Read in Browser

Front Office Sports - The Memo

Morning Edition

October 8, 2025

POWERED BY

The international basketball league that was widely referred to as the “Maverick Carter league” no longer has Maverick Carter involved, Front Office Sports reported exclusively on Tuesday night. But the project, which has been codenamed Project B in stealth mode, still boasts an all-star roster of athletes and tech investors.

—Ben Horney, Daniel Roberts, David Rumsey, and Eric Fisher

New International Basketball League Plans Launch, Without Maverick Carter

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Maverick Carter is no longer involved with the planned international basketball league that aims to disrupt the sport, multiple sources told Front Office Sports.

“Project B,” as it has been called behind the scenes for nearly two years, still plans to launch next fall with 5-on-5 men’s and women’s basketball leagues. Led by Skype cofounder Geoff Prentice and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, the investor group also includes tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Sloane Stephens; former WNBA stars Candace Parker, Alana Beard, and Lauren Jackson; and ex-NFL quarterback Steve Young.

The group would not yet disclose the official name for the planned league.

Carter, the longtime business partner of LeBron James, was advising the group before. Over the summer, Carter was spotted on a boat in France with James and Miško Ražnatović, the European agent for Nikola Jokić; multiple sources told FOS that the meeting was about the project. Ražnatović declined to comment Tuesday on whether he is involved. Burnett, when asked about Ražnatović, said, “Miško is a good friend of ours. I was just in Serbia.”

A spokesperson for Carter confirmed he no longer has any role in the organization, formal or informal.

“This group came to Maverick for consultation, which he gave, and he subsequently stepped away months ago,” the spokesperson told FOS. “He is no longer working with them or any other basketball league in Europe.”

James, who was not part of the group when Carter was involved, has long been linked to a potential NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas or elsewhere. NBA rules prohibit team owners from having any stakes in other men’s professional basketball leagues or teams.

Despite Carter’s exit, Project B is still on track, according to those still involved.

Beard, a four-time WNBA All-Star who won a championship with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016, is a cofounder and chief basketball officer for the league.

Shortly after retiring from the WNBA in 2020, Beard joined venture capital firm SVB Capital as a senior associate. She has also been involved in an unsuccessful WNBA franchise bid to bring an expansion team to Oakland.

“I’ve always had my mind set on ownership,” she told FOS.

The venture plans to begin play next fall, with seasons expected to run through April. That would compete directly with the NBA calendar, but possibly not the WNBA, which plays in the summer. When asked about the league onstage last month at the FOS Tuned In summit in New York, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said, “To the extent they’re looking to do something competitive, I’ve stayed away. Obviously that’s their right, if they choose to form a league. I know firsthand it’s not easy running a league. But competition is good, it keeps everyone on their toes.”

Project B plans to host tournaments in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Like Unrivaled—the upstart 3-on-3 women’s basketball league based in the U.S.—it plans to give players equity, although specifics were not disclosed.

“We’re paying multiples higher than is available right now in the world of women’s sports,” Burnett told FOS. “We are paying the highest salaries and equity packages in women’s team sports, and this will be some of the best players in the world. We want this to be incredible basketball.”

The group was seeking $5 billion in funding, Bloomberg reported in January. It declined to share how much funding it has actually raised.

Project B has not yet announced who will play in the league, but a spokesperson for the venture says they have “secured commitments from some of the game’s most respected athletes,” including at least one current WNBA player the league will not yet name.

“This is not a gimmick,” Beard told FOS. “We’re playing five-on-five, we’re playing elite basketball. We want the best of the best playing in our league. That’s a full stop.”

In addition to Beard, Prentice, Burnett, Parker, Djokovic, and Young, Project B says it has backing from investment firms Quiet Capital, Sequence Equity, and Mangrove Capital. Sequence Equity cofounder Marcus Stroud declined to disclose the size of their investment but called it “our biggest investment to date.”

Burnett, who played tennis at Michigan with Prentice, said Project B is starting in basketball but aims to duplicate the model in other sports. Burnett, Beard, and others involved in Project B all emphasized the importance of the athletes having equity in the league.

“The players are our partners, they’re one of our largest stakeholders,” Beard said. “They are creating value, and getting paid for that value.”

SPONSORED BY E*TRADE FROM MORGAN STANLEY

Jenny Just on Ownership From Soccer to Esports

In Season 2, Episode 4 of Portfolio Players, presented by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, sports owner and cofounder of Peak6 Investments Jenny Just opens up about ownership stakes in European soccer, Austin FC, the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, and esports organization Evil Geniuses.

