This is the business of sports. The business of sports can be intimidating or hard for a startup to break into. We really appreciate when our owners are actually there with us through the journey. Teams, especially ours, have been very intentional to diversify at all levels of the company. I think we are in the golden years for the NFL and college football. Our demographic reach has continued to expand. This is going to really unlock the streaming platform for sports fans. Sports valuations are rising. We will see when they peak. You do not have to be the best in your sport to make a whole ton of money. Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports where we explore the big money issues in the world of sports. I am Michael Bar along with Scarlett Fu and Vanessa Predomo. Damen Sassau will be back next week. Coming up on the show, we talk golf and the PGA Works Collegiate Championship with Kohler chair and CEO David Kohler. The Kohler family owns Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, host of that tournament. We will talk with him about his family and company's long relationship with golf. We have been really good partners with the PGA of America for decades. All that and more is on the way on the Bloomberg Business of Sports. But first, Unrivaled Sports, which runs a bunch of youth sports venues and events, is raising $120 million in a funding round led by Dick Sporting Goods. Here to talk to us about Unrivaled's latest plans is Bloomberg News senior reporter covering celebrities and athletes, Kim Bassine. Kim, welcome back to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Always always happy to be here.
Another great article. You mentioned that Dick Sporting is leading a $120 million funding round for Unrivaled. Tell us about that.
Yeah, so Unrivaled Sports is a youth sports company. They own a bunch of venues and do all these tournaments and programming for kids. Dick Sporting Goods has been pretty active in this space. They have a company called Game Changer, which they bought back in 2016. It started as a scoreboard where you can watch your kids' scores live, but now it is a whole streaming service to watch them play.
Wow, I never knew that. That is a great idea. I am sorry, Scarlett, but it is a great idea. It is all about how youth sports is becoming much more professionalized. It used to be a grab bag of parents volunteering, now it rivals college sports. Kim, tell us a little bit more about Unrivaled because it has some hefty PE titans behind it.
It does. Josh Harris and David Blitzer founded it last year and hired Andy Campion, a former Nike and Disney executive, to run it. The big takeaway is that this is national. They operate in 30 states, starting with baseball and softball. Flag football is now a big focus, and they are expanding into lacrosse and basketball. They know everybody in sports.
Tell us about the strategy behind bringing in Dick's in this way, because they are obviously beyond just raising capital.
Yes. Dick's has 850 stores across the country and also has House of Sport, a venue for birthday parties and community events. Pairing that with what Unrivaled offers makes a lot of sense.
Yes, I have gone to House of Sport so many times. It is an organized gym class. And when you pair that with Unrivaled, it makes sense.
Well, I did not know anything. But can they do weddings? I mean some people I am sure they will let you do that.
Michael, Dick Sporting Goods is also going to have a big influence on the company's board of directors.
Yes, and that is how they will explore partnership opportunities. Dick's has been active in youth sports, and the idea is to have them at events. They are still figuring out how to approach it.
They should have pop-up stores. I used to forget my cleats all the time. That would make sense.
Kim, you talked with Andy Campion, the CEO. Is there any sense that Unrivaled will go public?
It is really early. They have only been around for one year. They host about 1.4 million visitors a year, 15 properties, and will use the $120 million to expand. They also own Cooperstown All Star Village, which is a family resort plus baseball tournament. They recently rebranded New England Flag Football as Unrivaled Flag. Flag football is a big focus, and Unrivaled thinks it will be their next big thing.
Is the idea for Unrivaled Flag to start this year and lead up to the Olympics?
It has just been rebranded. It was operating as New England Flag Football, but they will still be going.
Flag football, anyone here play flag football? Powderpuff. That makes sense.
They also have tracks, Vanessa. You were amazing? I was. I was a receiver. I almost skipped a college showcase to play. I wish girls had this opportunity now.
You guys are using terminology that Michael Bar and I are just shaking our heads at.
Wait, Kim, I want to ask about another story. PepsiCo now has a chief sports officer. What does that person do?
Yeah, Brett O'Brien was named chief sports officer at PepsiCo. That includes Lay's, Gatorade, Pepsi, all the stuff they own. They reorganized marketing into one big division, separating by sport. It allows them to focus on individual sports with anthemic campaigns. The most recent one was the Gatorade campaign with Kendrick Lamar, using big athlete endorsers like Caitlin Clark.
There is a lot to this. I want to get more into it. They are looking at rebranding from individual products to the whole complete picture.
If you look at it from Frito-Lay's standpoint, they have Cheetos and Doritos. If they sign a deal like the World Cup, you want all those brands involved. Centralizing it gives a better mindset.
Will we see a Messi-shaped hot Cheeto? LeBron and Jason Tatum have their own flavors. The Messi shape would really sell.
Yes, that would really hit.
Sold for like a million. This opens the door for other consumer packaged goods companies to do similar things. Coca Cola might look into a chief sports officer.
Yeah, when you think about how involved these giant brands are with sports now, sponsorship deals are growing. It has become essential to the advertising ecosystem.
That was a great question, Scarlett. When you put Coca Cola and Pepsi together, you will see all this going on. For the World Cup and the Super Bowl. It is going to continue. Old man Bar remembers Gillette in the 1972 Super Bowl. This is the wave of the future. Gillette is still around though. The best way to look at it is like the sneaker wars between Nike, Adidas, Puma. They are hopping from place to place. Nike signed the German soccer national team. That is something.
Our thanks to Kim Bassine for joining us. Up next, we go behind the scenes at KPMG Sports Business. I am Michael Bar. You are listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
