From Bitcoin to Big League Sports

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Tuesday, September 1, 2026

Professional sports franchises have been among the most durable stores of value in American business, and for generations the leagues largely kept institutional investors outside the ownership structure. That has changed. All four major U.S. leagues now permit some form of passive institutional ownership, the NFL most recently in August 2024, and the race is on to build structures that let ordinary investors participate in an asset class that has always required an eight or nine figure check.

Shares of Sono Group N.V. (Nasdaq: SSM) are surging Tuesday after the company announced a non-binding letter of intent to combine with Sports One, a newly formed vehicle built to acquire and hold minority interests in NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL franchises. The deal would redirect Sono, currently a digital asset treasury company running a Bitcoin covered call strategy, toward professional sports ownership and sports intelligence. The combined company is expected to take the Sports One name.

Sports One is built on two businesses. The first is long-duration ownership of minority franchise stakes. The four leagues comprise 124 teams with an aggregate value exceeding $500 billion, based on published valuations from Forbes and Sportico. Rather than a traditional private fund with a fixed life, Sports One intends to operate as a permanent capital company with no forced exit timeline, holding those interests indefinitely while shareholders get daily liquidity through the listed stock.

The second business is sports intelligence. The platform is designed to deliver real-time athlete-level data, social media value scoring and quantified measures of what each athlete is worth to a sponsor. Intended customers include teams and universities making roster and investment decisions, brands planning campaigns, and companies operating in betting, gaming and prediction markets. The parties also see it valuing name, image and likeness rights as a distinct asset category.

The proposed management team brings ownership experience from inside the leagues. Co-founder and CEO Chris Kelly is a co-owner of the NBA's Sacramento Kings. SVP of business development Michael Spanos II comes from the family that owns the Los Angeles Chargers. Founder Paul Misir would serve as chairman, with former RNC chairman Reince Priebus as an advisor.

Concurrent with the signing, an investor group including parties affiliated with Sports One purchased 283,500 ordinary shares, representing 19.9% of Sono's outstanding stock, at market price with no discount and no warrant coverage. Each investor agreed to a 180 day lockup.

Sports One equity holders would own a supermajority of the combined company. The letter of intent is non-binding, and any closing remains subject to due diligence, definitive documentation, regulatory review and shareholder approval.

Shares of SSM are up 39.9% to $3.75 in Tuesday morning action.

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