🔊 The NFL's Billion-Dollar Side Hustle

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General Atlantic, a leading global private equity firm and growth investor, and 32 Equity, the National Football League's strategic investment vehicle, announced a global strategic partnership to pursue growth investment opportunities across the sports industry.

General Atlantic manages about $130 billion in assets, including several prominent sports and sports-industry-adjacent properties, while 32 Equity was formed in 2013 with a $1 million capital call per owner, totaling $32 million.

The joint venture will specifically invest in companies across sports, media, fan engagement and technology. Since its inception, 32 Equity has backed 46 companies across these verticals, including Fanatics, On Location, CLEAR, DAZN, NOBULL, Skillz, Hyperice, Genius Sports, and The Topps Company.

Why This Matters

Almost a year ago, news broke that NFL owners and executives began contemplating changes to their strategic investment arm.

Including bringing in an external partner.

This week, those moves became real.

The NFL has always been the most valuable sports league in the world.

For most of its history, 32 Equity has been in the background, making small, strategic investments in companies that support the league’s ecosystem.

With several successful investments, the league’s CFO, Christine Dorfler, has been candid about whether a different structure could scale it further (a very careful way of saying some owners think the NFL has been leaving money on the table).

And they’re probably right.

We’re talking about the world's most-watched, most-licensed, and most commercially valuable sports property.

Plus, the results from 32 Equity’s earlier investments speak for themselves.

In 2017, the NFL invested $95 million for a 3% stake in Fanatics, when the company was valued at $3.17 billion.

Fanatics is now worth over $30 billion.

A 9.5x return, or $900 million.

For other companies such as On Location, CLEAR, Hyperice, NOBULL, Genius Sports, and Appetize, it’s been the same playbook and outcome every time.

32 Equity invests in the company, secures them an NFL partnership, and watches the value compound.

Clearly, the owners liked what they saw.

They added $2 million each in 2018 and another $5 million in 2022.

Total committed capital accumulated since launch: $256 million, or $8 million per owner.

It makes sense why they would want to go much bigger.

And this is where General Atlantic comes in.

General Atlantic manages approximately $130 billion in assets.

But bringing them in isn’t just about more capital. It’s also about operational infrastructure, investment sourcing, due diligence, legal, and follow-on financing.

All the things the NFL can’t do at scale because they’re in the business of media, not finance.

More importantly, it opens the door to something the NFL, or any other league, has never done before: earning fees for managing other people’s money.

Most private equity firms use the “2 and 20” structure: a 2% annual management fee on assets under management and a 20% cut of profits.

Run the math on a fund that doubles in value at the standard ‘2 and 20’ structure, and the carried interest and management fees alone could generate hundreds of millions for owners over time.

The NFL will likely split the economics with General Atlantic, but given the league's unique platform advantages, don’t expect an equal split.

And here’s what could become a flashpoint.

None of this money goes to players.

Under the current CBA, the league splits media rights, ticket sales, sponsorships, and licensing roughly 50/50 with the players.

32 Equity investment returns fall outside of that framework.

Owners can invest, compound returns, earn management fees, and keep every dollar.

As the fund scales with General Atlantic behind it, that gap between owner upside and player participation will likely widen.

In this era of athlete empowerment, don’t be surprised if it becomes a point of contention at the next CBA negotiation.

And for the broader sports investment ecosystem, it also points to something else.

The world's most valuable league is paying close attention to this asset class and has just decided it wants a much bigger piece.

• Viessmann Generations Group, a Munich-based family investment group, has acquired a 5% stake in German football club Bayern Munich for €250 million ($281 million), valuing the club at approximately €4.5 billion. Viessmann's share will rise to nearly 6.7% through a capital increase at the close of the transaction. Bayern’s member association holds 75% of the club, with the remaining 25% split among four external shareholders. Viessmann becomes Bayern's fourth external shareholder alongside Adidas, Audi and Allianz (more here).

• An investment group backed by KKR co-founders George Roberts and Henry Kravis is acquiring a 42% stake in Spanish football club Valencia in a deal that values the club at €1.25 billion ($1.4 billion) including debt. Pitchwise Holdings, a consortium of family offices and long-term institutional investors led by sports executives Ann Rodriguez and Corey Woolfolk, will acquire the shares from majority owner Meriton Holdings. The investors will also inject €100 million into the club, and the deal remains subject to closing conditions (more here).

