Since March of last year, 64 owners across all four major sports leagues have seen their combined net worths increase from $325 billion to $426 billion.

The news comes after a collaborative study by the Institute for Policy Studies and Americans for Tax Fairness that tracked the net worth of team owners from March 18, 2020 to Jan. 29, 2021.

Owners of both of this year’s Super Bowl teams were mentioned in the report.

• The Glazer family, who own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, were listed with a net worth of $1.7 billion.
• The Hunt family, who own the Kansas City Chiefs, were listed with a net worth of $6.3 billion — a $483 million increase in the past 10 months.

The Glazer family owns business real estate company First Allied Corporation, as well as Premier League giant Manchester United. The Hunt family is involved in the oil and gas business as well as a number of other professional sports teams in more minor capacities.

The financial outlook for leagues themselves is less optimistic.

The NFL could lose as much as $4 billion after the conclusion of this season, per The Wall Street Journal. Last season, the NBA missed its revenue projections by $1.5 billion.

Beyond team owners, results from a separate economic study in December were similar.

Globally, billionaires’ collective net worths reportedly increased by $3.9 trillion in the final nine months of 2020.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) introduced the latest federal bill to allow college athletes to profit off the use of their name, image, and likeness.

“It’s time to admit that something is very rotten when the industry makes $15 billion a year and many athletes can’t afford to put food on the table or pay for a plane ticket for their parents to see them perform,” Murphy said in a statement. 

The College Athlete Economic Freedom Act sits on the liberal end of the NIL legislation spectrum:

• It prohibits schools from putting a ceiling on the amount of compensation athletes could receive, and from keeping athletes from representation in entering NIL deals.
• It allows for college athletes to participate in group licensing deals — meaning that athletes could appear in properties like the future “EA Sports College Football” video game, for example.
• It holds that schools violating the act would also be violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, which is significant given that the NCAA is currently lobbying for an antitrust exemption.

The bill’s stance on NIL is similar to that of Sen. Cory Booker’s College Athlete Bill of Rights, which would also allow for athletes to participate in group licensing deals. 

But unlike Booker’s bill, Murphy and Trahan’s bill doesn’t address other athletes rights questions, like whether athletes should be entitled to lifelong health benefits or education resources.

“Giving students a right to make money off endorsements is just one part of a much broader package of reforms,” Murphy said. “But it’s a good start.”

Penn National Gaming reported a 23% decrease in revenue for the fourth quarter of its 2020 fiscal year, referencing the pandemic as a barrier to success.

Penn hit $1.03 billion in revenue — down from $1.13 billion in the third quarter — and a net income of $12.7 million for its fourth quarter ending Dec. 31. 

Despite missing analyst expectations, the company’s CEO remains optimistic, citing its Barstool partnership that started early last year. Penn National has a 36% stake in the media company.

“We view Barstool Sports not only as a fantastic channel to promote our offerings, but also an undervalued media asset that has evolved from primarily a sports brand to a highly relevant sports and lifestyle brand,” said Jay Snowden, president and CEO at Penn National Gaming.

The company launched the Barstool Sportsbook app in Michigan earlier this month, adding 48,000 new customers and generating a total handle of $27.5 million during the first 10 days of operation. It launched in Pennsylvania last September and is expected to be live in 10 states by the end of the year. 

“Our investment in Barstool Sports provides us with a fully integrated media platform to support our evolution from the nation’s largest regional gaming operator to the best-in-class omnichannel provider of retail and online gaming and sports entertainment,” Snowden said.

Penn National shares rose 8.52% today to $118.34 — up over 270% in the last year.