The Profluence Pod 🌐

(02:00) Business of Athletes - Chris Paul, Aaron Rodgers, and Victor Wemby make moves (06:10) NIL/College Sports - NCAA releases weird report and a partnership (07:50) Sports Business - Ryan Reynolds buys F1 team, MLB goes to youth sports, and over $50M in fundraising for sports companies Thanks for listening! Make sure to hit the "follow" button to never miss another podcast.

Before jumping into the founder seat, Courtney Jeffries worked for the Oakland Raiders, MSG, and was the Chief Operating Officer of Satisfi Labs.  VRTL, Virtual, was previously known as Virtual Tables and participated in Techstars, Minnesota Twins program.   They are the first virtual fan engagement platform that delivers a live autograph experience combining both streaming and video chat function...

17 Sport is the world's first sports impact company, working at the intersection of sport, business, and purpose.  As a Certified B-Corp, 17 Sport’s mission is to educate, inspire and enable all stakeholders including athletes, brands, and properties to activate their purpose through sport and deliver positive financial, social, and environmental outcomes.  Before founding 17 Sport, Fabien ran...

OLIVER has raised over $1M and recently entered into a partnership agreement with FC Barcelona that also included an investment from the soccer conglomerate.  Agustin Rozadas started his professional career as a financial analyst at Accenture before building up Fligoo and then jumping into the sports technology founder seat.  OLIVER is a wearable tracking device that uploads deep insights onto the...

(01:05) Business of Athletes (05:50) College Sports/NIL (08:40) Sports Business Thanks for listening today! I hope these weekly roundups keep you up to date & informed on the most important events taking place in the sports industry.

OnCore Golf is innovating unique products including their Genius golf ball that has a GPS tracking device inside its hollow-core construction. The tracking device pairs with a phone app to help find the golf ball, plus provide data such as ball velocity, spin rate, spin direction, carry, and more. Keith Blakely is the CEO and Chairman of the InVentures Group, a hybrid consulting firm, virtual incu...

(00:30) Business of Athletes - tons of athlete investments to catch up on (05:30) NIL/College Sports - interesting news coming out of the NCAA (10:15) Sports Business - all the stories that didn't get covered because of the LIV/PGA merger taking the headlines by storm

Launched in 2017, iSport360 has raised ~$2M in capital to help youth sports coaches, players, and parents set goals, foster healthy team communication, and engage in a positive way. They also have a media arm with over 500,000 newsletter subscribers.  Ian is a father, coach, and entrepreneur who founded 3 companies before the age of 18 and helped his family's food distribution company for over...

Thaddeus Young was drafted 12th in the 2007 NBA Draft out of Georgia Tech and has made $140 million playing for the 76ers, Timberwolves, Nets, Pacers, Bulls, Spurs, and Raptors.  Thad is a 17-year NBA veteran with a massive 300+ portfolio at Reform Ventures, his holding entity of mostly private companies and real estate. One of the most underrated businessmen in the entire NBA, this was a great co...

Hugo Inglis has participated in 3 Olympic games for New Zealand and is also building an exciting model around athletes + philanthropy.  High Impact Athletes (HIA) connects world-class athletes with world-class charities, where every dollar given can do the best possible. This was a fascinating conversation about athletes doing good in the community, playing in the Olympics, and the power of athlet...

Anand is a two-time exited founder, Junglee (acq. by Amazon) and Kosmix (acq. by Walmart) that is now a founding partner of rocketship.vc and owner a United States cricket team, the San Francisco Unicorns.  The San Francisco Unicorns will be one of the first 6 cricket teams in Major League Cricket.  This was a fascinating conversation with Anand Rajaraman on cricket, owning a pro sports team, spor...

(01:30) - Business of Athletes • Tom Brady, Steph Curry, and Dirk Nowitzki with big moves (03:40) - College Sports/NIL • Opendorse stays active and collectives making moves and a sports betting report (06:30) - Sports Business • India continues to grow, Fanatics & DAZN get busy, and pickleball is getting funky

Michael Raymond is an up-and-coming talent agent currently representing professional basketball players, influencers, student-athletes for NIL, and E-sports teams. Raymond Representation is a community-focused and innovative sports agency, specializing in NIL and Talent Management If you’re interested in the agency world, NIL, or influencer marketing then this podcast fills all that and more.  Cha...