She discusses the growing trend of athlete and celebrity ownership—including Matthew McConaughey’s role at Austin FC—and why she believes diverse ownership perspectives are vital. Just also reflects on the lessons she takes from trading, the value of failure in building long-term success, and why women’s sports like the NWSL and WNBA represent opportunities she’s excited to explore.

Watch the full episode of Portfolio Players here.

Rays Owner Eyes New ‘Forever Home’ Like Atlanta’s Battery

Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

The new era for the long-struggling Rays is now underway, and incoming owner Patrick Zalupski wants his own version of The Battery.

Zalupski, along with co-chair Bill Cosgrove and CEO Ken Babby, held an introductory press conference Tuesday morning and said atop his to-do list is to build a domed ballpark and mixed-use development, at least 100 acres in size, akin to The Battery and Truist Park developed by the Braves.

The new Rays owner’s admiration for his Major League Baseball colleagues in Atlanta is so great that he called The Battery “the gold standard of what we want to build and develop here in Tampa Bay,” and that he’s met with Braves executives to learn about their experiences. Zalupski said he intends to have the new stadium open by 2029, which would require striking a site deal fairly soon. 

“It’s no secret that we need a new forever home,” Zalupski said. “It is our first and highest priority to find that home, here in Tampa Bay.”

The session arrived two weeks after Major League Baseball owners approved the $1.7 billion sale from Stu Sternberg and his partners. Sternberg will remain a minority owner of the franchise for the immediate future. Zalupski’s interest in striking a stadium deal as soon as possible follows Sternberg’s previously abandoned plans to build a $1.3 billion ballpark in St. Petersburg, Fla., the team’s current home. 

The new ownership group said they will be looking at stadium sites on both sides of Tampa Bay, but it’s expected the priority will be the east side, closer to the Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium and Lightning’s Benchmark International Arena. Any deal, wherever it happens, will likely require a public-private partnership, Zalupski said, but there have been no new stadium financing models finalized since the demise of the St. Petersburg agreement.

It’s hardly surprising that The Battery will be a prominent model of what the Rays want to do, as the Braves’ complex has served in the same role for many other sports teams. The Battery was also repeatedly cited by Philadelphia officials earlier this year after an arena deal was struck between Comcast Spectacor and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. 

The NHL’s Stars, considering a move to suburban Plano, Texas, cited The Battery last week in a very similar fashion. The real estate ambitions, meanwhile, will provide a crucial and additional revenue stream for the Rays, long one of MLB’s most economically challenged clubs.

“It’s what you have to have in today’s Major League Baseball to be successful,” Zalupski said. “Without that revenue generation, it’s going to be really, really challenging, or nearly impossible, to compete with the major markets.”

The Immediate Future

The Rays, meanwhile, remain on track to return to hurricane-damaged Tropicana Field in 2026 as repairs continue to the ballpark, with nearly half of the new roof panels now installed. The team played in 2025 at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the spring training home of the Yankees, and also the site of the new owners’ press conference Tuesday. 

“I think Tropicana Field is going to look better than it’s ever looked,” Babby said of the restoration efforts. “The city, behind the scenes, is doing wonderful work. The team is doing work. We’re spending a lot of time together, thinking about enhancing the [fan] experience.”

EXCLUSIVE

Big Ten Considering Investment From California Pension Fund

The Big Ten is considering a private-capital deal, with CalPERS among the investors in contention, sources tell Front Office Sports. The league has shared a proposal with member schools detailing potential outside investment, with university presidents set to approve any deal. For more on the Big Ten’s private-capital plans, read the exclusive story by Amanda Christovich here.

Big Ten Teams Grapple With Long Flights, Time-Zone Hurdles

Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

In Year 2 of the Big Ten’s expanded, 18-team conference, the impact of coast-to-coast travel has become a hot topic for coaches across the country.

“There’s several opponents in the game, one of them is just the conditions, the travel, all that stuff,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said ahead of this weekend’s game at Maryland. “It’s just part of it. We’ve had a year to prepare for it. We know what to expect.”

Nebraska will fly out Thursday—a day earlier than it typically does for a Saturday road game—in an effort to minimize the negative effects of the 1,200-mile trip, which Rhule admits is not that bad compared to other teams in the conference. 

