KEY POINTS Dave Checketts and Cynosure Group aim to raise $1.2 billion for sports-related investments. Checketts and the Eccles family have longstanding relationship and connection to Utah sports. Live sports revenues are expected to reach nearly $900 billion in the next decade. A full-circle moment, perhaps, was christened Monday when pro sports veteran and Utah […]
KEY POINTS
A full-circle moment, perhaps, was christened Monday when pro sports veteran and Utah native Dave Checketts and the Eccles family private investment firm Cynosure Group launched Cynosure|Checketts Sports Capital, a joint venture aiming to raise $1.2 billion to back “high-potential sports opportunities.
Checketts and the Eccles family can trace their connection back to the advent of big-time professional sports in Utah. Spencer F. Eccles, then CEO and chairman of First Security Corporation, helped Larry H. Miller secure funding in 1985 to keep the Jazz in Utah in a deal that eventually led to Miller acquiring full ownership of the team.
At the time, Checketts was two years into his first pro sports gig with the Jazz, having become the youngest-ever NBA team president in 1983 at the age of 28.
The ensuing decades saw the Eccles family support a myriad of sports venues and programs through their philanthropic arm and help bring the 2002 Winter Games to Salt Lake City as Checketts built a wide-ranging career as a top sports executive and investor. His tenure as Jazz president/CEO ran through 1990 before he moved on to take over as the New York Knicks chief executive and later became the president/CEO of Madison Square Garden from 1994-2001.
Along the way he founded the New York Liberty, one of the original WNBA franchises, and founded Real Salt Lake, Utah’s first Major League Soccer franchise. In 2005, the same year RSL began play, Checketts bought the NHL’s St. Louis Blues. Under Checketts’ leadership, RSL claimed its first (and so far, only) championship in 2009 when the team defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy to win the MLS Cup.
Cynosure|Checketts Sports Capital says it already has deals in the pipeline and will be targeting investments across multiple segments of the sports industry, including:
“This partnership is a dream come true for me, reuniting me with the Eccles family, who were key in keeping the Jazz in Salt Lake City, bringing the Olympic Winter Games to Utah in 2002 and building tremendous intercollegiate athletic programs in the state,” Checketts said. “By joining forces today with The Cynosure Group, we are creating a powerhouse entity with assets that will make us competitive on a global scale and will give us great opportunities to help shape the future of the industry right away.”
In a Deseret News interview, Checketts said the idea to start a sports-focused investment fund has been on his mind since he and his wife completed a mission in London for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2021.
“When I came home I was close enough to retirement age that I started thinking about what the last chapter of my career in sports was going to look like,” he said. “I wanted to raise a significant fund and go after interesting investments in sport, but not just franchises, other assets in this industry.”
The last six years has evolved into a watershed moment for private equity investment opportunities in sports. From 2019 to 2024, all five major North American sports leagues have opened their doors to private investment and the business of live sports is booming.
According to a report from Buyouts, global sports revenues hit $463 billion in 2024 and are expected to reach $863 billion by 2033.
“Investments in the sports ecosystem have increased in recent years due to rising franchise valuations and media rights packages, emerging revenue streams like sponsorship, merchandising and gaming and the digitization of distribution,” Scott Marimow, Providence Equity Partners, told Buyouts.
Spencer P. Eccles, managing partner and co-founder of The Cynosure Group and former executive director of the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, noted in a Deseret News interview that the relationship between his family and Checketts goes back nearly five decades and the shared approach to business ventures makes for a natural fit.
“We’re bringing together two powerhouses with a shared vision, business acuity and track record of successes,” Eccles said. “We knew if we were ever going to partner Cynosure and the Eccles family with an effort in the sports space, it would be with Dave Checketts.”
Eccles noted his family’s connection with sports, both in personal pursuits and financial support, goes back generations and focuses on “building individuals, building communities and building the state.”
Randal Quarles, chairman of The Cynosure Group and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, noted the sports investment realm is rife with both opportunity and earnings potential.
“Sports represents a unique asset class with tremendous growth potential,” Quarles said in a statement. “By partnering with Dave Checketts, whose expertise in building value across multiple sports properties is unmatched, we are positioning ourselves to capitalize on the most compelling opportunities in this dynamic market.”
