It all starts with this graphic:
The Offline Economy in an AI World
The internet gave everyone access to information.
AI is giving everyone the ability to create, write, design, code, edit, animate, sell, & distribute.
With this transformation, the world is becoming increasingly digital, algorithmic, and artificial.
But as technology scales, something unexpected is happening:
Human experiences are becoming more valuable (not less), and human connection is now becoming a scarce asset.
People are craving:
belonging
movement
community
competition
real-world interaction
A Live Nation Global Study found that 93% of people crave real experiences over digital ones and 80% would rather spend on experiences than things.
The more artificial the world becomes, the more humans seek what feels real.
We call the economy forming around these enduring human behaviors the “Offline Economy.”
It spans sports, media & entertainment, human performance, experiences & lifestyle, and the technology and infrastructure powering them.
Sports Were Never Just About The Game
Sports are one of the last remaining forms of mass tribal identity.
People don’t just watch or play sports; they belong to them.
Even in tough economic times, people continue to spend on sports & entertainment, whether that’s attending a game, buying apparel, or paying for their kids’ youth travel tournament.
In an era where institutions are weakening and digital life is becoming increasingly isolated, sports remain one of the few systems capable of creating emotional connection at scale.
Sports are becoming a key infrastructure layer for human connection.
We call this “sports as a wedge”: the ability for sports companies to expand into much larger adjacent markets.
This trend is set to accelerate at an unprecedented pace over the next few decades, as sports naturally touch so many adjacent sectors.
wellness/healthcare
collectibles
esports/gaming
fashion/apparel
travel/tourism
sponsorship/events
and more
This is what we believe makes “sports” a generational investment opportunity.
AI Amplifies Our Thesis
Most people think AI threatens every industry.
We believe it pushes forward ours (and you can already see the shift happening).
AI makes digital experiences cheaper and more abundant.
When content becomes infinite, scarcity shifts elsewhere toward:
trust
reputation
community
live experiences
human performance
emotional connection
The Offline Economy benefits directly from this shift, which is also why we believe some of the greatest technologies will come from the industry.
We Are Entering The Startup Era Of Sports, Media, & Entertainment
For decades, sports, media, and entertainment were centralized.
A small number of firms controlled:
rights
audiences
distribution
Launching a meaningful property or company was challenging.
That world is breaking apart. Look at how many notable sports leagues exist in just the United States today.
We’re seeing a massive shift take place:
niche communities scaling globally
technology lowering operational barriers
fans no longer consuming entertainment one way
emerging leagues attracting massive audiences
creators & communities building scalable businesses overnight
The next generation of businesses won’t look like the past at all.
They will look more like a mix of data networks, software platforms, creator ecosystems, experiential businesses, and community-driven brands.
We are witnessing the startupification of the offline economy!
The Infrastructure Layer Is Undervalued
Most capital in sports, media, and entertainment still flows toward:
franchises
media rights
roll-ups and consolidation
But we believe some of the most overlooked opportunities sit underneath the ecosystem itself in the infrastructure, or what are usually referred to as the picks & shovels.
You can see we’re in the early innings by looking at companies within our thesis that have surpassed billion-dollar valuations while pioneering new categories.
These are the operating systems that started in sports, media, and entertainment but also captured other markets (on both the B2B and B2C fronts).
Sports, media, and entertainment remain massively underbuilt in software and operations compared to other industries.
That gap creates opportunity!
Community Becomes The Moat
In a world flooded with content, audiences are no longer enough.
The strongest businesses of the next decade will build communities.
Communities create:
trust
retention
participation
network effects
emotional attachment
We’ve seen this first-hand, having built the largest community around the offline economy.
We realized early on that algorithms drive attention, but they cannot manufacture genuine belonging.
This is especially powerful in our industry because sports, media, and entertainment naturally create recurring emotional engagement (and lead to loyal consumers with high LTVs).
The future winners in the industry will combine:
data
media
software
commerce
community
experiences
Bundling all of these into integrated ecosystems will yield massive results.
Why Profluence Exists
Everything above is ultimately why we built Profluence.
We want to be at the center of the people, ideas, companies, and capital shaping this next era.
Our ecosystem across media, community, and capital gives us a unique vantage point to see these shifts early (and help accelerate the companies behind them).
The more digital the world becomes, the more valuable being human becomes.
We believe that shift will create some of the defining companies of the next few decades.
And Profluence exists to find, back, and help build them.
Profluence Community Updates
📅 Upcoming Member Events
11/6: Founder’s Fundraising - ask questions about your raise & learn from others
11/18: Virtual Community Networking - meet others in the industry
🔗 Members can RSVP for events here
💬 New Profluence Members
Jesse Wu - Dimes Studio
Steven Weismann - F2MX
Adam Waitt - The Play Action
🔗 Connect directly with new members here.
🎙 Podcasts
Randall Boe - Partner, Akin
David Brickley - CEO, STN Digital
Great conversations here!