🔊 MLB Makes An Eight-Figure Women's Sports Investment

📰 TOP STORY
MLB Announces Reported $10M Investment In Athletes Unlimited Softball League

This week, the MLB announced a partnership and eight-figure investment with the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL).

Here’s a brief breakdown of the deal:

• The exact terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but the total value was reported to be around $10M

• As part of the agreement, MLB will help raise the visibility of the AUSL and its athletes through its sales, marketing, broadcast, and social media platforms

• Another part and goal of the deal is to help boost youth engagement and attention around the sport

• The investment will largely go towards the league's operational costs and key growth initiatives as it starts its inaugural season

The AUSL will kick off its debut season on June 7th and will feature four teams each playing in a 24-game campaign, followed by an All-Star Cup. The games will take place in 12 different cities this year and then transition to a city-based league in 2026. The league is also planning to expand from four to six teams next season.

Why Does This Matter?

Here's what's smart about this deal for both MLB and Athletes Unlimited.

Let’s start with the MLB:

• First off, MLB gains vested interest in a well-organized and structured emerging league (likely at amazing deal terms), which will likely continue to grow in value

• They’re riding the wave that women’s sports is on currently, and softball is on an incredible path with NCAA softball viewership breaking records (2M+ viewers for the Women's College World Series Finals), and record attendance

• Lastly, the MLB can potentially tap into an entirely new demographic and audience that’s passionate about the sport

Looking at the other side, Athletes Unlimited gains:

• Capital and distribution. These are arguably the two most important things any up-and-coming league needs to sustain longevity

• Operational oversight from the MLB, which is the oldest professional sports league in the US, with more than competent sports executives

• And lastly, access to more relationships and leverage with the MLB brand backing them

Athletes Unlimited has already built a high-level product across various sports with world-class leadership (Kim Ng will remain Commissioner of AUSL). MLB's investment will only accelerate key objectives and continue to drive home the vision Jon Patricof and Jonathan Soros had when they started Athletes Unlimited 5 years ago.

💰 MERGERS & MONEY MOVES 
The Italian SailGP Takeover

• Muse Sport Consortium Acquires Italy SailGP Team For $45M. The Red Bull Italy SailGP Team has become the first team in the league to be led by a female ownership group headed by Assia Grazioli Venier, founding partner of Muse Capital and Muse Sport. The group also includes luxury brand entrepreneur Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo and SailGP veteran Jimmy Spithill, who will serve as the CEO of the team. Other investors include actress Anne Hathaway and her husband Adam Shulman, Italian actress Miriam Leone, and Alexander Gilkes, co-founder of Paddle8. Others involved include Evan Yurman, Julie Eddleman, Heather Karatz, Pete Delgrosso, and Dr Jennifer Ashton (more here).

• 49ers Acquire Majority Stake In Scotland Rangers FC. Led by the owners of the San Francisco 49ers and health care tycoon Andrew Cavenagh, a group of US investors has completed its takeover of Scottish football giants Rangers. The group has acquired a 51% controlling stake in the club, and Rangers said the new vision for the future prioritizes "on-pitch performance" and "long-term financial sustainability." The club added in a statement that the new leadership has already invested £20M ($27M). 49ers Enterprises, the venture arm of the franchise, already owns Leeds United, which recently secured promotion to the English Premier League after winning this season's Championship title (more here).

• KC Current Owners Acquire Danish Football Club HB Køge Women. Under the investment firm Ballard Capital, the owners of the Kansas City Current, Angie and Chris Long, have acquired the Danish soccer club HB Køge. The pair purchased the team to expand their investment in women's soccer. HB Køge is located in the town of Herfølge, which is approximately 30 miles south of Copenhagen. The team currently plays in the UEFA Women's Champions League. Financial details were not disclosed (more here).

• TicketManager Raises $110M. TicketManager, a sports tech company that provides software and services to manage end-to-end event ticket workflow and guest experiences, has received major financial backing from Valeas Capital Partners to support its strategic growth plans. The private equity firm has invested $110M to acquire a majority stake in the company, while co-founder and chief executive Tony Knopp and CEO Ken Hanscom will retain a minority interest in the company (more here).

• KhiladiPro Raises $1M. KhiladiPro, an Indian-based sports tech platform, has raised approximately $1M in a pre-seed funding round co-led by Shastra VC and MGA Ventures. The round also included participation from prominent family offices and angel investors, including M Pallonji, Jeena and Co., Ayaz Billawala, Nimesh Kampani, and Jaimin Bhat. The funds will be used to accelerate the development of its proprietary AI models, expand reach in domestic markets, and enhance support systems for young athletes across the country, KhiladiPro said in a press release (more here).

 🤝 PARTNERSHIPS
Surj Sports & Baller League Partner To Bring A Digital-First League To MENA Region

• SURJ Sports Investment & Kings League Form Partnership. SURJ Sports Investment and Kings League announced a partnership to launch Kings League MENA, a regionally anchored version of the seven-a-side football league founded by football legend and entrepreneur Gerard Piqué. The new joint venture will launch later this year and bring an innovative and digital-first sporting experience to the MENA region, with Saudi Arabia confirmed as the league’s inaugural host (more here).

• PitchCom & PerfectGame Form Partnership. Perfect Game, the world's largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service, announced that PitchCom, a wireless baseball communication system, has been named its official on-field communications provider. As part of the collaboration, PitchCom systems will be deployed at major Perfect Game events throughout the travel baseball calendar, including the DICK'S All-American Classic, the Select Festivals, October's iconic WWBA Championship, and the National Showcase (more here).