VALLEY CITY, ND (VCSUVikings.com) Valley City State volleyball has released its fall schedule to mark the Vikings’ debut season in the Frontier Conference, head coach Michelle Meiklejohn announced. The Vikings open the season at home on Aug. 16 against Dakota Wesleyan University. VCSU then travels to Sioux City, Iowa to face Morningside University in a non-conference […]
VALLEY CITY, ND (VCSUVikings.com) Valley City State volleyball has released its fall schedule to mark the Vikings’ debut season in the Frontier Conference, head coach Michelle Meiklejohn announced.
The Vikings open the season at home on Aug. 16 against Dakota Wesleyan University. VCSU then travels to Sioux City, Iowa to face Morningside University in a non-conference game before competing at the Siouxland Invitational Aug. 22-23.
VCSU kicks off the Frontier Conference schedule on Sept. 3 when the Vikings host Mayville State. VCSU will play 22 games in the Frontier Conference season, including 11 home and 11 away contests. Frontier Conference member schools include Mayville State, Bismarck State, Dickinson State, Dakota State, Bellevue University, Montana Western, Montana Tech, Montana State University Northern, University of Providence, Rocky Mountain College and Carroll College.
The Vikings will recognize Faculty and Staff during its home game against Montana Western on Sept. 5. Parent’s Night is scheduled for Oct. 25 when VCSU hosts Rocky Mountain College and Senior Day will on Nov. 8 for its season finale against Dakota State.
The Frontier Conference Postseason Tournament is slated for Nov. 13-15 hosted by Carroll College in Helena, Mont.
ATLANTA – Stanford goalkeeper Caroline Birkel has been selected as one of 21 players to represent the USA at the 2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship in Costa Rica later this month. The roster is made up of players born in 2006 and 2007, and current U.S. U-19 head coach Carrie Kveton will lead the squad […]
ATLANTA – Stanford goalkeeper Caroline Birkel has been selected as one of 21 players to represent the USA at the 2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship in Costa Rica later this month.
The roster is made up of players born in 2006 and 2007, and current U.S. U-19 head coach Carrie Kveton will lead the squad before new U.S. U-20 WNT head coach Vicky Jepson takes over after the qualifying tournament.
Birkel, who enrolled early at Stanford and is entering her first season on The Farm in 2025, was one of the goalkeepers on the USA’s 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Team and is the only player on this qualifying team from that squad.
The USA will take aim at one of four berths to the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland and a record eighth Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship after dominant runs to the confederation crown in 2020 and 2022. Mexico won the title in 2023.
The USA will face Guyana on May 30 (1 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. local), Puerto Rico on June 1 (1 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. local) and host Costa Rica on June 3 (4 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. local) in Group A play at the tournament, which will run from May 29-June 8 in Alajuela, Costa Rica. The top four finishers in the tournament will advance to represent the region in Poland in the fall of next year.
Players born on or after Jan. 1, 2006, are age-eligible for the 2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship. The roster is almost evenly divided between birth years with 10 born in 2006 and 11 in 2007.
Before heading to Costa Rica, the team will train in Florida for a week, beginning on May 22.
2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship Roster by Position (College or Club; Hometown)
Goalkeepers (3): Caroline Birkel (Stanford; St. Louis, Mo.), Sonoma Kasica (Notre Dame; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Kealey Titmuss (Penn State; Grand Blanc, Mich.)
Defenders (7): Aven Alvarez (UNC; New Hill, N.C.), Bella Ayscue (Penn State; Apex, N.C.), Edra Bello (San Diego Surf SC; San Diego, Calif.), Emma Johnson (Lexington Sporting Club – USL Super League; Greenfield, Ind.), Abby Mills (Notre Dame; Southlake, Texas), Leena Powell (Tudela FC; Culver City, Calif.), Katie Scott (Kansas City Current – NWSL; Fairview, Pa.)
Midfielders (6): Kennedy Fuller (Angel City FC – NWSL; Southlake, Texas), Peyton McGovern (Florida State; Bristow, Va.), Ashlyn Puerta (Sporting JAX – USL W-League; Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.), Grace Restovich (Notre Dame; St. Louis, Mo.), Kennedy Ring (World Class FC; East Greenbush, N.Y.) Linda Ullmark (UNC; Buffalo, N.Y.)
Forwards (5): Izzy Engle (Notre Dame; Edina, Minn.), Mary Long (Kansas City Current – NWSL; Mission Hills, Kan.), Chloe Ricketts (Washington Spirit – NWSL; Dexter, Mich.), Sealey Strawn (Dallas Trinity FC – USL Women’s Super League; Prosper, Texas), Mya Townes (Georgia; Aldie, Va.)
