🔊 Crazy Week For College Sports 🤯

📰 TOP STORY
Private Equity Is Making An Entrance Into Collegiate Sports

• RedBird Capital Partners & Weatherford Capital Partner To Announce Collegiate Athletic Solutions. Collegiate Athletic Solutions, is a purpose-driven, dedicated capital and business-building platform for public and private university athletic departments across the United States. Redbird Capital is one of the premier private equity firms in sports led by Gerry Cardinale. Weatherford Capital is a family-owned private investment firm founded by Will, Sam, and Drew Weatherford. CAS aims to be a trusted advisor to university presidents, CFOs, and athletic directors, equipping the strategies and resources to operate efficiently while allowing their athletic program to compete at the highest level. The NCAA and its five power conferences agreed to allow schools to directly pay players this week for the first time in the 100-plus-year history of college sports. According to sources, they will also pay more than $2.7 billion in damages over 10 years to past and current athletes. This could leave schools with tighter budgets or in some cases financial hardships, in the coming years which puts CAS in a good position to be a successful endeavor. (more here).

💰 MONEY MOVES 
RootNote Closes $1.5M Pre-Seed Round

• RootNote Raises $1.5M Pre-Seed Round. Creator and athlete data startup RootNote, has raised a $1.5 million pre-seed funding round led by Indianapolis-based Elevate Ventures. The company is also backed by Sequoia, Popstar Ventures, Hilltop Venture Partners, Techstars, eonCapital, Sports Tech HQ, Johnson Venture Partners, Flywheel Fund, Alderbrook Companies, and other notable angel investors (more here).

• Populous Makes A Strategic Investment In OnePlan. Populous, the renowned global sports and entertainment venue and events design practice, announced a strategic investment in OnePlan, the world’s leading event site and venue planning software company. The partnership with OnePlan will enable Populous to enhance its industry-leading live event services (more here).

• Sports Endeavors Announces Acquisition Ewing Sports. Sports Endeavors, LLC, owner of the leading American soccer specialty retailer, Soccer.com, and a portfolio company of Seawall Capital, announced the acquisition of Ewing Sports, a leading regional soccer specialty retailer (more here).

• Simbex Acquired By Helmet-Maker Riddell. Simbex, a Lebanon-based sports and medical device and consumer health product design and development company has been acquired by Riddell, the well-known maker of football helmets and accessories, as part of its continuing efforts to make the sport safer. Simbex had partnered with Riddell in the most current development and deployment of Riddell’s InSite impact response system and the recently launched InSite Analytics platform, a suite of technology that is part of Riddell’s Axiom smart helmet product (more here).

• Inter Milan Seized By Oaktree After Chinese Owner Defaults On Debt. Oaktree Capital Management took ownership of Italy’s Inter Milan, one of the top football clubs in Europe, after its Chinese owner defaulted on a loan. The US fund has taken control of the club as of Wednesday after conglomerate Suning Holding Group Co. failed to repay €395 million ($428 million), Oaktree said in an emailed statement. The collateral backing the debt was a majority stake in the football club (more here).

• CapStone Holdings Inc. Adds Sports As A Major Investment Focus To Its GameAbove Brands. CapStone Holdings Inc., a family office, announced GameAbove Sports, a unique sports-focused business development and strategic investment entity aiming to revolutionize the sports sector through strategic capital investments, sports management, marketing, and youth sports development (more here).

 🤝 PARTNERSHIPS
Saudi’s PIF Makes Another Major Sports Move

• Saudi Arabia’s PIF Partners With WTA. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has agreed to a multi-year partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). The Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund will become the first-ever naming partner of the WTA rankings. PIF has also committed to working with the women’s tennis body to expand existing programs and create new opportunities for young players (more here).

• Packers Partner With BookSeats To Launch New Marketplace Travel Platform. The platform will help Packers and football fans worldwide build and book ticket-inclusive travel packages with exclusive discounted rates. The options are fully customizable to each fan, adjustable for preference and budget, to serve as a catch-all for personalizing and arranging every aspect of attending a Packers game (more here).

🔊 ATHLETES & OTHER SPORTS NEWS
Portland Thorns Soccer Club Introduce Several New Team Owners

• NWSL’s Portland Thorns Add New Investors. The Portland Thorns are adding minority investors, including Sam Garvin, the co-owner of Phoenix Suns; Tim Boyle, the CEO of Columbia Sportswear; Nehal Raj, co-managing partner of TPG; Josh Childress, the CEO of LandSpire Group and a former NBA player; and Kunal Merchant, the partner and COO of Revitate, the alternative investment platform led by the Bhathal family (more here).

• Falcons Add Four New Limited Partners To Team’s Ownership Group. NFL owners approved four new limited partners to the Falcons’ ownership group, the team announced Tuesday. The new limited partners, pending the final closing of the agreements, are Rosalind Brewer, Dominique Dawes, Will Packer, and Rashaun Williams. They join the current group of limited partners — Brian Barker, Ron Canakaris, Warrick Dunn, Doug Hertz, Alan Kestenbaum, Edward Mendel, and Derek Smith (more here).

• Angel Reese Joins The Ownership Group Of DC-Based Soccer Club. The Chicago Sky forward has embarked on a new business venture, joining the ownership group of the newly formed DC Power FC soccer club. Reese joins an ownership group that includes MLS Club DC United, and numerous business and community leaders across the nation’s capital (more here).

• Stephen Curry Becomes Lead Investor & Brand Ambassador For Nirvana Super Waters. Nirvana Water Sciences Corp., which prides itself on infusing its Nirvana Super Waters with HMB, a super ingredient to help build and maintain lean muscle mass, brought in Curry to a group that has many former and current pro athletes, including fellow NBA All-Star Kyle Lowry. Pro Football Hall of Famers Patrick Willis and Brian Dawkins are also investors (more here).

• Why More Brands Are Investing In Women’s Sports. Stephanie Marciano, Head of Sports and Entertainment Marketing at Ally, is responsible for the nation's largest all-digital bank's strategic direction and execution of sports partnerships. She unpacks the importance of women's sports to brands, how Ally is overcoming media challenges, and what's ahead (more here).

• Some College Athletes Say LinkedIn Has Been 'Huge' In Building Their Careers. Here's How They Use It To Get NIL Deals. The name, image, and likeness business has changed the game for college athletes who now need to self-promote on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok if they want to make money from NIL. LinkedIn is another often-overlooked platform where student-athletes can promote themselves and score brand deals (more here).

• NIL Star Cavinder Twins Invest In Slate Milk. Miami Hurricanes' basketball duo Haley and Hanna Cavinder continue to expand their robust NIL portfolio with a new investment of their own. The twin sisters announced a new partnership with all-natural protein drink brand Slate Milk to join as investors and ambassadors (more here).

• Why Topps Is Investing In Soccer Collectibles. Topps, the New York-based manufacturer best known for baseball cards, is on a mission to increase its footprint in the world’s most popular sport (more here).