FEATURED STORY
Why The Tech Elites Are Finally Investing in Sports
Photo: Thrive’s Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger explore bid to acquire NBA Las Vegas’ expansion team.
Sports has officially entered its technology era.
For too long have the technological elite largely stayed away from sports because teams felt less like compounding assets and more like expensive, profit-losing trophies – especially, when the opportunity cost is reinvesting that capital into new technologies.
We remember vividly the barrage of criticism former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer faced when he made a big splash by buying the Clippers for $2B back in 2014.
Economist Andrew Zimbalist on TIME framed it as a wealthy tech executive “making a vanity purchase – he’s buying a toy.”
Fast forward to today, Forbes valued the Clippers at $7.5B, legendary tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla’s group just acquired the Seahawks for $9.6B, and Thrive’s Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger are exploring a bid for a potential NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas.
The tech elite have finally come to the conclusion that we all did a long time ago: sports is an asset class worth investing in.
In this newsletter, we’ll tell you why – and what this could mean for the industry long-term.
Sports is The Ultimate Diversification Strategy
Sports is the ultimate AI-hedge.
No matter how automated everything becomes through AI – software, professional services, advanced manufacturing – it’s impossible to uproot the intangible human experience that sports provides, along with all of the generational IP that has sprouted from it.
To his credit, Reddit co-founder and sports investor Alexis Ohanian was super early on this. He was on TBPN this Monday setting the record straight:
“There is footage from, I think, two and a half years ago at Cannes Lions where I call sports the ultimate anti-AI bet. Even when you can have a pixel-perfect highlight of Mbappé scoring a goal, it will do nothing for the soul because it never actually happened. The human experience is the reason why it’s valuable. We are now seeing a moment where the smartest folks in venture capital [are] realizing this is not just a trophy asset.”
Two months ago, Josh Kushner diversified into sports.
The venture capitalist whose firm seeded Instagram and Spotify launched Thrive Eternal, a permanent-capital holding company that invests in a small number of assets to steward for decades to come.
First agreed investment?
A minority stake in the San Francisco Giants, one of the most iconic sports franchises in America.
Two weeks ago, it was reported that he’s exploring a bid for a potential NBA expansion team in Las Vegas through Thrive Eternal alongside Bob Iger.
2/2 in sports.
Josh’s manifesto on Thrive Eternal not only tells us why, but it also tells us where the technological elite see the opportunity in this industry:
The Why’s: “These are assets with qualities that cannot be replicated by technology. Iconic franchises and cultural institutions rooted in tradition, identity, and shared experience. In a world shaped by abundant intelligence where creation scales and distribution fragments, we believe they will matter even more.”
The Opportunities: ”Thrive Eternal is built on the belief that the most enduring of these assets share common characteristics: they benefit from long-term stewardship, they compound through cultural resonance, and they are enhanced by technology rather than displaced by it.”
This is What Sports Entrepreneurs Have Been Waiting For
“They are enhanced by technology rather than displaced by it.”
While technology can’t replace the end product, it certainly can make the business behind run better.
We’ve previously dropped timeless guides on how sports teams should be using AI to enhance off-field operations, so we’re not going to bore you here with the details here. You can check those out below:
Note: We’re dropping The AI Stack We’d Use if We Owned a Sports Team – On-field Edition soon, so stay tuned.
Alexis said it straight up:
“What we’ve been privileged to see now for three, four, five, six years is under the hood of these organizations – the best sports teams in the world, the best sports leagues in the world are run like a tech company in the mid-aughts.
All across the stack, there is tremendous opportunity for efficiency, for software, and so the smart money – we’re investing – and they’re also figuring out how to invest in the tools that’ll make these even more profitable enterprises.”
If sports owners are now thinking this way, there has never been a better time to build AI applications for sports.
Expect a massive tech-stack overhaul over the next few years as this technology-minded thinking becomes more common across ownership groups.
If your startup can capitalize – perfect.
But beware: as teams become more open to tech solutions, we could see foundation-model companies and deeper AI applications enter sports more aggressively as well.
Expect there to be a big race to pick up these huge customers.
If Tech Money Entering Sports Is a New Trend, Expect A Lot More of It
While it feels like there’s already so much tech money coming into sports recently, it has largely been two big moves reported over the last few months.
But there will be a lot more coming soon.
SpaceX’s ~$2T IPO was estimated to create more than 4,400 millionaires, nearly 400 centi-millionaires, and multiple billionaires.
OpenAI and Anthropic’s eventual IPOs could do the same.
Yes, the most likely outcome is that most of this money gets reallocated into AI, the S&P 500, a superyacht, or – if they’re feeling modest – a luxury EV.
Our prediction: sports will get a lot of exposure too – through minority stakes, ownership groups, women’s sports, emerging leagues, collectibles, facilities, and the tech companies helping the industry run better.
As AI creates more wealth across the technology industry…
Sports is becoming one of the asset classes where that wealth will flow.