“One of the great things about being in Nebraska is we’re centrally located,” he said. “So, we’re not on these six-hour flights. I think about some of these guys going West Coast to East Coast, how hard that is.”

Buckle Up

This weekend is a prime example of that cross-country travel Rhule mentioned; take a look at the four games involving the West Coast programs that joined the Big Ten last year, all against teams multiple time zones away:

  • Rutgers at Washington (2,385 miles)
  • No. 15 Michigan at USC (1,943 miles)
  • UCLA at Michigan State (1,918 miles)
  • No. 7 Indiana at No. 3 Oregon (1,856 miles)

On the topic of travel, Rhule said, “The number-one thing is we don’t complain about it.” However, some other Big Ten coaches have alluded to its logistical challenges when it comes to fielding a competitive team.

After Penn State’s shocking upset at UCLA last weekend, James Franklin said, “We did not handle last week’s loss [at home against Oregon] well. We also lost some players in that game during the week, and then everything else, travel, everything else. Did not come out with the right energy to start the game.”

Before USC’s eventual loss at Illinois in Week 4, Lincoln Riley bemoaned the Trojans playing at 11 p.m. ET the previous Saturday at home against Michigan State, and then at 11 a.m. ET the following Saturday. “Going from the absolute latest kick in the country to the absolute earliest kick in the country has its challenges. … It compounds if you’re not careful,” he said. 

Sky Miles

The additional coast-to-coast travel is happening in the ACC, too, also in Year 2 of that conference’s expansion to 17 teams.

Cal and Stanford are each playing three games in Eastern Time this season, and each hosts three ACC opponents based in Eastern Time. 

No ACC team has to play at Cal and at Stanford this season, and no Eastern– or Central Time Zone–based Big Ten team is making multiple trips to the West Coast.

LOUD AND CLEAR

Prime Health Concerns

Sep 20, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders before the game against the Wyoming Cowboys at Folsom Field.

Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

“I cannot wait to go get past this hurdle.”

—Colorado football coach Deion Sanders, giving an update on his health, after revealing Saturday night that he believed blood clots had returned to at least one of his feet. After a Monday doctor’s appointment, Sanders told reporters Tuesday that he would have surgery later that day to address the issue. “It is what it is, and we found what we found,” he said. “We knew what it was.”

Sanders, 58, said he appreciated the concern some had for his overall health, but he indicated that he would not slow down or step away from coaching. “It has nothing to do with me working at the level that I’m trying to compete at. It’s hereditary. It is what it is. There’s nothing that I could have done to stop what’s transpiring.”

Should the procedure go smoothly, Sanders plans to attend Colorado football practice Wednesday. “Prayerfully, I’ll be right back tomorrow,” he said.

SPONSORED BY DEALMAKER

Where Sports Meets Capital

We’re bringing together the most powerful minds in sports finance. Join us at the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 16 for Asset Class, presented by DealMaker.

Recently confirmed speakers include David Checketts, former Knicks and Jazz executive-turned-investor, and Sarah Fuller, chief athletic officer at NOCAP Sports and former Vanderbilt soccer and football player. Additional speakers represent The Chernin Group, Goldman Sachs, Andalusian, RedBird Capital, DealMaker, Sequence Equity, and more.

Conversations will capture the most influential investors in sports, new forms of funding, athlete ownership, and beyond.

The wait list is close to capacity. Request to attend today.

Editors’ Picks

Cleveland Takes New Shot at Blocking Browns’ $2.4B Stadium

by Eric Fisher
A new lawsuit challenges a permit for the NFL team’s planned stadium.

Fox Picks Up Media Rights to 2026 World Baseball Classic

by Eric Fisher
The network will repeat its role in the international baseball tournament.

Court Again Rejects NFL Request to Send Flores Case to Arbitration

by Margaret Fleming
The NFL has tried to keep the case out of open court.

Question of the Day

Do you think cross-country trips hurt teams’ performance on the field?

 YES   NO 

Tuesday’s result: 54% of respondents prefer to watch playoff baseball over regular-season NFL action.

Advertise Awards Learning Events Video Show
Written by Ben Horney, Daniel Roberts, David Rumsey, Eric Fisher
Edited by Matthew Tabeek, Catherine Chen

If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here.

Update your preferences / Unsubscribe

Copyright © 2025 Front Office Sports. All rights reserved.
460 Park Avenue South, 7th Floor, New York NY, 10016

Subscribe To Our Daily Newsletters

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.