Weekly Roundup: Business of Athletes, Sports, & NIL (July 24-31)

Audio Timeline:0:35 - Feel good stories* Former Laker makes a big donation and HBCU’s on the rise4:08 - 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 graduating7:30 - 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 weekInteresting StatI 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 WeekThink 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 HurdleTweet(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?”. QuotesI appreciate you tuning in today!Close out the weekend strong — look forward to chatting again tomorrow. Peace,AP This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with oth