• The International Dance League (IDL) has raised a $15 million Series A led by Elysian Park Ventures, the investment arm of the Los Angeles Dodgers' ownership group. Sony Group Corporation, Sony Corporation, KB Partners, APEX, the Yamaha Music Innovations Fund, and athlete vehicle October Ventures also joined. The capital will go towards team operations and larger events (more here).

• Rezzil, a Manchester-based sports technology company, has raised $10 million in a late-stage round led by Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jobe Bellingham. Golf putting coach Phil Kenyon also joined the round. The company’s current investors include the Premier League, Tennis Australia's AO Startups, NBA Launchpad, and Simba Investments. Thierry Henry, Gary Neville, Vincent Kompany, Michail Antonio, Tyrone Mings, and rugby player Anthony Watson are also investors. The funding will go towards US expansion and hiring (more here).

• The Rose family, whose sons Logan and Carson launched Big League Wiffle Ball, has acquired the Wiffle brand and its intellectual property. The Mullany family owned the Wiffle brand for 73 years, across three generations. Since inception, Big League Wiffle Ball has grown into a professional league with 10 franchises and games on ESPN2 and ESPN+. The two businesses will remain separate. Financial details were not disclosed (more here).

The best sports deals never get announced.

They get done quietly, by people who know each other.

Vetted Sports is where this happens.

We’ve built a private network where investors, dealmakers, and owners who are actually moving capital in this space meet.

Exclusive events, curated introductions, quality deal flow, and an advisory board stacked with some of the most prominent names in sports investing.

Membership is by application only, and spots are capped.

If you have to ask whether this is for you, it probably isn't.

If you want to learn more, tap in with us here ➞ www.vettedsports.com

• Frost Bank announced an expanded partnership with the Houston Rockets and a new partnership with the Houston Comets, becoming the Official Bank of both teams. This is Frost's first partnership with a professional women's sports team and expands its longstanding relationship with the Rockets. The expanded partnership builds on nearly a decade of collaboration with the Rockets, reflecting a shared commitment to creating meaningful fan experiences, investing in Houston communities and supporting the next chapter of sports in one of America's most passionate cities (more here).

• McLaren Racing announced a new partnership with global biopharmaceutical company AbbVie, which will join the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team as an Official Pharmaceutical Partner, starting at the United States Grand Prix. AbbVie is launching AbbVie Race to Innovate, a campaign that turns on-track performance into increased awareness and support for people living with immune-mediated diseases worldwide (more here).

• The Big 12 Conference and Edward Jones have extended their partnership for an additional year, reinforcing their commitment to collegiate sports through expanded digital activations, championship branding and financial education initiatives for student-athletes. The extension retains the investment company as the conference’s official wealth management partner and title partner of the Edward Jones Big 12 Football Championship. It also expands the firm’s digital presence across football, men’s and women’s basketball, and Olympic sports (more here).

• Chelsea FC has announced a multi-year partnership with financial technology company Sokin, which will become a principal partner and the club's official business payments and foreign exchange partner. The sponsorship agreement covers Chelsea's men's and women's teams. Sokin's logo will also appear on the sleeves of the home, away and third shirts for the senior sides and academy team (more here).

• The University of Texas athletic department and the Business of Sports Institute in the University's McCombs School of Business have teamed up to announce the launch of Bevo Lab to incorporate better technology, data analytics, and artificial intelligence for student-athletes. Bevo Lab will leverage AI-driven research and data analytics to deliver real-world solutions that help athletes and coaches train and prepare more efficiently, while developing a pipeline of students with hands-on experience for sought-after careers in technology and sports analytics (more here).

• The United Soccer League (USL) has launched a new brand identity to create cohesion between the eight leagues that make up the organization’s player pathway. The move comes as the USL prepares to launch a new Division I men’s league, USL Premier, and introduce a promotion-and-relegation system between its three professional men’s leagues in 2028. The transformation comes as new institutional investors exert greater influence over the organization’s strategic direction (more here).

• BEDGEAR, a performance bedding brand, has announced an exclusive partnership with NFL wide receiver A.J. Brown to highlight the role of personalized sleep in athletic recovery, wellness, and performance longevity. The collaborative campaign will continue throughout the football season through various distribution channels. Fans will also have access to special offers through Brown’s social media channels (more here).