Influence 125 highlights the most influential sports business figures of the past quarter-century. See the list.
The co-founder of private equity giant Apollo Global Management, Josh Harris was among the first in a trend of financial executives acquiring pro teams when he and David Blitzer bought the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011. Their Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment has since added the New Jersey Devils and Crystal Palace F.C., among other sports holdings, while the pair has separately backed leading youth sports roll-up Unrivaled. But Harris has had no greater influence than in leading the acquisition of the Washington Commanders for a then-record $6 billion in 2023. That deal led to a complete overhaul of the franchise, set a new floor for NFL team transactions and is now driving plans for a nearly $4 billion stadium.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College men’s basketball team defeated Martin Luther College in a back-and-forth non-conference game Monday night in the Leonard Center, coming out on top, 85-80. The Scots even their record at 5-5 on the season, while the Knights drop to 4-7.
Macalester opened the game with a 12-5 run, with senior forward Noah Shannon (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) scoring four points over the first 5:17. After the teams exchanged baskets, first year guard Jamal Randle (St. Paul, Minn./Great River School) hit a three-pointer for a 10-point lead, 17-7. Later in the half, a three-pointer from senior forward Ryan Brush (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue) gave the Scots a 31-25 edge with 3:18 remaining in the half. Martin Luther used a 9-2 run to take its first lead of the game, 34-33 with 1:12 on the clock. First year guard Owen Walther (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs School) closed out the scoring in the first half with a three to send Macalester into halftime with a 36-34 lead.
After the Knights tied the score early in the second half, the Scots went on a 13-4 run sparked by a pair of threes from Walther and another by first year guard Noah Hamburge (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnehaha Academy) for a 52-43 advantage with 14:44 remaining. A conventional three-point play by Shannon later in the half made it a 10-point game, 59-49 at the 12:42 mark. On two occasions Martin Luther came within five points, only to have Brush and Walther each answer with a three-pointer, with Walther’s trey making the score 70-62 Macalester with 6:08 left.
Walther drained his fifth three of the game after a pair of Knights’ free throws, but Adam Loberger answered Walther with a three of his own to make the score 73-67 with 4:36 to play. Martin Luther continued to hack away at the Scots’ lead, with a basket by Thomas Balge and a conventional three-point play from Benjamin Vasold pulling the Knights to within one, 73-72 with 3:10 remaining. The lead was still down to one, 75-74 when Walther struck again from deep for a 74-78 advantage. On its next possession, Martin Luther scored again, only to have Brush nail a three-pointer to put Macalester on top, 81-76. Benjamin Pearson scored and was fouled, hitting the free throw to cut the lead to two, 81-79 with 22 seconds left, but the Scots made their free throws down the stretch to close out the win, 85-80.
Macalester made 14-of-33 (42.4 percent) from three-point range and converted 11-of-13 from the free throw line for the game. Shannon led the Scots with 21 points and six rebounds, hitting eight of his nine attempts from the charity stripe. Walther drained 6-of-9 from beyond the arc to finish with 18 points, and brush was 4-of-8 from deep en route to 16 points. Sophomore guard Joaquin Aguillon (San Rafael, Calif./The Branson School) dished out a career-high nine assists to go with eight points. Pearson led Martin Luther with 24 points.
Macalester plays a MIAC at Carleton on Wednesday, Dec. 10 in the final game of 2025. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. in Northfield, Minn.
New Balance Foundation commits $9.2 million for 2025-2026 cycle to Massachusetts nonprofits focused on youth development
Grants support youth sports access, nutrition and food security, and education programs in communities where New Balance operates facilities
Foundation has invested more than $90 million since 1981, with $17 million distributed to 95 nonprofits in 2025 alone
Funding includes 11 local organizations ranging from Beyond Soccer to Special Olympics Massachusetts
99% of North American 12th graders in Foundation-funded programs graduated from high school
Supporting Communities Where Associates Work
The New Balance Foundation announced $9.2 million in grants for the 2025-2026 funding cycle, targeting youth development programs in Massachusetts communities where the athletic footwear manufacturer maintains operations. New Balance operates facilities in Lawrence and Methuen, including an 80,000-square-foot footwear facility in Methuen that brought more than 200 jobs to the Merrimack Valley when it opened in 2022.
