Hideki Matsuyama is the first Japanese golfer to with the Masters, and his country could not be more excited about that. It's a very wealthy economy, it's a country with over half of all golf courses in Asia, and marketing sponsorships pay out very well. Some estimate he could be a $1B golfer by the time he retires, which could be in a couple of decades given the longevity of golf players.

Topps was purchased by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner some years ago, and the company lived a somewhat sleepy life until Gens Y and Z got into the game. Recently, valuations of physical memorabilia, cards especially, have skyrocketed. The NFT craze has also helped. Its intention to go public through a SPAC means the company is looking for funding to go to the next level, and it may be trying to get itself on the NFT joy ride.

The NCAA has had a rough couple of months, but it's mostly self-inflicted. The latest exhibit of its incoherence comes as it flip-flops on broadcasting the women's volleyball tournament and a rather quiet decision to cease drug testing during the final tournaments. It is clear that the organization is focused elsewhere, but why should women's sports suffer?

Kevin De Bruyne signed a contract extension Manchester City recently, and it appears he used data and analytics to show the front office his value to the team. Data and analytics have been used by front office negotiators for years, but the details of those are just not shared. This begs the question when data on athletes is collected by the team of the league, who owns it?

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In The Game is a weekly podcast covering the business of sports.

Hosted by Vladimir Bosanac and Anand Panjabi, they analyze everything from data analytics to broadcast rights, from digital innovation to billion-dollar buyouts. If you love sports and business, In The Game has got you covered.

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