🔊 TMRW Sports Valued At $500M

📰 TOP STORY
TMRW Sports Raises Series A Round At $500M Valuation

• TMRW Sports Completes Series A Round. TMRW Sports, described as a company harnessing tech to build progressive approaches in sports, media, and entertainment, has closed its Series A investment round. The round was co-led by Dynasty Equity, which recently closed a strategic minority investment in Liverpool FC, and Connect Ventures, which co-led the initial fundraising round for TMRW Sports. The round also included participation from other leading institutional investors, sports team owners, cultural icons, and business leaders ranging from Arthur M. Blank, David Blitzer, Stephen Curry, Fenway Sports Group, Alex Morgan, Alexis Ohanian, and Serena Williams; to an all-star roster of strategic investors, including Josh Allen, Lewis Hamilton, Andy Murray, Ninja, Chris Paul, Shohei Ohtani, Tony Romo, and Justin Timberlake. Additional investors include NBA superstars Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade, and Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s 35V; MLB superstar Mike Trout; business leaders Michael Rubin and Greg Maffei; and musical superstars Justin Bieber, DJ Khaled, and Darius Rucker. This Series A round values TMRW Sports at $500M. The company was founded by Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Mike McCarley in 2022 (more here).

💰 MONEY MOVES 
Indoor Ski Facility Receives Investment From Shaun White & Unrivaled Sports

• Unrivaled Sports Acquires Minority Stake In Snöbahn. Unrivaled Sports, the youth sports holding company launched in March by David Blitzer, Josh Harris, and The Chernin Group, has acquired a minority stake in Colorado-based indoor action sports training center operator Snöbahn. The investment will be under Unrivaled’s action sports division, which has minority investors in legendary snowboarder Shaun White and Ares Management (more here).

• MGM Resorts International Announces Agreement To Acquire Tipico's US Sportsbook. MGM Resorts International announced that its subsidiary, LeoVegas Group, has agreed to acquire the product and technology platform constituting the US sportsbook and online casino from Tipico. The acquisition will allow LeoVegas to operate a purpose-built proprietary sportsbook across all international markets and brands, except those exclusive to the BetMGM JV, focusing on a clean, fast consumer experience with a top-class product, pricing, and functionality (more here).

• Machaxi Raises Pre-Series A Round. Co-founded in 2019 by Pratish Raj, Tushar Raj, and Ashish Anand, Machaxi provides kids sports coaching and facilities for adults to play sports in their neighborhoods. The company recently raised Rs 4.8 crore ($580K) in a Pre–Series A Round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The funds will be used to develop technology for user analytics and sports shopping, expand the sports shop vertical, and build the brand (more here).

• JohnWallStreet Raises $1M In Funding. The NYC-based sports business newsletter plans to use the funds to broaden the brand’s content publishing offerings, expand its live event capabilities, beyond the Sports and Media Huddle series, and empower a research and intelligence business specifically catering to teams, leagues, and sponsors. The round was led by Bolt Ventures, the family office of David Blitzer, Roger Ehrenberg of Eberg Capital, and SportsGrid (more here).

• Avenue Sports Fund Invests In CityPickle. Marc Lasry’s Avenue Sports Fund announced it has made a significant minority investment in CityPickle, the urban home for pickleball. The new capital will support CityPickle's plans to expand the locations of its permanent, indoor pickleball club concept in addition to strategic activations at iconic landmarks in metropolitan areas (more here).

• NFL Will Pay Nearly $4.8B In ‘Sunday Ticket’ Case For Violating Antitrust Laws. The lawsuit covered 2.4M residential subscribers and 480K businesses who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV. The lawsuit claimed the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. The subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on a satellite provider (more here).

 🤝 PARTNERSHIPS
Fanatics Announces Groundbreaking Partnership With Juventus FC

• Fanatics & Juventus FC Announce Multiyear Partnership. The new partnership is one of the most comprehensive and ambitious club deals ever agreed upon in sports merchandising. It will run until the end of the 2034/2035 season with Fanatics working alongside Juventus to grow its brand and merchandise offering to fans across Italy and into every corner of the world (more here).

