Sportico held its annual Participate in Sports New York event on Monday at the Nasdaq office in Times Square, bringing together prominent sports industry figures. The event included new Orioles user David Rubenstein, two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning, NHL director Gary Bettman, The Kraft Group leader Jonathan Kraft, Washington Spirit user Michele Kang and many more.
The owners, executives, and prominent athletes ‘ names covered a range of topics and trends in the sports industry, including the development of personal capital and sovereign wealth funds, as well as the expansion of new opportunities for children’s and youth activities. Additionally, they emphasized the value of diversity in the victim’s collection and praised emerging talent and fans marketplaces.

Michele Kang helped establish DC and Kynisca as gymnastics towns.
Kang explained why she chose Kynisca as the first multi-team firm for children’s activities. She also criticized the notion that the world’s capital is” a terrible sports area” by describing how her Washington Spirit have succeeded in D.C.’s crowded sports market.
On encouraging further investment into women’s sports, Kang cited her company’s recent investment into IDA Sports, a women’s footwear company, and said “women’s sports ca n’t just take off because you’re buying teams, there are a lot of other things in the ecosystem that need to come along”.
PFL as the first-movers in sovereign wealth funds
In a time when some sports executives were visiting the Middle East, Donn Davis of the Professional Fighters League and Danny Townsend of SURJ Sports Investment discussed how their organizations came along. As more established activities businesses are speaking with royal resources from Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, the mixed martial arts american has kind of celebrated its first-mover position, sort of like speaking. ” I have no questions about the negative buzz,” Davis said,” I have no questions about the negative buzz.” If leaders still have reservations about seeking those funds out of rumors of geopolitical tensions, Davis said. … In the last 18 months since all the noises in the marketplace, it’s all about how do I get a world industrial-strength investment”.
Eli Manning on his post-playing occupation and performer opportunities during the NIL time.
Since retiring from the NFL, the two-time Super Bowl champion has built a solid post-playing vocation between his expanding internet responsibilities and brand-building a resume with Brand Velocity Group. Maintaining discussed the shifts he had to create through each stage of his athletic career with Lloyd Howell, the executive producer of the NFL Players Association, and the mentoring he received at home from his father Archie and his big brother Peyton.
The Giants legend said that one thing he’s learned over the years is that athletes are more aware of the best uses for their resources and are n’t always opting for “home run” investments. ” Nowadays, I do n’t know if it’s social media, but athletes are talking about it more, and they’re starting their own companies”, Manning said. ” They’re invested in sports teams. They’re more involved. They’re sitting in the names, and they have a excellent team, and so they can make a tremendous impact on some of these opportunities”.

Manning also offered his opinion on NIL, which has provided younger players with more business insight than their forebears.
He, who came into the players ‘ coalition from the private equity market, asked Manning about his own entrance into Pa, which began with “being a journey on the walls” in conversations with Brand Velocity. Holding changed the conversation to Howell about the possibility of the NFL entering a long-awaited 18-game time. Additionally, he even emailed the union leader regarding the NFL’s use of private capital, to which Howell replied that it had been late but that it’s too early to determine how the players themselves can join.
West Africa, the Middle East and other emerging areas for sports purchase
Investors are constantly looking for” the following”, whether it’s a group, a group or a landscape where talent may be developed. Each of the panelists who spoke with former sports executives with global experience expressed the belief that investors will look to Africa and the Middle East as a location for the development of sports.
Cheick Sanankoua, the leader of Omega Sports Holding, pointed out that over the next 20 years, one-third of international children may occur from Africa, making the globe a center for sporting expertise. Alex Saratsis, the co-managing director for Octagon Basketball, agreed, saying that several nations there could produce” the next Giannis ( Antetokounmpo ), the next Joel Embiid”.
Kojo Annan, the creator of A10, referred to the Summer Olympics as having the most medalists ( 39 ) as the entire continent of Africa despite having a population of 1.5 billion people when speaking about the enormous disparity in sports investment between the United States and Africa. You ca n’t believe Stanford has better supporting potential than the entire continent of 1.5 billion people, as much as we love it, but I think it shows you what the opportunity is if we invest a little bit of money in Africa of the kind from Stanford.
The new person on MLB’s wall: David Rubenstein
David Rubenstein discussed the ongoing studying slope he’s on in his first year as the owner and control freak for the Baltimore Orioles in a playful one-on-one dialogue with Proskauer’s Jon Oram. The creator of the Carlyle Group argued that sporting was as much a “feel-good” statement as it was great company despite years spent in the courts, state, and private ownership.
Rubenstein’s ownership group includes several limited partners, including Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. ( also in attendance at Invest ) and Grant Hill, whose father Calvin grew up in Maryland. In the sports industry, Russellstein jokes that” there are worst developments in the Western world than allowing limited partners to buy sports franchises.” He suspects that 10 or 20 years from now, most major league franchises will go public.
