The Profluence Pod 🌐

Audio Timeline:

1:20 - Feel good stories

* Joe Burrow is giving back in a big way and the cool story of a seventeen-year-old raising money for cancer.

3:20 - Business of Athletes

* Spanish athletes Pau Gasol, Rudy Fernandez, and Iker Casillas are investing in INDYA, a startup focused on improving the performance of athletes through technology and nutrition.

* Annika Sörenstam and Vijay Singh (retired pro golfers) are investors in wearable golf technology deWiz’s $4M Series B round.

6:00 - Name, Image, and Likeness

* SAXX underwear signs South Carolina football players to one of the most creative NIL deals we’ve seen up until this point.

* Mississippi State HC Mike Leach says players should be split between amateurs and professionals.

* An array of other cool deals — from Reese’s to a dog.

11:55 - Future of Sports

* onX announced an $87.4M Series B round to continue building their navigation and mapping technology for outdoor recreationists.

* Verse Gaming, a social gaming company hosting peer-2-peer fantasy contests in sports announced a pre-seed funding round of $585k.

* GAMURS, a leading esports and entertainment media network, announced it has closed a $12M Series A funding round co-led by Elysian Park and Cerro Capital.

* PredictionStrike, a marketplace for trading shares of athletes, announced a $3M seed round led by MaC Venture Capital.

* Basketball analytics startup ShotQuality has raised a $3.2M seed round co-led by KB Partners and TIA Ventures.

Interesting Stat

This is pretty wild:

Sports Sponsorship spending (in billions) from 2014-2024.

This is going to continue increasing, especially since the target market has increased now that college and high school sports are monetizable through name, image, and likeness (NIL).

Short Passage of The Week:

Brick by Brick, Day by Day 

* Culture isn’t built in a day. 

* Success isn’t built in a day. 

* Mindset isn’t built in a day. 

* Habits aren’t built in a day. 

* Greatness isn’t built in a day. 

* The foundation isn’t built in a day. 

It’s built one day at a time. Keep showing up. Keep doing the work. Passage by Kevin DeShazo

Tweet(s)

Former MLB pitcher Jacob Turner put out an interesting thread regarding playoff baseball bonuses.

Sports = Business. Business = Money.

Therefore…

Sports = Money (never forget that).

Business Jargon

Let’s take a look at some of the unique ways to fund a startup.

Bootstrapping:

This is when startup founders invest their own money or get friends and family to invest in the business.

Bootstrapping gives business owners more room to experiment with the business and product since there’s no pressure to meet the expectations of investors.

Equity:

Refers to the percentage of ownership in a business.

VCs typically make investments in exchange for equity, a percentage of the company’s shares.

Crowdfunding:

Financing method where a group of individuals invests in your business. To run a successful crowdfunding campaign, you need to showcase your project to a large audience to convince them to invest.

Depending on the type of crowdfunding, investors may receive shares, interest, or products or services for their investment.

Quote

“If you feel like there’s something out there that you’re supposed to be doing, if you have a passio

Audio Timeline:

1:25 - Feel good stories

* College athletes give back to the community thanks to their NIL money.

3:05 - Business of Athletes

* Lebron James, Kevin Love, and Draymond Green are the newest investors in pickleball through Major League Pickleball’s 16-team expansion.

* Chris Paul, Vernon Davis, and Jimmer Fredette are investing in Scout’s $2.6M seed round. The company helps users put together “investing starting packages”.

* Kevin Durant and Billie Jean King are the newest investors in League One Volleyball, a new women's pro league, which has raised a $16.75 million Series A round.

* Eli Manning (through his PE Firm Brand Velocity Group) has acquired uniform company SCORE. Carmelo Anthony, Nolan Arenado, DK Metcalf, and Klay Thompson are fellow athlete investors.

* Abby Wambach is distancing herself from concussion company Odyssey Health as Brett Favre is reportedly its biggest investor.

* Travis Kelce is investing in ZenWTR, other athlete investors include Aaron Rodgers, Richard Seymour, surfer Kelly Slater, and Tristan Thompson.

10:45 - Name, Image, and Likeness

* South Carolina women’s basketball players are set to receive $25,000 during this upcoming season thanks to a team-wide NIL deal.

