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November 4, 2026

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In 2023 and 2024, loan broker Sure Sports lent at least $11.7 million in bridge loans to three NFL players. The problem was the “borrowers” were actually a former Alabama lineman wearing a disguise. Sure Sports, whose business model is built upon facilitating loans to players based on their projected future earnings, filed for bankruptcy protection this week as it fights several lawsuits from lenders over alleged lack of due diligence.

—Daniel Kaplan

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Broker in NFL Loan Scam Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

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Sure Sports, the loan broker at the center of the stranger-than-fiction NFL player loan scam, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday.

Sure Sports arranged at least three loans in 2023 and 2024 totaling $11.7 million to who it thought were NFL players Michael Penix Jr., Xavier McKinney, and David Njoku. But the “borrowers” turned out to be former Alabama lineman Luther Davis, who would appear at loan closings in disguise. (The trio of active NFL players had no role in the fraud.) Davis was arrested by the FBI in 2024 at a fake loan closing arranged by Sure Sports. He pleaded guilty earlier this year and is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 3. His co-defendant, CJ Evins, was sentenced to six years in prison.

Founded in 2009 by Leon McKenzie and Joleen Matte, the firm has arranged hundreds, if not thousands, of loans to athletes. Typically the debt is in the form of bridge loans that get paid back quickly once an athlete’s contractually obligated income is paid.

Sure Sports is currently the defendant in at least two lawsuits brought by aggrieved lenders, Aliya Sports Finance Fund and All Pro Capital Funding, who both claim the loan broker did not do its due diligence on their loans made to the fake NFL players. The lenders are suing for the loan amounts; the All Pro suit also names McKenzie as a defendant. So while the Chapter 11 should stay the cases against Sure Sports, it’s unclear how the bankruptcy affects the claim against McKenzie. He has filed for the case against him to be dismissed.

According to the Chapter 11 filing, Sure Sports has assets as well as liabilities of each between $1 million and $10 million. The filing details 50 to 99 creditors; the lenders in the NFL case are not in its top 20 unsecured creditors, though they are listed in the creditor matrix.

The top unsecured creditor is a lender of a pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan for $175,485.33. There is no list of secured creditors disclosed.

Chapter 11 cases are designed to allow a debtor to reorganize its business while walking away from liabilities. And Sure Sports is showing no signs it is slowing down; on the same day the company filed Chapter 11, Sportico detailed its plans for loans to MLB players in case there is an extended lockout next year.

In March, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia filed a criminal information (CI) document against Evins and Davis, charging they “obtained at least thirteen fraudulent loans totaling more than $19,845,000.”

The CI contained details of the three Sure Sports brokered loans.

Darren Heitner, a lawyer for Sure Sports, declined to comment; he is also listed as a creditor. A lawyer for Aliya did not immediately reply for comment, nor did one for All Pro Capital, the lender to the fake Penix. Aliya lent to the fake McKinney and Njoku. Farmers Bank & Trust made another fake Njoku loan that Sure Sports also brokered. The bank is suing its insurer, Berkley Insurance, not Sure Sports.

Jeremy Bloom on Reinventing the X Games

X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom is turning one of action sports’s most recognizable brands into a global league built around team ownership, athlete equity, and new business opportunities.

On Portfolio Players, presented by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, Bloom discusses the franchise model behind the X Games, why athletes are becoming stakeholders in the league, and how the new format helped drive an 80% increase in summer TV ratings.

He also shares his views on private equity in college sports, how AI could transform judging and officiating, and why he sees significant investment opportunities beyond traditional professional leagues.

Watch now.

ONE BIG FIG

Raising the Ceiling

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$258.2 million

That’s the per-team salary cap MLB owners are proposing as part of ongoing labor negotiations with the players’ union. The cap number is up from their previous offer of $245.3 million, and owners are also proposing to push back the start of a salary cap system from 2027 to 2028.

The proposal would raise the minimum team payroll from $171.2 million to $180.2 million, but the MLBPA remains firmly opposed to a salary cap, and the two sides are facing a potential lockout when the current labor agreement expires Dec. 1.

DAILY SPORTS TRIVIA

Can you rank the top five WNBA players by most points per game in the 2026 regular season?

LOUD AND CLEAR

Jerry’s Math

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“There is no correlation.”

—Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Dallas sports radio Tuesday, claiming there’s no link between coach pay and record. “There is zero correlation between how much you pay a coach or how many coaches you have as to winning,” Jones said. “And that’s a random sample of years and all 32 teams involved. So put that in your hopper and smoke it.”

Jones isn’t known for offering coaches large salaries, and current head coach Brian Schottenheimer makes much less than the league’s top-paid coaches, according to estimates. He’s led the Cowboys to a 3–5 record (and went 7-9-1 in his first season). The NFL’s five highest-paid coaches—Andy Reid, John Harbaugh, Sean Payton, Sean McVay, and Kyle Shanahan—have their teams at 25-11-1. But sixth-ranked Jim Harbaugh fares less well, as his Chargers are the league’s sole winless team.

ESPN Edge Innovation Conference

Discover what’s next in sports innovation at the 6th Annual ESPN Edge Innovation Conference. Tune in for a free livestream exploring ESPN’s first Super Bowl, the next era of content creation, immersive fan experiences, and cutting-edge technology.

Shae Cornette, host of ESPN’s First Take, will captain the evening, featuring conversations with industry leaders including Lisa Salters, reporter for ESPN’s Monday Night Football and the NBA, and Peter Schrager, ESPN NFL analyst and host of Big Day with Peter Schrager, alongside ESPN Edge innovation partners Accenture, Microsoft, Meta, and WSC Sports.

Watch live Nov. 12, 5–7 p.m. ET.