The grants focus on three primary areas: youth sports access, nutrition and food security, and educational support programs. “The children and families in these communities are in our backyard, and we’re proud to invest in organizations and initiatives that play a critical role in shaping the lives of young people across the state,” said Anne Davis, managing trustee of the New Balance Foundation, in a statement to The Eagle-Tribune.
Grant Recipients and Program Focus
The 2025-2026 funding cycle supports 11 local nonprofits: Beyond Soccer, Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence, Change the Game Coalition, Community Rowing, Cradles to Crayons, Essex Art Center, Lazarus House Ministries, Play Ball Foundation, Special Olympics Massachusetts, and SquashBusters locations in Boston and Lawrence.
Beyond annual operating grants, the Foundation’s Enduring Gifts Pillar supports larger infrastructure projects. Recent contributions include the renovation of Lawrence’s O’Connell South Common Park and the development of Esperanza Academy’s new K-8 school for girls in Lawrence.
Foundation Track Record and Outcomes
Since its establishment in 1981, the New Balance Foundation has invested more than $90 million in nonprofits serving Metro Boston, Lawrence, and Methuen. The Foundation has granted over $165 million total to date, with more than $17 million distributed to 95 nonprofits in 2025 alone.
Program outcomes show measurable impact on youth participants. 99% of North American 12th graders participating in New Balance Foundation-funded programs graduated from high school, with 88% enrolled in college.
The Foundation maintains a long-term approach to grantmaking. Operating within an invitation-only framework, the Foundation focuses on year-round collaboration with portfolio grantees rather than accepting unsolicited applications.
Broader Philanthropic Footprint
The Massachusetts commitment represents one component of the Foundation’s expanding geographic reach. In 2024, New Balance and New Balance Foundation donated more than $28 million in the U.S. to charitable causes, with focus on empowering underserved populations and removing barriers to healthy lifestyles.
In April 2025, the Foundation launched Futures in Motion, a multi-year international initiative in partnership with Beyond Sport, beginning in Australia, Japan, and Poland with plans to expand to four additional countries over three years.
The Foundation’s model centers on preventing childhood obesity and promoting youth development through sports-based programming, educational support, and career readiness initiatives in communities where New Balance associates live and work.
YSBR provides this content on an “as is” basis without any warranties, express or implied. We do not assume responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, legality, reliability, or use of the information, including any images, videos, or licenses associated with this article. For any concerns, including copyright issues or complaints, please contact YSBR directly.
Sources
The Eagle-Tribune: “New Balance pledges $9.2M in grants to non-profits” (December 4, 2025)
New Balance Foundation: “Our Impact” (newbalance.com)
New Balance Foundation: “Our Mission” (newbalance.com)
WebWire: “New Balance Releases Inaugural Made in USA Economic and Social Footprint Report”
Beyond Sport: “New Balance Foundation and Beyond Sport Launch New International Youth Development Program” (April 4, 2025)
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Are you a brand looking to tap into the world’s most passionate fanbase… youth sports?
Introducing Play Up Partners, a leading youth sports marketing agency connecting brands with the power of youth sports. We specialize in youth sports sponsorships, partnerships, and activations that drive measurable results.
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A youth substance misuse prevention program from the Illinois Association for Behavioral Health [IABH] has partnered with the Illinois High School Association [IHSA] and IESA to expand outreach efforts.
Courtesy
/
Illinois Association for Behavioral Health
Ashley Webb is the chief operating officer and vice president of programs at the IABH.
Generation Lead is in its second year of operation. The program aims to delay initial substance use through physical and digital material made accessible to middle and high school students. This includes commercials, posters, bookmarks and other awareness-raising materials. Messaging also offers information on recovery services for those in need.