* 5-star football recruit David Stone put out on Twitter that he can’t “be bought” during his recruiting process.

13:35 - Future of Sports

* InGame Sports, an Egyptian gaming and sports technology startup has secured over $1M in a pre-seed round spearheaded by Opener.

* Athletes Unlimited announced a $30M funding round to continue building out their women’s first athletic leagues.  Four-time Olympian Angela Ruggiero, Philadelphia 76ers owner David Blitzer, and Kevin Durant's 35V are investors.

* Karate Combat, a prominent full-contact martial arts league, announced the decision to form a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) to transition its governance to fans and athletes.

* The American Cornhole League (ACL) is one of the fastest-growing sports leagues in the world (challenging even pickleball). They have announced a strategic multi-year partnership with Legends agency.

* SIQ Basketball raised an additional $3M from 16 new investors. They make the world’s first smart basketball and are used by Overtime Elite.

Interesting Stat

This is wild:

High school sports in the United States with the most participants (and YoY change).

Participation is down among the 10 most popular boys and girls high school sports compared to the last full pre-pandemic school year.

Boys golf and girls volleyball are the only increases.

This chart doesn’t include Esports — but that is definitely growing as well.

Short Passage of The Week:

We rob ourselves of joy because of the storylines we create around our painful challenges in life, be they physical, financial, mental, emotional, or spiritual.

As we walk through the growth experiences of life's discomfort, we realize joy is right there in the midst of it all. 

Passage by The Daily Coach

Recommended Media

Thanks to the 50+ people who have sent emails regarding business ideas in pickleball after my post on Friday.

It has garnered a ton of buzz and I am currently sorting through them to see if there are any opportunities that can benefit us all.

Tweet(s)

Figuring out what to message “busy” people is tough. This is a good br

Audio Timeline:

1:30 - Feel good stories

* Steph Curry donates 25 million meals and MJ’s financial literacy course

3:30 - Business of Athletes

* Former NBA star Pau Gasol has invested in Colvin, a flower marketplace based in Spain.

* Arena Club, a new sports card collecting platform co-founded by Derek Jeter, has officially launched.

* Perch, a weightlifting camera and data startup, has raised a $4M funding round that includes an investment from Miami Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones.

* Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Kyle Rudolph, Ndamukong Suh, Rob Dyrdek, and Luke Kuechly have all invested in the $6.5M Series A round of sports nutrition company, Momentous.

* Chris Paul has invested in Umaro Foods, a Berkeley-based startup pioneering the use of red seaweed protein in plant-based meats.

8:50 - Name, Image, and Likeness

* One of the top collegiate golfers, David Puig, has forgone his senior season to join LIV golf.

* Scott Frost’s $16M buyout at Nebraska raises questions.

* Texas spent $600,000+ on football recruits (in just two weekends).

13:00 - Future of Sports

* Bridgestone Golf is partnering with LinksDAO to venture into the world of Web3.

* New York Times is bringing advertisements to The Athletic on top of its subscription model.

* Concussions among NFL players mandated to wear Guardian Cap equipment dropped by more than 50% this summer compared to the previous three-year average, according to data released Wednesday

* A LendingTree survey shows that 41% of us will spend money on sports this fall, at an average of $664 on average.

* Ares Management Corporation, a leading global alternative investment manager, announced that it has raised $3.7B of dedicated capital focused exclusively on investing in sports properties.

* Cerebro Sports, a basketball data analytics company, has received backing from Mark Cuban who led their pre-seed funding.

Interesting Stat

Last week, I featured where college football players come from — so let’s take a look at where college basketball players come from.

Of the 5,510 Division I men's college basketball players, 85% of them come from the United States.

California, Texas, and Georgia have produced the most D1 hoopers — and big cities like Houston, Chicago, LA, Baltimore, and New York City have the highest concentration.

Heading to the international scene…

Canada is the foreign country with the most players (146), ahead of Australia (66) and Nigeria (42).

All in all, basketball is a worldwide sport with the average D1 team having 2.3 players on their roster from a country other than the United States.

