Jeff Bezos has been interested in NFL team ownership for some time — and The Washington Football team could be on his private wish list.

Bezos’ attorney spoke with Baltimore-based sports investment banking firm Moag & Co., which led the effort to sell a chunk of the team, according to court documents obtained by Front Office Sports. 

Front Office Sports previously reported on majority owner Dan Snyder’s claims that the real estate exec Dwight Schar — one of the three minority shareholders — led “an extortion campaign” to force Snyder to sell his stake. 

On Monday morning, a filing that mentions Bezos’ attorney was made in a New Delhi courtroom. It was part of Snyder’s defamation lawsuit, originally filed in August, against Indian media company MEA WorldWide. 

Bezos, 57, announced on Feb. 2 that he would step down as Amazon’s CEO by the end of 2021. In the past several years he’s developed a wider footprint in and around the nation’s capital.

• In 2013, he purchased The Washington Post.
• Bezos bought a 27,000-square-foot home in Washington in 2016 and spent $12 million to renovate it.
• He tapped Arlington, Va., as the location for Amazon’s second headquarters in 2017.

CBS Sports reported in Nov. 2019 that Bezos had spent time with Snyder since his move to Washington, and that other NFL owners were more than willing to welcome the mogul into their ranks.

As the sports collectible industry booms, sticker and trading card brand Panini is looking to take advantage.

Panini is reportedly weighing a potential sale and attracting interest from private equity firms.

The family-owned Italian brand is known for its FIFA World Cup stickers. The stickers have become some of the most popular sports collectibles globally since first being printed in 1970.

Stickers and an inventory of rare single-card items helped Panini surpass $1 billion in sales in 2018. It’s unclear whether Panini will go through with a formal sale, but the resurgence of the sports collectibles industry makes it a promising venture. 

Earlier this month, Goldin Auctions announced a $40 million fundraise that attracted big-name investors like Mark Cuban, Kevin Durant, Dwayne Wade and Bill Simmons. The auction house grossed over $100 million from trading cards and other collectibles in 2020. 

Panini made David Beckham a global brand ambassador back in January.

It will continue to be the exclusive trading card manufacturer of the NFL, NBA, NASCAR and collegiate athletics.

Negotiations for Serie A broadcast rights may be coming to a close as DAZN receives reinforcements.

The British streaming company has an agreement with Telecom Italia — the largest phone carrier in Italy — that would back its $1.02 billion bid by 40% annually, per Bloomberg.

In addition to payments of $414 million per year, Telecom would also provide distribution and technological support in the deal.

DAZN is currently competing against Sky, a subsidiary of Comcast, for broadcast rights to the Italian soccer league’s next three seasons. Amazon dropped out of the race last month.

The financial support from Telecom is huge because DAZN lost nearly $2 billion last year, forcing the company to scale back its U.S. and Latin America ambitions.

“DAZN is hanging on to Germany and Italy as key markets and in both it is trying to carve out a competitive position,” said Claire Enders, founder of Enders Analysis. 

Serie A was set to bring in $2 billion from the sale of 10% of its new media company to a private equity consortium including CVC Capital Partners, Advent International and Italian fund FSI.

The deal could be off the table as it needed approval from 14 of the 20 teams in the league to go through, and seven clubs banded together to block the sale.