The Sports Playmaker: Investment Roundup (7th April)
The Sports Playmaker
A full service agency focused on supercharging the growth of startup and early stage sports tech & media companies
UFC and WWE to Merge, Creating a $21 Billion Entertainment Giant
World Wrestling Entertainment Inc and mixed martial arts franchise UFC, owned by Endeavor Group, have announced a merger that will create a new entertainment giant valued at approximately $21 billion.?
The companies released a statement on Monday confirming the deal, which unites two of the biggest names in wrestling and entertainment. The agreement comes after a lengthy sales process for WWE, which was overseen by co-founder and executive chairman Vince McMahon, who returned to the company's board in January.
Sixth Street Invests $125 Million to Acquire NWSL Franchise
Sixth Street Partners has committed $125 million to acquire a new National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) franchise, making it the first institutional investor to become a majority owner of a US professional sports team. The overall investment includes a record $53 million league expansion fee, which marks a tenfold increase from the expansion fees paid in 2020.
Private capital groups have a history of owning sports teams in Europe and Asia, but they were prohibited from investing in US professional sports until 2019 when Major League Baseball amended its ownership bylaws to allow it. Many other US leagues have since followed suit. However, private capital has largely remained passive minority investors.?
Alan Waxman, Chief Executive of Sixth Street, said the investment was intended to own the franchise for a minimum of ten years.
Multi-club Ownership Revolutionising the Landscape of World Football
Private investment firm, 777 Partners, is changing the landscape of world football with its ambitious multiclub ownership strategy. The Miami-based company has completed takeovers of Genoa in Italy, Standard Liège in Belgium, Red Star in France, Melbourne Victory in Australia, and recently acquired a 64.7% majority stake in Hertha Berlin. Despite reports of 777 Partners considering investments in Newcastle, Chelsea, and Everton, the company maintains its focus on providing its clubs with the tools to be the best.
The multiclub ownership model has attracted interest from other investment firms and clubs seeking to establish similar networks. Chelsea is understood to be investing in Strasbourg and another club in Portugal, while Newcastle has held talks with Dijon and several clubs in Portugal. Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners is also seeking to establish multiclub networks.
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Fanatics Buys Italy's Top Football Merchandiser
Fanatics, the leading global licensed sports merchandise retailer, is expanding its global reach with the acquisition of Milan-based sports merchandising company EPI. The deal, which was announced on Wednesday, will see EPI rebranded as Fanatics Italy.?
EPI is an omnichannel licensed sports retailer that manages physical and online stores for many of Italy's top football clubs, including AC Milan, Atalanta, Bologna, Fiorentina, Inter Milan, Juventus, and Lazio, as well as the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). The company also works with Italian basketball team Olimpia Milano and runs the NBA's satellite store in Milan.
As part of the deal, Fanatics will also acquire The Pitch Football Store, a football-specialist omnichannel retailer.
Investment Opportunity
There is a large disparity of available resources between football’s youth player market and the state-of-the-art systems now commonly deployed in the scouting and recruitment of senior team players at professional clubs. Eyeball bridges that gap with the world’s first video scouting platform for youth football.
Eyeball provides a single point resource for player information, match video, game analysis and performance data, enabling clubs to broaden their youth scouting ambitions, with cost savings and other efficiencies.
Eyeball is currently in 10 countries, filming more than 300 games per week, with a database of 35,000 players. Monthly recurring revenues are EUR35,000. The business model is an annual subscription paid by professional football clubs. Clients include AC Milan and Benfica.
Eyeball is seeking EUR3m to onboard new countries and to develop a more experiential (Web3) ecosystem for the distribution of data and video content to a global community.
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