June 28, 2021

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Sydney McLaughlin set the world record in women’s 400-meter hurdles — 51.90 seconds. All signs point to this year’s Olympics being one to remember.

Amazon’s Growing Fitness Ambitions

Amazon/Design: Alex Brooks

Amazon is looking for a Head of Fitness Programming to join its Halo team — the group leading the company’s new wave of fitness services.

Halo, a fitness band and subscription service, made its debut last August. The device helps users assess their overall health and movement; the subscription offers hundreds of exercise, sleep, and nutrition programs.

The Halo band retails for $99, while a subscription will cost you $3.99 per month.

Amazon is making more than one bet on fitness, though.

  • It’s an investor in at-home fitness startup Tonal, which raised $250 million at a $1.6 billion valuation in March. 
  • The company’s wireless Echo Buds can track walks, runs, and other workouts.

Many of the top American tech companies are on a similar mission.

Apple CEO Tim Cook — who’s overseen the Apple Watch and Fitness+ launches — told Outside that the brand’s work in health and wellness will one day be seen as its “greatest contribution.” Google completed its $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit in January.

Peloton is reportedly planning its own heart-rate monitoring wearable. Oura and Whoop, whose activity-tracking devices are a hit with athletes, have each had recent $100 million investment rounds.

RedBird Expands Sports Portfolio with Cricket Investment

IPL/Design: Alex Brooks

Private investment firm RedBird Capital has acquired a 15% stake in the Indian Premier League’s Rajasthan Royals, valuing the cricket team at $250 million, per the Financial Times.

Led by former Goldman Sachs partner Gerry Cardinale, RedBird spent approximately $37.5 million on its share of the team.

RedBird is no stranger to sports as an investor in the YES Network, the XFL, and Fenway Sports Group — which owns the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC.

Last season, the eight-team Indian Premier League was valued at $6.2 billion, with its season opener drawing more than twice the viewership of the 2021 Super Bowl.

  • The IPL is home to the world’s richest sports team owner, Mukesh Ambani, who has a net worth of $84.5 billion.
  • Ambani owns the current IPL champion Mumbai Indians.

In the past year, RedBird also launched a SPAC with famed Oakland Athletics executive and minority owner Billy Beane and purchased a 30%-40% stake in Wasserman.

RedBird has $4.5 billion in total assets under its management. 

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Fanatics Plots on Sports Betting Market

Fanatics/Design: Alex Brooks

It looks like Fanatics is getting into the gambling and gaming business.

The company reportedly hired former FanDuel CEO Matt King and is preparing to make a move into the sports betting space.

King announced his resignation from FanDuel in May after four years with the platform.

Fanatics is the world’s largest licensed sports merchandise company. It has a $12.8 billion valuation after a recent $320 million raise and only continues to grow.

  • In February, Fanatics China — expected to be worth more than $1 billion — was launched with Hillhouse Capital.
  • Sports-themed merchandise retailer WinCraft and collegiate headwear brand Top of the World were both acquired by Fanatics in the latter months of 2020.

Fanatics expects sales to hit $3 billion this year.

Thanks to its merchandise empire, Fanatics has data on over 80 million sports fans. That should come in handy as it makes its play in the $203 billion sports betting industry.

Wimbledon, Andy Murray Team Up with NFT Star

Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports/Design: Alex Brooks

Beeple — creator of an NFT artwork that auctioned for $69 million — launched his new project on Thursday: WENEW, a display and commerce platform to capture the culture’s most iconic moments in NFTs.

The first moment is Andy Murray’s 2013 Wimbledon victory, which ended the United Kingdom’s 77-year drought for male singles players in the country’s own iconic tournament.

“We’d obviously been waiting for such a long time,” Murray told Front Office Sports, calling it the most important moment of his career. “It was just a huge, huge relief to win.”

Much more comes along with the winning auction bid for the Murray NFT: 

  • Tickets to the 2022 men’s Wimbledon finals
  • A tour of Wimbledon and signed souvenirs
  • A round of tennis with Murray on a Wimbledon court

Murray said he’s excited to see who wins the auction, which starts July 2, but added, “Hopefully it’s not Federer or Djokovic.”

Wimbledon and Beeple are not the only ones bolstering an NFT sale with tangible items.

The winner of an NFT auction from Juventus will get game tickets, a hotel stay, a visit to the team training center, a digital frame for displaying the NFT, and a signed jersey.

In a completely different strategy, Liga MX club Necaxa offered a 1% ownership stake in the team through an NFT auction in June.

SPONSORED BY OHIO UNIVERSITY

A MBA Program Worth Celebrating

The Ohio University Professional Master of Sports Administration (PMSA), a 21-month program serving sports business executives, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. 

Since 2010, the PMSA has offered a blended curriculum of virtual and in-person learning that grants students the opportunity to earn their masters degree while remaining employed. Cohort-style academics in combination with on-campus residencies and a deep alumni network have earned this program the #1 ranking by SportBusiness since inception.

 In this sponsored article, Ohio University’s Kelley Walton shares the story of the PMSA’s evolution highlighting some of the esteemed alumni of the program.

Conversation Starters

Conversation Starters

  • Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton confirmed contract negotiations for 2022 have begun with Mercedes.
  • Troy Aikman thinks Tom Brady is trying to get another leg up on competition after Brady told NFL players to skip workouts while negotiations are underway for a new offseason program.
  • NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock is now available on Amazon’s Fire TV set-tops and tablets. NBCU and Amazon also reached an agreement for Amazon to house 15 of NBCU’s network apps.
  • The Japanese government continues to tighten up COVID-19 protocols as the start date for the Tokyo Olympics nears.

Question of the Day

Are you interested in Amazon's fitness products?

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Friday’s Answer
54% of respondents have bought a Nike product in the past year.

Today's Action

*All times are EST unless otherwise noted.
*Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

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