Sports News, Knup's Takes, AJ McLean & Chris Lane Karaoke?!
Monday, February 17, 2025
Sorry for the no-show for the last couple weeks—life happens. Gotta remind myself it’s okay not to be perfect. Sometimes you just have to roll with it.
The important part is I’m here today! Some fun updates over the last couple weeks.
Had another Sports Business 101 class last Thursday, and it was 🔥🔥🔥. We dove into entrepreneurship in sports, which is right up my alley. The students are now working on their ideas for our Sports Startup Challenge, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with.
We had a big weekend around here recently. HGV Golf Tourney was in town, and the celebrity sightings were everywhere—Charles Woodson, Ray Allen, Joey from the bachelor, and so many more.
The academy kids were pumped seeing Ray Allen working out upstairs at the gym. But the real show?
Chris Lane & AJ McLean (yes, from the Backstreet Boys) singing karaoke together at Boxi Park. Didn’t know we needed that duo, but here we are.
Oh, and Luke Bryan performed at the big concert series for HGV. Gotta love where we live here in Orlando!
Now… that Luka trade that many have asked my thoughts on. My take? Lakers won BIG.
He’s a generational talent, and he’ll be the face of LA after LeBron. Dallas completely dropped the ball. Sure, we hear stuff about his work ethic, but let’s be real—this was a major win for LA.
Calling it now: Luka wins two championships in LA before it’s over. Dallas gets none. My Luka rookies are going off right now, but there’s one card we’ll never sell—the one my son got signed in person at a Mavs/Magic game.
Alright, enough storytelling—TONS of news to catch up on since I was a “newsletter loser” for the last many days. Let’s get to it.
Below are some of the news stories I found insightful across my four key pillars…
St. Louis Gets First All-Digital Sports Network [SPORTS] — looking forward to following the progress of this one.
High-tech toys give help Cardinals track their pitchers by the gigabyte. Does it help? [SPORTS, TECH] — another STL focused article. Cardinals pitchers using tech at Spring Training… PS — I need to get to Spring Training this year. Anyone else going to Jupiter?
Overtime and Victory+ Join Forces for Streaming Partnership [SPORTS, BUSINESS, CONTENT] — congrats to both companies on the partnership.
CollX Raises $10 Million in New Funding; Bobby Witt Jr. Aboard as Partner [SPORTS, BUSINESS] — love seeing this. MLB Superstars joining and supporting the Hobby.
Rangers make network to produce, distribute game broadcasts [SPORTS, BUSINESS, CONTENT] — will we see a lot more of this done by the teams?
ArenaX’s NRN Agents Are Coming to Ronin, Opening Its Gaming Universe to Millions of AI Agents [BUSINESS, TECH] — AI Agents at Scale in Web3 Games?!?!
AI in Sports Production: How the Tech is Reshaping Content Creation, Broadcasting, and Fan Engagement [SPORTS, TECH, CONTENT] — insightful conversation here.
Major League Volleyball Women's Pro League to Launch in January 2026 [SPORTS] — new league coming next year.
PERCEPTION
Perception is Everything—But is it Reality?
Perception shapes the way we see the world, but that doesn’t always mean it’s accurate. In sports business, life, and decision-making, our minds tend to fixate on how things look rather than what they truly are.
We assume a struggling athlete is lazy when they might be battling an injury. We think a competitor's success was overnight when, in reality, it took years of unseen effort. Our perception is a filtered version of reality, built from our experiences, biases, and emotions. The danger? If we rely solely on how something seems, we risk making decisions based on illusion rather than truth.
In business, perception often dictates reputation. A sports brand that looks innovative gets more attention—even if their product is inferior. An entrepreneur who seems confident may win deals, even if they lack the best strategy. In life, we do this with people, too.
We assume someone’s happy because they post the highlights on social media. We assume we’re behind because others appear ahead. But what we see is rarely the full picture. The best leaders, athletes, and decision-makers understand this—they seek facts, dig deeper, and don’t let perception cloud judgment.
So, how can we keep perception from misleading us? It starts with self-awareness. Challenge your assumptions. Ask better questions. Instead of assuming, seek to understand. Whether you're evaluating a player, a business opportunity, or even yourself, separate perception from reality before making a move.
What’s something in your life or business that looked one way but turned out to be completely different?
Episode 239 of my show is in the books (yeah from a couple weeks ago)…
Rick Allec has been in the sports betting space for years, building odds screens, APIs, and tools that help both bettors and sportsbooks. His latest venture, OddsLogic, aims to provide real-time odds data with a mix of old-school reliability and modern tech. On the show, Rick broke down how his odds screen aggregates data from 50+ sportsbooks, giving users real-time betting lines, injury updates, and alerts that can make a real difference in how they place bets.
One of the biggest challenges in sports betting today is the sheer volume of data. Rick talked about how much the industry has changed, with more leagues, more markets, and more props than ever before. Instead of rushing out every possible feature at once, OddsLogic is taking a measured approach, focusing on quality and real-time accuracy. He also shared how sportsbooks themselves use his tools—not just bettors—which shows how important speed and accuracy are in this space.
Rick also had some advice for startups in sports betting. He said too many companies try to "reinvent the wheel" instead of listening to what bettors actually want. He emphasized pricing fairly, being transparent, and focusing on sustainable business models. With OddsLogic, he’s proving that delivering fast, accurate, and reliable data is still a huge need in the market.
Click here to watch, listen and read episode 239 of the Knup Sports Show!
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Current Calendars… Sports Calendar | iGaming Calendar
That’s it for today. Hopefully will be back on a much more regular (maybe not daily but will see) schedule here with the SubStack thing! Thanks for tuning in.
Knup