• Pinterest & New York Liberty Form Partnership. Pinterest has made its first entry into sports sponsorship with the WNBA’s New York Liberty. In addition to a branded presence on the court and exclusive content curated to inspire the team’s fanbase, including book recommendations, nail art, hair and fashion looks and a dedicated page for its wildly popular mascot Ellie the Elephant, the partnership also entails promotion of initiatives such as National Girls and Women in Sports Day and the refurbishment of basketball backboards at local courts in New York (more here).

• BetMGM & Las Vegas Aces Form Partnership. BetMGM is now the exclusive online casino and sportsbook partner of the Las Vegas Aces in a deal running through the 2027 WNBA season. This is BetMGM’s first major partnership with a women’s pro sports team. The deal includes signage at Michelob ULTRA Arena, sponsorship across the Aces’ social media platforms, and exclusive experiences for BetMGM players, such as courtside access to pre-game shootarounds and luxury VIP seating (more here).

🔊 ATHLETES & OTHER NEWS
Cricket Legend Invests In Bowling League

• Virat Kohli Invests In World Bowling League. Legendary cricket player Virat Kohli has become an investor in the new World Bowling League. The terms of the deal were not revealed, but the Indian international star is the latest celebrity to join the cap table following Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts in March. The World Bowling League announced in 2023 that it will host 12 to 15 events per year in various locations from Singapore to Japan. It plans to work closely with the International Bowling Federation to create a global franchise system (more here).

• Russell Westbrook Named Creative Director For OKC Stadium District. Russell Westbrook, former OKC Thunder player and founder of Russell Westbrook Enterprises (RWE), has been named creative director for a new sports-anchored entertainment district planned for downtown Oklahoma City. The project is being developed by Echo Investment Capital in partnership with RWE and Robinson Park. The stadium is intended to host professional soccer and other events (more here).

• Ex-NFL Star Tom Brady Returns To Crypto With Investment In AI Startup. Legendary NFL QB Tom Brady recently invested in Catena Labs, a Boston-based startup aiming to build what it’s positioning as the world's first AI-native financial institution, according to Front Office Sports. Catena Labs, co-founded by Sean Neville, is known for co-creating the USDC stablecoin. Catena emerged from stealth with $18M in seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz's crypto division, a16zcrypto. The round also included Circle Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Stanford Engineering VF, and Breyer Capital, as well as notable angel investors, including Balaji Srinivasan, Bradley Horowitz, and Kevin Lin, among others (more here).

• Sha'Carri Richardson Joins Athlos As An Owner-Advisor. Olympic gold medalist Sha’Carri Richardson has joined the new, team-based women’s track and field league Athlos as a founding owner-advisor. Fellow sprinter Gabby Thomas and long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall have also become owner-advisors of the league, set to launch next year after the World Athletics season. Athlos was started by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who also has ownership stakes in women’s soccer teams Angel City and Chelsea FC and is married to tennis great Serena Williams (more here).

• Vince McMahon Launches Private Investment Firm. Vince McMahon has launched a new business venture, forming an investment firm called 14TH & I, pursuing opportunities in sports, media, and entertainment. Public filings reveal he formed three LLCs—14TH & I Holdings, Investments, and Management all registered to his Stamford, CT address. The firm has filed two trademarks (“14TH&I” and “14TH & I”) covering private equity investment and entertainment production. Former WWE executive Brad Blum is named as President (more here).

• The World’s Most Valuable Soccer Teams 2025. Together, the 30 most valuable soccer teams are worth more than $72B, or an average of $2.4B, up 5% from 2024’s record $2.26B. The list includes 12 teams from the Premier League, four from Italy’s Serie A, three from Spain’s La Liga, two from Germany’s Bundesliga, and one from France’s Ligue 1. There are also eight teams from Major League Soccer (more here).

• 2025 PGA Championship Signals What’s Ahead For Tech Sports Partnerships. As the summer sports season heats up, technology companies are going beyond traditional sponsorships and leveraging high-profile sporting events to demonstrate their technical capabilities. Rather than merely paying a sponsorship fee and splashing the corporate logo around the venue, more tech providers are putting their know-how to work to help sporting events run better (more here).

• RedBird’s Gerry Cardinale Says Pro Sports Team Valuations Are In A Bubble. Gerry Cardinale, Managing Partner of RedBird Capital, a private investment firm with a focus on sports, thinks pro sports team valuations have gotten way too high. Cardinale, who is the controlling owner of Italian football club AC Milan, also spoke about MLB’s media rights strategy and the UFL, which RedBird has a stake in (more here).

🎙️ PODCAST INTERVIEWS
The Importance Of Serving Women In The Sports Economy with Fielding Jamieson

This week’s guest on the Vetted Sports podcast is Fielding Jamieson.

Fielding Jamieson is the Managing Partner of Tipt Ventures. Tipt Ventures is a venture capital fund dedicated to companies that are reimagining sports, starting with her.

They are committed to investing in and supporting groundbreaking startups, disruptive technologies, and visionary entrepreneurs who are elevating the sports industry for women.

In this episode, we discuss:

‣ How Tipt Ventures started and what opportunities they’re focused on most
‣ The parts of the women’s sports ecosystem that feel undervalued and overlooked
‣ What does women’s sports and the ecosystem around it look like in 10 years

Check out the full episode here: Apple | Spotify | YouTube