• Genius Sports & UEFA Sign Player Tracking Data Deal. UEFA has tapped Genius Sports to provide player-tracking data for some of its club matches, including the Europa League, Nations League, and European qualifiers. The partnership with European soccer’s governing body will span 1,350 games, and Genius will install AI-enabled cameras in more than 140 stadiums (more here).

• UFC & Blockasset Announce Multi-Year Global Marketing Partnership. The world’s premier mixed martial arts organization and part of TKO Group Holdings, along with Blockasset, a web3 sports media network built on Solana that connects fans and athletes, announced a new global marketing partnership that will showcase Blockasset branding within some of UFC’s biggest events where Blockasset will offer its community an unrivaled premium experience (more here).

• Atlanta Hawks & Quintar Announce Partnership. The collaboration with Quintar, a technology platform company to enable live sports metaverse experiences, will focus on developing XR experiences in three key areas: In-game features like basketball shot heatmaps, player cards data, and matchups; gamification experiences like contests and interactive components for partners; and functional utilities like finding the closest concession stand, security location, or parking (more here).

• PlayerData & PGMOL Announce Partnership. PlayerData, a wearable GPS technology for athletes, announced a partnership with Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the organization responsible for officiating all professional football matches in England including Premier League, English Football League, and Women’s Super League. PGMOL selected PlayerData for its cloud-based solution, world-class support, and unique innovation ability (more here).

🔊 ATHLETES & OTHER SPORTS NEWS
Tim Tebow Is Announced As A Partner With Florida-Based VC Firm

• Tim Tebow Becomes A Partner At VC Firm. Florida Gators football legend and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow is now a partner at GOVO Venture Partners, a venture capital firm based in Winter Park, Florida. GOVO, looks to invest in companies that strive to solve societal problems, whether through environmental technologies or modernizing healthcare (more here).

• The Future Of Entertainment Is Immersive And Interactive—What This Means For Media & Sports Brands. As digital entertainment continues to grow, there is an opportunity for media and sports companies to provide fan-first experiences. Media and sports brands that embrace new ways for fans to connect with their favorite athletes and celebrities will be positioned to grow and retain audiences (more here).

• Grandstand Releases Its FanFund. More than $9B will be spent on stadiums, logistics, and nonstop global coverage across numerous Olympic channels and platforms. Yet most Olympians themselves will be barely scraping by. 60% of Team USA athletes in 2021 made less than $25k per year. Granstand’s FanFund is looking to change that (more here).

• Record Ticket Sales Mark A New Era For Women’s Professional Sports. 2024 is proving to be a landmark year for women's sports, with the WNBA, NWSL, and PWHL achieving major milestones. Attendance figures have surged, ticket prices continue to break records, and merchandise sales have reached unprecedented levels, highlighting a rapidly growing market that has captured substantial interest from fans and investors alike (more here).

• NBC Will Use AI-generated Version Of Al Michaels' Voice During Summer Olympics. NBC plans to use an artificial clone of legendary sports broadcaster Al Michaels' voice to narrate its daily streaming recaps of the Summer Olympics in Paris. "Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock" will feature narration from a "high-quality A.I. re-creation" of Michaels' voice, trained using his past appearances on NBC to match his "signature expertise and elocution,” (more here).

• Sphere Welcomes 2024 NHL Draft Picks With Spectacular Show. The Las Vegas venue hosted the draft for 1st time and dazzled players with an immersive video experience. The vibrant 18,000-seat building that is made up of a curving 270-degree screen that boasts 16k resolution LED panels wrapping around its orb-like structure, flashed brilliant visuals of the draft picks and team logos throughout the night (more here).

• The $1 Billion Opportunity: Kara Nortman's Bet On Women's Sports. As a partner at Upfront Ventures, Nortman had built a successful career identifying promising startups in the male-dominated tech industry. Now, she was about to apply that same insight to another field where women's contributions have been historically undervalued (more here).