The program needed ways to reach students beyond the occasional visit to a school assembly or health class, said Ashley Webb, chief operating officer and vice president of programs at the IABH, during an interview on WGLT’s Sound Ideas.
“Our goal is to captivate an audience, to let them know that being a leader is OK, being substance-free is OK, and taking that positive message and hopefully sprinkling that through their peers,” said Webb.
“Our best leaders can be student athletes, and so it’s a way for coaches and the athletes to get involved in a community awareness event and campaign.”
The IHSA and IESA, both based in Bloomington, already have policies against substance misuse for student-athletes. The partnership with Generation Lead provides tangible resources to further share messages against such practices with students, families, teachers and social workers. Generation Lead also shares digital materials.
“We know youth are on social media, so making sure that they’re seeing those advertisements and listening,” said Webb. “We’re targeting those communities and making sure that it’s not just something that they’re hearing at school or in their meetings that you need to live substance free, but also seeing it and connecting it.”
The program is funded by a grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services, through the Regional Care Coordination Agency.
Generation Lead offers free material that can be requested on its website. Webb said there are requests each week for more material to be used in schools throughout the state.
“We have heard from many preventionist school teachers, social workers, guidance counselors, coaches, about how they’ve seen our material and how they want our campaign in their community,” said Webb.
All programs offered by the IABH have youth advocates to represent their communities and share messaging that they think works. For Generation Lead, the group helps with messaging that works statewide and can also work on differentiating messaging based on where in the state the material goes.
“Illinois is really diverse, and so from rural communities to urban and suburban, we have to make sure that we’re tweaking our messaging and our outreach in those ways,” said Webb.
We depend on your support to keep telling stories like this one. WGLT’s mental health coverage is made possible in part by Chestnut Health Systems. Please take a moment to donate now and add your financial support to fully fund this growing coverage area so we can continue to serve the community.
TUESDAY, Dec. 9, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Worried your boy is going to be a difficult teen, in constant friction with parents, teachers and other authority figures?
Get him involved in sports, a new study suggests.
Boys who participated in organized sports between 6 to 10 years of age were less likely to show signs of oppositional-defiant disorder in their tweens, researchers reported Dec. 8 in the journal European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
“Boys who consistently participated in organized sport showed significantly fewer subsequent oppositional-defiant symptoms at both ages compared to boys with low or inconsistent participation,” said lead researcher Matteo Privitera, a doctoral student at the University of Pavia in Italy.
“Sport may serve as a natural and influential context for learning self-regulation, cooperation and respect for rules,” he added in a news release.
For the study, researchers tracked nearly 1,500 boys and girls who participated in organized sports between ages 6 and 10, and then answered questionnaires at 10 and 12 to gauge oppositional-defiant disorder.
“Symptoms of the disorder include persistent patterns of irritability, defiance and hostility toward authority figures,” Privitera said. “The disorder is over-represented by boys and often accompanies other neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD and learning disabilities.”
Importantly, “these behaviors can interfere with learning, relationships and long-term mental health,” Privatera added. “In our study, we wanted to look into the symptoms and try to identify accessible, community-based strategies that foster more adaptive behavior in children.”
Results showed that boys who stuck with organized sports were likely to show fewer signs of defiance at 10 and 12, compared with those who participated less often.
No similar associations were found among girls, researchers said — not surprising, given that boys generally show more defiance in their tween years than girls.
“Our findings support the idea that structured extracurricular activities can promote behavioral resilience,” researcher Kianoush Harandian, a doctoral student at the University of Montreal, said in a news release. “Sport offers a supervised and socially engaging environment that may help boys internalize adaptive behavioral norms.”
Senior researcher Linda Pagani, a professor at the University of Montreal, pointed to long-term benefits.
“Encouraging sustained sport participation in middle childhood may reduce the burden of disruptive behavior disorders and support long-term well-being,” she said in a news release. “It’s a simple, actionable strategy with benefits for families, schools and communities.”
