Weekly Roundup: Business of Athletes, Sports, & NIL (April 10-16)

Audio Timeline:

(1:00) - Business of Athletes

• Mike Trout has invested in TMRW Sports, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s sports entertainment brand.

• Grammy Award-winning artist Bad Bunny has launched Rimas Sports, a management agency focused on working with Latin American athletes.

• Retired NBA player Jeff Teague, MLB outfielder Tommy Pham, and NFL defensive lineman Yannick Ngakoue have acquired ownership stakes in USL Championship club Loudoun United FC.

• A Steph Curry documentary is coming out on July 21st.

• Former NFL cornerback Joe Haden has made an investment in Rob’s Backstage Popcorn, Haden is famous for his incredible investment in StockX.

(04:15) - NIL/College Sports

• The Gator Collective and Gator Guard are consolidating in a merger with Florida Victorious at the University of Florida.

• Miami U WBB stars Haley & Hanna Cavinder are retiring from sports after leading the charge in NIL since 2021.

• Athlete-driven media company Mercury announced its sponsorship of the annual Oklahoma spring football game on April 22.

• The University of Georgia Athletic Association announced an in-house NIL department and has expanded its partnership with Altius Sports Partners.

(06:30) - Sports Business

• Prophet Exchange, a peer-to-peer sports betting platform that matches users with potential bets, has raised $10M in funding.

• EA Sports announced the launch of FC Futures, a new global initiative aimed at investing $10 million in grassroots soccer communities.

• Enterprise SaaS company, TeamWorks, raised $65M in Series E funding and announced the acquisition of ARMS Software.

• Buzzer, a sports streaming platform, has raised $20M in new funding that included athletes Nick Kyrgios, Kevin Durant, and Myles Garrett.

• WagerLab, a peer-to-peer mobile sportsbook, has raised an $800,000 pre-seed round from Stadia Ventures and Pareto Holdings.

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Interesting Stat

The total value of sports media rights in the United States across TV and streaming will surpass $32 billion by 2026.

Data via S&P Global Market Intelligence

This could be problematic…

Tech giants like Apple and Amazon have driven the price sky-high — and sports could get pushed into a subscription-based model in the near future.

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Tweet(s)

Substack and Twitter are currently fighting so this section is no longer as useful…

But for this week, we’ll make do:

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Short Passage of The Week

Six uncomfortable lessons that it would be wise for us to learn: 

1. Regret will haunt you more than failure.

2. You are always responsible for your emotional reactions.

3. Don’t feed your problems with thoughts. Starve them with action.

4. Your life will be defined by your ability to handle uncertainty.

5. If your goal is to have a healthier mind, start by removing all the junk from your diet.

6. Your best life won’t seek validation, but insecurity will.

Source: Steven Bartlett, The Diary of a CEO

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Business Jargon

13 reasons why VCs invest in a company:

1. The right fit

2. A big vision

3. A growing market

4. A unique insight

5. Good timing

6. A clear message

7. A scalable way to grow

8. A strong moat

9. Early traction

10. A good reputation

11. Relevant experience

12. Passion for the problem

13. Confidence

Via Michael Houck

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Recommended Read

I found this report interesting…

It compares the expenses of a few different Division 3 athletic departments:

https://bowdoinorient.com/2023/04/14/athletic-spending-in-2021-2022-shows-progress-in-wage-gap-between-coaches-of-mens-and-womens-teams/

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Quote

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress” - Frederick Douglass

Thanks for tuning in today!

Peace,

-AP