⛳️ The Golf League adds Very Powerful Investors

The Golf League starts really soon. I have no idea how successful a tech-based golf league will be but the work thats gone into its creation and the individuals involved in the project are so powerful that I cannot see anything else other than a roaring success.

As a recap, the cap table is broken down as follows:

• 54%: TMRW Sports (Rory, Tiger and Mike McCarley)

• 18%: The PGA Tour

• 18%: Franchise Owners

• 10%: Player Pool

This week all the franchise owners were finally announced:

Team San Francisco:

• Majority Owners: Marc Lasry (Co-Owner of Milwaukee Bucks) and Steph Curry

• Minority Owners: Klay Thompson, Draymond Green

Team Atlanta:

• Majority Owners: Arthur Blank (Co-Founder of Home Depot)

Team New York:

• Majority Owners: Steve Cohen (owner of NY Mets)

Team Florida:

• Majority Owners: David Blitzer (Co-Managing Partner of NBA 76ers) and Tiger Woods

Team Team LA:

• Majority Owners: Alexis O’Hanion (Co-Founder of Reddit)

• Minority Owners: Serena Williams, Venus Williams

Team Boston:

• Majority Owners: Fenway Sports Group (Owners of Liverpool Football Club)

Smaller sports leagues are growing in stature all over the place. Some of the obvious examples are The Hundred (English Cricket), the Laver Cup (the Ryder Cup of Tennis), the PFL (alternative to the UFC) and the rebirth of the XFL (alternative to the NFL).

The strategy is a simple one. Raise awareness through innovative social media coverage and your sponsorship and broadcasting revenue will grow over time.

The most prominent example of this is the Indian Premier League. The IPL is a Twenty20 tournament played in India each year and in just seventeen years it has become worth more than Major League Baseball!

The first broadcasting deal for the IPL was a 10year deal worth $1.03bn. Last year, the renewed broadcasting rights in a 5yr deal for $6.4bn! Half the number of years, more than 5x the revenue. Crazy.

I do not think TGL will get to the level of exposure that the IPL does but the IPL is a prime example of why so many people are taking big bets on sports tournaments.

Rory and Tiger have a lot of work on their hands but I wouldn’t be surprised if this League is a major fixture in the world of golf in ten years time.

TGL starts January 8.

Stay tuned for more news as we get it!

I do not typically cover American sports but this was particularly interesting this week.

Arik Armstead (pictured above), San Francisco 49ers Defensive Tackle signed a 5yr/$85m contract in 2020.

Last week, he decided to post his payslip online.

The thing that stuck out to me was the breakdown in his taxes.

He gets paid $393,055.55 per game but:

• $144,599.75 is paid in federal taxes

• $40,979.80 is paid to the State of California in State taxes

If Erik played his games in a state with no income tax like Texas, Florida or Tennessee he would net $41k a game more than he does at present.

California has many benefits but across the 17-game NFL season he is “losing” $697,000 a season by playing in California.

Crazy to think how much difference the state you play in makes in the US! Not something British athletes ever have to think about.;

More next week.

Salud.