Walmart is joining other retail giants in the activewear space with its launch of a new line from SoulCycle instructor Stacey Griffith and fashion designer Michelle Smith.

Called Love & Sports, the line offers 121 pieces including swimwear, retro running shorts and cropped sweatshirts inspired by “bold, iconic, vintage athletic style.”

Eventually, Griffith and Smith plan to add footwear and accessories to the brand.

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, saw sales grow from $52.3 billion in 2019 to $70.8 billion in 2021, according to The NPD Group.

From 2014 to 2021, the number of activewear brands has jumped from 1,600 to around 2,400. 

• March 2022: Abercrombie launched YPB, or “Your Personal Best,” an activewear line for men and women.
• December 2021: Foot Locker unveiled its first women’s sportswear brand Cozi.
• August 2021: Sustainable shoe brand Allbirds launched its first activewear collection.
• March 2021: Kohl’s launched activewear and athleisure brand FLX.
• February 2021: Target’s All in Motion activewear became the company’s 10th billion-dollar in-house brand. 

Walmart’s World

Apparel sales are not separated from Walmart’s general merchandise in the company’s earnings report, but Griffith and Smith seem to be in good hands. 

In the 2021 fiscal year, Walmart posted total revenue of $572.8 billion, with $7.09 billion reportedly coming from its home and apparel segment.

Sports betting has increasingly strengthened its foothold in college sports by striking partnerships with schools, bowl games, and even athletes.

Now, there’s yet another new avenue for the industry: purchasing player data.

The NCAA has decided that it is not a violation of policy for conferences and schools to sell player data to sports betting operators, according to Sportico.

• The memo was reportedly spawned by a request for clarity from the Mid-American Conference, which announced a partnership in March to sell data to Genius Sports — a company that often sells data to sportsbooks.
• The Pac-12 also signed a data partnership but did not initially plan to sell to sportsbooks.
• The one caveat: Data can be sold only if the public can also have access.

In the pros, selling data to sportsbooks is extremely lucrative — the NBA and NFL have reportedly earned more than $100 million each for similar transactions.

More Betting Partnerships

Companies in the sports betting space appear eager to jump into the world of NCAA.

Since 2020, several athletic departments, from LSU to the University of Denver, signed sponsorship deals with sports betting operators. MaximBet offered name, image, and likeness deals to athletes in Colorado.

OneFootball, a Germany-based media company with a focus on soccer, has raised $300 million in a Series D funding round.

Led by Liberty City Ventures, the round included Animoca Brands, Quiet Capital, RIT Capital Partners, Senator Investment Group, NBA Top Shot maker Dapper Labs, and others. 

The round will help facilitate OneFootball’s expansion and its presence in Web3. It will also support OneFootball Labs, a joint venture with Liberty City Ventures and Animoca Brands.

• OneFootball currently has more than 100 million active users.
• The platform allows soccer clubs and leagues to create fan experiences on a blockchain.
• It also broadcasts live matches and highlights from pro soccer leagues across the world. 

To date, OneFootball has raised roughly $442 million, including a Series C round for an undisclosed amount in December 2017 featuring Adidas as a strategic investor.

Investments in Soccer 

OneFootball adds to a growing list of soccer-centric companies raising capital and embracing tech. TOCA Football, a soccer-focused experiential company, raised $40 million in a Series E funding round in June 2021 that included VC firm and Topgolf lead investor WestRiver Group.

In September 2021, Sorare, a soccer-based NFT and fantasy platform, raised $680 million in a Series B round, valuing the business at $4.3 billion.

Last March, soccer video scouting and social community app Gloria raised $3 million in a seed round led by Seven Seven Six, a VC firm founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.

Paramount+ and its partner Network Ten are reportedly putting together a joint bid for Australian Football League’s entire broadcast package starting in 2024. Both share parent company Paramount.

The pair, which would split the nine games per round between streaming and free-to-air broadcasts, are reportedly planning to present their proposal to AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan and his team in the coming days.

AFL had also reportedly planned discussions with Amazon and YouTube.

It’s not clear how much the rights would fetch, but AFL’s current broadcast agreement with pay-TV operator Foxtel and the FTA broadcaster Seven Network is bringing in around $672 million to the league over the next two years.

• Seven has rights to three-and-a-half games per round, with exclusive rights to the grand final. Foxtel and its streaming service Kayo have rights to five-and-a-half matches. 
• Foxtel will likely try to retain its coverage, but Seven has made decisions that frustrated the league, including canceling a number of programs, per The Age.

From 2002 to 2006, Network Ten shared AFL rights with Seven (previously Nine) and Foxtel, and had exclusive free-to-air rights to the finals and grand final.

Deeper Pockets Needed

AFL’s new deal would reportedly be worth more than its previous one despite years of falling ratings — an 18% decrease in the last five years. 

Players in both the AFL and AFLW are demanding more money, and higher broadcasting income could help pay for those requests.