It makes me laugh when parents think their kid is going D1 just cause he scored 20 points in a high school game — you’re competing against the world for a spot, not just your local area.

Short Passage of The Week:

We often think we need a “perfect map of the future” to get started. What we actually need is “a general direction.” 

* Big career decisions don’t come with a map, but all you need is a compass. 

* The right next move is the one that brings you a step closer to living your core values. 

* In an unpredictable world, you can’t make a master plan. You can only gauge whether you’re on a meaningful path.

Sourc

Audio Timeline:

0:30 - Feel good stories

* $16M raised by pro quarterbacks, $3M for mental health services, and Planet Fitness’ initiative for teenagers.

2:45 - Business of Athletes

* Shaquille O’Neal is contemplating an investment in the NBL (Australia). He would join current NBA players Thaddeus Young and Khris Middleton.

* Nicklas Bendtner, a former soccer star for Arsenal F.C., recently launched his own esports company known as Prosapia Esport ApS.

* Luka Doncic is having some trademark trouble with the USPTO as his“LUKA DONCIC” failed to register due to similar trademarks not being owned by him.

* LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Tobias Harris are investing in Neutral Foods, a carbon-free nutrition company, alongside Mark Cuban and Bill Gates.

* Las Vegas Raiders QB Derek Carr has joined Oofos, an active recovery footwear brand, as an investor and ambassador.

* Tennis great Billie Jean King is helping to launch Trailblazer Venture Studio, a new accelerator supporting women-run businesses in sports and media.

9:30 - Name, Image, and Likeness

* Heach Coach Dabo Swinney has re-signed with Clemson for over $100M

* Purdue and Grambling State University offer school-wide NIL opportunities to enable all athletes in getting paid.

* An NFT-run basketball tournament helping high school basketball players get paid and also educated on web3.

14:20 - Future of Sports

* Venturerock launched a $75M sports tech venture investment company (VIC). Athlete investors include former Dutch soccer player Mark van Bommel and former New York Jets cornerback Bryson Keeton.

* Science in Sport, a premium performance nutrition brand, has secured $3.5M in additional funding.

* Sorare is teaming up with the NBA to serve as the official NFT fantasy partner and will debut a new fantasy offering for the 2022-23 season.

* The sports NFT market size is at $2.6B in 2022 and is forecasted to reach $41.6B by 2032.

* The Saudi National Development Fund (NDF) is adopting a program to finance the gaming and e-sports sector with $80M.

* New York Knicks named the most valuable NBA team by Forbes Magazine at $5.8B.

Interesting Stat

Here’s a map showing where most college football players come from:

To no surprise…

Southern California, Texas, and Florida are the hotbeds.

Perhaps a breakdown for a later date as this stuff fascinates me.

Short Passage of The Week:

Two things you get every day:

A chance, and a choice.

It is our responsibility to make the most of them today! 

* Less phone, more reading.

* Less facts, more intuition.

* Less consuming, more creating.

* Less commotion, more solitude.

* Less talking, more listening.

* Less controlling, more sharing.

* Less judgment, more empathy.

How will we spend our 86,400 seconds today?

Passage by Clint Hurdle

Recommended Media

I enjoyed this piece by CJ Gustafson who is the founder and editor of Mostly Metrics.

It’s a free weekly newsletter about startup metrics and business models.

While I did a good bit of finance at Boston University, much of it slips out the backdoor. Always nice to stay sharp on the financial side of things.

I’m a firm believer in knowing a little bit about a lot of things. A “generalist” is a term that you might have heard thrown around before.

Tweet(s)

With school starting back up I thought this was an interesting thread for parents:<

Audio Timeline:

0:35 - Feel good stories

* Lacrosse player makes NFL roster and raising money for baseball disability

2:10 - Business of Athletes/Sports

* Tim Tebow is investing in a Jacksonville expansion franchise that will compete in The United Soccer League (USL).

* ALT Sports Data has completed its initial $1.5M Seed Round funding to expand its sports trading and consumer data operations.

* Nike has generated the highest amount of NFT sales amongst brands, bringing in over $183M.

* Yankee Global Enterprises will purchase a minority stake in defending Serie A champions AC Milan. Lebron James and Drake are part-owners through their partnership with Main Street Advisors.

