🔊 Hollywood CEO Leads $450M Sports Buyout

📰 TOP STORY
Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel Leads $450M Buyout Of OpenBet & IMG Arena

• Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel is making headlines again. This week, it was announced that he’s leading the $450M management buyout in which Endeavor assets OpenBet and IMG Arena will be sold to OB Global Holdings LLC. Endeavor previously purchased OpenBet from Light & Wonder Inc. in 2022 in a deal worth around $800M, substantially more than what it’s being sold for. Last month, Endeavor said it would sell three of its businesses, Professional Bull Riders, hospitality business On Location, and global sports marketing agency IMG, to WWE and UFC owner TKO Group Holdings in an all-equity deal valued at $3.25B.

• Why is this important? This move and the previous divestiture of assets are all in preparation for Endeavor to be taken private by its largest investor, private equity firm Silver Lake. This is only three years after the company began trading on the public stock market. The decision to go private supposedly stems from investor’s frustration with the company’s performance. The company’s most recent quarterly report included a $420M loss. But the real thing to keep your eye on here is Ari Emanuel. The legendary dealmaker has an interest in the potential sale of the Miami Open and Madrid Open, the ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 tennis tournaments, and art organization Frieze. The number of M&A deals in sports tech was the highest ever for the first half of a year, with a total value of $34.2B. With Endeavor making these moves, expect 2025 to be another pivotal year for M&A activity.

💰 MONEY MOVES 
Fastbreak.ai Makes Another Acquisition

• Fastbreak.ai Acquires SEQL. AI sports scheduling company Fastbreak.ai recently acquired SEQL, an innovative sports impact company dedicated to connecting youth athletes with life-changing resources from leading consumer brands, leagues, and cities. This acquisition enhances Fastbreak.ai’s mission to provide innovative technology solutions to the youth sports market and is the company’s third acquisition in the past two months (more here).

• GameAbove Sports Acquires Ownership Stake In Brisbane Bullets. GameAbove Sports, a company focused on global sports business development and strategic investments, has announced its acquisition of an ownership stake in the Brisbane Bullets, a premier team in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL). As part of the investment, NBA Hall of Famer George Gervin, known as "The Iceman," will also join the ownership group with GameAbove Sports in the franchise (more here).

• Andres Iniesta Becomes Co-Owner Of Danish Club Helsingor. Former Barcelona and Spain midfielder Andrés Iniesta has become the co-owner of Danish third-division side Helsingør. Iniesta's involvement with Helsingør comes through NSN, the sports management and consulting company he jointly founded, who take control of the club alongside the Swiss investment group Stoneweg. Helsingør is seventh in their 12-team division (more here).

• Bluestone Equity Partners Invests $21M Into Volo Sports. Bluestone Equity Partners, a private equity firm that focuses on sports, media, and entertainment businesses and properties recently invested $21M in Volo Sports, the largest provider of social and recreational sports events in the US. As a part of the deal, Bluestone’s Walter Brumskine will join Volo’s board (more here).

• Coopah Raises £1.5M Seed Round. Coopah, a London-based run coaching app, just scored £1.5M in seed funding. Redrice Ventures led the round alongside existing investor London Marathon Events. Other investors participating in the round are Amrock Ventures, Tom Singh (Rianta Capital), notable pro athlete investor Alistair Brownlee MBE, and athletics super agent Ricky Simms. The funds will be used to fuel Coopah’s growth and move the company towards its vision of bringing the medicine of running to everyone (more here).

 🤝 PARTNERSHIPS
UFC Names An Official AI Partner

• UFC Partners With IBM. IBM and the UFC have entered into a partnership to develop the UFC Insights Engine using IBM's artificial intelligence platform Watsonx, aiming to transform the way fans engage with mixed martial arts viewing. The collaboration marks the first occasion UFC has designated an Official Global AI Partner, a role now filled by the tech giant (more here).

• Robinhood Partners With Howard University. This is Robinhood’s first partnership with a Historically Black College or University (HBCU), bringing its signature Money Drills program to Howard, the ninth D1 university for the program, and expanding access to comprehensive financial education for student-athletes. Through this collaboration, participants will gain the tools and knowledge needed to secure a stable financial future, both during and after their athletic careers (more here).

• University Of Michigan Partners With Passes. The University of Michigan recently announced a partnership with Passes, a direct-to-fan engagement and monetization platform. The multi-year partnership runs through Learfield, which is a media and technology company that both specializes in college sports and is the commercial and intellectual property rights holder for the University of Michigan, and will allow U-M student-athletes to sell exclusive content and merchandise and empower fans to play a role in the retention and recruitment of athletic and academic talent through a new NIL fund (more here).