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The eight-team 2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship will feature round-robin play within two groups of four teams each. After group play, the group winners and runners-up will advance to the semifinals and qualify for next year’s World Cup. For the first time, the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup will feature 24 nations, up from 16 in the previous eight editions of the tournament. Twelve nations contested the title in 2002 and 2004, when it was held as a U-19 event. The semifinals will be played on June 6 followed by the final on June 8. All matches will take place at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela, Costa Rica.
Olivier Cadotte The Eastern Door The Kahnawake Survival School (KSS) Bantam and Juvenile baseball teams have completed their regular season games. Unfortunately, neither team was able to secure a win, but that doesn’t mean there are not bright spots to the season. The Bantam team went 0-4, losing to West Island College, College Regina Assumpta, […]
Olivier Cadotte The Eastern Door
The Kahnawake Survival School (KSS) Bantam and Juvenile baseball teams have completed their regular season games. Unfortunately, neither team was able to secure a win, but that doesn’t mean there are not bright spots to the season.
The Bantam team went 0-4, losing to West Island College, College Regina Assumpta, Loyola College, and Bialik High School, but they did earn all eight of their ethics points.
These points are awarded for sportsmanship and fair play – meaning that at time of writing, they could still qualify for the playoffs as one of the top two teams in their division if Lower Canada College and Selwyn House do not get to eight standings points through wins or fair play.
Lower Canada College currently has five points, three for a win and two for fair play, after playing only one game so far due to a rainout. Selwyn House has all of their ethics points in two games, but is so far winless.
Watsonville High senior Joshua Anaya leaps for a kill over a pair of Alisal High defenders during the teams’ Central Coast Section boys’ volleyball play-in match on May 8. (Raul Ebio/The Pajaronian) Correction: A previous version of this story said the Watsonville boys’ volleyball team last won a league championship in 2016, which is not […]
Correction: A previous version of this story said the Watsonville boys’ volleyball team last won a league championship in 2016, which is not true. Watsonville won a league championship in 2022.
The historical run for the Watsonville boys’ volleyball team came to a crushing end following a loss to Alisal in the Central Coast Section postseason play-in match on May 8.
Despite capturing the Pacific Coast Athletic League Cypress Division crown with a perfect 14-0 record in league play, the Wildcatz still had to claw their way in for a chance to qualify for the playoffs.
They fell in three sets 25-16, 25-16, 25-18 to the Trojans—third place finishers in the PCAL Gabilan Division, which is two levels above the Cypress.
“We worked so hard not to lose a single game, and be first within our division,” Watsonville senior and team captain Joshua Anaya said. “I think we should at least be considered to get into CCS rather than having to fight a team that’s third, not even the first [place] team in a different division.”
Anaya and his fellow ‘Catz teammates put up a fight for most of the match, yet they were highly outmatched by a more seasoned Alisal squad that competed in the PCAL’s top tier this season.
“The thing that makes it challenging is because a couple of us are young,” Anaya said. “The whole team for Aliso plays club, so it’s just a different tempo, different background to that.”
Watsonville head coach Crystal Cornejo-Perez wasn’t too keen on having to play the Trojans, who had already swept the ‘Catz in three sets on March 11.
“The boys definitely improved over the season, they did much better today,” she said. “I think we could have done better, but I also think it kind of sucks that we got set up with one of the top dogs in the toughest [division]. Just kind of felt they always try to shut the little ones out.”
The ‘Catz finished with a 15-9 overall record, including last week’s CCS play-in loss. It was a dramatic turnaround season for them after they finished with a 5-15 overall record in 2024, and placed fifth in the Mission Division with a 3-9 record in league play.
This year they nearly swept through the Cypress Division by losing just five sets in league play, and en route to the program’s first league title since 2022 and third championship overall.
“I wasn’t expecting much, however, I’m incredibly proud how far we’ve actually come,” Anaya said. “I think it’s a huge accomplishment coming from being a freshman going to CCS, and then finishing it off going to a play-in [match] senior year.”
The closest match for them was a victory over Pajaro Valley in five 25-16, 25-12, 26-28, 22-25, 15-11 on April 28. Anaya had 15 kills and 16 digs that evening, while teammate junior Logan Franc finished with 20 kills and 11 digs.
“Repspectfully, the competition wasn’t as high as I expected,” Cornejo-Perez said. “Other schools were struggling with getting boys’ volleyball, so they had a lot of new players, as well. Luckily we had those experienced players that formed the little ones and taught them.”
