On Friday, Edens bought a majority stake in struggling Championship club Aston VillaNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Alexandra Wolfe profiled Bucks co-Owner WES EDENS who in '14 took a "counterintuitive bet" by purchasing a squad whose "last championship was almost a half-century ago." On Friday, he made a similar bet when he "bought a majority stake" in struggling Championship club Aston Villa. In '10, Edens "made a surprising bet on a subprime lender, Springleaf Holdings Inc., buying a majority stake" for $124M. By '15, the stake's value "had risen" to $3.5B. In recent years, however, he has "become more interested in building companies and creating infrastructure than in pure investment plays" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/21).
THE GOOD STUFF: Astros RF JOSH REDDICK on Saturday had the "grand opening" of Josh Reddick Stadium in Effingham County, Ga. Reddick, who was not in attendance, donated $1M to "develop a fully accessible baseball field in his hometown for children with special needs." The complex "features artificial turf and accessible dugouts, so those in wheelchairs can participate" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/23)....Buccaneers WR MIKE EVANS "stepped up and made a donation of $11,000" to support a Florida family needing help after a father "was shot and killed by two sheriff's deputies" in '14. His donation pushed the overall online donations to the family of GREGORY HILL "to close to $100,000" (TAMPABAY.com, 7/22)....The American Cancer Society and the NFL have awarded $3.2M in grant funding to 32 health systems to address disparities in breast cancer mortality that exist among women of color. Funding for these grants is made possible through ACS' partnership with the NFL and the league's Crucial Catch campaign (ACS).
NAMES: UFC President DANA WHITE on Wednesday celebrated his son AIDAN’s 16th birthday by “renting Drai’s Nightclub at The Cromwell” in Las Vegas. The price tag to rent the venue and have artists MIGOS, EVERLAST, DJ CARNAGE and ASAP ROCKY perform at the party “exceeded” $1M (REVIEWJOURNAL.com, 7/21)....Dolphins offensive line coach JEREMIAH WASHBURN for the past four summers has “run a football camp at Christian orphanages in the Acholi region” of Uganda, “teaching kids America’s No. 1 sport and ministering to their physical and spiritual needs” (MIAMIHERALD.com, 7/20)....Late Saints and Pelicans Owner TOM BENSON will be inducted into the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Greater New Orleans Sports HOF on Aug. 4 (NOLA.com, 7/22)....Univ. of Michigan men’s basketball coach JOHN BEILEIN’s new rolling contract extension through the ’22-23 season will see him “receive a pay raise” from $3.37M annually to $3.8M. Per the terms of Beilein’s deal, he will “earn a base salary of $400,000” (DETROITNEWS.com, 7/20)....Nationals Assistant GM & VP/Player Personnel DOUG HARRIS’ family “launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for a cell therapy to treat his resurgent leukemia.” The GoFundMe has a goal of $400,000, and has “raised a little more than $44,000 since its creation on July 18” (WASHINGTONTIMES.com, 7/22)....All eight members of NHRA team Don Schumacher Racing “signed paperwork Friday in a pledge to donate their brains to concussion research, the first time an entire team made such a commitment.” Team Owner and former racer DON SCHUMACHER was among those who signed the pledge (INDYSTAR.com, 7/20)....Celtics F MARCUS MORRIS introduced his newborn son MARCUS THOMAS MORRIS JR. "via Twitter Friday" (BOSTONGLOBE.com, 7/20).
