A landmark deal could open the floodgates for private equity in college sports, Axios' Dan Primack writes.

• 🤝 University of Utah trustees yesterday approved the creation of a for-profit company, in partnership with PE firm Otro Capital.

The new venture, Utah Brands & Entertainment, will manage a variety of UU athletic operations, including media, hospitality, licensing and finance.

• 💵 Otro, which declined comment, is a cornerstone equity investor — though with a minority stake — and will get a share of annual revenue.

Two trends are converging here:

1. 🏈 PE's growing interest in sports.
2. 🏟️ College sports are becoming more like pro sports, thanks to name, image and likeness agreements and the transfer portal — plus an NCAA settlement that lets schools pay student-athletes.

📞 A source familiar with the deal: "College sports is big business, but it needs to be a better business."

• "Schools still are begging for money from donors, cutting non-revenue sports, borrowing from the states, and even considering borrowing from private equity."

Yet questions remain about putting a for-profit structure on a taxpayer-supported, nonprofit institution.

• 📺 Some sports investors also have questioned whether PE can materially improve college sports finances, given that the biggest revenue stream — media rights — is negotiated at the conference level.

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Winter is warming in many cities amid climate change, Alex Fitzpatrick writes from a new Climate Central analysis.

• 📈 From 1970 to 2025, average winter temperatures rose in 98% of the 244 U.S. cities included.
• Among cities with an increase, December-February temps rose nearly 4°F on average.

🥶 Many of the cities with the most warming have traditionally cold winters, including Burlington, Vermont (+8.1°F), Milwaukee, Wisconsin (+7.3°F), and Green Bay, Wisconsin (+7°F).

• ⛷️ Warmer winters can be a bummer for skiers and snowboarders, and affect water supplies tied to annual snowmelt.

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1. 📸 AP photographer Pablo Martinez Monsivais grabbed new photos of President Trump's White House ballroom project from atop the Washington Monument. "I'm just amazed at the amount of progress," he said in a behind-the-scenes clip. Watch the video.
2. ✂️ The Fed cut interest rates for the third time this year, amid significant internal dissent and pressure from Trump. Get the latest.
3. 📱Foreign tourists from dozens of countries may soon have to provide five years of social media history when entering the U.S. Go deeper.
4. ✈️ DHS is buying six Boeing 737s for deportation flights in a nearly $140 million deal, The Washington Post reports. The move could reduce the agency's reliance on charter flights run by airlines like GlobalX and Avelo. Gift link.
5. 🍪 Six more states agreed to ban the use of SNAP benefits for junk food under new deals with the Trump administration. Go deeper.

"Trashed Panda" merchandise commemorating the drunk raccoon that recently tore through a Richmond-area liquor store has raised more than $180,000 for the animal shelter that helped sober him up, Axios' Karri Peifer reports.

• 👕 On offer: Stickers, tumblers, travel mugs, tees and hoodies, from about $5–$42.

🐶 Proceeds benefit the Hanover County Animal Protection & Shelter and its animal care and officer training programs.

• Go deeper.