Welcome to Sportico’s transactions wire, a weekly rundown of personnel, partnerships and products across the sports business industry.
PERSONNEL
Relevent Appoints Boris Gartner as CEO Following Global Expansion
Boris Gartner—Relevent’s president and partner who joined the sports marketing and media rights organization in 2018—has been named CEO of Relevent. Gartner’s promotion follows the creation of Relevent Football Partners, the London-based subsidiary representing the commercial rights for UEFA Club Competitions globally, and the sponsorship and media rights agreements struck in recent months for the 2027-33 cycle. Former CEO and Relevent co-founder Danny Sillman will transition to executive chairman of the company
PARTNERSHIPS
MSG Family of Companies, PwC Announce Multiyear Partnership
Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (NYSE: MSGS), Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: MSGE), and Sphere Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SPHR) announced a new marketing partnership with PwC US, which includes naming the multinational professional services network The Official Business Consulting Partner of the Arena at Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers. PwC will be featured across marquee MSG Entertainment, MSG Sports and Sphere Entertainment assets. This includes activations on Sphere’s iconic Exosphere in Las Vegas, within Madison Square Garden on GardenVision during Knicks and Rangers games, and on MSG Networks.
Jeep Brand Inks Elevated Presenting Partnership With X Games Aspen
X Games is returning to Buttermilk for the 25th consecutive year from Jan. 23–25, and has officially announced the return of the Jeep brand with a significantly expanded partnership. For the first time, the Jeep brand will serve as the presenting partner of the event and return to its previous role as the exclusive automotive partner. Throughout the three-day event, Jeep will advertise through on-site integrations that involve the athletes and snow vehicles.
WTT Series—Plus Major ITTF Events—to Air Across FanDuel TV
World Table Tennis (WTT), together with the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), has secured a new U.S. broadcast partnership with FanDuel TV, bringing a calendar of WTT and ITTF events to fans nationwide for free throughout 2026, with coverage spanning FAST (Free-Ad-Supported Streaming Television) and streaming. FanDuel TV will carry WTT’s events including WTT Grand Smashes, WTT Champions, WTT Star Contender, and the season finale, the WTT Finals—alongside major ITTF properties, including the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals, ITTF Singles World Cup and the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup.
The Ocean Race Atlantic 2026 Names 11th Hour Racing Impact Partner
11th Hour Racing has been named the official Impact Partner of The Ocean Race Atlantic, which kicks off in September 2026. 11th Hour Racing has been a founding partner of The Ocean Race’s sustainability program—Racing for the Ocean—and has worked with The Ocean Race for more than 10 years to promote advances in ocean health. As part of this ongoing partnership, 11th Hour Racing will support initiatives like the new gender-balanced crew requirement.
PRODUCTS
StubHub App Launches in OpenAI ChatGPT
StubHub announced is launching an app on ChatGPT with a “discovery experience.” The integration is meant to replace tab-switching and manual filtering with a conversational assistant, according to StubHub. For example, fans can ask ChatGPT to “Find me Yankee games next weekend” followed by “find me the cheapest options” and StubHub’s app will deliver related results.