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THE 4TH QUARTER SHOW
Check out the latest episode of The 4th Quarter Show.
In just one hour, we break down every major headline shaping the business of sports.
Some of this week’s highlights:
Novak Djokovic takes a job on Wall Street as strategic advisor to $126B growth equity giant General Atlantic
Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin makes headlines for bankrolling Team USA's World Cup Head Coach Hire
Monster Energy becomes the first-ever conference-level entitlement partner with a ~$20M/year Big 12 deal
Plus, every other major team and league, M&A, real estate, emerging league, technology, and collectibles story that you need to know.
Stay tuned for next week’s episode!
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LEAGUES & TEAMS
U.S. League & Team News
Tech investor Vinod Khosla agrees to buy Seattle Seahawks for record $9.6B, with his wife Neeru set as control owner (July 14th)
Marks the highest control sale price for an NFL team, topping the Commanders’ $6.05B sale in 2023
Neeru Khosla will become the first woman to take control of an NFL franchise immediately following a transaction; limited partners still expected to join the ownership group [Sportico]
Yankees and Apollo discuss $2B-$3B financing deal tied to Yankee Global Enterprises (July 15th)
Apollo is in talks to invest more than $2B into the Yankees’ parent company through a mix of debt and equity
Capital would partly refinance debt and buy out limited partners, while the Steinbrenner family retains control of YGE’s Yankees, AC Milan, NYCFC, Legends, and YES Network stakes [Sportico]
NHL players set to receive record $170M salary rebate as league revenue outpaces cap system (July 13th)
Players are expected to receive roughly 5.5% of 2025-26 salaries back as NHL revenue exceeds the amount needed to maintain the league’s 50/50 owner-player split
NHL annual revenue reaches ~$6.8B, with arenas at 97.5% capacity and a new Canadian media deal set to boost revenue next season [Sportico]
Jay Farner’s Ronin Capital makes record investment in Detroit City FC to support new stadium district (July 13th)
Former Quicken Loans CEO is making the largest single investment in DCFC history through Ronin Sports & Entertainment Group and will join the club’s board
Capital will support the club’s planned $150M, 15,000-seat AlumniFi Field and broader $200M mixed-use development connecting Corktown and Mexicantown [SBJ]
Future of Philadelphia Flyers ownership remains unclear as Comcast moves forward with NBCUniversal spin-off (July 8th)
Comcast has not disclosed whether Comcast Spectacor, owner of the Flyers and Xfinity Mobile Arena, will stay with Comcast or move into the spun-off NBCUniversal entity
Uncertainty comes as Spectacor advances a $1.5B new arena with the 76ers and a ~$1B South Philly mixed-use district [FOS]
International 🌍
Northern Super League awards Winnipeg seventh franchise ahead of 2027 season (July 14th)
Winnipeg’s NSL club will be co-founded by Canadian soccer icon Desiree Scott and technical director Rob Gale; 3,000+ fans already signing a petition to support the club [NSL]
Emerging Properties
Former Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei and Skylark CEO Danny Epstien launch Horse Racing League to bring team-based competition to thoroughbred racing (July 15th)
Applying the F1-style playbook of premium events, digital storytelling, celebrity/brand-owned teams, and season-long continuity to modernize horse racing
Debuts February 2027 with 10 teams, a live horse draft, $10M+ in annual purses/prizes, and races across Santa Anita, Gulfstream, and Keeneland [HRL]
Veloce Media Group joins 2026 FIA Extreme H World Cup as hydrogen racing grid takes shape (July 15th)
Veloce will compete in the second FIA Extreme H World Cup in Qiddiya City, Saudi Arabia; previously won five races and nine podiums in Extreme E
Using its 500M+ monthly-view media network to help promote hydrogen-powered motorsport across gaming, motorsport & lifestyle audiences [Extreme H]
Real Estate Deals
NFL issues $196M in new stadium debt with Fitch assigning A+ rating (July 13th)
NFL teams tapped $196M through the league’s G-4 and G-5 stadium finance programs to support construction projects in late 2025
Fitch cited the NFL’s strong cash flow, hard salary cap, long-term media deals, and CBA stability, with league debt now totaling $13.4B [SBJ]
NFL flag football league venue concept points to modular stadium model ahead of 2027 launch (July 9th)
Early renderings show an intimate, temporary stadium concept with premium seating, video boards, sponsor activations, a public flag field, and event-stage infrastructure
League expected to launch in 2027 ahead of flag football’s 2028 Olympic debut, with TMRW Sports selected to operate the league [SBJ]
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INVESTMENTS
M&A
David Beckham’s health drink startup IM8 takes $1B from General Catalyst’s CVF to finance customer acquisition (July 15th)
General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund will finance up to 70% of IM8’s customer acquisition costs without taking equity or diluting Prenetics shareholders [TechCrunch]
Bruin Capital-backed As1 acquires Elite Consulting to expand global football representation platform (July 10th)
As1 will acquire Elite Consulting, Denmark’s largest football agency, adding a roster of Scandinavian players and coaches including Thomas Frank, Kasper Hjulmand, and Victor Froholdt
