EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsBen Simmons is now a champion ... in sportfishing.On Sunday, the South Florida Sails captured the Sport Fishing Championship Blue Marlin Open at Walker's Cay in the Bahamas. Helping South Florida to the title was none other than Simmons, a co-owner and angler for the club.Better known for his NBA career, Simmons was taken by the Philadelphia 76ers with the first pick in the 2016 draft and went on to play seven seasons in the league. After he became a free agent at the end of his final campaign in 2024-25, however, he opted to swap the hardwood for the open seas.In December 2025, the SFC announced that Simmons had purchased a in the Sails (South Florida's SFC website lists him as the club's controlling owner). Simmons, who grew up fishing in Australia, cited a passion for the activity as a driving factor for his buy-in."I have always believed that investing in what you love means you have a responsibility to help move it forward," Simmons said. "Sportfishing has given me incredible experiences, and SFC is creating a platform that treats offshore fishing like the elite sport it is."Now, five months later, Simmons has his first event win as part of the Sails. South Florida first surged atop the leaderboard on the event's first day, when angler Alex Stanley released a blue marlin, worth 450 points -- the first of the 2026 SFC season. Another blue marlin release by Stanley later in the afternoon helped the Sails end Day 1 in first place.A dominant Saturday saw South Florida build a commanding lead, and the Sails secured the win on Sunday's Day 3. The club finished the event with 2,925 points, almost 1,500 points clear of the second-place New Jersey Sea Birds.Simmons isn't the first notable name from the sports world to know the feeling of a big SFC win as an owner, Scottie Scheffler's Texas Lone Stars came out on top in last fall's Zane Grey Championship Playoffs.