However, the ‘Catz did finish 1-8 in non-league play with losses to formidable opponents such as Salians out of the PCAL Gabilan, and Mission Division champion Palma.
Alisal along with Palma each qualified and lost in the CCS playoffs that featured just three divisions: Open Division, D-I and D-II. Each one of those divisions was packed with even more challenging opponents from far and near.
Perhaps it was the lack of experience, and strength of schedule, that caught up to this young group of ‘Catz. But either way, they should have a bright future ahead of them.
“It was rough from the start but it continued to go on, I think we built a family together,” Anaya said. “We were discouraged a little bit, however, each individual has grown so much. Overall, that was the important part of being able to play on this team, being together as one.”
Anaya this season led the ‘Catz with 150 total kills and 43 served aces, and was second on the team with 112 digs, according to statistics on the Monterey Bay Preps website. Franc finished with a team-best 136 digs to go along with 40 aces and 131 kills, finishing just behind Anaya.
“As much as we joke around and everything, sometimes it’s time to be serious,” Anaya said. “However, we still have that mentality of we’re here for fun. We all hang out together, play video games. Just building that bond, knowing that we have each other’s backs.”
Other ‘Catz standouts this season included sophomore Ricardo Ramirez, who led the team with 251 assists, and senior Diego Hidalgo with 170 assists. Teammate senior Andres Cardenas was also a big contributor as he finished with 74 kills, 60 digs and 32 aces for Watsonville.
The rest of the group was made up of rising underclassmen in sophomores Edwin Cornejo and Danny Lopez, and freshmen Kaiden Peña and Khriss Reyes.
“I felt it was a really young, inexperienced team, and I was really surprised with the outcome this year,” Cornejo-Perez said. “I was just gonna go with the flow, see what the season brought us. But the boys really impressed me, and they really took it home.”
City College’s beach volleyball team claimed a conference title and advanced to the state championships this season. SBCC women’s beach volleyball players Nevaeh Tillett (No. 4) and Kaylin Cooney (No. 14) attempt to save the ball during a match on April 11, in Santa Barbara, Calif.Tillett dives to make the save while Cooney stays in […]
City College’s beach volleyball team claimed a conference title and advanced to the state championships this season.
The Vaqueros had an overall 20-7 record and finished the Western State Conference (WSC) 11-1, only losing against Santa Monica College. They are co-champions of the WSC alongside Santa Monica College. Beach Volleyball hadn’t won a conference title since the 2022 season.
The team’s hard work this season didn’t go unnoticed as they advanced to the state championships on May 8. They came up third in the state championships and almost advanced to the championship game.
This season, the Vaqueros almost had an entire lineup of freshmen. In their first season, the freshmen accomplished a WSC title and advancement to the state championships.
The beach volleyball team season has come to an end, but based on the team’s results they had a successful, determined and hardworking season.
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Story Links FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced the 2025 Women’s Rowing All-Academic Team. The conference honored 127 student-athletes with placement on this year’s team. Fairfield University placed 23 on the squad which was the second highest total among all MAAC rowing schools. The Stags academic honorees include Cailey Chechitelli (Political Science/Economics), […]
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced the 2025 Women’s Rowing All-Academic Team. The conference honored 127 student-athletes with placement on this year’s team. Fairfield University placed 23 on the squad which was the second highest total among all MAAC rowing schools.
The Stags academic honorees include Cailey Chechitelli (Political Science/Economics), Victoria Conrad (Accounting), Adren Costello (Communications, Kara Davidson (Nursing), Raquel DeLeo (Business Analytics), Caitlyn Gregitis (Marketing), Lauren Hoppe (Nursing), Zuzanna Janusz (Bioengineering), Marianna Kalin (Digital Media and Marketing), Grace McDonough (Sociology/Economics), Catherine Morrissey (Nursing), Shawn O’Brien (Accounting), Julianna Pedrazzi (Accounting), Grace Polatsek (Finance/Accounting), Sophia Savage (Accounting), Miranda Schmidt (Marketing/Economics), Margaret Squire (Psychology), Emma Szachta (Nursing), Alexandra Tomlinson (Nursing), Caroline Tomlinson (Behavioral Neuroscience), Grace Tyszka (Politics/International Studies), Mia Van Mater (Behavioral Neuroscience), and Sarah Wendling (Nursing).
To be eligible for the MAAC All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must complete two semesters at their institution and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a 4.0 scale.
The Fairfield University women’s rowing team, under the guidance of Dr. David Patterson, will compete at the 2025 MAAC Championships this weekend on the Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J.
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