🔊 This SportsTech Firm Co-Leads Beehiiv's $33M Round

📰 TOP STORY
SportsTech Firm Co-Leads Beehiiv’s $33 Million Funding Round

• Beehiiv Raises $33 Million From Notable Sports Tech Firm. Sapphire Sport, a prominent early-stage investment at the intersection of sports, tech, and culture, co-led the round into the newsletter and email marketing startup. Partner Michael Spirito said “Beehiiv represents a leading next-generation tech solution for any enterprise that wants to serve its users and fans better - and those enterprises certainly include sports teams, leagues, media partners, sponsors, and even athletes,” (more here).

💰 MONEY MOVES 
Josh Harris & David Blitzer Make Another Acquisition

• Josh Harris & David Blitzer-Backed Company Buys Majority Stake In Flag Football Operator. Unrivaled Sports, the youth sports holding company formed last month by billionaires Josh Harris and David Blitzer, has acquired a majority stake in Under the Lights, the second-largest operator of youth flag football leagues in the United States (more here).

• Bruin Capital Acquires PlayGreen. The sports-focused private equity firm Bruin Capital is buying the majority of leading grass technology developer PlayGreen. PlayGreen is a Dutch holding company better known for its two subsidiaries: Stadium Grow Lighting (SGL) and ALVA Technology (more here).

• Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney Buy A Stake In Nexaca. Reynolds and McElhenney have purchased a stake in Club Necaxa, the century-old Mexican soccer club that also counts Eva Longoria among its owners. They will work with Longoria and fellow investors Al Tylis and Sam Porter to enhance Club Necaxa’s standing and grow its profile in international sports circles (more here).

• Oakland Athletics Hire Investment Bankers To Secure $500 Million In Private Financing. The Oakland A’s have hired Galatioto Sports Partners to attract an investor to put in that $500 million, in exchange for a share of ownership (more here).

• Kutt Secures $1 Million+ In Funding While Surpassing 10,000 Users. Kutt, a leading peer-to-peer social betting platform, announced this week that it closed the first quarter of 2024 with successful fundraising of over $1 million and surpassed the 10,000-user mark (more here).

• SoBet Raises $3.7 Million. SoBet, a sports betting creator platform, announced the successful close of $3.7 million in a seed funding investment. The funding round was led by Third Kind Venture Capital and supported by other top investors in the space ranging from professional team owners to top executives in the gaming world (more here).

• Sportable Raises $3.8 Million. Sportable, a tracking data provider for ball sports, raised the funding from Guinness Ventures as part of its recent $15 million Series A round. They are best known for instrumented rugby balls used by World Rugby, English Premiership Rugby, Six Nations Rugby, Australia’s National Rugby League, and Major League Rugby. Sportable also makes chip-laden balls and player-tracking sensors for American football, Australian football, and soccer (more here).

• Michael Jordan Adds Derek Jeter & Serena Williams To Tequila Brand As It Prepares For Global Expansion. Cincoro, MJ’s tequila label, added several athlete investors who, Jordan said in a statement, included some of his “closest friends.” Among those joining Cincoro as co-owners are tennis champion Serena Williams and “Mr. November”—former Yankee Derek Jeter—as well as professional golfers Dustin Johnson and Keegan Bradley. Financial terms were not made public (more here).

• Flau'jae Johnson & Deja Kelly Join Star-Studded Bazooka Investment. College basketball stars Flau'jae Johnson of LSU and Deja Kelly - formerly of North Carolina and currently in the transfer portal - have invested in Bazooka Candy Brands, joining nearly 60 other athletes across the NBA, NFL, and MLB (more here).

 🤝 PARTNERSHIPS
WNBA Legend Sue Bird Adds “Team Owner” Under Her Belt

• Sue Bird Joins Seattle Storm Ownership Group. The all-time WNBA games-played leader is entering a new partnership with Force 10 Hoops, the ownership group of the Seattle Storm (more here).

• Formula 1 Announces Multi-Year Partnership With Globant For Digital Activations. Throughout the partnership, F1 will use leading Globant technology to create once-in-a-lifetime moments for fans attending Grands Prix, both on and off track. Globant will also be visible at Grands Prix this season, with Pit Lane Gantry signage and physical trackside branding at select events (more here).

• Atavus Football Announces Strategic Partnership With Hudl. Atavus Football, a leader in tackling analytics and player development, announced its strategic partnership with Hudl, becoming an Official Preferred Partner of Hudl. Through this partnership, Atavus will offer an exclusive Hudl Package designed to provide football teams with insights into performance analytics and video analysis tools (more here).

• NBC Sports Next Partners With Stronger Youth Brands. NBC Sports Next, the leader in youth sports technology, announced an exclusive, multi-year partnership with Stronger Youth Brands (SYB), a preeminent youth sports and enrichment brand platform. SYB will utilize the proprietary features offered by NBC Sports Next’s SportsEngine Motion technology platform to solidify its leadership position within the franchising industry's rapidly growing, youth-centered sports sector (more here).

• LiveLike & Infinite Athlete Partner For Fan Engagement Tech. They will work together to integrate LiveLike’s fan engagement products and Infinite Athlete’s FusionFeed data platform and create more personalized options for fans (more here).

🔊 OTHER SPORTS NEWS
Where Is Sports Streaming Going?

• The $20 Billion Sports Media Problem No One Can Answer. Watching sports has never been more complicated or expensive. It’s going to get worse before it gets better (more here).

• The Co-Owner Of NBA’s Spurs Plans Debut Sports Fund. Sixth Street, the investment firm that owns a 20% stake in the San Antonio Spurs, is planning to raise its first fund dedicated to the sports (more here).

• A VC & Former Student-Athlete Who Played With Aaron Rodgers Breaks Down 7 Big Opportunities In The NIL Startup Scene. Drew Glover shared the football field when he was a student-athlete at the University of California, Berkeley, with some of the greatest to play the game, including Aaron Rodgers, Cameron Jordan, and Marshawn Lynch. The venture capitalist is looking to invest in startups in the name, image, and likeness space transforming college sports (more here).

• Sportradar Brings In Google’s Behshad Behzadi As CTO & AI Officer. As Sportradar’s CTO and CAIO (the latter a newly created role), he will drive the company’s usage and adoption of AI and other advanced technologies to enhance its product offerings (more here).

• Tradable Bits Unveils First-Ever Fan Engagement Platform Connecting Women’s Sports Properties & Their Fans with Brand Sponsors. Tradable Bits, a leading provider of fan engagement, data, and marketing solutions, will debut the “Stronger Together Marketplace,” the first-ever fan engagement platform addressing the unique needs of the women’s sports ecosystem at the IAB NewFronts (more here).

• Carlyle Breaks Down Its Strategy For Investing In Sports Teams Like Reign FC. Carlyle invested $4 billion in sports and media and just acquired its first US team. The PE firm sees a role in sports teams for outside investors but says they should be careful (more here).

• What It’s Like Being A Pro Athlete On A $100,000 Salary. As she enters her 12th WNBA season, Alysha Clark says frugality and home ownership have guided her finances (more here).