” Everyone watches women’s sports”
On the heels of Sportico’s RISE: Women’s Sports conference in October, three investors believe that capital needs to move in other arenas outside of the teams and leagues themselves.
The next big opportunity in the women’s sports industry lies in brands, especially for those who have been unable to advertise in the crowded ad market, according to Angel City FC co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
Fran Harris, an entrepreneur and former WNBA champion, said that until platforms invest in better storytelling of female athletes, the full picture of women’s sports has not been fully realized. According to Ohanian, a women’s sports team will be worth$ 1 billion in the coming years. New York Liberty co-owner Clara Wu Tsai said she anticipates her team to be the first one to achieve that valuation at RISE.
A tech guru, a wealthy sportsman, and a Hall of Famer attend a Little League game.
Few others have ever made the same kind of investment into youth sports as Cal Ripken Jr., David Blitzer, and Sameer Ahuja.
Blitzer saw a fragmented world that needed to be professionally developed while Ripken ( and his brother Billy ) saw his involvement in youth baseball as giving back to the game at the grassroots. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Ahuja, the company’s managing director, discussed overcoming the difficulties of making the platform a platform that offers more sports content than any other company in the world.
Moderator Jamie Horowitz drew the line between Aaron Judge’s struggles and the fundamental abilities that youth sports have developed with the Yankees still learning from the World Series. By the way, Ripken would enjoy playing in a time when Juan Soto and others could agree to a$ 600 million deal.
The value of bringing color into the owner’s suite
The owners ‘ club, especially in the U. S., is overwhelmingly filled with well-resourced white men and their families. Yet in this new era of the sports industry, that club is slowly diversifying. Olympic gold medalist Dominique Dawes ( Atlanta Falcons, Washington Spirit ), Damian Mills ( Charlotte Hornets, NC Courage, Carolina FC) and André Swanston ( MLS Next’s Connecticut franchise ) had different paths to team ownership, but all shared the desire to bring more individuals” who looked like them” into the executive suite.
Dawes, who is one of only six black women with stakes in the NFL, talked about embracing the Atlanta area and recognizing that the owners ‘ suite should reflect the communities they are a part of.
Gary Bettman’s escalating NHL team valuations and more
The longest serving commissioner in sports history, Bettman had a wide-ranging one-on-one conversation with Rob Tillis, the CEO of Inner Circle Sports. The recent expansion efforts, including the Vegas Golden Knights ‘ Stanley Cup victories and both the franchises in Florida, were praised by Bettman, the NHL commissioner since 1993. Additionally, he praised the rising franchise valuations, which Kevin Weekes assisted with with last week’s release.
In an unanticipated beginning, Bettman recapped the infamous John Spanos ‘ fraudulent ownership offer for the New York Islanders, which compelled the NHL to revamp its vetting process for potential team owners.
Bettman also threw some slack in the air about the fervent hopes of expanding internationally by recognizing already-existing leagues outside of North America. ” For us to be putting franchises on the continent, I think that’s maybe a bridge too far because there are professional leagues in Germany, Finland, and Sweden, and I do n’t think they would be thrilled if we started putting our own franchises there, putting aside the logistics of travel when you’re playing 82 games a season,” he said.
Private equity’s smooth glidepath into the NFL
Marc Lasry of Avenue Capital Group and Lyle Ayes of Verance Capital brought a wealth of experience to the discussion about what the funds can do for sports leagues across the globe as the NFL’s decision to allow institutional investment created a long-awaited entry for private equity.
Both parties agreed that the NFL, with liquidity spread throughout all 32 franchises, can be the best place for major PE firms to launch. Ayes also discussed his role in providing league counsel on guidelines for the firms.
One of the pitfalls of NBA ownership was discussed by Lasry, the former majority owner of the Milwaukee Bucks: fans ‘ desire for owners to spend themselves in temporary contention can eventually make it less profitable to own a team.
Jonathan Kraft on the MLS’s evolution and limited partnerships with the NFL
Jonathan Kraft is one of the more active executives in American sports, from his leadership of the NFL’s New England Patriots and MLS Revolution to his involvement in important committees for the league. Also on the board of TKO is Kraft, and he discussed how his youth fandom with Endeavor about merging the wrestling promotion with the UFC.
Kraft also discussed soccer’s progression in the United States, starting with the Revolution’s MLS expansion and the development of the league’s infrastructure thanks to the landmark streaming agreement between Apple and soccer. Jonathan, the son of Robert Kraft, the majority owner of the Patriots, explained how limited partnerships in the NFL are primed for private equity at institutional level and with family offices.
Sportico’s event was sponsored by Nasdaq, which is hosting the conference, Inner Circle Sports LLC, Proskauer, Arctos, Omega Sports Holding, GameChanger by Dick’s Sporting Goods, XO and Next League.