Cole and Cody Hock are Forbes 30 under 30 co-founders with a background in the music and law industries which fueled their journey to creating Up North Management.  Up North is a diversified entertainment & media company specializing in talent management, brand building, creative content, and original business ventures. They represent top content creators in the digital space division and incu...

Every Sunday I go into detail of the most important stories you need to hear more about... (01:00) - Business of Athletes (03:50) - College Sports/NIL (07:00) - Sports Business

Outlier raised over $3M to pivot their original idea and build the first-of-its-kind sports betting platform where sports fans can browse, analyze, and execute bets with confidence.  Evan Kirkham was previously a litigation attorney before jumping into the sports tech founder seat (which gives him a unique perspective on the market).  Recorded near the 5th anniversary of PAPSA, which legalized mob...

Asia Sports Tech is one of the leading business consulting and financial advisory firms in all of Asia.  Loron Orris has 30+ years of experience in sports including being the managing director of NBA Asia during its early days. He also teaches at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Business School.  Asia Sports Tech and Loron Orris believe in the future growth of Asian sports – which led to a grea...

(01:20) - Business of Athletes ( JJ Watt, Aaron Rodgers, and more ) (06:15) - College Sports/NIL ( betting scandals, new legislation, $300k to transfer, etc ) (10:25) - Sports Business ( new AI partnerships, Betr acquisition, and politics mixing with athletes )

Satisfi Labs raised a Series A last year to continue building their AI chatbot, which is conversational and understands tens of thousands of intents. The data is categorized and specific for their over 200 clients (many being sports teams).  Don spent many years in sales including at Bloomberg before jumping into the sports tech world.  Chapters : (01:15) Jumping full-time into AI chatbots (03:55)...

CrowdIQ has signed deals with over 25% of the NFL for its state-of-the-art computer vision to provide actionable insights on the composition and behavior of crowds. FanCam was the initial product that led to the venture-backed CrowdIQ that is on the market today.  A fascinating conversation with Tinus Le Roux on his entrepreneurial journey, building a globally adopted sports tech product, and wher...

In the entrepreneur seat since 19 years old, David Ortiz is now building at the intersection of web3, AI, esports, and content with SimWin Sports.  The SimWin Sports League has several notable team owners including Jerry Rice, Magic Johnson, Marshall Faulk, and Lamelo Ball.  David Ortiz has also led blockbuster teams at large corporations like Microsoft, EA Sports, Sony, and Warner Brothers.  Chap...

In 2021 Mark Neifeld founded the Sport Fishing Championship - the most extensive saltwater fishing championship series in North America - where he serves as CEO & Commissioner of the international sports property.  Prior to SFC, Neifeld spent a decade in entrepreneurship and worked for the Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys.  Fishing is one of the largest recreational sports activities in the wo...

Last year, Cipher Sports raised a $5M Series A led at CEO by longtime sports media professional Adam Fiske.  Cipher Sports arms users with the ultimate combination of tools, content, and communities to make sports more bettable. They have four major brands under management including Dimers, Fantasy Insider, Stats Insider, and Convertr.  This is an in-depth conversation at the intersection of sport...

OneTeam Partners aligns with world-class player's associations and helps athletes maximize their name, image, and likeness rights by focusing on four key areas: group licensing, athlete marketing, content, and venture investing. RedBird Partners sold 40% of their stake in OneTeam at a $1.9B valuation in 2022.  Malaika Underwood was previously a VP at the Brandr Group and IMG. She is also a mem...

TicketRev just raised $1.1M as the first-ever reverse ticketing marketplace - modeled after shoe marketplaces like StockX and GOAT. Jason Shatsky co-founded the company while in college at Babson University.  TicketRev went through the Techstars accelerator this last year and received an investment from the Minnesota Twins at the end.  Chapters : (01:15) Building his first business as a teenager (...