Weekly Roundup: Business of Athletes, Sports, & NIL (October 16-22)

Audio Timeline:0:35 - Feel good stories* Giving back with a 50-mile run across the Grand Canyon.4:08 - Business of Athletes* Golf+, a VR golf platform raised a $6 million seed round with athlete investors including Tom Brady, Steph Curry, Mike Trout, and Rory McIlroy.* Christiano Ronaldo was named the most marketable athlete in the world according to SportsPro, with Serena Williams in 2nd and Lewis Hamilton in 3rd. * Sachin Tendulkar, one of India's most famous athletes, has become a strategic investor in the digital collectibles platform Rario.* Kevin Durant bought an MLP pickleball team.* Damian Lillard made his first tech investment in Kicks Crew, a digital sneaker platform.* Lionel Messi announced the launch of his new venture firm, Play Time, alongside experienced venture capitalist Razmig Hovaghimian.7:30 - Name, Image, and Likeness* Division I schools can expect to receive further NCAA rules guidance related to name, image, and likeness activity as soon as next week* Sad weekend at San Jose State due to an unfortunate electric scooter accident. * Collegiate sport fan experience platform Mercury has raised $7.5 million in a seed round led by Multicoin Capital.10:30 - Future of Sports* Will Ventures raised $150 million for Fund II, they will continue to invest in seed-stage companies in the consumer, health, sports, and entertainment sectors.* Next Play Capital, started by former Super Bowl champion Ryan Nece, has raised a $200M fund.* NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made $63.9M for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. Adam Silver (NBA) made $10M, Rob Manfred (MLB) earned $17.5M, and Gary Bettman (NHL) earned ~$10M. * EA Sports announced that it will be investing $11 million in women's soccer via its Starting XI Fund.* The Clippers are launching the NBA's first direct-to-consumer streaming service called "ClipperVision," which will feature 74 games and cost $199.99 for the season.* CoachMePlus, an enterprise-level digital fitness platform that helps coaches work with athletes to achieve their fitness and wellness goals, announced $1 million investment from angel groups. Interesting StatThis is wild…NBA players paid $36M in fines last season (up from $6.9M the previous year). That’s over $29,000/game — just including the regular season. What’s to blame?Well…NBA players make a lot of money (and sometimes the extra publicity from getting thrown out of a game is worth it). Basically a business expense at this point. Short Passage of The Week:* Hold the door for others and pick up trash that's not yours.* Compliment people behind their backs and encourage people when they're down.* Include people when they feel left out and hold yourself to a high standard.* Share your life with people you love and admit when you are wrong.* Celebrate others when they succeed and stand up for people that can't stand up for themselves.* Have the courage to say no to things that could jeopardize your future.* Realize doing the right things for the right reasons will never go out of style. * Be a good person.Source: Lewis Caralla, Georgia Tech's Strength CoachTweet(s)Mario Götze is setting a great example for athletes (both on and off the field):Business JargonChanging this sec