Deal strengthens As1’s position as the seventh-largest football representation agency globally, with 300+ elite players and €700M+ in total market value [Simpson Thacher]
New Fund Alert 🚨
Lawn Tennis Association partners with Redrice Ventures to invest in sports startups as its Wimbledon income declines (July 11th)
UK tennis and padel governing body will jointly invest in startups across online coaching, smart court technology, automated line-calling, and sports nutrition
Move gives the LTA a new financial return strategy as Wimbledon distributions stagnate; 2025 tournament income fell 4% to £48.6M [FT]
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STARTUPS & TECHNOLOGY
Startup Fundraising
Cognify Health raises funding led by Game Changers Ventures to expand youth sports concussion care (July 13th)
Cognify helps youth athletes book virtual concussion-related doctor visits within 24 hours, combining healthcare software with its own medical provider network
Funding will support hiring and product development as the startup looks to become an integrated healthcare layer for youth sports programs [SBJ]
Speakeasy raises $8.8M to power live experience operations across sports, entertainment, and hospitality (July 15th)
Speakeasy provides an all-in-one operations platform for ticketing, reservations, premium bookings, payments, POS integrations, and CRM
Company grew 500% YoY and serves clients including Barstool, Breakaway Music Festival, TAO Group, Fontainebleau, E11EVEN, and Cipriani [Speakeasy]
Product Launches
TikTok and WSC Sports partner to help rights holders scale creator-led sports content (July 15th)
WSC will give TikTok creators access to fully licensed sports content, AI-powered clipping tools, vertical editing, and editorial guidance
Partnership lets rights holders extend IP into the creator economy while maintaining control over usage, rights, and brand safety [WSC]
Kalshi launches Kalshi Pro as it evolves from prediction app into full-service financial exchange (July 13th)
Kalshi Pro is a professional-grade desktop trading terminal for advanced users trading prediction markets and perpetual futures across multiple live markets, including sports
Adds order books, charts, market screeners, TradingView integration, margin tools, and bulk order management as Kalshi builds infrastructure for more active traders [Kalshi]
FEVO launches Gibson AI agent to automate ticket offer creation while honoring late employee Gibson Harnett (July 14th)
Gibson lets FEVO clients create and deploy ticketing offers through conversational chat across group sales, season renewals, and premium inventory
AI agent will be beta-tested by the Astros, Cardinals, Red Wings, Tigers, and University of Washington before its August rollout [SBJ]
PlayMaker Software launches AI chat layer to help teams analyze sponsorship deals without heavy BI work (July 15th)
Lets sponsorship teams ask questions through chat and generate analysis, visualizations, and breakdowns across their deals and partner portfolios
Tool is designed to reduce BI workload for teams and replaces the company’s earlier Ask PlayMaker feature [SBJ]
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STRATEGIC VENTURES
Media Deals & Updates
YouTube reportedly emerges as leading candidate for NBA’s centralized local broadcast hub (July 15th)
NBA is targeting the 2027-28 season to launch an aggregated local streaming hub for team broadcasts; YouTube reportedly the top candidate
It’ll likely be geofenced by market and could include 20+ teams as the league rebuilds local media strategy after the RSN collapse [Awful Announcing]
Bundesliga moves U.S. rights from ESPN to USA Network and Fandango in $100M deal (July 14th)
Five-year deal gives Versant rights to 300+ Bundesliga matches across USA Network and ad-supported streamer Fandango
Deal lowers Bundesliga’s U.S. rights fee from ESPN’s ~$30M/year to ~$20M/year, but expands visibility through linear TV and free streaming distribution [The Athletic]
Other Partnerships
College sports sponsorship hits $1.2B as jersey patch inventory remains largely unsold (July 15th)
Power 4 and Group of 5 programs generated nearly $1.2B in modeled sponsorship revenue in 2025-26, with Power 4 programs surpassing $1B
Nearly 95% of new college jersey patch inventory remains unsold ahead of the NCAA’s August 1 rule change, creating a major new revenue opportunity for schools [YSBR]
WNBPA partners with Forme Science to bring posture tech and wellness data to WNBA players (July 15th)
Gives WNBA players access to Forme’s posture-supporting apparel and intelligence platform for travel, sleep, and recovery
Includes player ambassador activations at 2026 All-Star Weekend and Forme support for incoming rookies at the WNBPA Rookie Premiere starting in 2027 [Athletech]
ATP launches Spotify-powered Tour Sounds campaign to connect tennis players with music culture (July 15th)
Tour Sounds lets ATP players create event-specific Spotify playlists tied to Masters 1000 stops, blending music, player insights, and video content
Campaign builds on ATP’s Spotify content hub as the tour uses off-court storytelling to deepen fan engagement with players [ATP]
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JOB BOARD
If you find our weekly job board helpful, join the T4Q Talent Network.
Now - here are some cool roles we found and personally curated this week. Enjoy!