Weekly Roundup: Business of Athletes, Sports, & NIL (July 24-31)

<p><strong>Audio Timeline:</strong></p><p>0:35 - <strong>Feel good stories</strong></p><p>* Former Laker makes a big donation and HBCU’s on the rise</p><p>4:08 - Business of Athletes</p><p>* <strong> Kevin Durant, Odell Beckham, Jared Goff, and Trae Young </strong>invested in fantasy sports app Underdog Fantasy’s $35M round. </p><p>* <strong>LIV Golf </strong>is raising its prize money next year to $405M, up from $225M. They are also offering equity in the teams to their players. </p><p>* Hall of Famers <strong>Mariano Rivera</strong> & <strong>Barry Larkin</strong> are bringing baseball to India and Pakistan through the United International Baseball League. </p><p>* <strong>Lebron James </strong>has made an investment in Canyon Bicycles $30M round. </p><p>* <strong>Sue Bird and Eli Manning</strong> have joined the ownership group of NWSL club NJ/NY Gotham FC, investing at a $40M valuation. </p><p>* Former NBA players <strong>Baron Davis, Ray Crockett, and Nick Van Exel</strong> are helping to launch a new investor club for professional athletes. </p><p>* Former Los Angeles Laker <strong>Metta World Peace (Ron Artest)</strong> is targeting a $1B investment fund for Artest Management Group. </p><p>* <strong>Kevin Durant</strong> invested in Stadium Live’s $10 million funding round to bring fantasy sports to a younger generation.</p><p>* The <strong>NFL</strong> is launching NFL+, its own streaming service starting at $4.99/month.</p><p>* <strong>The University of Wisconsin</strong> is paying its athletes $980/year for academic excellence, along with a bonus up to $25,000 for graduating</p><p>7:30 - <strong>Name, Image, and Likeness</strong></p><p>* The rise of general manager’s in college sports</p><p>* Alabama and Fanatics partner in an interesting new deal</p><p>* A supposedly “unbiased” study on NIL is taking place</p><p>* Some cool deals from this past week</p><p>Interesting Stat</p><p>I didn’t come across any interesting stats this past week, so I asked the team over at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.talkwalker.com/">Talkwalker</a> if they had anything for me. </p><p>With college football 3 weeks away, they delivered some fan insights for us. </p><p><em>The green represents fans most optimistic about the upcoming season…</em></p><p>While Georgia and Alabama were the most talked about, the comments weren’t the most optimistic.</p><p>But it makes sense…</p><p>When you are the king of the hill, you’re going to be talked about even if some of the loudest comments come from haters.</p><p>Here’s some greater insight into the conversations taking place about Georgia football. </p><p>In just July, over 100,000 unique conversations about the Bulldogs took place. </p><p>When looking at the graph, you can see people from all over the world are talking about the Georgia Bulldogs — with a surprisingly high amount coming from England and South Korea). </p><p>Who said college football isn’t global?</p><p>Short Passage of The Week</p><p>Think of the best coach, teacher, or leader you ever had. What can you learn from them? </p><p>Think of the worst coach, teacher, or leader you ever had. What can you learn from them?</p><p>A coach is… </p><p>* a thought partner + a supporter</p><p>* a sounding board + an accountability ally</p><p>* an empathetic space for vulnerable emotions</p><p>* an objective perspective + a steady resource</p><p>* one’s biggest advocate and unwavering champion</p><p>“A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life.”</p><p><em>Passage by Clint Hurdle</em></p><p>Tweet(s)</p><p>Former MLB pitcher Jacob Turner recently joined Twitter and released some heat👇</p><p>When thinking about monetary decisions, ask yourself “does that help create financial freedom or debt?”. </p><p>Quotes</p><p>I appreciate you tuning in today!</p><p>Close out the weekend strong — look forward to chatting again tomorrow. </p><p>Peace,</p><p>AP</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with oth