* SeatGeek is now valued at over $1B after completing their $238M Series E led by Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, Accel, Arctos Sports Fund, and Wellington Management.

* Minor League baseball groups will now have an opportunity to unionize with the help of an MLBPA campaign launched in partnership with Advocates for Minor Leaguers.

* Predictive analytics company nVenue has received $1 million in new strategic funding from EBCI Holdings.

9:45 - Name, Image, and Likeness

* Pro athlete paying college athletes to promote himself (it’s strange)

* South Carolina’s innovative in-house NIL development

* Quarterback buys the entire team $500 suits

Interesting Stat

When Serena won her first US Open match...

* Tom Brady had not thrown his first Michigan TD pass.

* LeBron James had not made his high school debut.

* Gregg Popovich was 106th on the all-time wins list.

* Tim Duncan was the reigning NBA rookie of the year.

Short Passage of The Week:

This Month, I Will…

* Be honest with myself.

* Lean into the beauty of self-trust.

* Cultivate daily moments to experience joy.

* Release all habits that diminish my power.

* Let go of limiting beliefs that do not serve me.

Passage by The Daily Coach

Tweet(s)

Here’s a thought-provoker:

Personally, I agree that society will consume less alcohol going forward (but don’t think it will become as taboo as cigarettes).

Kids smoke vapes and e-cigarettes at an alarmingly high rate.

And alcohol consumption is less for two reasons:

* not as many blue-collar workers

* more marijuana use

Every generation has its vices — they evolve and show up in slightly different ways.

Financial Jargon

When it comes to money, we all have unique mindsets…

Iman Shumpert’s belief system is one many of us have (but maybe don’t realize) 👇

Takeaway:

I’m a firm believer in making “self-investments”.

If you’re able to spend $500/month on clothes…why not invest in your side hustle, business, or career skills?

If you have no problem dropping $20 on candy at the gas station…why not the new book or yoga class?

Investing in yourself is powerful (and has an extremely high ROI)!

Quote

“Resist the urge to obsessively compare your life journey — which you know intimately well, compared to other people’s highlight reels — which you see in passing.” - Michell C. Clark

Thanks for tuning in today!

Have an awesome Labor Day weekend — take some time to relax and clear your mind, you earned it.

We’ll talk again on Wednesday.

Peace,

-AP

Extra Credit

I had a great conversation with Merav Savir about the business of athletes and future of sports.

Infront Labs hosts one of Europe’s top sports podcasts so it was an honor to be includ

Audio Timeline:

1:30 - Feel good stories

* An update on John Daly’s heartwarming donation and Kobe Bryant’s wife

3:15 - Business of Athletes

* Enhanced water company, Lemon Perfect, has brought on tennis star Sloane Stephens as an investor and ambassador.

* Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick is launching his co-founded NFT platform FanField this fall.

* The Player’s Impact, a venture capital firm for athletes, has launched its own internal communication system for the 190 members.

* Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy teamed up to create TMRW Sports, which is in partnership with the PGA tour for their new league, The TGL.

* Bill Ackman’s Prysym Capital invested $26M in Winners Alliance, a for-profit affiliate of the Professional Tennis Players Association designed to help professional tennis players pursue business opportunities

10:00 - Name, Image, and Likeness

* The first team-wide high school NIL deal

* Hooters makes a unique move in football

* A look at some interesting deals from this past week

15:05 - Future of Sports

* Smart training application, Perform, has raised $1.2M for its application which marries human coaching elements with intelligent features.

* The Dallas Cowboys are the first NFL team to generate over $1B in annual revenue and the first team to be assessed at an $8 billion valuation.

* Sport Buff, a live-streaming tool designed to create social games around video content, has raised $2.5M in seed funding.

* EA Sports and Learfield are teaming up for the LevelNext collegiate esports league, that holds a $150,000 cash prize for the Madden champion.

* Esports franchise Valhallan, announced its acquisition of the United Federation of Esports Athletes (UFEA) league

Interesting Stat

The mean number of injuries suffered per game in the NFL is approximately 4.9 times higher than the sum of other professional leagues. 

Teams don't want to pay for that kind of risk any more than they have to.

