The City of Frisco has officially unveiled Origin, a new 6,200-square-foot innovation hub in the Baylor Scott & White Sports Therapy & Research building at The Star.

The hub is a joint initiative between the Frisco Economic Development Corporation (Frisco EDC) and the global innovation platform Plug and Play, aimed at supporting startups, entrepreneurs, and venture capital activity across Texas and beyond.

The grand opening was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney, city officials, and industry leaders. A video shared by the City of Frisco on X captures the excitement: “We’re excited to officially announce that Origin and Plug and Play have opened the innovation hub at the Baylor Scott and White building at The Star.”

An innovation hub for entrepreneurs and startups is now open at @thestarinfrisco. It’s called Origin and the networking space was created through a public-private partnership between the @FriscoTXEDC and @PlugandPlayTC. Learn more in this week’s #ProgressinMotion. pic.twitter.com/J76xeh5m78

— City of Frisco,Texas (@CityOfFriscoTx) May 22, 2025

Mayor Cheney emphasized the facility’s long-term impact, saying, “We will for years hear of ideas, innovations, things that become household names that are a result of this facility.”

Innovation Meets Sports City USA

Located in what’s known as Sports City USA, Origin places startups in the heart of a city home to the Dallas Cowboys, FC Dallas, PGA of America, and other professional sports entities. Plug and Play’s Frisco Sportstech Director, David Steele, remarked, “It’s a natural space for Plug and Play to grow. When you look at this being the first sportstech office for Plug and Play globally, what better place than Sports City USA.”

Purpose-Built for Collaboration and Growth

Origin’s flexible design includes private offices, co-working areas, and conference rooms. The University of North Texas is already using the facility, which plans to host a sports innovation incubator there.

“It’s just the perfect location. We get to introduce our members to the wonderful people here in Frisco. All the sport teams, the agencies, the leagues—everybody is here,” said a UNT representative.

A Long-Term Strategy

The hub’s creation is the result of a five-year strategy by Frisco EDC to diversify the city’s economy and attract innovation-oriented businesses. Gloria Salinas, SVP of Frisco EDC, noted, “The City of Frisco and our residents not only are dedicated to innovation, but make sure the city and the EDC are pursuing projects like this.”

Plug and Play, headquartered in Silicon Valley, chose Frisco for its largest U.S. expansion outside California. The company plans to host networking events, special presentations, and workshops, further embedding Origin into the city’s innovation ecosystem.

Venture Capital Destination

As detailed in a press release by Frisco EDC, Origin is not just a startup workspace—it’s also intended to attract venture capital firms and investors to the region.

“To recruit more great companies—Fortune 500 companies like Keurig Dr Pepper and TIAA—we need to create environments where startups thrive,” Steele explained.

Origin will also serve as a soft landing zone for international companies and startups looking to enter the U.S. market, according to Plug and Play and city officials.

Public-Private Partnership Success

Frisco leaders credited the city’s development model for enabling Origin’s success.

“To accomplish what we wanted to accomplish as a city, we knew we had to go find the right partners. That’s how we built the City of Frisco—with public-private partnerships. Plug and Play was a perfect fit,” the launch video states.

As Origin begins operations, it represents Frisco’s commitment to bold, future-forward planning. Its strategic location within The Star—Frisco’s premier sports and entertainment district—positions it as a nexus of sports, innovation, and economic transformation.

Esports Charts, a Ukraine-born analytics company that aggregates real-time viewership insights about esports, has won the Esports Innovation Award at the EsportsNext Industry Awards, hosted by the Esports Trade Association (ESTA) in Dallas, USA.

The Esports Innovation Award recognizes an organization or individual that has introduced groundbreaking technology, services, or strategies significantly advancing the esports industry.

Esports Charts was honored for its scalable analytics platform, which provides comprehensive tournament and viewership statistics across more than 25 livestreaming services — helping stakeholders from publishers and teams to fans make smarter, data-driven decisions.

“Winning the Innovation Award from ESTA is an important milestone for us as a leading esports analytics service in the world. Also, we’re especially proud to represent Ukraine-born innovation on an international stage.

From day one, our mission has been to bring clarity and transparency to the world of esports data. And this recognition from the industry is both an honor and a motivation to keep raising the bar.

Thank you to our incredible team and partners, who believed in us from the start. This award is a shared success — and we’re just getting started!”

Artyom Odintsov, co-founder and CEO of Esports Charts.

Founded in 2016, Esports Charts has grown into a key data provider for the global esports ecosystem — powering strategic decisions across media coverage, sponsorship valuation, and fan engagement.

Recently, the company has announced the rebranding of its parent company, ESM.One, to AWERTI, marking a new strategic move for Esports Charts and all the products within the ecosystem.

Spurs G Chris Paul and his brother and business partner CJ Paul have launched a production company called Ohh Dip!!! Entertainment. The joint venture is backed by investment from Words + Pictures, the documentary studio led by Connor Schell and part of The North Road Company. Ohh Dip!!! Entertainment will focus on creating content across multiple platforms, including non-scripted and scripted television, digital media, documentaries, live events and specials, commercials, podcasts and films. The partnership structure gives the Paul brothers majority ownership, with Words + Pictures holding a minority stake. It also includes a first-look agreement that allows Words + Pictures to produce content developed by Ohh Dip!!! Entertainment. CJ Paul will serve as President of Ohh Dip!!! Productions, with Jacqueline Taylor serving as VP/Development & Operations. Specific project details will be announced in the coming months (Ohh Dip!!! Entertainment).

