Competition & Capital

When Cristiano Ronaldo signed with Al Nassr in January 2023 for a reported 200 million dollars per year, the deal was celebrated as a landmark moment in football. What received considerably less attention was the role of Jorge Mendes, Ronaldo's agent, in constructing it. Mendes did not simply negotiate a salary. He structured a commercial arrangement that included image rights, sponsorship guarantees and a package of ancillary agreements that made the headline figure possible

When Scottie Scheffler won the Masters Tournament in April 2024, he walked away with a cheque for 3.6 million dollars. It was the largest prize in the tournament's history, and it made headlines across the sporting world. But that number, as striking as it is, represents only a small fraction of the money that moves through Augusta National during Masters week. The four major championships, the Masters, the US Open, the Open Championship and the PGA Championship, are the most

When General Motors announced in 2024 that it would be entering Formula 1 as a constructor through the Cadillac brand, the reaction from the existing teams was surprising. Rather than welcoming a new competitor, several of the established teams lobbied against the entry. The reason had nothing to do with racing. It had everything to do with money. A new team on the grid means the prize fund gets split one more way, and in Formula 1, the commercial structure is so precisely en