Higher risk = lower guaranteed contracts.

Short Passage of The Week

* We can't change our past, but we can change our perspective.

* We can't change our past, but we can choose to learn from it.

* We can't change our past, but we can change our future.

"When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us." 

Passage by Clint Hurdle

Tweet

Interesting thread right here:

It still blows my mind that Blockbuster had the chance to buy Netflix for only $50M and turned it down.

Recommended Read

I talked about the rise of esports in the podcast — here is a supplemental read that I found pretty interesting:

What makes an esports athlete an athlete? We asked the pros

https://www.thestar.com/sports/2022/08/25/this-is-a-sport-what-makes-an-esports-athlete-an-athlete-we-asked-the-pros.html

Financial Jargon

East Asia is a breeding ground for innovation right now.

A Harvard study has concluded that China, Vietnam, Uganda, Indonesia, and India are projected to be among the fastest-growing economies from now

Audio Timeline:

0:35 - Feel good stories

* A new Guinness World record and $125,000 scholarship donation.

1:55 - Business of Athletes

* Venus Williams’ superfood nutrition company, Happy Viking, revealed an array of new athlete investors including Megan Rapinoe, Michelle Wie, Serena Williams, Reilly Opelka, Isaiah Hartenstein, Collin Sexton, and Kevin Durant.

* Naomi Osaka’s company, KINLÒ, announced the signing of five college athlete ambassadors.

* In the same week that he signed a major second contract, Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson was sued for failing to appear at his youth football camp in May.

* NFL players Jalen Ramsey, Kevin Byard, and Derwin James have all invested in the National Cycling League, co-founded by their agent David Mulugheta.

* Ahead of the 2022 US Open, the USTA has announced that it will hand out over $60 million in prize money — the most in the history of the event and an increase from last year’s record $57.5 million.

10:50 - Name, Image, and Likeness

* Alabama football players racking in multiple $1M deals

* First of it’s kind deal in Mississippi

* BYU’s anticipated $20M NFT partnership

* Big Ten signs $1B/yr media deal (will the players touch it?)

17:40 - Future of Sports

* Of the 80 public schools across Chicago, there are less than 10 athletic trainers — this is causing a lot of problems.

* Sports data company, Sportradar, did $180B in Q2 revenue, a 66% increase over last year.

* ESPN and Little League have extended their media rights agreement, which was set at $7.5 million annually.

Interesting Stat

This is wild:

The mean number of injuries suffered per game in the NFL is approximately 4.9 times higher than the sum of those other leagues." 

Teams don't want to pay for that kind of risk — which is why guaranteed contracts in the NFL are rare.

Short Passage of The Week

“I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me.

I’ve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people.

Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution.

I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.”

Passage by Serena Williams

Recommended Media

The immense leverage superstar athletes have these days is insane (and will keep increasing)👇

Get Paid What You're Worth and Spend Less Than You Earn

It may sound simple, but many people struggle with this and need to be reminded.

Make sure you know what your job is worth in the marketplace — you can do this by conducting an evaluation of your skills, productivity, job tasks, contribution to the company, and the going rate, both inside and outside the company, for what you do.

Being underpaid even by $1,000 a year can have a significant cumulative effect over the course of your working life.

No matter how much or how little you're paid, you'll never get ahead if you spend more than you earn.

Often it's easier to spend less than it is to earn more, and a little cost-cutting effort in a number of areas can result in savings.

Quote

Thanks for tuning in today! Talk tomorrow.

Peace,

-AP

Extra Credit

Interesting article about the latest development in Johnson v. NCAA, which argues that college athletes ought to be classified as employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Audio Timeline:

1:25 - Feel good stories

* Oscar Tshiebwe doing big things with his $2.5M of NIL money

2:20 - Business of Athletes

* Jake Paul raised $50M for his new micro betting platform Betr, athlete investors include Ezekiel Elliot, DeSean Jackson, Richard Sherman, Braxton Berrios, and Dez Bryant.

* Philadelphia Eagles’ running back Haason Reddick has joined R7 Energy Drink as an investor and brand ambassador.

* Looking like British Open winner Cam Smith will accept a $100M deal to join LIV Golf.

