Weekly Roundup: Business of Athletes, Sports, & NIL (August 1-6)

<p><strong>Audio Timeline:</strong></p><p>1:15 - <strong>Feel good stories</strong></p><p>* $25,000 investment on behalf of LPGA</p><p>2:10 - Business of Athletes & Sports</p><p>* <strong>Caleb Williams</strong> (USC QB) becomes the first college athlete to ever publicly invest in a company, <strong>Futuremood</strong>, a sunglass company </p><p>* <strong>Tiger Woods</strong> was apparently offered $700-800M from<strong> LIV Golf</strong> and he turned it down</p><p>* NWSL’s main sponsor <strong>Voyager Digital</strong>, went bankrupt possibly impacting the ability of the women soccer players to get paid down the line</p><p>* Professional cyclist <strong>Tom Pidcock’s Link My Ride</strong>, a community biking app, has received funding from the <strong>Dutch Sport Tech Fund</strong></p><p>* Former NFL player <strong>Vernon Davis</strong> joins the ownership group of the <strong>Brisbane Bullets</strong> in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). </p><p>* other athletes who are part owners in the NBL include <strong>Khris Middleton</strong>,<strong> Thaddeus Young</strong>, <strong>Kevin Martin, </strong>and <strong>Marvin Williams</strong></p><p>* <strong>SportsBox AI</strong>, a 3D performance golf app, has closed a $5.5M seed round led by Elysian Park that included investments from LPGA golfer <strong>Michelle Wie</strong> and 76ers co-owner David Blitzer</p><p>* <strong>DICK'S</strong> Sporting Goods has launched School of Sport, an interactive experience on the Roblox platform (a metaverse play)</p><p>* The <strong>PGA Tour</strong> announced increased cash prizes next year of $15-25M</p><p>* <strong>OneOf’s</strong>, an NFT marketplace, raised $8M with plans to expand into sports. They currently have deals with <strong>Wayne Gretsky</strong> and <strong>Duke Men’s Basketball</strong>. </p><p>* The <strong>Professional Kickboxing Association</strong> has received a $1M investment from former Sacramento Kings and Pittsburgh Pirates minority owner Jimmy Anderson</p><p>* <strong>Huupe</strong>, an interactive basketball backboard, has closed its seed round led by Paradigm Sports with athlete investments from <strong>Trevor Booker and Thaddeus Young</strong></p><p>13:25 - <strong>Name, Image, and Likeness</strong></p><p>* The Pac-12 athlete monetization move that could change sports forever</p><p>* Agency charging college athletes 0% commission</p><p>* US Senators getting involved with NIL</p><p>Interesting Stat</p><p>This is wild:</p><p>The sports technology market has been picking up steam over the last few years and doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon. </p><p>Keep in mind….</p><p>This research graph is just for the United States, there is a ton of sports innovations stemming from all over the world. </p><p>A market to keep an eye on — India. </p><p>Short Passage of The Week</p><p>* Confidence without competence = Telling yourself that you are highly skilled, but you haven’t paid the price to be—this is common. </p><p>* Competence without confidence = You are highly skilled, but you still doubt yourself— this is normal. </p><p>Build competence, and let confidence follow. </p><p><em>Passage by Justin Su'a, Head of Mental Performance, Tampa Bay Rays</em></p><p>Recommended Media</p><p>Athletes today have a sense of entitlement due to all the social media popularity they achieve before so-called “making it”. </p><p>Damian Lillard hits the nail on the head👇</p><p>By the way, things are only going to escalate as high school/college athletes will now not only have huge social media followings but also bank accounts. </p><p>We need more role models like Dame. </p><p>It’s much better to be a pro athlete in a state like Texas where there is no state income tax, than in one like California which has a high state income tax. </p><p>But taxation isn’t always that straightforward. </p><p>For athletes in individual sports (e.g. golf and tennis), performance-based income is typically sourced from the state where the even