Weekly Roundup: Business of Athletes, Sports, & NIL (Jan 16-22)

<h4><strong>(00:30) Feel good stories</strong></h4> <ul> <li><strong>Sport Clips Haircuts</strong> held an event where they also donated $1.5M toward veterans' scholarships.</li> <li>NBA forward <strong>Kyle Kuzma</strong> is donating $1 million to the YMCA in his hometown of Flint, Michigan.</li> <li>The <strong>Green Bay Packers </strong>are donating $100,000 to provide 80 Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) to schools in Wisconsin.</li> </ul> <h4>(02:05) - Business of Athletes/Sports</h4> <ul> <li>Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter <strong>Usain Bolt</strong> is missing more than $12.7 million from an account with a Jamaican private investment firm.</li> <li><strong>Harris Blitzer </strong>Sports and Entertainment announced that it has purchased a major stake in <a href="https://profluence.com/ripken-baseball-receives-an-investment-from-harris-and-blitzer-entertainment/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Ripken Baseball</strong></a>.</li> <li><a href="https://profluence.com/deal-box-investing-125m-in-web3-startups-including-sports/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Deal Box</strong></a> is launching a $125M venture arm, where they will look at “FunTech”, which includes action sports.</li> <li><strong>LIV Golf</strong> has finally found a home on American TV after striking a deal with the <strong>CW Network</strong>.</li> <li>The <strong>Tennis Channel</strong> has deepened its partnership with <strong>Major League Pickleball </strong>and will now air the league's semifinal and finals.</li> <li>Sports-focused NFT company <strong>Candy Digital</strong> announced a Series A extension funding round following reports <strong>Fanatics</strong> was selling of its 60% stake in Candy Digital.</li> <li><strong>EP Golf Ventures</strong> has invested in <strong>Sensible Weather</strong>, a climate risk technology company that has a partnership with the PGA.</li> <li><a href="https://profluence.com/courtside-ventures-raises-100m-fund/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Courtside Ventures</strong></a> has completed a $100M sports fund, their 3rd which includes athletes investors such as <strong>Larry Fitzgerald</strong> and <strong>Shaquille O’Neal</strong>.</li> </ul> <h4>(07:15) - <strong>Name, Image, and Likeness</strong></h4> <ul> <li><strong>Curastory</strong> is partnering with <strong>Tempus Ex Machina</strong> to allow <strong>Pac-12 </strong>players to post content on their social media platforms and earn 50% of the ad revenue they generate.</li> <li><strong>Penn State’s</strong> NIL collective, <strong>Success With Honor,</strong> has secured contracts with at least 1 athlete from all 31 varsity sports teams.</li> <li>The <strong>College Athlete Protection Act</strong> was presented in California, which would require the state's college sports programs to share revenue with their athletes.</li> </ul>