Field Notes: 4 People Moves, 3 Announcements, 2 Things Worth Your Time, and 1 Stat That Matters in the Sports Economy.
Curated and delivered every other Wednesday.
4 People Moves
Laurence Herbert: Hudl is no longer just building tools for teams, it’s building intelligence infrastructure for the next generation of performance data. Two decades in, the company is approaching the billion‑dollar revenue mark, and with elite talent hires plus an aggressive M&A streak, it’s showing no signs of slowing down.
Jamie Wei: From Peloton to Netflix, this isn’t a random hop across industries, it’s an evolution of the immersive growth model. Netflix Experiences extends IP into IRL worlds; parts of the Peloton playbook make lots of sense here.
Jessica Boer: After riding the wellness boom to record highs — then experiencing a pronounced correction in 2025 — Deckers seems to be recalibrating for its next growth run. With Hoka maturing into a global performance-lifestyle brand, Jessica brings the retail discipline to turn momentum into durable scale.
Tyler Greenwald: From Rubicon to UEG as Director of Athlete Talent — a big one within sports marketing, and a personal favorite. Congrats to my great friend of nearly 15 years on the new gig!
People moves data via Workforce.ai by Live Data Technologies
3 Announcements
NCAA votes to approve jersey patch sponsorships in college sports | On3
Jersey patches formalize what NIL already exposed: college sports is no longer pretending to be amateur. For schools, patches are low-lift, high-margin inventory. For brands, they’re a chance to buy proximity to tribal loyalty at scale. The smartest programs will sell alignment, not airtime. Raising Cane’s belongs on LSU jerseys, REI on UW, Ford for Michigan, Gatorade with the Gators…these partnerships should feel inevitable, not transactional.
AO Invests in Padel Haus | Australian Open
Padel Haus isn’t just selling matches; it’s selling membership, hospitality, and community. CEO Santiago Gomez says, “Padel is still early in its global journey” – and that’s a serious understatement. 50% more Aussies played Padel in 2025 than in 2024 — it seems AO is betting on similar growth trends in the U.S.
GTCR Leans Into Youth Sports With $400M Deal for LiveBarn | Sportico
This move reinforces a broader thesis: youth sports isn’t simply a passion economy anymore, it’s a recurring revenue business with defensible demand. I learned the 5 Ps at GSV – one of which is predictability – and few things are steadier than parents funding their kids’ sports dreams.
BONUS: New sport unlocked >
It’s called Typti, and this tennis-pickle hybrid’s commercial launch is backed by an 80-person-investor group led by Steve Bellamy (Founder of the Tennis Channel), and including Drew Brees, Nick Kyrgios, Tony Robbins, Chris Pine, JJ Abrams, Tiffany Haddish, and Bert Kreischer. (FOS)
2 Things Worth Your Time
Disney’s Missing $1 Billion | Evan Shapiro
Legacy media spent a decade fighting gravity and now it’s catch-up time. The BBC’s move to YouTube shows they finally get it — but by only producing new content instead of uploading their vast archives, they’re leaving reach on the table. Disney’s doing the same, sitting on a gold mine of films that could generate hundreds of millions in pure profit if released free with ads on YouTube.
Jordi Hays and John Coogan’s Buzzy Tech Show ‘TBPN’ Signs With CAA (Exclusive) | The Hollywood Reporter
I first called out John & Jordi’s show ~11 months ago (back when they were still the “Technology Brothers Podcast”), and the progress they’ve made since then is insane. With TBPN, they’ve built a SportsCenter‑style show for the tech era. They go direct, livestream daily, and keep it niche — by insiders, for insiders. They move fast, stay irreverent, and, as some have joked, already make All‑In feel like a boomer institution by comparison. Keep your head on a swivel.
1 Stat That Matters
49% – Year-over-year viewership growth for SEC football, compared to an 11% decline for the Big Ten. [SBJ]
Two years ago, the conferences were drawing comparable television audiences. In the second season post-expansion, that parity has vanished. SEC regular-season games averaged 4.9 million viewers, versus 2.8 million for the Big Ten — a widening gap that underscores the key scoreboard in modern college sports: broadcast revenue.
BONUS: Realignment is not working out for everyone…
Pull of the Week
Pat McAfee showed his media instincts long before he became ESPN’s $85 million man when he introduced the “Pat McAfee Show” at the 2008 Fiesta Bowl. (FOS)
ICYMI: Last week’s episode with Parker Graham, Founder & CEO of Vestible ⬇️
I’ll be publishing Field Notes every other Wednesday.
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If you’re building, investing, or advising within this ecosystem — please reach out!
Email: underthenumberpod@gmail.com.
– Brent