webber said in a statement. “For far too long, minorities have been excessively punished and incarcerated for cannabis while others profited.”

The lack of diversity among dispensary owners and growers is an oft-publicized issue by state governments and lobbyists in legal cannabis markets. In the past few years, Massachusetts wrote equity-related provisions into its cannabis regulations, and Oakland created a program to promote cannabis entrepreneurship among minority and low-income residents.

The booming industry, spurred by recreational legalization in 15 states and Washington D.C., has been a magnet for athlete investors.

• In 2019, NFL legend Joe Montana’s venture firm invested $75 million in California cannabis company Caliva.
• Ricky Williams, Calvin Johnson and Rob Gronkowski have all invested in cannabis funds, as have Mike Tyson and John Salley. Former Seattle Supersonics star Shawn Kemp stocks former teammate Gary Payton’s Cookie brand cannabis at his dispensary in the city.

At the beginning of February, senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) issued a joint statement promising to “advance comprehensive cannabis reform legislation” and “enact measures that will lift up people who were unfairly targeted in the War on Drugs.”

Just over a year after his near-fatal crash on the final lap of the 2020 Daytona 500, Ryan Newman is back in his Ford Mustang.

He raced in the Daytona 500 last week, and finished in 20th place in the Daytona Road Course this past Sunday. In the latter race, his No. 6 car — normally green and red — was painted a muted white and gray to commemorate a motorsports achievement.

Newman’s team, Roush Fenway Racing, has become the first carbon-neutral team in NASCAR.

An independent evaluator verified the “PAS 2060” certification, which says the team achieved neutrality over the period of Jan. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2020. The transition is supported by the team’s sponsor, Castrol, which mandated a contract clause for the racing team to reduce carbon emissions.

Roush’s goal to recycle 90% of every race car has been essential for achieving carbon-neutral status. Over the past 10 years, the team has cut energy consumption by switching to LED lighting on its campus, implementing high-tech HVAC systems, and reducing waste by 100 tons. 

Roush isn’t the only entity in motorsports making strides to reduce carbon emissions.

• In 2019, Formula 1 revealed its plan to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint by 2030.
• Honda recently announced it would pull out of Formula 1 by the end of 2021 and focus its efforts on a carbon-neutral future.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Ford said it would invest $1 billion in a German facility solely committed to electric vehicle production.

“Our hope with this [carbon-neutral] program is to demonstrate that every business, small or large, and regardless of industry, can contribute to address global climate challenges,” said Roush president Steve Newmark.