🔊 This Former NBA Star Is Bringing Back 1v1 Basketball With Institutional Money Behind It

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Four years after its initial launch, Tracy McGrady is bringing back the Ones Basketball League (OBL) this summer.

The former NBA star and Orlando Magic Hall of Famer announced the league's return alongside a growth capital investment from Miami-based Next Gen Sports and a notable celebrity ownership group, including Hall of Famers Vince Carter and Tim Hardaway Sr, NBA All-Star John Wall, rapper Jadakiss, actor Larenz Tate, and two-time NBA champion Quinn Cook.

The league will feature eight city-based teams: Team Orlando, Team Washington DC, Team Miami, Team New York, Team Chicago, Team Raleigh, Team Atlanta, and Team Baltimore.

Each roster will carry three players, hand-selected by celebrity owners and GMs to reflect the basketball culture of their respective cities.

The competitions will run from May 15th through June 12th in Orlando.

Why This Matters

As an NBA legend, anything Tracy McGrady is associated with gets recognition.

But to me, this news is different and worth diving into.

To start, McGrady self-funded roughly $5 million into OBL before looking for outside capital.

He also spent four years proving the concept before Next Gen Sports wrote a check, which was reportedly in the $5–$7 million range.

That’s the sign of a founder who deeply believes in the product and has a long-term vision, something you don’t always necessarily see in an athlete-led company, let alone in most businesses.

But it's also a sign of a thesis that we've covered at length.

Venture-backed leagues are surfacing everywhere, and the opportunity could be massive.

Next Gen Sports has already quietly built a portfolio around alternative formats of existing sports, including AVP Beach Volleyball and the Big 3.

And they’re not the only ones.

There are many investment firms, such as Left Lane Capital, Athvance Capital, and Will Ventures, betting that the next generation of sports leagues and IP doesn't have to start with a billion-dollar media rights deal or significant partnerships.

It just has to combine a novel, innovative concept with an overlooked and underserved audience.

OBL's celebrity ownership structure is worth noting.

Every name on their cap table received equity in their respective franchise with no money down.

That's a unique structure, but it aligns interests from day one.

Each owner becomes a marketing channel and a stakeholder from day one.

It's a creative solution to the cold-start problem that every emerging league faces.

The main unresolved question is distribution.

McGrady says OBL will distribute games on YouTube while looking for a streaming partner.

They’re also already in conversation with major sponsors, which could drive meaningful revenue.

Overall, while emerging leagues are not without challenges, the capital and creativity flowing into this layer of the sports asset class isn't going away.

OBL will be an interesting case study, and we’ll be keeping an eye on how it develops.

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This week’s guest on the Vetted Sports podcast is Jordan Gardner.

Jordan Gardner is a notable football executive and the Chairman and Owner of Scottish League One team Kelty Hearts FC.

He founded a ticketing company, Ticket Arsenal, while at UC San Diego, and later acquired minority stakes in Swansea City AFC and Dundalk FC.

In 2019, he became Chairman, Chief Executive, and Managing Partner of FC Helsingør, and since 2022, he has served as an Investment Intelligence Specialist with London-based football consultancy Twenty First Group.

Furthermore, he has done extensive work for various global investment groups looking at European football, both pre- and post-acquisition.

In this episode, we discuss:

‣ How he got into European sports ownership
‣ The recent acquisition of Kelty Hearts FC
‣ The hidden realities of sports team ownership

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

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