Tee Time

Better Than Most

Tiger Woods is inseparable from the game of golf - currently tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men’s major championships, and holds a number of groundbreaking records.

Woods is a figure at the forefront of leveraging his talents as an athlete to generate top tier pay packages, endorsements with large corporations, and smart investment opportunities.

His business-savvy mindset built a $1.1B empire, making him one of two active athletes to hit billionaire status, and the richest golfer ever.

But perhaps his biggest feat is still ahead of him.

In 2022, Woods teamed up with Rory McIlroy, 4X Major Champion, and NBC sports executive Mike McCarley to launch TMRW Sports.

TMRW Sports is a tech-focused golf venture with operations focused on launching a virtual golf league (TGL).

The TGL is unique for a few reasons:

• Partnership with the PGA Tour. TGL features six teams of three PGA Tour players, with events planned to be held on weeknights in coordination with the PGA Tour schedule. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will both compete and own large stakes in the TMRW Sports platform and individual TGL franchises.

• Robust Infrastructure. TGL has a strategic partnership with SoFi, which led to construction of first TGL venue. ESPN will televise all TGL events as part of a multiyear agreement.

• Strategic Investor Base. Ties into the second point - seems as if the whole sports investment world is involved at some level. From every large NBA investor to Lewis Hamilton, Michael Rubin (Fanatics CEO), Serena Williams, Alexis Ohanian, Josh Allen, Shohei Ohtani, Justin Timberlake, David Blitzer (76ers co-owner), CAA, Sidney Crosby, Arthur Blank (Atlantic Falcons owner), Cam Dyer (former co-head of TMT Investing at The Carlyle Group)…. and this is less than half of the notable names.

Game Recognizes Game

The love that NBA players have for golf has now transcended from an off-court passion to a business obsession.

When the TMRW platform was formed, all of the NBA’s most active investors picked up Tiger’s call:

• Steph Curry (also TGL San Francisco franchise co-owner)

• Steve Nash

• Chris Paul

• Andre Iguodala (also TGL San Francisco franchise co-owner)

• Jayson Tatum

• Shaquille O’Neal

• Dwyane Wade

• Kevin Durant (through 35 Ventures)

In addition to the players mentioned above, Klay Thompson (San Francisco), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Los Angeles), and Lebron James (Boston) are all invested in various TGL franchises.

Lebron James recently doubled down on his golf portfolio, joining a group of strategic investors, including Drake, to invest in PGA Tour Enterprises, an entity created to bring fresh capital into the league and also provide PGA Tour players with equity.

The deal was worth up to $3B with an initial investment of $1.5B.

Sports As An Asset Class

Golf is not an outlier when it comes to heightened investor interest - the entire sports ecosystem has been experiencing unprecedented demand from capital providers.

The biggest driver in this development is the entrance of institutional capital into sports.

Once considered an unprofitable form of entertainment, the advancement of technology led to lucrative media rights deals that stabilized revenue over long periods of time. In the past decades, the major pro sports leagues, as an asset class, have outperformed the S&P 500. Sports are also generally uncorrelated with the S&P 500, providing a diversification opportunity.

Around 2019, many elite leagues changed their bylaws to allow private equity funds to invest in sports teams.

Firms like Arctos Sports Partners, Redbird Capital Partners, and Dyal Capital Partners invest in blue chip franchises such as:

• Golden State Warriors

• Sacramento Kings

• LA Dodgers

• Houston Astros

• Paris Saint-Germain F.C.

This shift was the inflection point, making sports investments more liquid than before. Whereas previous owners were expected to sit on their stakes for an eternity, there is now a wave of sports investment vehicles that can provide varying levels of liquidity for the ownership group.

Keep an eye out for the chance to invest in sports franchises and tech on mainstreet…