• Williams Racing Partners With Zoox. F1 iconic racing team, Williams Racing, has unveiled a pioneering partnership with Zoox, a leader in autonomous vehicle technology and a subsidiary of Amazon. This collaboration represents the first time an autonomous vehicle company has partnered with an F1 team, bridging the worlds of high-speed motorsports and autonomous driving technology (more here).

• rEvolution Partners With Blueprint Sports. rEvolution, a global leader in sports marketing, and Blueprint Sports (BPSE), the industry leader of full-service NIL solutions, have formed a strategic partnership to expand NIL opportunities in the fast-evolving college athletics landscape. This collaboration offers brands, academic institutions, and student-athletes a comprehensive NIL solution. In 2024, Blueprint Sports raised and distributed over $50M in NIL earnings for NCAA student-athletes across its 25+ collectives, marking a significant milestone in empowering college athletes nationwide (more here).

🔊 ATHLETES & OTHER SPORTS NEWS
New All-Women Sports Network Launches

• Whoopi Goldberg Is Launching An All-Women Sports Network. Legendary actress Whoopi Goldberg announced that she’s helping to launch an all-women sports network called AWSN (All Women’s Sports Network). AWSN will be available in 65 countries and will be dedicated exclusively to women’s sports featuring some of the world’s largest sports leagues, such as the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), The International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), and the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) (more here).

• PLL Launches Professional Women's Lacrosse League (WLL). This week the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) launched the Women’s Lacrosse League (WLL), a new professional women’s lacrosse property set to debut at the 2025 PLL Championship Series, featuring the best lacrosse players in the world. The WLL will feature four teams, playing in the Olympic Sixes format, competing for the inaugural WLL Championship Series trophy. The four teams’ home cities and players will be announced later (more here).

• Former NBA All-Star Jayson Williams Joins Oaktree Solutions To Launch Oaktree Sports Ventures. Global public affairs and venture consulting firm Oaktree Solutions announced that former NBA All-Star Jayson Williams has joined as Managing Director of Sports Ventures. Williams will lead the next phase of the firm’s practice for professional athletes – from college through retirement. His focus will be on guiding clients through complex sponsorship and partnership negotiations, strategic financial planning, and brand and reputation development (more here).

• Minnesota Vikings Owner & President Mark Wilf On Politics In The NFL & MLS’ Apple Deal. CNBC's Alex Sherman sits down with Minnesota Vikings, Orlando City Soccer Club, and Orlando Pride owner Mark Wilf to discuss team ownership, politics, and private equity in the NFL (more here).

• NFL Quarterback Jameis Winston & Business Partner Danny Cortenraede Share Their Plan to Help Startups Win. The Cleveland Browns quarterback has teamed up with VC investor Danny Cortenraede to elevate the game for up-and-coming entrepreneurs (more here).

• Investing In Sports: The Next Trillion Dollar Market? The sports ecosystem has exploded as an area of investment, with professional leagues loosening rules on private equity ownership, the value of media rights deals skyrocketing, and the many sports-adjacent businesses taking on new dimensions. In the first episode of a four-part series on the changing dynamics in the business of sports, host Nicole Pullen Ross speaks to Apollo Co-Founder Josh Harris about what it means to own and run professional sports teams in the NBA, NHL, NFL, and English Premier League (more here).

• VCs Are Betting On Online Casinos After The Success Of Sports Gambling. Online gambling is now fully baked into the American economy, from sports betting to prediction markets to, arguably, zero-dollar trades on brokerage platforms. But it wasn’t too long ago that you would have to travel to Las Vegas or Atlantic City to lose money on questionable wagers. So what changed (more here)?

• Christian Ponder’s Post-NFL Mission: A Clubhouse For Athletes. Christian Ponder was no stranger to reinvention. Yet, after leaving professional football in 2017, he struggled to find purpose and community in traditional career paths, something he later learned was a commonality among elite athletes. His search for the elusive combination of people who would simultaneously connect with and challenge him, akin to what he experienced in the locker room, eventually led him to create something unique: The Post (more here).

💬 INTERVIEWS
Meet The Founders & Innovators Building The Future Of Sports

• How This Founder Is Using AI To Revolutionize Golf. For years golf was a sport on the decline. Between 2003 and 2018, golf saw a decrease of over 6.8M players and more than 1,200 course closures. As we head into 2025, that’s no longer the case. Golf is exploding and the industry is estimated to reach $160B by next year. More money means more startups. One of the top emerging golf startups is Golf.ai, an AI partner for every golf experience you can think of. In this interview with CEO and co-founder Peter Bergin, we discuss the growth of Golf.ai, where he sees it going, and predictions he has for the golf industry (more here).