Jan 6, 2022

B51/Mark Brown/Getty Images In this week’s  SportsMoney Playbook : the NBA's budding mogul, NIL momentum and Nascar's changing landscape. Plus: the franchises that have appreciated the most over the last 20 years. Soccer This transfer window  might be particularly quiet  as Premier League clubs find their squads depleted by Covid-19. Meanwhile, FIFA is looking to reform the transfer market, and soccer's most powerful agents  are ready for a fight . New research finds that  friendlies are susceptible to match-fixing —a major concern as the betting market grows. STRIVE, a sports tech company that  analyzes muscle performance data  to prevent injuries, has a growing list of clients, including Leicester City. Auto Racing Richard Petty's Nascar team sold off a majority interest and both of its charters last month; Petty tells us how  the introduction of the Next Gen car  influenced the decision. The new car's impact is actually being felt all over the Nascar landscape as it  strengthens the demand for charters . Golf College Sports Paralympics Male snowboarders with an upper-limb impairment are set to compete at the Beijing Paralympics in March, but the SB-UL class has been left off the program for women. An American pro is  mounting an 11th-hour effort  to change that. Sports Business Pickleball  saw a 21% increase in its number of players in the U.S. in 2021, and  lacrosse  gained momentum in Florida. Women's volleyball , meanwhile, is looking to build on a record-setting year. Fanatics has a deal to buy Topps, but antitrust regulators  may yet step in . Featured Story Devin Booker earns $31.7 million in salary this season and another $8 million annually from endorsement deals with brands like Nike and video game Call of Duty. GUERIN BLASK FOR FORBES Suns guard Devin Booker has turned his seven NBA seasons into a crash course on business, and now he's starting to act on those lessons, picking up stakes in seven startups and rolling up his sleeves as a co-owner of a sports drink. He's already impressed Magic Johnson. Read more on the burgeoning business interests of the recent 30 Under 30 honoree . Hot Reads: Upon Further Review The Golden State Warriors have led  the explosion of sports team valuations  over the last two decades, appreciating 3,300% to $5.6 billion. But No. 2 on the list might surprise you—this club once ranked as MLB's least valuable. See the full list , and also check out  our most recent baseball valuations . The Last Word “Precision is a big thing. Most of the time we are only driving for 30 to 45 seconds.” - Amanda Sorensen When 19-year-old phenom Amanda Sorensen isn't attending classes at Utah Valley University, she's competing on the Formula Drift series, an action-packed twist on auto racing. With success on the track and a steadily growing fan base—140,000 Instagram followers and 11 million TikTok views—she might just be the star the sport needs to reach the next level. Read more about Sorensen's racing journey .