On the heels of Mark Cuban’s unexpected sale of the Mavericks, it was only fitting that record turnout of sports industry execs packed the ballroom at Salamander D.C this past week for SBJ’s Dealmakers conference. Attendees heard two days of programing shaped around franchise valuations, media trends and the impact capital investment is having on the world of sport.
Founders and CEOs from some of sports biggest investment groups like Billie Jean King Enterprises, Sapphire Sport, Isos7, JPMorgan and Elysian Park Ventures spoke on how they still see the market as a buying opportunity, but it requires a bit more caution than in previous markets. Women’s sports continue to be viewed as great investment opportunities and are believed to be reaching a tipping point as leagues such as the NWSL and PWHL have seen significant investments in the last year. Meanwhile, the leagues believe that their remains to be tremendous upside when it comes to franchise investment with sports properties being viewed more like art; investments that appreciate. Still, the RSN uncertainty has created worry in the league offices, but they remain optimistic on how this could be an opportunity to reinvent local rights that remain at a high value.
But the future is always on the horizon, and investing in emerging leagues and tech remains crucial to sustained growth. That could be through newer leagues such as the American Flag Football League or Athletes Unlimited. But both private equity and venture capital are looking to find those companies and teams — with even college athletics potentially on the horizon.
Take a look back at some of the conversations from this year’s Dealmakers event:
Mellody Hobson explained to the audience her reasons for investing in the Broncos
Josh Harris closed out Dealmakers dishing on his strategy for the Commanders and investing
Former NFLer Malcolm Jenkins discussed the shift from player to investor
Chuck Todd opened up about the intersection of politics, sports and society
Andre Iguodala talked about his investment portfolio
Following the opening afternoon of sessions on Wednesday, patrons packed motorcoaches for a quick 1.5-mile drive along the National Mall to Monumental Sports & Entertainment’s 14,000-square-foot District E venue for a welcoming ceremony.
Patrons were treated by Aramark to freshly carved salt cured prime sirloin with chimichurri, wagyu beef, Maryland Crabcake and Harissa “plant based” burger sliders and truffled potato pave bites. The venue, home of this year’s NBA 2K League competition, still had plenty of gaming gear on-site and attendees took advantage of the chance to show their skills on PS5’s set up in the room.
Among those striking up conversations during the event was Jonathan Lemire, host of MSNBC’s “Way Too Early.” Steve Argeris of Hogan Lovells and Sidley Austin’s Chuck Baker were seen catching up as well. Others spotted included KB Partners’ Matt Howard, Inner Circle Sports’ Maddie Winslow and Tyler Zimmet, Galatioto Sports Partners’ James Ganley and Sal Galatioto, ViewLift’s Rick Allen, Advance’s Kimberly Frisch and Zona Xu, Relo Metrics’ Christopher Mike and iSport360’s Ian Goldberg.
Following the event at District E, Next League hosted a private reception at Dirty Habit in the Penn Quarter neighborhood. Next League’s Dave Nugent, Juan De Jesus, Roland Lange, Joanna Solowey, Jenna Trabulus, Katherine Krohn and Lindsay Schwartz hosted around 18 execs for a dinner and cocktail hour to wrap up the night.
Among those spotted the Commanders’ Amina Bulman and Patrick Arthur, D.C. United’s Danita Johnson, Inner Circle Sports’ Ahron Cohen, SBJ’s Dan Kaufman, Monarch Collective’s Christine Jiang, the American Flag Football League’s Brian Cooper, the NFLPA’s Therese Whitehead, the Washington Spirit’s Meg Patten, Underdog’s Dan Mannix and Perkins Coie’s Shirin Malkani.
Monumental Sports & Entertainment’s Zach Leonsis made an appearance to welcome everyone to Dealmakers and give some opening remarks (he and his wife recently welcomed their second child, Kathryn, into the world).
Longtime Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins spent some private time chatting with former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue following his panel.
NBC political analyst Chuck Todd was a popular person in the halls, talking on everything from Beltway politics to his years covering sports business. Todd was spotted in a deep conversation with LEAD1 President (and former congressman) Tom McMillen. Todd was a founding member of the Sports Business Daily team back in 1994.
Big topics of conversation in the green room at Dealmakers included the Mark Cuban–Miriam Adelson deal for the Mavericks, the state of the VC investing in a turbulent market and AI’s influence on everything from pro sports to high school essays.
Sapphire Sport founding partner Michael Spirito, FEVO founder and CEO Ari Daie and Muse Capital founding partner Assia Grazioli–Venier discussed the future of soccer and sailing. Grazioli-Venier, who is an investor in the NWSL’s Washington Spirit, earlier this week joined the investor group that acquired SailGP’s U.S. team.
Monumental Sports & Entertainment Found Ted Leonsis was seen holding court in the corner of the ballroom with a gaggle of executives following his fireside chat with Ariel Investment’s Mellody Hobson, who woke up at 3am to fly in Dealmakers.
Mubadala Citi DC Open owner Mark Ein was spotted prior to his one-on-one panel speaking and laughing with Monumental’s Sheila Johnson.
It was a packed ballroom when Commanders owner Josh Harris one-on-one with SBJ’s Abe Madkour. Harris was spotted watching the introduction video with a smile on his face.
“Jim will be proven a genius — maybe a mad genius — but a genius. I went to the U2 show, and it blew my mind” — MSE’s Ted Leonsis, on the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas.
“It is night and day from when I started 25 years ago” – NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, on the dramatically improved relationship between the league and NHLPA.
“I don’t think anyone in this room fully believes them, but it’s the standard” — MLS Deputy Commissioner Gary Stevenson, on Nielsen’s ratings.
“He said Sheila, ‘Don’t F-this up’” — Monumental’s Sheila Johnson, reflecting on what late NBA Commissioner David Stern told her after she bought into the Wizards, Capitals and Mystics years ago.
“It’s only a matter of time before talent gets recognized,” — Mellody Hobson, on the emergence of women’s sports.
“Actually, I canceled my SBJ subscription so I could afford some of these things” — MLS’ Stevenson, joking about the rising costs of streaming apps.
“The good news is you have a mayor that wants to work with you, Josh Harris. I don’t know if you have a city council that wants to work with you, but I know you have a mayor that wants to work with you and just build more relationships in the community here in D.C.” — NBC’s Chuck Todd, giving words of advice to Commanders owner Josh Harris
“Thank you all for giving me a really legitimate excuse to get out of the house” — MSE’s Zach Leonsis in his opening remarks after announcing he and his wife welcomed their daughter Kathryn into the world.
“I don’t actually own the team. … I’m steward for the city of Washington” — Commanders owner Josh Harris, on how he views his ownership of the NFL team.
“She had no interest in football. And then this woman that you may have heard of started dating a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs. And my daughter says to me verbatim, she says, ‘football’s really interesting when you care about who wins.’ And I said, ‘Are you a Chiefs fan now?’ She goes, ‘I love the Chiefs!’” — NBC’s Todd, on his daughters’ recently-discovered Chiefs fandom following Travis Kelce’s new relationship with Taylor Swift.
“I’m one of the few college athletes that does not like NIL. I think NIL has destroyed college athletics in a lot of ways. And like I said, I can argue about that for days and I think it’s good in some ways, but it’s been bad in a lot others” – TXV Partners Marcus Stroud.
Thank you to all of the sponsors, attendees and speakers that made this year’s Dealmakers event happen.
We look forward to seeing the industry gather at our final event of 2023, the Intercollegiate Athletics Forum presented by Learfield in Las Vegas from Dec. 5-6 at Aria Resort & Casino.