* The African Super League (soccer) is launching next August with over $100M in prize money between 24 teams.

* Pittsburgh Pirates 3rd baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes is opening a metaverse-based store with web3 blockchain platform HUMBL.

* Serena Williams announced her upcoming tennis retirement, along with leading a $5M Series A for the mental health and wellness company Wondermind.

9:05 - Name, Image, and Likeness

* $1B TV Deal

* Jim Harbaugh on getting athletes paid

* The very first college athlete investor

* $36,000 for every football and basketball player

14:30 - Future of Sports

* The hatmaker, New Era, closed a $700 million fundraising round led by ACON Investments — the NBA, NFL, and MLB also participated.

* Overtime completed a $100 million Series D, co-led by Liberty Media. Several investors doubled down including Jeff Bezos and Sapphire Sport.

* Ticketmaster has partnered with TikTok for selling tickets natively.

* 3STEP Sports, the nation’s largest youth sports event operator, has acquired Chicago based Sports Made Personal (SMP).

Interesting Stat

This is wild:

According to Echo Research, the average amount spent by sports fans each year is $725.

Sports are also pretty recession-proof — with 76% of respondents saying they wouldn’t change their spending on sports.

Short Passage of The Week

Which zone are you living in and leading from the most right now? 

Zone 1: The Comfort Zone

* Feels safe and in control

Zone 2: The Fear Zone

* Affected by others’ opinions. Finds excuses instead of solutions. Self-doubt gets the best of most situations. 

Zone 3: The Learning Zone

* Acquire new skills while extending beyond the comfort zone and dealing with challenges and problems.

Zone 4: The Growth Zone

* Set new goals and conquer objectives while living your dreams and finding a deeper purpose.

“You never change your life until you step out of your comfort zone; change begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

Passage by Roy T. Bennett

Tweet(s)

David Beckham with a masterclass on leverage and long-term thinking👇

According to the latest data, roughly 90% of startups fail.

Knowing what percentage of businesses fail and why they fail can help startup owners manage risks and ensure that their new business succeeds.

Key Statistics

* 20% of new businesses fail within the first two years.

* 45% of new business startups don’t survive the fifth year.

* 65% of new startups fail during the first ten years.

* 75% of American startups go out of business during the first 15 years.

Go defy the odds!

Quote

“Simple is the ultimate sophistication”

Thanks for taking the time to go through this today!

Enjoy the rest of your day and we’ll talk tomorrow.

Pea

Audio Timeline:

1:15 - Feel good stories

* $25,000 investment on behalf of LPGA

2:10 - Business of Athletes & Sports

* Caleb Williams (USC QB) becomes the first college athlete to ever publicly invest in a company, Futuremood, a sunglass company

* Tiger Woods was apparently offered $700-800M from LIV Golf and he turned it down

* NWSL’s main sponsor Voyager Digital, went bankrupt possibly impacting the ability of the women soccer players to get paid down the line

* Professional cyclist Tom Pidcock’s Link My Ride, a community biking app, has received funding from the Dutch Sport Tech Fund

* Former NFL player Vernon Davis joins the ownership group of the Brisbane Bullets in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL).

* other athletes who are part owners in the NBL include Khris Middleton, Thaddeus Young, Kevin Martin, and Marvin Williams

* SportsBox AI, a 3D performance golf app, has closed a $5.5M seed round led by Elysian Park that included investments from LPGA golfer Michelle Wie and 76ers co-owner David Blitzer

* DICK'S Sporting Goods has launched School of Sport, an interactive experience on the Roblox platform (a metaverse play)

* The PGA Tour announced increased cash prizes next year of $15-25M

* OneOf’s, an NFT marketplace, raised $8M with plans to expand into sports. They currently have deals with Wayne Gretsky and Duke Men’s Basketball.

* The Professional Kickboxing Association has received a $1M investment from former Sacramento Kings and Pittsburgh Pirates minority owner Jimmy Anderson

* Huupe, an interactive basketball backboard, has closed its seed round led by Paradigm Sports with athlete investments from Trevor Booker and Thaddeus Young

13:25 - Name, Image, and Likeness

* The Pac-12 athlete monetization move that could change sports forever

* Agency charging college athletes 0% commission

* US Senators getting involved with NIL

Interesting Stat

This is wild:

The sports technology market has been picking up steam over the last few years and doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon.