The LPGA today officially made PGA of America COO Craig Kessler its next commissioner, and the 39-year-old already has a clear vision of how he can help the tour latch on to the wider women’s boom that’s been going on in sports in recent years.

SBJ reported three weeks ago Kessler was the leading candidate for the job. Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin was the other finalist for the role, but Kessler edged ahead and became the clear favorite over the last month.

Kessler, an SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree for 2025, was also the COO at Topgolf from 2016-2021 and currently serves on the National Golf Foundation board.

He has four key pillars that he’s looking to build the LPGA on:

• Trust with fans, players, tournaments and sponsors.
• Visibility for both players and the LPGA brand.
• Building a stronger fan base.
• Building a stronger financial foundation.

“Every decision we make needs to be filtered through those four lenses,” he told SBJ on Wednesday. “And if we do it, we can create an organization where everybody says, ‘Something amazing is happening at the LPGA and we need to be a part of it.’”

The LPGA was closing in on six months without having a full-time commissioner, as Mollie Marcoux Samaan announced her intention to step down at the beginning of December. Liz Moore has been serving as interim commissioner.

It’s not clear what the salary range is for Kessler, though Marcoux Samaan’s total compensation came in at just more than $1.3M in the LPGA’s most recent 990 filing. Elevate Talent and Liz Moulton led the search.

Kessler comes in from a much different vantage point than Marcoux Samaan did in 2021. Marcoux Samaan did not have a background in golf, hired in 2021 after a stint as the AD at Princeton.

Kessler, on the other hand, had the stint at Topgolf and after a short time out of the game landed at the PGA in early 2023. Also important is that he’s got a background in private equity. The Harvard and Georgetown grad began his career at McKinsey & Company and later became an operating partner at KKR and Providence Equity Partners. The LPGA was said to be working on a capital raise in recent years.

The LPGA job is not an easy one. The tour has challenging media deals both in the U.S. and internationally. It’s also truly a global tour. Of its 33 events in 2025 (including majors), 13 are played outside the U.S., with another contested in Hawaii. But Kessler sees that as less of a challenge and more of an opportunity.

“The global nature of the tour is actually one of our biggest assets, and figuring out how to leverage that to build an even stronger global brand on top of the domestic brand in the United States is a massive opportunity for us,” he said.

The tour’s domestic media deal is tied in with the PGA Tour’s, which run through 2030. It’s often a point of contention with industry executives as well as LPGA fans, who bemoan the lack of live coverage, as well as the inability to easily find LPGA broadcasts. Those issues will be one of Kessler’s top priorities, he said.

“I mentioned one of the four pillars was being visible,” Kessler said. “And I think importantly when we talk about visibility, it’s not just frequency, it’s also quality and making sure that what people see is representative of the amazing stories these athletes have to share.”

Golf Saudi in late 2023 blocked a potential merger between the LPGA and Ladies European Tour. And Saudi Arabia’s PIF recently signed on the become title sponsor of the old Aramco Team Series on the LET. Marcoux Samaan was at times criticized for not being open to having more conversations with Saudi Arabia.

Asked about his plans for such discourse, Kessler replied: “As the incoming commissioner, I have one primary duty and that is to elevate the sport and to recognize and honor the incredible talents of the women who lay it all on the line every week on the golf course. And anybody who’s out there who’s willing to have a conversation that helps us further that mission, I can’t wait to have the discussion.”

Meanwhile, there have been industry whispers that Kessler could look to move the LPGA out of Daytona Beach. Asked about that possibility, Kessler responded: “My family and I are well settled in Dallas, Texas. And for the time being, that’s where we plan to be based. I will personally be where the players are, where the sponsors are and where the opportunity is. But for now, we’ll be in Dallas and more to come on that in the future.”

The LPGA under Marcoux Samaan increased purse sizes and made other adds that improved the player experience, but still some tournament operators have wondered if those investments would level off if, or when, the greater women’s sports movement does the same. Multiple tournament directors have felt the tour could do more in terms of relationship building with individual events and official marketing partners.

“Building an organization where everyone goes, ‘What’s happening there? I have to be a part of it,’” Kessler said. “And it’s rooted in trust. And I think I highlighted early on that includes trust with sponsors. That’s part of the mission from day one. And my sincere hope is that if anybody doesn’t feel the love, they call me as fast as possible and we can work through it because they deserve it.”

Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, an LPGA BOD member and Player President, was on the search committee for both Marcoux Samaan and again this time with Kessler.

“We were looking for a person that we felt could lead our organization that was visionary, that could be someone that could get in front of new people and old people that we had been working with, with our sponsors to give us the plan to move forward and to lead us,” she said. “And it’s obvious that you need a leader, but you need a leader that someone will follow. Someone that can articulate, be passionate, that you can get behind what they believe in.”

The LPGA has undergone several executive changes since Marcoux Samaan’s exit. In January, the LPGA parted ways with Chief Sales and Partnerships Officer Nicole Metzger. And just recently, Chief Marketing, Communications and Brand Officer Matt Chmura resigned from his position.

Kessler officially begins his role on July 15.

“Their powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies, and more, have led to a Trade Deficit with the U.S. of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable,” he wrote in a Truth Social post Friday morning.

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