Weekly Roundup: Business of Athletes, Sports, & NIL (September 23-30)

Audio Timeline:1:25 - Feel good stories* College athletes give back to the community thanks to their NIL money. 3:05 - Business of Athletes* Lebron James, Kevin Love, and Draymond Green are the newest investors in pickleball through Major League Pickleball’s 16-team expansion.* Chris Paul, Vernon Davis, and Jimmer Fredette are investing in Scout’s $2.6M seed round. The company helps users put together “investing starting packages”. * Kevin Durant and Billie Jean King are the newest investors in League One Volleyball, a new women's pro league, which has raised a $16.75 million Series A round. * Eli Manning (through his PE Firm Brand Velocity Group) has acquired uniform company SCORE. Carmelo Anthony, Nolan Arenado, DK Metcalf, and Klay Thompson are fellow athlete investors. * Abby Wambach is distancing herself from concussion company Odyssey Health as Brett Favre is reportedly its biggest investor. * Travis Kelce is investing in ZenWTR, other athlete investors include Aaron Rodgers, Richard Seymour, surfer Kelly Slater, and Tristan Thompson.10:45 - Name, Image, and Likeness* South Carolina women’s basketball players are set to receive $25,000 during this upcoming season thanks to a team-wide NIL deal. * 5-star football recruit David Stone put out on Twitter that he can’t “be bought” during his recruiting process.13:35 - Future of Sports* InGame Sports, an Egyptian gaming and sports technology startup has secured over $1M in a pre-seed round spearheaded by Opener.* Athletes Unlimited announced a $30M funding round to continue building out their women’s first athletic leagues.  Four-time Olympian Angela Ruggiero, Philadelphia 76ers owner David Blitzer, and Kevin Durant's 35V are investors. * Karate Combat, a prominent full-contact martial arts league, announced the decision to form a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) to transition its governance to fans and athletes.* The American Cornhole League (ACL) is one of the fastest-growing sports leagues in the world (challenging even pickleball). They have announced a strategic multi-year partnership with Legends agency. * SIQ Basketball raised an additional $3M from 16 new investors. They make the world’s first smart basketball and are used by Overtime Elite. Interesting StatThis is wild:High school sports in the United States with the most participants (and YoY change).Participation is down among the 10 most popular boys and girls high school sports compared to the last full pre-pandemic school year.Boys golf and girls volleyball are the only increases. This chart doesn’t include Esports — but that is definitely growing as well. Short Passage of The Week:We rob ourselves of joy because of the storylines we create around our painful challenges in life, be they physical, financial, mental, emotional, or spiritual. As we walk through the growth experiences of life's discomfort, we realize joy is right there in the midst of it all. Passage by The Daily CoachRecommended MediaThanks to the 50+ people who have sent emails regarding business ideas in pickleball after my post on Friday. It has garnered a ton of buzz and I am currently sorting through them to see if there are any opportunities that can benefit us all. Tweet(s)Figuring out what to message “busy” people is tough. This is a good br