Keep in mind….

This research graph is just for the United States, there is a ton of sports innovations stemming from all over the world.

A market to keep an eye on — India.

Short Passage of The Week

* Confidence without competence = Telling yourself that you are highly skilled, but you haven’t paid the price to be—this is common. 

* Competence without confidence = You are highly skilled, but you still doubt yourself— this is normal. 

Build competence, and let confidence follow. 

Passage by Justin Su'a, Head of Mental Performance, Tampa Bay Rays

Recommended Media

Athletes today have a sense of entitlement due to all the social media popularity they achieve before so-called “making it”.

Damian Lillard hits the nail on the head👇

By the way, things are only going to escalate as high school/college athletes will now not only have huge social media followings but also bank accounts.

We need more role models like Dame.

It’s much better to be a pro athlete in a state like Texas where there is no state income tax, than in one like California which has a high state income tax.

But taxation isn’t always that straightforward.

For athletes in individual sports (e.g. golf and tennis), performance-based income is typically sourced from the state where the even

Audio Timeline:

0:35 - Feel good stories

* Former Laker makes a big donation and HBCU’s on the rise

4:08 - Business of Athletes

*  Kevin Durant, Odell Beckham, Jared Goff, and Trae Young invested in fantasy sports app Underdog Fantasy’s $35M round.

* LIV Golf is raising its prize money next year to $405M, up from $225M. They are also offering equity in the teams to their players.

* Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera & Barry Larkin are bringing baseball to India and Pakistan through the United International Baseball League.

* Lebron James has made an investment in Canyon Bicycles $30M round.

* Sue Bird and Eli Manning have joined the ownership group of NWSL club NJ/NY Gotham FC, investing at a $40M valuation.

* Former NBA players Baron Davis, Ray Crockett, and Nick Van Exel are helping to launch a new investor club for professional athletes.

* Former Los Angeles Laker Metta World Peace (Ron Artest) is targeting a $1B investment fund for Artest Management Group.

* Kevin Durant invested in Stadium Live’s $10 million funding round to bring fantasy sports to a younger generation.

* The NFL is launching NFL+, its own streaming service starting at $4.99/month.

* The University of Wisconsin is paying its athletes $980/year for academic excellence, along with a bonus up to $25,000 for graduating

7:30 - Name, Image, and Likeness

* The rise of general manager’s in college sports

* Alabama and Fanatics partner in an interesting new deal

* A supposedly “unbiased” study on NIL is taking place

* Some cool deals from this past week

Interesting Stat

I didn’t come across any interesting stats this past week, so I asked the team over at Talkwalker if they had anything for me.

With college football 3 weeks away, they delivered some fan insights for us.

The green represents fans most optimistic about the upcoming season…

While Georgia and Alabama were the most talked about, the comments weren’t the most optimistic.

But it makes sense…

When you are the king of the hill, you’re going to be talked about even if some of the loudest comments come from haters.

Here’s some greater insight into the conversations taking place about Georgia football.

In just July, over 100,000 unique conversations about the Bulldogs took place.

When looking at the graph, you can see people from all over the world are talking about the Georgia Bulldogs — with a surprisingly high amount coming from England and South Korea).

Who said college football isn’t global?

Short Passage of The Week

Think of the best coach, teacher, or leader you ever had. What can you learn from them?

Think of the worst coach, teacher, or leader you ever had. What can you learn from them?

A coach is… 

* a thought partner + a supporter

* a sounding board + an accountability ally

* an empathetic space for vulnerable emotions

* an objective perspective + a steady resource

* one’s biggest advocate and unwavering champion

“A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life.”

Passage by Clint Hurdle

Tweet(s)

Former MLB pitcher Jacob Turner recently joined Twitter and released some heat👇

When thinking about monetary decisions, ask yourself “does that help create financial freedom or debt?”.

Quotes

I appreciate you tuning in today!

Close out the weekend strong — look forward to chatting again tomorrow.

Peace,

AP