FOS PM: Brady’s Business Bunch

Tom Brady and business partner Alex Guerrero have picked licensing company IMG to help grow their wellness brand TB12. The agreement will “expand TB12’s traditional retail and ecommerce presence” globally as it develops new products. 

Launched in 2013, TB12 has physical locations in Boston, Foxborough and Tampa. The company has plans to open additional retail locations that combine in-person training and treatments.

The IMG partnership is the second major deal this week for Brady, who also agreed to make Fanatics his exclusive memorabilia distributor. The long-term exclusive deal expands the online retailer’ collection of Tampa Bay Buccaneers products and will make game-used products from Brady’s first season in Tampa available in real time. 

Angel City, the Los Angeles NWSL expansion team, has formally joined the league as its 11th team and will compete under the name “Angel City Football Club” when it debuts in the spring of 2022. The club has also added a star-studded list of new founding investors. 

When it was announced in July, the first wave of investors included actress Natalie Portman, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, media entrepreneur Julie Uhrman and venture capitalist Kara Nortmann. Serena Williams, fourteen former U.S. Women’s National Team players including Mia Hamm, and actresses Jessica Chastain and America Ferrera were also part of that group.

The latest additions include tennis legend Billie Jean King, WNBA star Candace Parker and her 11-year-old daughter Lailaa — Ohanian and Williams’ young daughter, Olympia, is also part of the founding group — decorated alpine skier Lindsay Vonn and her NHL All-Star husband P.K. Subban, and late night host James Corden.

U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Foundation — the U.S Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s fundraising arm — raised over $1.4 million for the COVID Athlete Assistance Fund. The gap in direct funding for Team USA athletes this year is estimated to be around $25 million.

Fundraising began in late July with a lead donation from hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and his Pershing Square Foundation; nearly 6,000 individual donors contributed overall. 

The fund was established to “assist athletes who have incurred financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the postponement of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.” A total of 1,220 athletes received a one-time stipend of $1,163.