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The Periodical, Issue 01 cover

ISSUE 01 · EPISODES 1–34

Eight weeks of the sports business

Aug. 27 – Oct. 23, 2026 · 111 pages · By Nick Schupak

This issue collects the first 34 episodes, from Aug. 27 to Oct. 23, 2026, rewritten for the page. Each one opens with its lead story, followed by the rest of that day's brief, the deals sheet, the work that won, and one story from off the radar. Most Fridays add a Deep Dive.

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Inside this issue

The stories run in the order they were told, grouped by week, so you can watch threads develop: LIV Golf’s trip through bankruptcy, the NFL’s fight over what its television partners will pay, the private money moving into team ownership, and the prediction markets showing up everywhere at once.

Episodes
34
Briefs
134
Deals logged
164
Deep dives
7

From the opening story

DAZN Takes the Pacers, at Half the Old Price

Read that way, the Pacers deal is less about DAZN building a durable regional sports network in Indiana and more about DAZN serving as the bridge loan while the NBA builds the real thing. Everyone involved seems to assume DAZN will not be Indiana's broadcaster forever.

Contents

  1. 1DAZN Takes the Pacers, at Half the Old Price+ Deep divep. 5
  2. 2The NFL Asked Its Partners to Pay More, Early. Nobody Bit.+ Deep divep. 9
  3. 3The Lakers, the Falcons and Liverpool: Ownership Is the Tradep. 15
  4. 4Kroenke Buys the Angels and Completes the Setp. 18
  5. 5The NBA Takes Five Years From the Clippersp. 21
  6. 6Rogers Hands Quebec Its Hockey for 12 Yearsp. 24
  7. 7Goodell Locks In Five Years, One Day Before Kickoffp. 28
  8. 8LIV Golf Enters Chapter 11 With Its Next Owner Already Lined Upp. 31
  9. 9LIV Golf Asks a Bankruptcy Court to Tear Up Its Player Contractsp. 34
  10. 10WTGL Gets ESPN and Free TV Before Playing a Holep. 37
  11. 11LIV Golf’s Stars Are Now Waiting in Line as Creditorsp. 41
  12. 12A Full MCG, a Young Netflix Audience and a Soft U.S. Openerp. 44
  13. 13Week 1 Gave Every Network a Different Answerp. 47
  14. 14The Streamers Stopped Waiting for Washingtonp. 50
  15. 15Does the Streaming Service Actually Decide Who Watches?p. 53
  16. 16The NFL’s Ratings Fell. The Audience Didn’tp. 56
  17. 17A $110 Billion Merger Just Cleared Its Last Obstaclep. 59
  18. 18Nike Lets Mbappé Walk — To Onp. 62
  19. 19Apollo Buys Into the Yankees, and the Valuation Jumps by Billionsp. 65
  20. 20Stephen Ross Is Shopping a Fifth of the Miami Grand Prix+ Deep divep. 68
  21. 21Manchester United Borrowed Another £90 Million This Summerp. 72
  22. 22Apollo’s Yankees Deal Comes With a $1 Billion Loanp. 75
  23. 23The Islanders Sell 15% for Almost What the Whole Team Costp. 78
  24. 24MSG Splits the Knicks and Rangers Into Two Stocksp. 81
  25. 25ESPN Has One Week to Keep the College Football Playoff+ Deep divep. 84
  26. 26YouTube Wants Live Sports in Bulk, Not One Game at a Timep. 88
  27. 27CBS and Tony Romo Part Ways After Nine Seasonsp. 90
  28. 28Paramount Closes Its $110 Billion WBD Deal, and Skydance Is Bornp. 92
  29. 29Disney+ Will Stream the Super Bowl, ESPN’s Firstp. 95
  30. 30DAZN’s Local Shopping Spree Is a Bid for National Rights+ Deep divep. 97
  31. 31ESPN Pays Up to Keep the College Football Playoff+ Deep divep. 101
  32. 32Arctos Buys Into the Falcons, One Tranche at a Timep. 104
  33. 33Utah Sues Kalshi Over $3 Billion in Wagersp. 106
  34. 34FIFA Puts the 2030 World Cup Up for Bid+ Deep divep. 108
Browse the show’s episode transcripts →