🔊 $5B For A New International Basketball League?

📰 TOP STORY
Lebron James’ Business Partner, Maverick Carter, Advises New International Basketball League

• This week, news broke from Bloomberg that Lebron James' business partner Maverick Carter was advising a group of investors raising $5B to establish an international basketball league. Here’s what we know so far:

• Investment banking firms UBS and Evercore have been brought in to help raise the money, which will likely come from wealthy individuals and institutional investors

• The new league is set to comprise six men’s and six women’s teams

• Games will be played in eight cities globally, with two weeks in each city

• The league does not necessarily want to compete with the NBA and aims to be "F1 for basketball"

• Current backers include Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice, former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, and the investment firm SC Holdings led by co-founders Jason Stein and Daniel Haimovic

• Also, Lebron James is currently not involved

Why this is important and some additional thoughts:

New leagues are all the rave these days. This month alone, three new leagues kicked off their inaugural seasons (Unrivaled Basketball, TGL, and LOVB). From my viewpoint, there are five main reasons why sports leagues are emerging more rapidly than before:

1. The shift of sports media rights: New players such as Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu are now competing for sports media rights along with legacy channels

2. Rise of institutional capital in sports: New sports-specific funds have emerged such as Arctos, SURJ, and Mercury13

3. Capitalize on new markets and demand: New leagues can tap into and capitalize on growing, yet neglected markets domestically and internationally

4. Growth of niches and subsectors: Sports that were considered “niche” are booming such as Pickleball, Professional Bull Riding, and Esports (plus the attention on women’s sports)

5. Emergence and legalization of sports betting: 38 of 50 US states have legalized some form of sports betting which can drive more revenue opportunities. And we’re still in the beginning stages of this.

At face value, it all seems great for these underserved or underrecognized markets. But when we look behind the hood, undoubtedly some questions arise for any new league such as:

• What makes it unique and different from other professional leagues in the sport?

• How will the league attract and nurture top talent?

• How will the league build an audience and sustain viewership?

So while this new international basketball league says it will not be a contender to the NBA, these are considerations every new league has to address. I’m all for innovation and growth of the industry, but it’s part of my job to address the downsides and potential hurdles. It seems this new international basketball league has a clear vision, a ton of (possible) funding, and the right people advocating for it, whether this will come to fruition and be successful, well only time will tell…

💰 MONEY MOVES 
Tennis Australia Closes New Fund For Close To $50M

• AO Ventures Raises $48M. AO Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Australian Open and Tennis Australia, raised $48M to invest in technology-led startups that are innovating in the fields of sport, entertainment, media, and health. Backed by seasoned investors such as Mark Nelson from Caledonia, Tanarra’s John Wylie, Melbourne-based businessman Mark Healey, Ashok Jacob from Ellerston Capital and the Denholm family office, Wollemi Capital Group, the fund is planning to announce its debut investments at the end of the first quarter (more here).

• Sportime Raises $144M. Sportime, an owner and operator of tennis, sports, and pickleball clubs on Long Island and throughout the New York area, has raised $144M in debt financing from Comvest Credit Partners. The capital will be used to refinance existing debt and to fuel the development of a 20-court tennis and pickleball club in Westchester County and a golf, turf sports, and children’s camp facility in New York City (more here).

• Shaun White’s Snow League Raises $15M. The Snow League, the first professional winter sports league exclusively dedicated to snowboarding and freeskiing, announced its funding round of $15M this week. The round was led by Left Lane Capital, with participation from existing investors including Will Ventures, Ares Management funds, David Blitzer’s Bolt Ventures, and Ryan Sports Ventures. Rich Kleiman and Kevin Durant’s Boardroom Sports Holdings, Founder of League One Volleyball Peter Hirschmann, and Kuvare Holdings also participated. The capital will help to accelerate the league’s expansion, enhance fan engagement, and set a new standard for athlete development and live entertainment in winter sports (more here).

• Eternal Raises $13.25M Out Of Stealth. Eternal, an athlete-focused healthcare platform secured $13.25M in seed funding and came out of stealth. The company is founded by former co-founder of The Athletic, Alex Mather. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, co-led by Courtside Ventures, Treble Capital, and Next Ventures. Other investors include Founders Fund, Terrain, Jazz Venture Partners, Precursor Ventures, Bling Capital, and Flare Capital Partners. Fitt Insider has (more here).

• Fanbox Raises $2.25M. Fanbox, supposedly the only “university-approved, player-endorsed recurring collectibles platform, recently raised a $2.25M seed round led by KB Partners. The company was founded by Terry Comer and Khalil Thompson in 2021 (more here).

• Dropback Raises $1.6M. Dropback, a next-gen “general manager” technology suite centered on college football announced a $1.6M funding round. The funding includes contributions from Y Combinator, Reach Capital, and Twenty-Two Ventures, among other investors (more here).

• Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney Join Group Buying Club Deportivo La Equidad. Colombia-based football team Club Deportivo Seguros La Equidad has officially been acquired by a US investment group that includes actor-turned-sports investors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. A group led by Al Tylis and Sam Porter, who also owns a stake in Mexican team Club Necaxa, will invest in La Equidad’s academy and women’s team. The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed (more here).

• Presidio Investors Acquires Hellas Verona. American private equity firm Presidio Investors has completed the acquisition of the Serie A club Hellas Verona. In a joint statement, Presidio and former owner Maurizio Setti said the Texas-based company has "acquired 100% ownership" of Verona, ending Setti's 13-year reign at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi. The reported value of the acquisition totals around 130M euros ($133.8M), but Presidio declined to comment on the sale price (more here).

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 🤝 PARTNERSHIPS
SURJ Sports Forms Major Sports Investment Partnership

• Enfield Investment Partners & Saudi Arabia’s SURJ Sports Investment Form Partnership. SURJ Sports Investment, Saudi Arabia’s leading sports investment powerhouse announced a strategic partnership with Enfield Investment Partners to amplify and advance their sports investments. The signing comes while Enfield Investment Partners unveiled a new global sports asset fund valued at more than $4B. The two groups will work closely together to discover, share, and harness the potential of prospective growth opportunities within the global sports landscape, across properties and assets including sports teams, leagues, media, and wider sports infrastructure (more here).

• FOX Sports & LIV Golf Form Media Rights Agreement. FOX Sports and LIV Golf have announced a multi-year media rights agreement that will deliver live coverage of the LIV Golf League competition to viewers throughout the US, beginning this February with the start of LIV Golf’s third official League season. Throughout the season, all three days of LIV Golf tournament competition will air live across the FOX family of networks, with more than half of the League’s schedule airing on FOX or FS1 (more here).

• Monumental Sports & PENN Entertainment Form Partnership. PENN Entertainment has established a long-term partnership with Monumental Sports & Entertainment, securing online market access for its ESPN BET platform in Washington DC. The agreement also designates ESPN BET as a sports betting partner for MSE's professional sports teams, including the NHL's Washington Capitals, NBA's Washington Wizards, and WNBA's Washington Mystics (more here).

• FanCode & PGA Tour Form Streaming Agreement. FanCode, India’s leading digital sports destination, has signed a landmark multi-year exclusive broadcast deal to stream PGA TOUR events in India. This partnership strengthens FanCode’s position as the ultimate destination for golf fans. The platform will stream more than 40 events a year (more here).

🔊 ATHLETES & OTHER NEWS
Change Of Plans In Philly…

• 76ers Drop Plans For New Center City Arena. In a shocking decision, the Philadelphia Sixers have abandoned plans to build a new arena in Center City, opting to stay in South Philadelphia. The $1.3B proposed arena was set to be built in the city's Market East section and was met with fierce opposition from city residents. The team has also worked out a new deal with Comcast Spectacor, who owns the current arena and will become 50/50 partners on the new arena coming to South Philadelphia (more here).

• Sixth Street Launches Multi-Club Women’s Football Organization. Sixth Street, a leading global investment firm and the lead investor in the NWSL team, Bay FC announced Kay Cossington, MBE, will join Sixth Street as Head of Global Women’s Football and serve as CEO of Bay Collective. Bay Collective will officially launch in 2025 and is a multi-club global organization dedicated to the growth of women’s football (more here).

• Dude Perfect Unveils New Headquarters. Dude Perfect, the popular YouTube group known for its viral trick shots, sports challenges, and comedy, revealed its new $5M headquarters. The Texas natives announced the opening of its new headquarters in Frisco with a YouTube video that featured cameos from Tom Brady and CeeDee Lamb among other stars (more here).

• Scott O'Neil Takes Over LIV Golf CEO. Former CEO of Merlin Entertainment, Scott O’Neil was formally introduced as the new CEO of Saudi-backed LIV Golf this week. LIV enters its fourth season next month while its financial backer is negotiating an investment deal with the rival PGA Tour. O’Neil takes over for Greg Norman and was also the former CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, whose holdings include the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils,(more here).

• These Are The Highest-Paid Athletes In The World As Of 2025. Professional athletes make millions on and off the field. As of 2025, the 10 highest-paid athletes made between $85.6M to $285M. They play several sports, from soccer to football to basketball to golf. Professional athletes also make millions off the field from lucrative endorsements, brand partnerships, and other business ventures (more here).

• Avenue Capital's Marc Lasry On Sports Investing Opportunities. Marc Lasry, Avenue Capital chairman and CEO, joins 'Squawk Box' on CNBC to discuss the world of sports investing, where to find opportunities, areas with the most upside, college sports investing, the latest market trends, the state of the economy, and more (more here).

• AI Technology Could Reduce Controversial Decisions In Boxing. Boxing has had its fair share of controversial decisions which continue to spark debate among fans and experts alike. While technology in sports like football and cricket has supplemented objective rules, boxing’s reliance on subjective judgment leaves it uniquely vulnerable to bias and error. Isn’t it time the sport caught up (more here)?