More information
The University of San Diego has more on the benefits of youth sports in child development.
SOURCE: University of Montreal, news release, Dec. 8, 2025
What This Means For You
Parents worried about having a difficult teen may want to get their boys involved in youth sports.
Youth sports can help prevent boys from fighting with authority figures
Boys who participated in sports at a young age were less likely to be defiant as tweens
However, no such benefit was seen with girls
TUESDAY, Dec. 9, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Worried your boy is going to be a difficult teen, in constant friction with parents, teachers and other authority figures?
Get him involved in sports, a new study suggests.
Boys who participated in organized sports between 6 to 10 years of age were less likely to show signs of oppositional-defiant disorder in their tweens, researchers reported Dec. 8 in the journal European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
“Boys who consistently participated in organized sport showed significantly fewer subsequent oppositional-defiant symptoms at both ages compared to boys with low or inconsistent participation,” said lead researcher Matteo Privitera, a doctoral student at the University of Pavia in Italy.
“Sport may serve as a natural and influential context for learning self-regulation, cooperation and respect for rules,” he added in a news release.
For the study, researchers tracked nearly 1,500 boys and girls who participated in organized sports between ages 6 and 10, and then answered questionnaires at 10 and 12 to gauge oppositional-defiant disorder.
“Symptoms of the disorder include persistent patterns of irritability, defiance and hostility toward authority figures,” Privitera said. “The disorder is over-represented by boys and often accompanies other neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD and learning disabilities.”
Importantly, “these behaviors can interfere with learning, relationships and long-term mental health,” Privatera added. “In our study, we wanted to look into the symptoms and try to identify accessible, community-based strategies that foster more adaptive behavior in children.”
Results showed that boys who stuck with organized sports were likely to show fewer signs of defiance at 10 and 12, compared with those who participated less often.
No similar associations were found among girls, researchers said — not surprising, given that boys generally show more defiance in their tween years than girls.
“Our findings support the idea that structured extracurricular activities can promote behavioral resilience,” researcher Kianoush Harandian, a doctoral student at the University of Montreal, said in a news release. “Sport offers a supervised and socially engaging environment that may help boys internalize adaptive behavioral norms.”
Senior researcher Linda Pagani, a professor at the University of Montreal, pointed to long-term benefits.
“Encouraging sustained sport participation in middle childhood may reduce the burden of disruptive behavior disorders and support long-term well-being,” she said in a news release. “It’s a simple, actionable strategy with benefits for families, schools and communities.”
More information
The University of San Diego has more on the benefits of youth sports in child development.
SOURCE: University of Montreal, news release, Dec. 8, 2025
What This Means For You
Parents worried about having a difficult teen may want to get their boys involved in youth sports.
A group of eight Philly teenagers who were in Polk County, Florida, to play a youth football championship game were arrested for stealing more than $2,000 worth of merchandise from a Dick’s Sporting Goods, law enforcement said on Monday.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the eight teenagers, who were all between the ages of 14 and 15 and played for Philly’s United Thoroughbreds, entered a Dick’s Sporting Goods at Posner Plaza in Davenport at around 10:55 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025.
While inside, one of the teens went and bought something at the register as the others went looking around the store, the Sheriff’s office said.
The teen who purchased something then went and met with the seven others inside the store, where they started placing merchandise inside the Dick’s store bag. Three of the teens then attempted to leave the store with stolen merchandise, the Sheriff’s office said.
Law enforcement were able to stop the three trying to leave and found more than $2,000 worth of stolen merchandise inside the bag, as well as a backpack, the Sheriff’s office said.
The other five teens were then detained inside the store, the Sheriff’s office said.
All eight teenagers were taken to a juvenile detention center in Florida and face two felony charges: retail theft over $750 and conspiracy to commit retail theft, according to the Sheriff’s office.
The total value of all the goods the teens tried to steal, according to law enforcement in Florida, was $2,296.07.
