Harrington Brands Group launches its global sports and entertainment group

DALLAS, October 26, 2026. Harrington Brands Group (“HBG”), founded and chaired by Kevin Harrington, one of the original Sharks on ABC’s Shark Tank, today launched Harrington Brands Sports and Entertainment Group (“HBG Sports and Entertainment”). Kyle Auffray, founder of G.R.I.T. Ventures, and Robert Striar, founder of M Style Marketing, have joined HBG to oversee its sports and entertainment efforts. Each brings an established operating company alongside the group, giving it the relationships, revenue potential and reach to operate at scale from day one, without the capital and years of buildout a start-up requires.

Auffray and Striar are the latest in a series of senior additions and acquisitions at HBG this fall. Tom Dickason, a 16-year JPMorgan Chase veteran and former CFO of its Commercial Bank Worldwide Credit Group, joined HBG as Acting Chief Financial Officer and Chief Credit Officer as the company expands into private credit. Charles Kim, formerly Managing Director of Mirae Asset Securities and Director and Head of Equities for Lehman Brothers Korea, leads Harrington Brands APAC Group, HBG’s platform for China and Asia-Pacific. And through Brand Equity Holdings, HBG acquired Strategy Execution, Inc., led by Red Bull pioneer Bryon Evans, to form Harrington Brands Food and Beverage Group.

HBG Sports and Entertainment is structured to acquire and build businesses across the sports economy, from team and stadium investments to sports technology, media, athlete partnerships, licensing and consumer products.

“At Celsius, I saw early how the right influencers could take a great product to market before anyone was calling it influencer marketing,” said Harrington. “Kyle and Robert give us the relationships and the deal experience to take that playbook global, putting athletes, celebrities and creators behind brands people buy every day and giving them real ownership in what they help build.”

Kyle Auffray brings a background across sports investment, venture capital, private equity and business development, plus an athlete agency spanning more than 2,500 athletes across 90 countries. He helped build the sports fund behind Comcast SportsTech, whose partners have included the PGA, Premier League, NASCAR, WWE, NBC Sports and the Olympics, and has helped lead a $100M private equity fund. He is now developing sports-anchored real estate in the Caribbean and Europe, including stadium development alongside a Serie A club. He also works with sports-focused companies across ticketing, sports technology, and wellness and longevity. Before his business career, Auffray played in the National Football League, spending time with the Arizona Cardinals, New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders.

“Sports brings together assets that are incredibly difficult to replicate: loyal fans, global audiences, iconic properties and athletes who move culture,” said Auffray. “Bringing that world together with an iconic name like Harrington gives us the ability to turn extraordinary reach into lasting enterprise value.”

Robert Striar brings more than 25 years of sports and entertainment strategy, licensing and commercialization experience across the United States and Europe. As founder of M Style Marketing, Striar has led strategy, licensing and commercialization work for FIFA, Disney, Warner Bros. and Hasbro, along with other top names in entertainment and media. Through M Style, he also pairs brand and commercial mandates with equity participation and structures investment partnerships for teams, leagues and venue businesses.

“The most valuable asset a team or an athlete owns is the brand, and licensing is how that brand earns everywhere the fans are,” said Striar. “Pair M Style’s 25 years of licensing programs with Kevin’s four decades of getting products onto shelves, and you turn fan loyalty into products people buy every day, in every market.”

The team is the HBG resource for all of its sports, entertainment and celebrity activity. That includes building and acquiring athlete, celebrity and creator-owned brands; licensing and co-branding HBG portfolio products through Auffray’s and Striar’s league, team and talent relationships; developing name, image and likeness (NIL) products for the next generation of athletes; and sourcing sports-related investment opportunities across both of their networks.

Connor Dube, HBG’s Portfolio Development Director, oversees the group’s growth and opportunities. “Kyle and Robert open doors most companies never get near,” said Dube. “My job is to put the full strength of HBG’s platform behind every one of those opportunities and turn relationships into revenue, fast.”

“Few people have Kevin’s instinct for what consumers will buy, or his record of turning that instinct into global sales,” said Auffray. “As athletes, we learned that talent alone doesn’t win. You need the right team and the right system. HBG gives athletes and creators exactly that: a way to own their brands, scale them internationally and build businesses that outlast their playing careers.”

HBG Sports and Entertainment also works with Charles Kim, CEO of Harrington Brands APAC Group and former Head of Equities for Lehman Brothers Korea, on opportunities across China and Asia Pacific.

About Harrington Brands Group

Harrington Brands Group is a global consumer brand, technology and commercialization portfolio built around more than 50 consumer product and consumer technology companies and economic interests. HBG earns equity through execution. We open retail, distribution, marketplace and creator access, we build attention, and we move companies from instinct to launch in weeks. Beneath the portfolio sits one shared institutional platform for finance, legal, insurance, marketing, technology, purchasing, logistics, commercialization and capital. Harrington Brands Group was founded and is chaired by Kevin Harrington, a four decade consumer products operator and an original investor on Shark Tank. Offices in Dallas, New York, Midland, Tampa and Nashville.

We build brands people buy every day. Everywhere.